Sempu Island

ALL OF THESE PHOTOS ARE TAKEN FROM OTHER PEOPLE. MAINLY FROM IAN WHITE, OUR RESIDENT PHOTOGRAPHER. BUT I COULD HAVE TAKEN JUST AS GOOD PHOTOS... SO WE CAN PRETEND THEY'RE MINE... The port where we got boats to cross to the island

Morning on the river

This past weekend was one of the best trips I have done in a very very long time. It's called Sempu Nature Reserve, and it's off the Southern coast of Java. It's an island right off the mainland that is a nature resurve (thus the name) and it is completely human-free.

The lagoonThe Lagoon with small hole entrance (you dont have to climb through this to get into the lagoon, its where the water crashes through) The beach

We rented a van to drive us overnight from Surabaya and arrive at the little port at about 5 am, where we had some breakfast and hired a boat and porter to cross the river and hike into the "secret lagoon".

Morning on the beach

Waves crashing through the hole

Sunset through the enterence


Awsome shot

The boat drops you off at a little trailhead, and you spend the next hour or so winding through the jungle until you finally reach a blue-green calm lagoon. You hike around the lagoon and come to a little white sand beach. The lagoon is completely surrounded by the little mountains, and their is a little hole where the crashing waves splash water into the lagoon. I think there is also some underwater caves where the water can rise and fall with the tides.

South Javanese Coastline

The crashing waves is where the hole is

The lagoon is really nice, and we spend the day swimming and reading, relaxing and trying out best to stay out of the scorching sun. Right up some jagged rock area is a gorgeous view along the edge of the island, and the rough seas smashing into the cliffs, spraying wayer in all directions. There are also lots of little islands scattered around in the distance.

More lagoon shots

Where the hills came together is a great viewpoint of the ocean and the island's coast

We hung out and really enjoyed swimming in the lagoon, taking photos and playing around on the beach. We slept on sheets out in the open and expect for a little rain, and the tides rising and hitting us, it was a decent night. the next morning I went to see the sun rise over the side of the island from a lookout 30 feet above the crashing waves. I wasn't able to see the sun, so I climbed up to a lookout point, which was a really hard and steep climb straight up (luckily it was short). The view from there was breathtaking. You can see the whole lagoon, and the jungled interiour of the island, and the rough angry seas churning on the other side of the camp and peaceful lagoon. It was about 6 am when I got there, and everyone else was just waking up, so you can see morning fires for breakfast, some people washing things in the lagoon and generally waking up. It was very peaceful and quite.

The lagoon

Lagoon + beach from the viewpoint

We then spent the next 3-4 hours following a little trail that winds along the coast of the island, going up and down the hills and crossing beaches. These beaches are what you think of when you think deserted island paradise. The sand was coarse, and you could actually see the different rocks and shells creating a multicolored beach. The sand was also deep, and each step you suck into it. The waves roared and swirled offshore, and crashed anywhere they could. Its hard to describe, but it was fantastic. We saw three seperate beaches and some cool interior that looked like it was a set for Jurrasic Park. Very real jungle, without humans ruining it.

First unspoilt beach

One of the nicest beaches I've seen

We then hiked out, showered up and drove home for the evening and arrived home late at night Sunday. It was a quick weekend trip, but easily one of the best. I would love to go back and see more of the island.

PPLH and Jogja (all photos stolen from friends)

I'll use this opportunity to update two weeks worth of things that have been going on.  By things, I guess I mainly mean weekend trips, as during the week we normally play pool, go bowling, watch movies, have food nights (which are sweet) or just chill out at home.  Nothing too exciting happens during the week.

Borobudur Temple (Ian White's Photo)

After my long holiday, the first weekend back was PPLH, a natural little resort set in the foothills of a mountain catering to school groups and work outings, set in an idyllic forest with some really cool little rooms to stay in.  The best part about the rooms were the bathrooms.  The door is normal, but there is only one wall, where the door is, and part of another wall with ends in a little garden and grass area.  It's completely open, so its like you do your business in your backyard, and can see the sky, the mountains in the background and had lots of vines and flowers.  I like the infusion on inside and outside spaces that Indo has seemed to perfect.  We spent the afternoon just hanging out, playing games, reading and playing cards.  It wasn't the most exciting weekend, but any chance to get out of the heat, pollution and traffic of Surabaya is worth it!

