Taking A Walk To Badui Village

Kampung Kanekes (kampung = village) is located in Banten, West Java, Indonesia is full of steep hills where the sugar palm, bamboo and wild grass surrounding a small mountain trail. This is the path that leads to the village of Badui people, an indigenous tribe who lives a life strictly traditional. The area is surrounded by rugged mountainous terrain that requires considerable physical effort by hiking. Despite the sometimes extreme conditions, the Badui village is still an attractive tourist site.
The Badui area covers over 5100 hectares of land and is separated into two parts, Badui external and internal Badui. Both accept visitors cordially, but the outer area has more contact with outsiders and is thus more open to travelers.

On the way to Kampung Kanekes, stores selling souvenirs like songket (woven cloth), traditional bags made of tree bark, and grocery shops surround a steep but smooth path that leads to a big stone monument marked with a map of the Badui area. A nearby sign lists dos and don’ts for travelers.

1. Badui people have rules that prohibit modern inventions like guitars, video cameras and sound recorders. Theres also rule to prohibits the use of soap and toothpaste in rivers.
2. Badui houses made from bamboo and small rattan, for lighting they use oil-filled lanterns.

Get To Thailand..!

The kingdom of Thailand lies in the heart of Southeast Asia, making it a natural gateway to Indochina, Myanmar and Southern China. Its shape and geography divide into four natural regions : the mountains and forests of the North; the vast rice fields of the Central Plains; the semi-arid farm lands of the Northeast plateau; and the tropical islands and long coastline of the peninsula South.

The country comprises 76 provinces that are further divided into districts, sub-districts and villages. Bangkok is the capital city and centre of political, commercial, industrial and cultural activities. It is also the seat of Thailand’s revered Royal Family, with His Majesty the King recognised as Head of State, Head of the Armed Forces, Upholder of the Buddhist religion and Upholder of all religions.

Thailand is a constitutional monarchy with His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, or King Rama IX, the ninth king of the Chakri Dynasty, the present king. The King has reigned for more than half a century, making him the longest reigning Thai monarch. Thailand embraces a rich diversity of cultures and traditions. With its proud history, tropical climate and renowned hospitality, the Kingdom is a never-ending source of fascination and pleasure for international visitors.

GREAT VACATION TO BUNAKEN ISLAND

Bunaken Island and the four other islands of Siladen, Manado Tua, Montehage and Nain are actually part of a marine park called Bunaken Marine Park. The total area of the park is 89,065 ha and includes parts of the coastal area of North Sulawesi mainland.

The park is 16,000 sq. km of water and land.

Water temperature rarely drops below 28 celsius, and averages 29 celsius over the year.

The dry season is from April to November when the wind blows from south-east and the sea stays relatively calm.

The wet season is from December to March with cooler winds from north-west which can bring heavier rains and rougher seas.

Temperatures vary between 25 celsius in the wet season to 30 celsius in the dry season.

Diving can be undertaken all year round - visibility varies from 30m during the dry season to 15m in the wet season.

There are 7,000 species of coral fish in the world and over 2,000 can be found in the park.

Protected fishes that can be found in the area include the coelacanth, turtles, dugongs and giant clams.

Unusual fish include the pygmy seahorse, the ghost pipefish, frogfish and the blue-ringed octopus.

Bunaken National Park Entrance Fee

Wear Your Bunaken Entrance Tag with Pride!
All visitors to the Bunaken National Park (divers and non-divers) have to pay an entrance fee, in accordance with North Sulawesi Provincial Government Provincial Law Number 9/2002.

The entrance fee for foreign visitors are Rp 50,000 per daily ticket (approximately US$6) or Rp 150,000 (approximately US$17) for a waterproof plastic entrance tag valid for the full calendar year.

Tags (or tickets) must be carried at all times the guest is within park boundaries and can easily be affixed to guests' diving or snorkeling gear or on backpacks. Enforcement of the entrance fee system is conducted via spot checks by park rangers on land and at sea.

