Brian's Journeys: November 2008

Dear Friends,

I have returned! No not from death but from a place where too long of a visit would certainly result in it-- England. After spending 30 days on the tropical islands of Indonesia i was welcomed to the British Isles by the first October snow in 70 years. More on that later, let me catch you up on my travels chronologically (because that's how the images roll off my camera).

Bukittinggi, Sumatra

As with most of Indonesia, Western Sumatra has it's own distinct culture. Two of the most interesting features of the Minangkabau are the architecture and their matrilineal society. The latter doesn't make for very good photos but the architecture is a highlight and I hopped on board with a tour to see some of it. To the Minangkabau the Buffalo is the holiest of all animals and is seen symbolized in nearly everything-- check out the rooflines.

While on the tour the guide pulled the van over to show us this guy. At the end of his rope is a monkey about 40 feet up pulling the coconuts down.

Walking through the paddies to see the coconut-harvesting-monkey.

This a rice storage building. All roofs look something like this, designed to resemble the horns of the Buffalo.

My New Best Friend
The lines between business and pleasure are not very distinct here. One evening I went out to enjoy the after dark activities (for it was still Ramadan and people like to celebrate nightly) and I met a local guy with whom I made arrangements to see some local sights the next day. Among them, the largest flower in the world, a local valley where there is some good climbing, and a large bat species known as flying foxes.

Without me grabbing one, there is no way to capture the size of these things but there bodies are about the size of a cat and wingspan approaching a meter.

On the way to see the Rafflesia Arnoldi. Here rice dries in the street. I wondered what kind of traffic delays this caused. I later found out that it is perfectly acceptable to drive across the rice.

From where we left our motorbike we walked about 2 miles through paddies, jungle, and ravines to this dying bloom of Rafflasia Arnoldi. Blooms only last a few days and then decay quickly. The flower looks and smells more like an exploded pumpkin than any flower I have seen. It is actually pollinated by flies that mistake its odor as rotting flesh.

My whole trip I had really wanted to do some camping. Opportunities aren't really that plentiful though. Volcanoes seem to be the exception where locals hike up to the top either for spiritual renewal or lucrative sulfur scavenging. After leaving Sumatra I made my way to Cibodas in West Java, home to Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park. I set out early afternoon to hike the 6,000 vertical feet to the upper lip of the crater. Rain drove me into my tent before the top. Surprisingly there were lots of of other people hiking it-- and all local. In Central America I remember noticing how the national parks are largely utilized only by foreigners. And while a lot of the locals hiking here were loud and messy there were also some toting garbage bags and cleaning up what others had left behind.

The sight from the volcano summit (3019 meters). The clouds below extended as far as you could see, only broken by the volcano Gede next to Pangrango.

Crater of Pangrango, Gede in background.

Javanese Edelweiss

Buffalo making me a little nervous.

Bamboo.

No Scratching. Borobudour, Java.

Buddhist Relief, Borobudour

My daily dose of calcium. That's a good lookin ice cream cone.

Tempe!!!! My favorite vegetarian food, fermented soybeans.

Some fellow hikers and I at Gede Pangrango National Park. I forgot to look tough. At the request of every group of young people I passed, I posed for a lot of photos.

Prambanan. Hindu temples from year 850.

Borobudour, Buddist Temples from the 8th century

Gili Air, an island off of Lombok. The reef around the island is mostly dead and broken from years fo fish-bombing but the sea life is still plentiful. I saw 3 turtles while snorkeling just 50 yards offshore.

Prize fighters, Bali.

Morning offerings at a Hindu shrine, Bali.

Waiting for a beard trimming.

Prambanan, Java

I believe this guy is harvesting Palm Oil though I can't be sure. Bali.

Tulumben, Bali. The USSAT Liberty lies beneath the water here. It was torpedoed by the Japanese in WWII and taken in tow and beached on Bali to salvage the cargo. An eruption pushed it offshore 50 years ago and now it is a superb dive site. I did 3 dives here.

Ferry from Lombok to Bali. Bali and Mount Agung (right, above the clouds) in the background.

Captain

Sunset at Gili Air off Lombok.

One evening in Ubud, Bali I went for a walk though the rice fields. It was a designated route, I had a map and a compass but I still got lost. Right in the middle of the trail I found this guy. He was about a foot long and beautiful. The next day i came across a group of local reptile enthusiast (I could identify them as this because they were holding an 8 foot python). They told me it is known as a Pitbull Gecko as they are known to bite human handlers and don't like to let go until you either suffocate them in water or take a blade to their neck.

I know it looks like i am hitting this lady with a handful of rice stalks but I am actually helping to remove the rice.

Rice terraces, Bali.

My plan to get home was to just pick up the cheapest airfares I could until I landed back in the States. My first leg was a flight on Etihad Airlines from Jakarta to Abu Dhabi. Etihad flies dozens of routes to less-developed countries to maintain the flow of migrant workers into Dubai. After booking my flight to Abu Dhabi I checked on hotel rooms. The cheapest one I could find was 200 dollars a night. There was no way i would pay that for a room. I was fully prepared to sleep in the airport or pitch my tent in the desert, but upon leaving the airport i saw a rental car desk and i did what any budget-minded person would do-- slept in the backseat of a Toyota Camry. Fuel is cheap enough there that I probably should have kept the car on with the A/C running but I didn't. The next day I drove the 100 km to Dubai. I found most of the city to be somewhat sterile, like Singapore. The exception was Old Dubai where the Dubai Creek is packed with boat traffic, mostly wooden freighters from Iran.