Prambanan Temple (Dewi Lestiani's Photo)

Following that, the next weekend trip was to Jogjakarta, knows as the artistic soul of Java.  It's one of those towns that just has a great feel to it.  Loads of art, music, great coffee shops and cafes, little bars and a relatively walkable area makes it a perfect place to chill out for a couple days.  Also, there are some great Hindu and Buddhist temples around.  We took a 7 am train, and were at the hotel by 1 pm.  We spent the first day drinking by the pool, lounging around and enjoying being free from work.  It was a perfectly relaxing day.  Needless to say the drinks kept coming and it ended up being a long night as well.  However, the next morning at 445 am we woke up to do a half day tour of the temples.  They were really cool, and being a "local" with working visa, we get in for 10x's less than tourists.  That's always a plus.

The morning and afternoon were spent roaming temples, and then we returned to Jogja for some incredible sandwiches, and afternoon nap, and relaxing evening.  We caught the 7 am train back to Surabaya, and went directly into work.  It's nice being able to do morning transit back and get the extra night when we travel.

Some of the group I have joined up with are finishing their contracts, and moving on, which is a sad time, but the longer I live abroad the more I get used to people coming and going, meeting up again later on and keeping in touch with people all over.  It's great to meet such like minded people roaming the globe as I am, happy to just be out there experiencing new things.  Ruth and Rachel will be missed, and next week a new set of people leave.  But more will come and I hope they're up for the challenge of weekly trips around East Java... we'll see...

Snacks from a Bu (Bu means mother)

Thanks mom for sending me my divers card.  The best part was that Maggie says hello.  I don't know if you knew this, but she's dead. Your dogs name is MATTIE, and I bet she wanted to say hello too. But I bet Mags would have said hi if she could.

Shelley I love your blog and being able to keep up with Dom.  It's weird how much he's grown and how much he can do, and I thank you for posting so much to keep me informed (and the other people).  I hope to meet the little guy sometime in the next couple years... promise.

Selebriti (guess what it means in English)

Sampai Nanti! (until later)

Idul Fitri!

So for the past month, the month of Ramadhan, the whole of the country has been fasting during daylight hours (no food or drinks) and it finally ended. Did I mention that they stop serving alcohol during Ramadhan and the bars close down? BUT IT ENDED!!! SELAMAT IDUL FITRI!! yES.....

The Locals

So for the holiday, our ONE WEEK HOLIDAY OFF FROM WORK, friends and I traveled to the Kalimantan district of Indonesia, set on the southern part of Borneo. You may remember Malaysian Borneo from earlier posts, and also Brunei. But now I have made it to all parts of Borneo, and had another fantastic trip.

A rainbow around the sun, never seen that before...

It started off with a night in Banjarmasin, the southern Capital. It was the main day for Idul Fitri, and there were tons of food stalls, and a HUGE parade of vans and trucks filled to overload with people and semi-float like trucks. We watched them all parade by us for about an hour, and then decided to take up an offer to jump in the back of one and just see where we ended up. We jumped in the back of one particularly keen on having us, and grabbed the drums and tambourines and played along. We sped around the streets and sang whatever little bits of Indonesian songs we knew. We requested the only two we actually know, which most Indonesians enjoy singing along to. Needless to say, our presence in the back of the truck was a huge hit, and people in the street were pointing, and motorbikes would follow us as close as they could trying to get a picture of the kids in the back of the truck. Luckily, at the end the driver dropped us off right back where we started, and we got some iced teas and snacks (it was midnight) and went to the hostel to be invited to a birthday party by the owner and his friends on the roof. The party consisted of a nice bottle of scotch they traded from a ship (alcohol is illegal in Kalimantan, and everything is bought from the black market) and singing karaoke from his computer.

Probably the best shot I got all trip: Proboscis monkey jumping

We then woke up and went to the airport where we started a 4 day three night boat trip down the rivers of Tanjung Puting. It's a national part on the western side of Borneo. We took a small plane for two miniature flights and ended up across the island, where we met out driver and went to the boat, loaded up and were served lunch. The boat is a small ship, that can sleep 6 on the deck, and 3 staff below. They are equipped with a little kitchen and bathroom in the back, that flushes into the river. The boat was about 35 feel long, and about 8 feet across. Perfect size for a lazy trip up the river into the jungles of Borneo.

