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(click on a place to go there) Not all the numbers are stops. Some, e.g. 2,10,13 & 16 are just so we don't have lines going cross-country. This is a shot of idyllic beach on the island of Gili Bodo, home to scads of macaque monkeys. Unfortunately, the island itself is not all that idyllic as it has very little water and can be seen from a distance as a big tan lump of dead grass. This was a harbinger of things to come for quite some time. One of the many surprises in visiting Indonesia is how arid much of it is. We had read of famine on Timor due to drought conditions and now we believe it. We are ready to hit the lush jungles of Bali and Borneo! After visiting the Flores town of Labuan Bajo we naturally had to go off in search of the unique critter that inhabits these parts, the notorious Komodo Dragon. Of course, things being what they are most dragons are not to be seen on Komodo Island itself but rather the neighboring island of Rinca. Here's one in the bush. Note the forked tongue just sticking out. They are actually large lizards, upwards of 10' (3m) long and weighing up to 220 lbs (100kg). They are quite nasty, though, as they can run 10mph (18km/hr) for short bursts and have a poisonous saliva that kills slowly but surely in about a week (they are very patient). The island has deer and buffalo which the dragons ambush in watering holes and other spots. Many hours into dragon spotting , we were longing for a docile deer or two. This gives you an idea just how arid it is here, though this is a lush jungle compared to some of the other islands between Flores and Sumbawa.After two hours of hiking we were broiling by 9 a.m. Far in the distance one can see the anchored yachts. This is what we mean. This is Banta Island, which is a little northwest of Rinca and Komodo. Here even grass doesn't grow and all you see is dark volcanic scree which gets really hot during the day. We walked only a few hundred feet onto the beginning of the slopes where it felt like an inferno. Back we trudged to the "cooler" beach. Our next task was getting past the large island of Sumbawa. We hadn't heard anything especially good about the place so we decided to give it a miss. Here we cruise past the mighty Tambora volcano, scene of the largest eruption in recorded history. It killed 71,000 people in 1815. If you look closely, you will see a cone in the center of a large crater. Tambora was originally 14,000' high but lost the top 4000' in the eruption. The valley seen in front of the cone was caused by a side blast similar to Mt St Helens. It's currently quiet but a similar, but much smaller, volcano named Krakatoa is expected to erupt again soon.
A meeting of the minds. Here Capt Hub holds out a peanut to a macaque. They hang out on the roadside in Lombok and wait for touristas to come by and feed them. Actually, these beggars are not as cheeky as their cousins on neighboring Bali. They don't attempt to steal your sunny's (sunglasses) or camera. Farmers working a rice field on Lombok. This is back-breaking work. They work from sunup to sundown. Sounds like Nursing! Here the admiral receives training in the exciting field of ikat weaving. The women of the village spend most of their time making original fabrics. Better keep your day job, honey. These girls start as young as 14. you need to be able to learn to weave prior to being married. Here our lovely model shows off her (hopefully) hand-woven sarong, all Rp 600,000 worth. Needle$$ to $ay, we forgot to bargain and a$k one third of the initial pri$e. We were $low learner$! The Aussie yachtie in the background looks like she is having none of this! This was our first distant view of Bali, the huge, and sacred, Agung volcano, flanked by the smaller, and more active, Batur. Yachties are often warned not to sail in Indonesian waters at night. This is a main reason why. These unlit platforms are especially common along the coast of Bali. They can be found in water up to 1000' deep. Lovina Beach, North Bali. This rather weird monument to dolphins is perhaps mostly owning to their power as a tourist draw for this side of the island. Lovina is quite a charming stop despite the beachside vendors and fake Rolex hawkers. It's all part of the Bali experience! Terraced rice paddies, a very common sight on Bali. They also grow lots of cloves here. Unlike Lombok, Bali is well-irrigated and here they practice wet-field rice farming. The most stunning feature of Bali is its temples. The objects stacked up in front of the ornately-carved door are offerings of rice and flowers. Unique in Indonesia, Bali is 95% Hindu. Idols are big business here in Ubud, where Buddhas and Ganeshas abound, most cast from concrete. This is a common temple figure, guarding the entrance. This one looks like somebody's bad dream. Capt Hub is the fat one on the left. Note the sarong. This is a racket at these temples. You're required to wear it and they want you to rent it from them for what you'd buy it for at numerous shops. So, we bought them and created outrage as we sauntered past the Balinese Temple "money-changers". Gunung Batur is one of Bali's newest volcanoes, beginning in 1917. Note the large black lava flows in the foreground. Perched on the side of the huge volcano Agung, Besakih is Bali's most important temple. If you look closely, there are stray dogs everywhere. They are not molested, but neither are they fed, causing them to be heart-breakingly pathetic. One of the more interesting sights is the so-called "Water Palace" of the former Balinese king. This is a Koi pond with elaborate steps and statuary, not to mention Koi fish. This is not a statue come to life but a pretty tourist walking through the pond. Can't remember the name, but this figure represents evil. This one represents good. What looks like feet are its hands - go figure... More terraced rice fields. What you don't see in these Indonesia pages are how many pictures we left out - hundreds. However, we must leave Bali and don't have time to add them all, much less any pithy commentary. We shall return, at least in cyberspace. Now join us as we trek through the steaming jungles of Western Indonesia!
Copyright © John & Vera Williams 2000-2009 All Rights Reserved
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