Mel's Net.Photo.Tour of Indonesia and Singapore
I just had the wonderful opportunity of spending two weeks
in Indonesia followed by two days in Singapore!!! The trip was an
early graduation present from my mother for my soon (?) PhD. She
figured once I was finished and had a real job that I wouldn't have
time to take a trip like this anymore. She also seems to think that
since I will be getting married that this was our last hurrah of a
trip together...I sure hope not.
I will try to make this as easy as possible for all to view,
since there are over 100 photos tucked in here. I have writen
a *brief* description of the trip and have included lots and lots
of pictures. Most of the links below are to pages of photos,
sometimes a whole page, sometimes just a photo or two.
Enjoy, let me know what you think...
We flew into the island of Bali early on December 30th. As
we came in, we had a great view of Gunung Agung, it is Bali's highest
and holiest peak. An active volcano, it last erupted in 1963.
Our lodging was at the Bali Intercontinental...terrible view:-)
New Year's Eve was spent in a the royal temple at Mengwi...it rained
...we got soaked...but we had food and fun...
On New Year's Day we headed out on a tour of the island. First stop
was a batik "factory" where they make both woven and dyed batik
cloths...I even managed to get two of them that were used as
tablecloths on New Year's Eve...(long story). We made a quick
stop in a beautiful valley of rice terraces. Next stop was lunch
at Penelokan ("Place for Looking") with a view of Mt. Batur and
Lake Batur just outside the window. From there it was a short haul
to Pura Ulun Danu, or Batur Temple. We also stopped at Tirta Empul
This temple and holy spring was supposedly created by the god Indra
to revive an ailing army. He pierced the earth and out flowed amerta,
the water of immortality. Stops were also made on the way back in Mas
to see the wood carvers, in Ubud to see the artists (painters) at work
and in Celuk where the silver and goldsmiths work.
The next day, before we boarded the ship, mother and I made a
trip up to Denpasar, the capital. We went to the Bali Museum which
stood on the grounds of the armory for an old palace. Also made a
stop at *the* Catholic Church on Bali...interesting...
The next part of the trip was an 8 day cruise on The Song
of Flower, a small luxury cruise ship which has room for about
170 passengers...superb!!! Because this is a small ship, we could get
into ports that larger cruise ships were unable to; however, there were
still a few places like Komodo and Lombok that we used the ship's
tender, the Tiny Flower. We also used the Tiny Flower to make our
way around Krakatau.
The first stop...Komodo...the island of the famous Komodo
dragons. These are giant monitor lizards, reaching 10 feet in
length and about 130 kilos. They can inflict serious harm with
their tails, their saliva will give you blood poisoning....They can
force an entire goat in their mouths, although they have a little]
trouble with the heads of horses and buffalo. They eat carrion, they
kill animals and they eat their own dead...not picky, I suppose.
These are some incredible animals...easy to see where myths and
legends arose.
Next port was Lombok, the island directly east of Bali. We
made a stop at one of the markets, a spot where a hindu temple stands
right next to a muslim "temple"(..not really a mosque). There were also
plenty of opportunities to see Ganung Rinjani another of the many active
volcanoes in this region of the world. We made a stop at a traditional
Sasak village, an animist people who migrated from mainland Asia via
Java and Bali. Transportaion on much of the island is left to these.
From Lombok we sailed to the port of Semarang
on the island of Java. From here we went overland to Borobudur,
the largest Buddhist temple in the world. Built around 800 A.D., it was
abandoned soon after and then covered by jungle and volcanic crud.
Sir Stamford Raffles ordered the clearing or Borobudur in 1814, but it
was only in 1907 that real reconstruction was begun. In 1973 UNESCO
became involved in the restoration.
The temple itself has 10 levels, but only a portion of the bottom
level is visible. The next five levels are bas relief of the life of
Sidharta. The top three levels are circular terraces supporting 72
latticed dagobs (miniature stupas), each containing a statue of dhyani
Buddha. The top is crowned by a large dagob with two pyramidal chambers.
On the way back to the ship, we had the chance to see rice being
harvested in the traditional method...by hand. And while much of the
transportaion on Lombok is by pony carts, near Semarang it is in pedicabs.
The next stop was an afternoon in Jakarta, the capital of
Indonesia. We had a few options, and chose to go outside the city to a few
stops there. First we stopped at the museum which serves as a display
medium for presents to Indonesian President Suharto. We only had 45 minutes
there...NOT enough. We did see some incredible things in there though.
We also went to a park called Taman Mini Indonesia. This park has 27
full-size traditional houses, one from each of Indonesia's provinces.
The next day was a stop at Krakatau, or what is left of the old
volcano that rocked the world in 1883. When all the waves and dust
had calmed, three fourths of Krakatau was gone. All that remained was
the southern peak of Rakata. Anak Krakatau (Child of Krakatau) began
emerging from the sea in 1928 and is still growing. The remainder of Rakata
drops off 1000 feet to the sea. Anak Krakatau stands about 500 feet high
and its crater rim sits close to the vent of Perbuatan, the peak which erupted.
Before I end this trip, here are some scenery pictures
and some flowers that I kind of liked.
We ended our journey with two days in Singapore....definitely not
enough time to spend in this wonderful city. Singapore is a spotlessly
clean city and the locals are proud. Today's fun fact: 90% of the people
in/on Singapore live in high rises. We had a quick tour of some of the
town, including Chinatown and a quick buzz through the National Orchid
Garden. I didn't get a chance to see Arab Street nor much of the old
Colonial Singapore. We spent a morning at the Singapore Zoological Gardens
and an afternoon at the Jurong BirdPark.
Then we flew home :-)
Let me know what you think....oh, and sign the
guest book :-)
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