Sad slave monkey

For 4 days we watched orangutans come down from the canopy for feedings, glided along the rivers searching for crocodiles and proboscis monkeys, and walking through some deforested areas where they were replanting trees to replenish the forests. It was a great 4 days, and something I think almost anyone would enjoy. We got some great photos, had some amazing food (banana pancakes in the morning) and would wake up to the sounds of the jungle and river, and fall asleep to the noises of the night. We would stay up late staring at the stars and listening for Flying foxes (huge bats) which would soar around. Really really cool.

Tom: the biggest Orangutan I've ever seen. He was bigger than most gorillas I have seen in Zoos

When the trip ended, I followed everyone to the airport in the morning, but left them there, as I didn't want to pay for a flight, and had a bus ticket already booked. It would be about 20 hours on buses until I got back to the other side of Borneo, but before my trip I had about 10 hours to kill in Pangkalan Bun. I walked to the river, hoping to just walk for a while and sit the day out observing people just living their lives. The river was a city build upon stilts right on the banks, and tons of river taxis ferrying people all over. The edges of the houses were lined with a walking path that followed the river, and all the outhouses floated on the banks. Not the cleanest water, needless to say.

Chameleon showing off his ability to turn yellow-ish

I sat watching people walk down to the floating wooden docks to hail taxis, and women run their children to the outhouses in a continual attempt of potty training (no diapers would be horrible). I saw people leave in one direction, and come back the other with groceries from the nearby fish market. A man came to sit on the bench with me and talk, and within no time, his kids were hanging around watching me, and his wife had brought us out cookies and tea to have. He then invited me into his house, where I spent an hour talking to him and his cousin about the Dayak magic. The Dayak are a tribal people of Borneo. When I thought I had worn out my welcome, he went on to ask me to stay for lunch, where we had eggs, chicken, vegetables and rice, sitting on the floor. Men in the living room, women in the kitchen with the kids. We ate on a huge rug with our hands, and used bowls of water to wash them at the end.

Cinimon waiting to be dried

Then we went back to the river to hang out, and he ended up getting a taxi to show us all the way up and down the river, from the new bridge they build to the logging station at the end. He was really really nice, and so was his wife, and I cant thank them enough for showing me one of the most genuine days I have had in a long long time. It made me think of going to friends villages in Thailand. I couldn't have asked for more.

Proof that humans are cooler than apes, even in death

I then got to my bus and spent the next 19 hours travelling overnight to Banjarmasin, where I met up with my friends, got in a hired car, and spent 5 hours getting up into the mountains to a city called Loksado, where we based the next couple nights, doing day hikes to villages and waterfalls, and looking for ghosts.

Pangalan Bun, where I was adopted by the family for the day

Loksado was much cooler, and we could use blankets and sweatshirts at night to stay warm. We walked around, and enjoyed the attention such a big group of foreigners always gets, and how much warmer then took to us once they found out some of us spoke Indonesian. We did a 3 hour hike one day to a waterfall, swimming in the river on the way when we got hot, and swimming in the pool at the end. We also spent a night in a village on the floor of the information hut, and spent the evening and morning playing cards with the guys of the village and watching pigs and cats and children play around.

Pathways leading to the feeding sites in Tanjung Puting

On the way back, we did a night sleep over in a little town that claimed they had no alcohol. We did some investigations and found that the only place to buy was under or near the bridge. We walked around, looking, and finally a woman asked us what we were looking for. We told her we heard there was beer under the bridge. She laughed hysterically and brought us to her door, where we bought some of her illegal whisky, and spent the night having a nice drink watching crappy movies. They hotel had HBO, we were hooked.

Lazy morning on the boat

On the trip to the airport home, we stopped a a huge market selling all sorts of precious stones and diamonds and also stopped at a diamond mine. It was like something out of a set of an old movie. Barren lands, ravaged by mining, but not by machines. People stood neck deep in thick muddy water, pulling out land and rocks in the hopes of finding a small diamond, and making it worth their luck. They worked in groups of 10, and would pump water out of these machines deep in the holes to contraptions made of wooden planks. It was very makeshift, but served its purpose. Besides the unbearable heat, it was really quite interesting, and we learned how they spend hours and days and weeks searching the rocks, but if they find a good diamond, will be payed very very well for it. Its quite a dangerous job, too, and they told us of the accidents and deaths they have had in recent months.

Cool bug, no idea what it is

Now its back to work... :)