It was a long drive on the back of the motorbike of Bram, my city tourguide of the day. But we arrived in Kota Tua and visited the old buildings of the Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie.
Funny, cause after the Maritime museum and the VOC Dockyard, I ended up in the Compagnie.id, a new coffee house in the Old Town. The barista’s invited me inside for a free coffee, as they celebrated their soft opening. Jakarta always surprises.
It is good to see that the city is renovating its heritage buildings, although more can be done and saved. Although I realise money can be only spend only once, and I more urgent causes are in need of support.
Finally I find an orange cap for my coming support of the Formula 1 races in Kuala Lumpur next week. Next will be a shirt and a flag. Really wondering if I will ever find that in time in Jakarta…
The climb of Gunung (mount) Kawah Ijen was steep and cold, very cold. I was not prepared for such an icy wind in the tropical island of Java. After a couple of hours we reached the rim and descended into the crater. Meanwhile miners were passing the hikers upwards. A shame: if I say a fifty hikers for each miner, then I even estimate it low.
The miners carry baskets with at least 50 kilo sulfur each as they are paid by the kilo. The more the better, but not for their health. Once approaching the sulfur mine, the penetrating gases are giving you tears in your eyes. Miners are chopping pieces of sulfur in the middel of blasts of smoke. Right behind them is the blue fire. There are only two vulcano’s in the world with this phenomena, and this is the biggest.
Was it the cold, the anorganic gasses, the fatigue or combination of them all that made me halucinative? Just watch your self what I saw in the blue flames…
Vandaag werden de tien genomineerde winnaars voor de BBB bekend en helaas, ik zit er niet bij. Dus daar gaat mijn weekje London voor de eindstrijd en de hoofdprijs zelf (Een reis over de wereld, 25 landen binnen 6 maanden, en een buidel van Vijftig Duizend Dollar als je die taak goed volbrengt…
Voor degenen die het helemaal gemist hebben hier nog mijn promotiefilmpje voor Manila!
Subject: Biggest, Baddest, Bucket List – The Finalists
Hi there Tet, It’s been a long old journey, but we got there in the end. Although our initial decision was to send all of you around the world, we were informed that we weren’t actually allowed to do that. Therefore, we are sorry to say that you are not one of the Top 10 Finalists in the Biggest, Baddest Bucket List.
We appreciate the time, effort, heart and soul you put into creating your entry for the competition and we want to thank you so very, very much for taking part in the first place. We really couldn’t have made this campaign what it has become without you.
Seriously. There were over 1,550 entries from more than 640 destinations around the world and we worked day and night to try and get our huge list of superstars down to just ten candidates. We read every travel tale, watched every piece of footage submitted and gazed longingly at each and every photograph.
We very much enjoyed your video, showing us your beloved Manila! We loved how well you interacted with the locals and showed us the many exciting facets of a destination you are clearly passionate about. We can’t believe that was a pineapple either, we hope it tasted as good as it looked. It is quite obvious the amount of effort and thought you put in.
We hope you’ve enjoyed participating in the competition, and we very much hope you will continue to follow it as the next stage unfolds…it is far from over yet! And you never know, the overall winner could be visiting a destination near you soon, and there’s a rumour going round that we’ll be looking for local guides to help us find the best possible places to visit, so do keep an eye out onwww.mydestination.com/bbb.
In addition, we will continue showcasing the amazing content you have created across our social channels and on our competition site. The network of travel-mad and very talented individuals this competition has allowed us to connect with can only get bigger and better over time, and we would love to keep the #MyBBB community thriving. Please do not ever hesitate to come and talk to us on Twitter or Facebook, or drop us a message if you fancy! We’re always willing to talk travel 🙂 From all of us here at My Destination… THANK YOU!
Voetnoten 
Let me know that…