The Elusive Javanese Cup of Coffee

23 August 2010 A cup of Javanese coffee is a lesson on life. Within hours of arriving on Java I had my first, heavily anticipated, cup of real Java coffee. I hated it. I was angry. It was the grainiest cup of coffee I had ever had. I hoped that I had just made a mistake and that a better cup of coffee could be found at a superior coffee establishment....

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Turquoise and Brimstone at Ijen

25-August-2010 Being a sulfur miner at Kawah Ijen is not your normal 9 to 5 job. Just imagine what it would be like if you were one of the hardy 1300 souls who claim this rare profession. Your workday starts between 2 and 4 AM amongst the pre-dawn mist shrouding the volcano-studded Ijen Plateau in East Java. Your commute consists of a 3 kilometer...

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Beautiful, Beautiful Bromo

23-24 August 2010 I first learned of Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park (Bromo) when researching this trip. Chances are, reading this post, this is the first time you have heard of this ethereal landscape. I remember looking at the photo of Bromo in the front of the Indonesian Lonely Planet Guidebook and thinking two things; that is unreal and we...

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