We had the pleasure of exploring Akaroa, just outside of Christchurch, with our friends, Faye and Ian. We visited some of their favorite bars, enjoyed Blue Cod Fish and Chips, art galleries and another delightful place, The Giant’s House (above), an art gallery and garden filled with whimsical mosaic sculptures created by artist Josie Martin, […]
Thailand 2 – Templed Out
There are more than 41,000 Buddhist temples in Thailand, of which more than 33,000 are actively in use. The term “wat” is a Thai word for enclosure, and now refers to any Buddhist or Brahminical temple. 95% of the 70 million people in Thailand are Buddhists. In 2019, we were “templed out” on our last […]
Malaysia 1 – Kuala Lumpur
When we first thought of going to Kuala Lumpur, we expected to get some nice skyline photographs. After searching for suitable sites though, we concluded that there is no good location to shoot the skyline from. When studying alternatives, we kept coming up with the Twin Towers as being the true iconic view in the […]
Indonesia 17 – Java 1 – Malang Village of Color
We next flew to Java, for a week to explore that portion of Indonesia. Our first stop in Java was Malang, located in the highlands of East Java with a population of 844,000 people. It was formerly a Dutch colony prized for its mild weather, and thus much of the architecture has Dutch influence. At […]
Indonesia 9 – Bali 1 – Holy Water Temple
After leaving Kalimantan (the Indonesian province in Borneo), we traveled to Bali, which has been voted for years on TripAdvisor’s list as one of the top destinations, with its idyllic beaches, volcanic rocks, beautiful temples and welcoming people. Bali is only one of over 17,500 islands in Indonesia, with more than 6000 being inhabited. Bali […]
Indonesia 8 – Borneo 8 – Village Life
We visited four Dayak villages along the rivers in Central Kalimantan: Pahandut, Tanjung Pusai, Tumbang Nusa and Pilang. Some of the villages had no road access, so you could only reach them by boat. They shared several common characteristics: Visitors were always welcome, there was plentiful kids, and people appeared to be genuinely happy. Tanjung […]
Indonesia 7 – Borneo 7 – Village People
Interacting with local people is a favorite part of visiting any new area. The Dayak villages of Central Kalimantan were a special treat in this regards. Not only was there a throng of adorable children, but they mostly clamored for us to take their photograph and they welcomed visitors. Some of the children were embarrassed, […]
Indonesia 6 – Borneo 6 – Orangutans
One of the top attractions of Central Kalimantan is viewing the orangutans in the wild with no fences. We took a small canoe from our Houseboat three times, along the river into the Orangutan Sanctuary operated by the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOS). Initially at Kaja Island, we were disappointed that we did not see […]
Indonesia 5 – Borneo 5 – River Life
As part of our tour in Central Kalimantan, we spent three days on a houseboat floating down the forest lined rivers of Palangkaraya. While I was initially concerned that we might be bored on this portion of the trip, nothing could have turned out further from the truth! Juli Kristalia, from Wow Borneo organized this […]
Indonesia 4 – Borneo 4 – Forest Dancers
We actually did quite a lot of other activities in Kalimantan, besides the festival we have reported on for the past three days. Dave Metcalf, our photography guide from David Metcalf Photography kept us busy pretty much all day, every day with wonderful photo opportunities. One afternoon, we drove more than an hour into the […]