Despite yesterday’s rain, the snow has proved to be tenacious. When I woke up this morning we’d had a fresh dusting of the stuff which had added to the several inches which has survived. It’s melting, slowly, but I suspect it’s going to hang around for several days yet.

Due to the treacherous conditions underfoot and with other plans in mind I haven’t ventured out at all today. Instead, I’ve been busy scanning through airline and other travel websites. Now – finally – we have a winter break arranged as I’ve just booked the pair of us on a flight from Manchester to Jakarta (Indonesia). We fly on the 14th January. This will be Dawn’s first visit to Indonesia, although it’s certainly not mine. The last time I was in Java was in 2017. The plan is slowly taking shape but the outline is that we’ll have a couple of days in Jakarta to get used to the new climate and time zone as we’re going to be swapping sub-zero temperatures for a wet and humid 29-31 degrees! After Jakarta we’ll be travelling overland by rail to Yogyakarta for a couple of days in order to visit some of the superb ancient temples in the area as well as enjoy the city itself. Continuing by rail we’ll be popping into Surabaya before continuing by rail all the way East to Ketapang, where we’ll be catching a ferry across the narrow strait to…Bali. January’s not the optimal time of year to visit this neck of the woods but I’ve done it several before and really enjoyed it as it’s quieter and the rain doesn’t last all day by any means.

Whatever the weather, It’s going to be lovely to be back in South-East Asia. I’m looking at extending my trip beyond the few weeks Dawn has in order to maximise our holiday time together before I go off to travel solo and visit some of the region’s rail projects. But first, we’ll be enjoying some amazing sights, scenery and fabulous food – as well as some lovely accommodation. The value quality of places to stay in Bali is hard to beat. So, expect a real range of pictures and blogs later this month, and into February (and maybe March). Here’s a taster. This is the incredible Buddhist temple at Borobudur, just outside Yogyakarta.

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