Francis Peppett Photography

Bakso, a spongy meatball that often bobs around in a noodly broth, is hawked from mobile carts that sit to the side of mammoth Jakarta's city streets. We spend two days in Indonesia's gargantuan capital, struggling to penetrate it's interior, spending more time in its infamous traffic jams than in its smoggy, yet colourful neighborhoods.

A crack of thunder rings out across Jakarta, signalling the start of yet another downpour in the city. It seems to perpetually rain across the nation's capital, often turning the streets into humid, saturated torrents of water. Moments before the downpour, a street hawker looks on from under the safety of his umbrella.

Sumatra is a land of majestic wildlife, proud people and an ancient, breathtaking natural world. It's also home to endless and eerie palm oil plantations – an indelible reminder of our human impact. We spot this Macaque at the start of our two night trek into the depths of Sumatran jungle.

We embark on a sweat-inducing, up and down trek into Sumatran jungle, spending two nights under the stars, sleeping on bamboo mats in a basic shack next to a raging river. The goal is to see a Orangutan - we seemingly are lucky, as see them on three separate occasions on our wanderings through the dense jungle canopy.

Leaving the jungle behind, we drive through desolate and eerie palm oil plantations, a stark reminder of the indelible human impact on Indonesia's natural landscape. We stop briefly in Parapat, awaiting our ferry over to Samosir Island, an island within and island. As we pick-up some provisions, a fruit-seller is hit by the dappled afternoon sun.

Bali - a place where over-tourism buts up against a fierce, colourful and riotous local culture. One evening we head over to the Canguu Beach, full of tourists and locals, enjoying the sunset.

Ubud - a burgeoning town of Instagram wellness, swimming pool villas and oat-matcha lattes. It feels jarring, yet, within it's increasingly stretched interior, Buddhist temples sit awash with daily offerings, and rice paddies still pockmark its hillsides. As we potter around green terraces, a farmer ushers us over for a chat and a photo, for a small tip. How long such traditional farming practices exist in the face of rampant and unfettered development, remains to be seen.

Only ten years old, Bali United are in their infancy, but pull on the heartstrings of a football mad nation. Ultras, mainly in their twenties, amass in one corner of the stadium, flying tifos and lighting flares. As their game against Persija Jakarta stumbles towards full-time with no goals, an incredibly soft penalty is given to the home side. When it's dispatched by their veteran Montenegrin striker Spasojevic In the 97th minute - cue delirium in the stands.

We climb the 3,726m Mount Rinjani over the course of two days. Our first day is a challenging hike of around 8 hours, yet the second is brutal. Waking up at 2am, we slog and slide up the final 1000 metres through volcanic sand - by days end we've been hiking for 14 hours. Yet, our efforts cannot compare to the back-breaking work of porters, who carry food, tents and drinking water on their backs wearing only flip-flops. As we stop for water, a porter pauses for a quick smoke in a small outbuilding, nestled to the side of the main path up the mountain.

Indonesia has the most active volcanoes in the world, and Java's eastern fringes are home to many of them. With another painfully early rise, we bundle into the back of a jeep and speed along a huge caldera basin, named the 'sea of sand', towards the looming Mount Bromo. Along with hundreds of other tourists, we begin a small climb to various vantage points nestled against an adjacent hillside, awaiting the slow rise of the sun. As the world awakens, a vista of steamy volcanic vents, rippling craters and looming peaks begin to take shape in front of us.

The sea of sand, a huge plain that surrounds Mount Bromo is full of men with horses, offering rides to the tourists that have come to view the imperious slew of volcanoes. Diwon and his horse Bakong stand out, with his iridescent white fur and dyed pink mane.