After narrowly avoiding plunging himself into what was possibly an over-chlorined pool and causing unpleasant rashes and skin shedding, the potential unpleasantness of the day appeared to have been evaded.

Unfortunately for the Tai Pan does Indonesia, and more so for the poor woman who was hit by the van he was a passenger in, this was not the case. Despite the traumatic nature of the whole situation, the women was fine, well as he states:

“As fine as you could be when getting hit head on by a minibus.”

Then, out of nowhere, in the aftermath of the incident a funeral parade emerged…

To read his thoughts on the incident packed day and see a video of the visual flamboyance that was the funeral festivities be sure to visit his post.

A post to point you at what can argubly be considered the most cliched of holiday snaps, the foreign sunrise.

Although many may decree the image tired and over sold, to do so out-of-hand is short sighted. I feel that the rising sun that STA Explorer Tai Pan does Indonesia has snaffled into his lens is enough of a reason for people to stick with the concept. Admittedly, not everyone is going to be able to capture dawn from Gili Meno, but hey, that’s why you pack a bag and go travelling!

OK, there isn’t a statuette or anything - it’s just the opinion of our STA Explorer Stu Owens - but this guy is an Asian veteran, having taken a number of trips around the continent over the past few years, so he knows weird shit when he sees it. Currently travelling through Indonesia, Stu was prepared for some Vietnam-style strangeness. But despite staying in a grim guest house, his latest blog update shows him more simply blown away by the sheer beauty of Bali and the Islands of Menjangan. And you can’t argue with these photos. Head over and let Stu know if you have your own nomination in the motorbiking weird shit awards.

STA Explorers Meg and Mojo have returned from their couple of months interrailing round Europe, and looking back, they found it much more difficult than expected to keep uploading and sharing their travel content, due to time, lack of internet connection or expensive access. Of course, this is a big issue for any aspiring travel blogger, and we’d love any of you out there to send us your links and share your top tips for how to stay connected on the road.

Stu kept a record of his time in Indonesia and is uploading content now he’s back. Isobel has been wearing a head torch and using her precious hours of electricity in Nepal to get her posts online. Of course, travel blogging’s so satisfying partly because of the challenge…

More STA Explorer activity! This time from The Tai Pan Does Indonesia, or as we know him, Stu.

Now when I said activity, I meant ‘grrr’ activity, volcano clambering to be exact. The titan of a natural feature in question was Mount Batur, an active fellow towering 1,717 metres (according to some extremely fallible wikipedia based research).

The climb required some ultra-early morning rousing from Stu, but it all proved worthwhile:

“What more do you need to experience when traveling then something that you would never get the chance to do in a million years.”

You can read Stu’s own words here that cover the extremely specialised preparation Stu put in the night before…

Photographer and Asian explorer Stu (aka ‘The Taipan’) has found his own solution to the problem of unreliable net access when abroad. Finding it difficult to stay switched on during his trip in Indonesia, Stu instead compiled his blog posts and photos as he went and is now uploading them once he’s back.

He’s just uploaded his first post , describing his arrival in Ubud and the fantastic accommodation at Artini cottages, as well as adding his first lot of photos to his Flickr account - they’re enough to make you weep on a cold autumn day in the UK.

Keep an eye on The Taipan’s Space of Jolly Goodness for more Indonesian tales and tips as Stu uploads, and ask him any questions about the experience on the blog or through his Twitter.

Our latest STA Explorer Stu Owens - aka The Tai Pan - is seriously looking forward to his trip to Indonesia. Having travelled all over south east Asia for the past seven years (meaning that he got to know the inside of his local STA Travel branch in Nottingham pretty damn well) and even lived and worked in Thailand and Taiwan for two years, Stu is going to be a godsend to any other STA travellers needing advice and insights into the Indonesian experience.

He’s blogging here and microblogging here but you’ll also want to keep an eye on his Flickr account as Stu is an avid photographer, planning on capturing the people and landscapes of the region like never before.

With a week or so before he sets off, Stu has already been blogging about vaccinations, reminding Asian adventurers how important they are and recommending a good website for research into which jabs do the job.