indonesia
-
Back to City Life in Jakarta, Indonesia
–
On March 6 2013, my good friend and travel buddy Jan and I finally made it out of the expanses of Java, and into Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta. Arrival in Jakarta was a long time coming – It’s a city I’ve heard about continuously for years. Two close friends of mine have moved there for extended…
-
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
–
After making the long trek by bus across Eastern Java, Jan and I finally made it to the cultural capital of Indonesia, Yogyakarta. As the cultural capital, the town is filled with vendors selling locally made silver jewlrey, batiked textiles, and a whole host of other artwork and handycrafts. Jan and I only had one…
-
Indonesia’s Prambanan, Surviving After The 2006 Java Earthquake
–
After sunrise at Borobudur, Jan and I headed over to the Hindu Temple of Prabanan. The temple’s design and construction is a stark contrast to the looks of Borobudur. Although the main temples still stand, Java’s 2006 earthquake destroyed almost all of the peripheral temples, leaving only foundations. Reconstruction efforts continue, and we were lucky…
-
Morning Fog At The Buddhist Temple of Borobudur
–
After an early morning sunrise on Mt. Ijen and another at Mt. Bromo, Jan and I decided to continue the trend and go for a 3rd sunrise at the ancient Mahayana Buddhist Temple of Borobudur. A bit on Borobudur, from Wikipedia: Borobudur, or Barabudur, is a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist Temple in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia.…
-
Sunrise at Mt. Bromo
–
Leg two of our journey across Java took us to the foot of Mt. Bromo, a stratovolcano that lies smoking inside the Tengger caldera. Pics. After a long enough drive from Mt. Ijen to the mountains surrounding Mt. Bromo, we arrived in the mountain town of Sukapura to check in to the Yoschi Hotel. Nestled…
-
Mining Pure Sulfur in the Smoking Crater of Mt. Ijen, Java
–
High up in the mountains of East Java, Indonesia, Mt. Ijen’s crater smokes and bubbles with sulfur gas. The sulfur hear leaks out of the volcanic crater in a giant plume of smoke, and local miners, wearing little more than gas masks, collect the sulfur and hike it out of the crater on their backs.…
-
Sailing Eastward In Search Of Komodo Dragons
–
After a few weeks in Bali, it was time for me to move on – to the far east of Indonesia. Meeting up with adventure operator Perama Tours, I made the long voyage eastward to see the Komodo Dragons of Komodo and Rinca islands, Indonesia. A few pics. Our boat departed from Lombok, an island…
-
Ubud’s Monkey Forest
–
In the heart of Ubud, Bali, a group of Macaque Monkeys lives in the sacred monkey forest. More on the Monkey Forest from MonkeyForestUbud.com: The Sacred Monkey Forest of Padangtegal is owned by the village of Padangtegal. Village members serve on the Sacred Monkey Forest’s governing council (The Padangtegal Wenara Wana Foundation). The Padangtegal Wenara…
-
Into the Balinese Mountains: Munduk
–
After a few weeks on the beach in Bali, it was time time get out – and into the cool air of the northern Balinese mountains. Friend Andi was nice enough to have rented me a motor bike the week prior, and so I packed up my bags, hopped on the bike, and headed up…
-
Surfing and Partying in Kuta, Bali
–
After a week or two relaxing in Ubud, I moved down to Kuta to check out the surfing and partying scene. Initially I went down with friend Cynthia to surf for a few days – but stayed longer to meet up with Jessica and friends to do a bit of market research on bars in…
-
Relaxing in Ubud, Bali
–
While exploring Bali, I spent a good amount of time in Ubud. My now good friend Jessica graciously hosted me at her amazingly nice house just north of Ubud, and between her and a bunch of other friends, I had a great time hanging out for a few weeks. A few pics from Ubud. Tasty…
-
Preparing for the Silence at Bali’s Tawur Kesanga Festival
–
My first day in Ubud, Bali was certainly exciting. After flying back from Yogyakarta with Jessica, Cynthia, Anna, and Alisa, we immediately headed into the center of Ubud for the traditional Balinese Tawur Kesanga Festival. A little background.. From Expat.or.id: The day before Nyepi is known as Tawur Kesanga or Pengerupuk and is the day…
-
Exploring the Batik Markets of Yogyakarta, Java
–
After taking part in Ana and Andang’s beautiful wedding, I went the next morning with my group of girls to explore Yogyakarta’s Batik industry. Yogyakarta is knows as the cultural capital of Java, and one of the crafts that they do there is Batik. A few shots from our explorations: Waking up in the morning…