Batu, Java, Indonesia

"Saya suka tiket" I said at the booth - the lady gestured me inside the station. At security I said "Di mana tiket" and the guard gestured me though. I couldn't see any other booth, so assumed I could buy a ticket on the train. I got on the 8am train, heading for Malang. At the next few stops the train filled up, and I realised that I needed a ticket - seeing that everyone was waving one about and looking for their seats! I managed to ask the nice family sitting next to me where I should now get a ticket. They laughed then spoke to a train guard, who also laughed. By this time a few people, and more guards were interested in what was happening, and someone speaking a little English came to translate. I needed to get off the train at the next stop, get a ticket then get back on - they will hold the train for me. I got off and a guard came with me to the booth to make sure I got a ticket quickly, I paid the 4000 (from the stop I was at to Malang!) then got back on, in plenty of time. The people here are tremendously nice and very helpful. The internet said not to bother with the hassle of slow, crowded trains - I should get an AC minibus - but this is what I want from travelling, these are the best moments!

Arriving at Malang station I now needed to get to Batu. I first had to get a minivan to the Tlogomas bus terminal for 2500 Rupiah, then another minivan to Batu for 2500 Rupiah. These minivans are the size of a pea but can, remarkably, carry around 15 or 16 people - as I found out on the second journey. My rucksack and camera bag were piled up in my face, and I had a chair and electric oven at my feet, which an old granny was taking somewhere. An old man wanted to get on but no-one moved - he had to almost crawl his way over peoples legs to get to a space. We arrived at Batu terminal and everyone exploded out.

I'd not booked anything, thinking it was a small place and I could just walk about looking for a room. Not the case! Batu's quite big, and is slowly getting engulfed by Malang. I walked about looking for rooms, but all were expensive resorts - one place was 1,000,000 Rupiah per night! After an hour, and with the afternoon rains closing in, I was thinking about going to Malang when three men (one speaking good English) pulled up and asked what I was doing. I said I was looking for "ekonomi hotel". They told me to get in and that they could help. I showed them an area that wikitravel suggested and they took me there, asking people along the way, and even phoning his sister for advice on cheap hotels! I ended up at a place called the Arumdalu hotel - and they had rooms for 70,000 Rupiah (£5). The men and I had a round of photographs, they took my Facebook details and drove off.

Soon after arriving the heavens opened and it rained ALL afternoon and into the evening. I didn't go out exploring, had some dinner in the hotel and read a book called Bangkok eight that I'd picked up in a bookswap. Not the sort of book I'd normally go for but it's quite absorbing. I think I was possibly the only guest in the hotel. The swimming pool was empty and being cleaned - ready for the high-season and the influx of wealthy tourists from Surabaya and Melang.

Determined to see this cute colonial mountain town I was up at 5:30am and out by 6am. Nothing was open, and just a few people were wandering about - all of those people said hello! It was already misty and cool, and felt a little like rain. There's apple orchards here and you can buy apples and apple related products everywhere! There's supposed to be a Hindu temple but I could not find it at all, asking people left me a little more lost - time to learn a little more of the language! I went back for my free breakfast - an enormous buffet, I'm sure for only me! (I had seconds). The town is cute and serves as a great base for hiking - but I had lots of this to come further east - so I packed the bags and headed back to Malang.

Phayao, Thailand

We get on a ridiculously groovy bus in Chiang Rai and make the pleasant 5 hour journey to Phayao. I have my head hanging out of the window like a dog for most of the journey so my face feels like I've had plastic surgery on arrival. Looking for accommodation we bump into a buxom happy lady selling nicely hand painted bookmarks and postcards. She helps us out loads (to the point of us following her like sheep while she motorcycles in front) so we buy a couple of thing from her to say thanks. Phayao is nearly off the tourist radar so there are no guest houses or dorm's. What is does have though is (one) concrete monster of a hotel (say prison) with bags of character. It's called Tharn Thong and I suspect that this may be the only place to stay here. Walking into reception is like going back in time with 80's wood styling and furnishings abound and colours to match. The absolute highlight must be the switchboard. I won't describe it so look at the picture down the page - epic - I would like one in my home. The receptionists , who seem a little bewildered that we're there, offer us a clean and functional room for a bargain 170 Baht. It has the essential feature in the old style analogue phone that connects to the epic switchboard.

I love to mooch about and Phayao is amazing for this, almost perfect. There's lots to see in every day things. We thought about hiring a bike from the hotel but they all had punctures and no pump so we stroll off in a random direction. There's a group of local men gathered and a pretty Thai girl in a red and white outfit shouting down a microphone; turns out she's selling power tools. Around the corner there's a little man making what look like "chromozones" in what appears to be his living room. His wife is also happily tidying in the background so we say hi and grab a bag - and they're delicious.

There's lots of Wat's here, in various states of repair, all un-touristic, with monks slowly going about their business. Inside they're nothing special at all with old sofas pushed around the edges; I like this, it gives them a homely feel. The quiet roads are lined with spacious wooden houses with little gardens and driveways, there's an obvious pride in the town.

Panel from a Wat - with mosaic tiles missing

Wat Sri Khom Kham is a curious place. Slightly out of the town on the main road. Inside the main building is a giant sitting Buddha with a lap width of 14 meters. Around the edge are small electronic Buddha's in glass boxes, all in the different poses depending on what you want to pray for. You pop a coin in and something is shouted at you. We had a look around the back at the monastery where the young monks were pretending martial arts with brooms; until Anna walks past and they stop and giggle to each other. Further round there's a Buddhist depiction of hell (Naraka) in sculptures. I've not seen anything quite like this, containing endless suffering (until rebirth) and nudity in equal measures.

With some giant dark clouds approaching we head back and get to the lake in time to shelter under some trees. The lake is the largest freshwater lake in the north and has a sunken temple in the middle. We didn't visit it but you can pay a local to take you out in his rowing boat (motorboats not allowed). I'm not sure how you would actually see the temple from the surface but you can see it on a Google earth satellite image. With the rain now coming through the trees we run to a bandstand, populated by someone who's been removing some speakers from a huge stage with the picture of the king on it. I nip to a little stall and grab 3 Changs for us to wait the rain out. Questioning him wasn't easy, he spoke broken English, but Anna reported that he'd blurted fluent English when I went to get the beers!? (I'll check with her and update). The weather cleared and we saw a large fire in the distance and also the first other westerner we'd seen, with his Thai girlfriend. 

Long live the king

Serpent on the lake

Post-storm sunset

We'd read about a falang pizza place on wikitravel and my cheese craving was driving us to find it. It took 20 minutes (with some pictures of the St. Georges cross (Jubilee?) drains) then it melted into view: brick oven pizza! My mouth was already salivating by the time the friendly waitress from a southern US states greets us and we quickly order a half-and-half. One half being a cheese extravaganza and the other a meaty pepperoni. No beer is sold here and we ask if we can grab one from a shop and drink it at the table. We get a flat no. The pizza is tasty and is munched in a few minutes (I greedily had Anna's last slice). It contained genuine mozzarella and other "real" cheeses (it's been a while for me). My only preference is that I would like a thin or thick crust choice ;) About an hour later I get the very satisfied feeling of chronic indigestion and the cheese-sweats. Bliss. I shall be updating the wikitravel entry with some of this information when I get a moment.