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Flying a kite, Monas, Jakarta
Blog: Mood to Travel - 11 September 2011
Flying a kite, Monas, Jakarta, originally uploaded by Homdaum.I caught this kid flying one of the many kites on a Sunday evening at the National Monument in Jakarta.
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Borobudur
Blog: ContemporaryNomad - 10 September 2011
Although there is some debate as to how demographics are measured here, Indonesia is generally recognized as the world’s largest Muslim nation. So to many, it might come as some surprise that the country boasts one of Buddhism’s most significant architectural achievements: breathtaking Borobudur. Borobudur, constructed in the 8th century, has often been described as [...]
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Borobodur Temple at Sunset
Blog: Mood to Travel - 9 September 2011
Borobodur Temple at Sunset, originally uploaded by Homdaum.This is the largest Buddhist temple in the southern hemisphere and at sunset it was spectacular. #Indonesia
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Echo Beach in Bali Surfing Pictures and Video
Blog: Malaysia Asia - 7 September 2011
Echo Beach in Bali Surfing Pictures and Video from my last trip there in June 2011. Echo Beach is located in the Canggu area just out from Kuta. It is also one of the secluded beaches where only locals and surfers come to enjoy.
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New City, New Field Partner: Settling into the “Big Durian” (Part 1 of 2)
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 6 September 2011
By Laurie Young, KF16, Indonesia A little over 4 months ago Kiva welcomed a new field partner headquartered in Jakarta, VisionFund Indonesia (VFI). VFI operates out of the two largest cities in Indonesia: Jakarta and Surabaya. Because it’s a relatively new relationship, a fellow has yet to spend time with VFI or be placed in Jakarta.
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Becky’s Great Adventure
Blog: ContemporaryNomad - 6 September 2011
Arrogant old fogies, Thomas and I, often sit around complaining about how young twenty-somethings no longer know how to travel. These young’uns don’t know how to have a good adventure anymore, we grumble to ourselves. And then suddenly, somewhere around Derawan, along comes Becky to prove us completely wrong. Adventurous souls still exist and Becky [...]
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Crossing the Equator
Blog: ContemporaryNomad - 5 September 2011
Spokesmodel and adventuress, Becky, demonstrates how to stand in the Northern Hemisphere AND the Southern Hemisphere at the same time. I guess it’s suddenly winter!!!
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Jamu Making Classes in Bali, Indonesia
Blog: Malaysia Asia - 3 September 2011
Jamu Making Classes in Bali, Indonesia is one of the most interesting activity that I have seen a hotel or resort offer in a long time. Back then, many hotels were offering local cooking classes but here at Hotel Tugu in Bali, a traditional herb mixing class was on their main menu.
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The Orangutan Experience
Blog: ContemporaryNomad - 3 September 2011
The moment I left the mountain gorillas in what was then called Zaire, I knew that Thomas and I would one day track wild orangutans in Borneo. (Great apes are the holy grail for us wildlife fanatics.) What might have seemed like a distant dream for many people was a very clear series of obstacles [...]
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The Indonesian, the Dutch and the Indian experience
Blog: Indian Bazaars - 2 September 2011
This blogpost is an interview with Hasti Tarekat, a Heritage professional from Indonesia now based in the Netherlands. 1. What parts of a Dutch weekly market do you find most interesting and different from the Indonesian experience?
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Running Group in Jakarta
Blog: Dawn Abroad - 2 September 2011
With the pollution, traffic jam, and scarcity of public parks, outdoor running in Jakarta would seems impossible. But seems that few passionate residents and dwellers of Jakarta refuse to give up. They gather together to find the best time and place Jakarta can offer, and do what they love to do: to run.
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The Friday Photo: Kayan Woman, Borneo
Blog: Travels with a Nine Year Old - 2 September 2011
I photographed this lady from the Kayan tribal minority in Sarawak, once an independent kingdom, now Malaysian Borneo, during our big trip upriver there last year. She’s chewing betel, the...