The entrance fee system has been adapted from the well-known Bonaire Marine Park system and was successful in raising over $250,000 for conservation programs in Bunaken during the period from 2001-2003.

Entrance tags and tickets can be purchased from Two Fish Divers, through the other marine tourism operators based in Manado and in the Bunaken National Park, or can be purchased from one of three ticket counters in Bunaken and Liang villages on Bunaken Island and on Siladen Island.

The proceeds from the sales of the entrance tags are managed by Bunaken National Park Management Advisory Board (BNPMAB), a multistakeholder board that NSWA is a member of.

Where does the money go?

Now that you've arrived in Manado and enjoyed a few breathtaking dives in the Bunaken National Marine Park, you may be tempted to ask: "Just where does my Rp 150,000 entrance fee go anyway"? The answer will probably surprise you, as Bunaken's entrance fee system is the first of its kind in Asia, and is being held up as a model system by marine conservationists around the world. The most important aspect of Bunaken's system is that the money collected remains with the Bunaken Management Advisory Board to fund conservation and village development programs in the park - instead of heading to the national coffers as with every other national park in Asia (and many throughout the world)! This makes a world of difference, as it means your money goes towards managing the very reefs you've come to enjoy. Moreover, the funds are controlled by a multistakeholder management board comprised of the North Sulawesi Watersports Association, villagers from the 30 villages in the park, local tourism, fisheries and environmental government agencies, and the local university's marine sciences department. This setup ensures that the money collected cannot be used by any corrupt officials but rather is directed to the most important programs needed in the park (as agreed by this diverse set of interests).

To date, the Bunaken entrance fee system has been extremely successful; having been inaugurated on 15 March 2001, the system collected US$125,112 from March 2001 through August 2002, including $83,109 in 2002 alone. These fees were collected from 21,908 domestic visitors and 11,174 international visitors from 43 different countries.

So, you ask, where did that money go? Each year, the management board makes a yearly workplan in which it prioritizes the most urgent conservation issues in the park for funding. For the past 2 years, the unanimous top priority has been the development of a joint villager/ranger/police patrol team to stop destructive fishing practices such as blast and cyanide fishing and other illegal activities such as mangrove cutting and capture of endangered wildlife such as turtles and dugongs. The patrol system, while extremely effective, has also been expensive, costing over $85,000 to date (helped out by $33,000 in grants from WWF Wallacea).

The second priority has been village conservation and development programs aimed at garnering the support of the nearly 30,000 villagers in the park. Over $35,000 in the past year has been dedicated to programs in 24 villages, including mangrove replanting, conservation education for children, and construction of public wells, community information boards, docks, toilet facilities, and garbage disposal areas. The entrance fee has also helped fund a village VHF radio network and has even begun working on the plastic trash problem from Manado, though it is clear that solving the trash problem is a government issue that will require significantly larger funding than the entrance fee can provide. For a detailed monthly update on the financial report from the board, please check the website www.bunaken.or.id.

Sounds good, but has this money made a difference? Absolutely, according to villagers, scientists and divers alike! Villagers from throughout the park have heralded the development of the patrol system (and the village radio network) - which has allowed villagers to help stop the blast and cyanide fishing that was threatening not only your diving but also their livelihoods and their children's future! Villager fishers have also reported an increase in fish catches since the bombing and cyaniding have stopped. Scientists studying Bunaken's reefs have documented an 11.3% increase in live coral cover between January 2001 and September 2002 on Bunaken Island alone - almost unheard of in a time when environmentalists around the world are sounding the death knell for many of the world's reefs.

Perhaps most importantly to you, this difference is very noticeable to divers. Mr. K.Y. Lee, a dive tour leader from Singapore who has made 38 trips to Bunaken since 1991, says that for the first time in 10 years he is seeing sharks or turtles on almost every dive - he recently made a single dive with 9 turtle sightings! Both Michael Aw and Mike Severns (professional underwater photographers who produced the stunning books Beneath Bunaken and Sulawesi Seas) have likewise commented on their increasing satisfaction with the number of fish in the park. As Mr. Lee enthusiastically claims, "I never get tired of Bunaken's beauty; every dive here is like the first time." Note that Mr. Lee is putting his money where his mouth is - in the past year he has donated marine VCD's, tshirts, and scholarship funding towards village conservation education programs in the park in a bid to encourage Bunaken's villagers to take care of their resources.

