5th March 1992 Day 229

The Diary
We crawled out in the dark and had porridge for breakfast and then climbed into the back of a jeep. It seemed that virtually everyone else staying at Yoschi's was about to climb the volcano too. We arrived at the starting point, parked alongside about 30 other jeeps and got the torch ready. Initially we walked down a steep hill behind a group of other people and some locals with their horses, offering their services.

It's pretty cold at the top of a volcano at 5am

I thought we were dawdling a bit and within minutes, we were on our own, in the dark and the fog, with no idea which was the correct direction. We saw a light and headed towards it stumbling as we went. The light was a motorcycle headlight that was gradually moving away from us but we managed to follow it and some guiding stones across the "sea of sand" until we caught up with the others. We climbed up the 246 steps to the crater and joined the several hundred Japanese, assorted Europeans and handful of locals at the top. 

It was 4:48am. We had to wait about an hour for it to begin to get light all the time breathing in sulphurous gases from the crater. Unfortunately as the sun came up the enveloping clouds got even thicker. So we headed back and arrived at Yoschi's sometime between 7 and 8am and went to bed. We got up, it rained, we sat in the restaurant, we ate and we went to bed. Oh happy birthday Andy, 16 today.

2012
Andy Clark - now 36, father of James, husband/partner of Jan, mate of Bobby Robson, Slough-based fuel manager, player/manager of Middlesbrough Supporters Club South, brother-in-law of the Middlesbrough Citizen of the Year 2012, Kung Fu Panda look-a-like, runner-up in the Boro Supporter of the year poll, Facebook king and twitterer @BoroSouthFC. Oh and my brother too (which is obviously the best bit).