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Orangutans of Kutai National Park
Blog: ContemporaryNomad - 31 August 2011
As Tony promised in his latest posting, we are once again turning the camera back on the wildlife and jungle. Hours and hours spent watching orangutans high up in the trees was quite a treat, but it may also require future treatment for a serious case of neck strain. That said, after viewing our video, [...]
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Jungle Fever
Blog: ContemporaryNomad - 29 August 2011
From Chitwan to Kinabatangan, our postings on “the jungle” have mostly focused on the wildlife – and rightfully so. But as we explore Kutai National Park, we thought we should take a moment and turn the camera on ourselves as we track wild orangutans, providing a little glimpse into our daily routine. Becky and Thomas [...]
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Derawan, Sangalaki and Kakaban
Blog: ContemporaryNomad - 26 August 2011
We’ve pretty much said everything there is to say about these three islands – so enough writing. Just sit back, watch and listen.
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Budget Airlines
Blog: Malaysia Asia - 24 August 2011
Budget Airlines in Malaysia and Southeast Asia are the current trend in the last five years with similar names such as Low Cost Airlines and also Cheap Airlines. Many companies have resorted to creating these affordable airlines to suite all walks of life and one of the most popular ones are AirAsia which has taken the region by storm.
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Saving Derawan’s Turtles
Blog: ContemporaryNomad - 23 August 2011
Derawan has no chic bars or dance clubs, yet the island boasts a very active nightlife. Well, our kind of nightlife. The only beat you’ll probably ever hear is your own heartbeat as you sit in the turtle hatchery and watch baby turtles emerge from their sandy nests. And nature’s DJ in all of this [...]
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Our Family in the Tropics
Blog: ContemporaryNomad - 20 August 2011
Paula, Leo, Becky, Tony, Marta and Ana Derawan is one of those cosmic vortexes which suck in amazing globetrotters from around the world. We’ve haven’t met this many adventurous travelers since Rishikesh India. Perhaps it’s just timing, perhaps it’s actually one of those magical places that mysteriously draws really cool people. It’s just like the [...]
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Wonderland Kakaban
Blog: ContemporaryNomad - 17 August 2011
If Lewis Carroll were a snorkeler, his favorite destination would surely be Kakaban. A bizarre testament to nature’s sense of humor and fantasy, Kakaban will thrill even the most jaded travelers with a series of surprises that seem perfectly suited for Alice’s underwater adventures. The tiny, jungle-covered island features a large brackish water lake filled [...]
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Swimming with Mantas in Sangalaki
Blog: ContemporaryNomad - 15 August 2011
Besides an army of sea turtles around Derawan, there’s an even more exciting, albeit less predictable attraction that brings visitors here – reef mantas. If the conditions are right, meaning enough plankton in the water, snorkelers and divers can swim with dozens of manta rays around Sangalaki, an uninhabited island an hour by boat from [...]
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The Turtles of Derawan
Blog: ContemporaryNomad - 12 August 2011
As we hinted at in our last posting, little Derawan is blessed with some pretty phenomenal natural attractions. The first and most obvious of these attractions is the ridiculous number of green turtles which call the waters around Derawan their home. Now if you saw our recent video on Sipadan, you might be thinking that [...]
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Derawan
Blog: ContemporaryNomad - 9 August 2011
We travel for the sole purpose of discovering places like Derawan. For the next five minutes in human history, Derawan will be THE eco-tourism hotspot in Kalimantan. It’s at that magical point when accommodation, food options, isolation and serious attractions all come together to create that blissful vision of backpacker perfection. (I’m talking real backpacker [...]
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Full, Full, Full
Blog: ContemporaryNomad - 7 August 2011
Seriously? Everything is full? In Borneo? Eleven – count them – eleven hotels full. Every single hotel room in Berau was full. All except one, a ridiculously overpriced “luxury suite” priced at $90 US per night at the Derawan Indah Hotel. As Indonesians and foreigners were scouring Berau looking for any option and we had [...]
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Our Last Hurrah
Blog: Travels with a Nine Year Old - 6 August 2011
All of a sudden, as we load up the bike and bump out of the coffee plantation and over the waterfall bridge, it feels as if we’re in a hurry....