International recognition of Bunaken's success has also been forthcoming from a number of environmental organizations. The International Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN) has chosen Bunaken as its single Asian demonstration site for sustainable reef tourism, while the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) Southeast Asian Marine group has selected Bunaken as one of four model marine protected areas in the region. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) continues to expand its programs in the park and uses Bunaken as a model for work elsewhere in Indonesia.

Here in Indonesia, the Indonesian Department of Nature Conservation in Jakarta has chosen to make Bunaken one of its "centers of excellence" for training for other parks. Thirteen other national parks from throughout Indonesia (as well as one each from Vietnam, Malaysia and the Phillipines) have visited Bunaken in the past year and a half to study its management system. With luck, the lessons these national parks have learned from Bunaken will help ensure that Southeast Asia's reefs can prosper and be worthy of their title as the global center of marine biodiversity. Happy diving!



Dr. MV Erdmann, September 2002
Marine Protected Areas Advisor, NRM/EPIQ North Sulawesi

Diving in the Area

The dramatic volcanic landscape of this area of North Sulawesi has created some amazing walls for diving in the Bunaken Marine Park. Nearby there is also the mainand slopes of Manado that offer some great altrernative muck diving.

The marine park is made up of Bunaken Island and four other islands, and these islands are in fact a submerged mountain range that was flooded with the sea many eons ago. Read more about Bunaken Marine Park.

Fringing Reef - the steep walls of each island have formed a fringing reef that totally surrounds each island. The top of the reef wall starts 3-5m deep and drops to more than 800m, and its good for beginners and experienced divers as we find that most of the reef-life is between 10m and 15m.

What can we see on the walls? - click here

Long dive times - to take advantage of the reef-life at shallow depths we encourage our guests to dive to no deeper than 25m, and to spend a long time at shallower depths - this means that dives are frequently more than 60 minutes. Obviously, we respect the experience and wishes of our guests, and have no problem in accommodating those who wish to dive deeper - we just ask that you plan this with us before-hand.

Slopes and muck - the coastline of Manado bay and the mainland offer sandy slopes as alternatives to the walls. Some of these sandy slopes offer some great muck diving where you can see unusual creatures such as sea horses and giant frog fish. There is even a ship wreck that is being taken over by schools of fish and hard and soft coral.

Dive Courses in Bunaken

If you are here, why not take advantage of our instructors and take a course. If you are not yet a diver, many sites are ideal for a Try-a-dive or the Open Water Diver course - an amazing experience in one of the most diverse marine environments in the world.

If you are already a diver you could consider the Advanced Open Water Diver or Rescue Diver courses. There are also specialty courses for all levels of divers, and especially good in this area are:

• Peak performance bouyancy - because most of the dives are on wall, you need to have good bouyancy, and this will increase your dive times by a significant amount

• Underwater naturalist - this is great to do in one of the most diverse marine environments in the world

• Wreck diving - there is a great wreck here that is about 60m long, perfect for some mapoing and penetration dives

• Night diving - some critters just don't come out during the day, so this is great to see some other critters

• Underwater digital photography - the photography attractions are world famous so why not get some expert advise on how to capture that perfect image

If you are doing a combo-visit, we would be happy to spread your course over our two centers in Bunaken and Lembeh, but we can only run the Go Pro courses (DiveMaster and Assistant Instructor) from our operation in Bunaken.

Making Great Vacation Day to Benoa

There is lot of activity in Benoa; the most popular is watersports such as banana boat, Jet sky, Parasailing, Snorkeling, Scuba Diving, Flying Fish and Glass Bottom Boat to Pulau Penyu. And we picked banana boat and Glass bottom boat to pulau penyu, since we have planned to go to another place and do not have sufficient time for another games.

