Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Bali



A peaceful life - enjoyed on a local beach.

Daily offerings of flowers, rice, insense and perhaps a few coins .....

..... are placed outside homes and businesses such as this local restaurant.

A memorial to those taken in a terrorist bombing in Kuta.

An elder still carries her daily load - gentle yet hard working people.

Multi tiered temples in traditional Balinese architecture. Temples are everywhere including small temples in people's gardens and homes.

Pura Tanah Lot - sea temple situated on the shore of the Indian Ocean.

Pura Ulu Watu - cliff top temple barely visible perched high on Bukit Penninsula.

Growth envelopes everything in the high humidity.

Fresh flowers are delicately placed on carved stone figures everyday.


Rice terraces provide the agricultural staple. We rented bicycles and rode through them for kms.
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A cool stream in the hills of central Bali where we hiked and swam.

Traditional Balinese entrances are constructed of a few steps, carved stone surrounds and carved wooden doors.

A walkway in the grounds of our retreat outside Ubud .....

..... leads to our private abode.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Borneo

A stop over in Kuala Lumpur. The Petronas Towers were at one time the tallest buildings in the world.


The government abolished head hunting circa 1963. Thats great - but are they sure ALL of the locals received and understood the message.

Orang utans have 96% the same DNA as [some?] humans. I better check the mirror.

I think they like bananas - so do I.

Pitcher plants are carnivorous. Ants or spiders fall or crawl into the bowl, the lid closes and the plant consumes it's prey. Very ingenious - very cool plants.

The waterfall where we swam in long pants and hiking boots to avoid falling prey to leeches and other undesirables - known and unknown.
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Crossing the footbridge over a tributary that feeds into the Delok River.


The remote village of Pala Taong in the rain forest where we stayed.
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Fellow traveller Michel - a journalist from Paris, and Borneo Adventure guide at our lodge.
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The main corridor of a traditional longhouse built on stilts above the ground where 30 or so families live communally.


Heading up the Melinau River in the backwaters of central Borneo.

Negotiating a few small rapids. Anything more and the camera was safely inside the dry bag.

This pretty much sums it up ......

Walk along this boardwalk to enter a totally different world.
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A poisonous relative of the millipede clan - don't remember its name.

A spiny species of bamboo generates its own defense mechanism against predators.

Dense foilage in the equatorial rain forest.

Elegant buttress roots support enormous centuries old trees.

Bananas and other delicious foods and medicinal plants are there for the picking. However - so are a multitude of poisonous plants.

Looking back up to daylight at the top of Wind Cave.
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Stalactites and stalagamites deep within Lang Cave. We were advised that it takes 100 years to form just 1 cubic centimeter of limestone deposits!

Longboats rafted up at the base of the cliff below Clearwater Cave which extends for 128 kms underground.

Back in civilization - we enjoy a performance by traditional dancers.

Leaving Borneo and on to Bali !

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Cambodia

Cambodian child in a remote village.

Rice paddies flourish in the rural countryside.

Young girl and her mother collecting water at a communal well.

Carved faces at Angkor Thom.

Buddhist monks outside Seam Reap.

Traditional dancer performing her craft.

Female monk in contemplation.

Roots devouring the temples at Ta Prohm.

Amazing colors at Angkor Wat.

Hanging out in the 1000 year old ruins at Banteay Srei.

Local gas station created out of a hand pump and a 200 litre drum.