First we picked Glass bottom boat to pulau penyu, since some of the recommendation is to go to pulau penyu before noon time to avoid low tide, otherwise you will have a long walk to the island. Is not really island actually since is located on the delta on the other side Benoa peninsula.

Tip: There is lot of Waterspot company scatter along Benoa Coast, and you may free to pick one of them. Some of them are working as hotels partner and some of them are working alone, but once you go out to the benoa hotel beach most likely you will find at least one of their agents. In average they are professional, and according to Bli Komang Website, it’s been already 4 years run without any accident. So it is quiet safe to play with them.

So, back to Glass Bottom Boat, we got very good boat, very clean and dry. The boat bring us to the first destination ,which is where the Benoa Coral reef belong, there also snorkeling area but today we do not want to go for it. So just have a look on the glass bottom to see the reef and indeed ……….. It is very beautiful. The interesting part is, you dump bread pieces and lot of fish will came over to fight about. It should be more interesting there down below.

After spending few minutes on the fish, we start rolling to next destination, which is pulau penyu. The boat start increasing it speed and passing benoa harbour, before arrive at the final destination.

Several local guides welcomed us aboard, and bring us to the turtle pond. It’s a large pond with lot of big turtle fooling around; they will approach if there’s somebody in. Seems That this buddy has been trained very well ….. Eh??

http://aridharma.blogspot.com

Great Vacation To Amazing Beach

We were in Plengkung beach Banyuwangi having chosen to go to G-Land and felt confident about scoring uncrowded waves given that it was the end of the season. Since the start of my trip everything had lined up for me. My lost passport was returned. I had met people in the know, from business owners who were dialed into the scene to helpful charter boat captains and surf guides. And I had scored nearly two weeks in the Mentawai’s for not even the cost of a car payment. Given my good fortune so far, I expected Indonesia’s most consistent spot to roll out the welcome mat in fine fashion.

Perhaps my luck was running out. Our trip to G-Land was not a cake walk. We flew to Jakarta and waited 4 hours for the next flight to Bali. Once in Bali we drove all night, took a ferry, then drove some more, then stopped for a quick prayer offering at 3 am in the middle of nowhere. After the prayer stop, we drove though the national forest – the longest, most arduous, and bumpiest van trip I’ve ever taken. Getting some shuteye was a pipedream. Apparently, we had taken the “long way” to get to Bobby’s Camp via the supply van. Since Padang, we had been traveling for 16 hours and crashed upon arrival at 6 am.

The surfers staying there were from a wide range of International destinations such as Australia, Hawaii, California, Brazil, Argentina, and even Oregon. The camp, which was not even at half capacity, gave me the opportunity to meet all these surfers and get to know them. After living in very basic conditions the previous few weeks in the Mentawai’s, Bobby’s Camp felt like the Ritz Carlton: cold beer, an endless supply of water, showers, satellite T.V., an air conditioned movie theater, and hot meals. We were living the high life. We ended up running into two Maui surfers, Darren and Mike, who we had met in the Mentawai’s. The network of surfers traveling throughout Indonesia was really that small.

So it's very amazing experiece.

Cheap Vacation To Kalimantan Island

The province of Central Kalimantan was created on 23 May 1957 after a combination of small scale guerrilla actions and intervention by Jakarta. Commodore Tjilik Riwut was the first governor and the capital city at that time was then called Pahandut, a small village on the bank of Kahayan river. Its name was later changed to the present Palangkaraya, which means great and holy place.

* Central Kalimantan was still controlled from the Banjarmasin ruler even after Indonesia proclaimed its independence on 17 August 1945. The Central Kalimantan Province then came under the automomy of the Dayak of Central Kalimantan in the 1950s.

* Central Kalimantan for several centuries was under the control of Banjarmasin and the conversion of an Islamic province began at the begining of the 17th century with the banjar Sultanate tradition of life. The 1830s saw the arrival of the first Protestant missionaries and colonial administration which introduced the Protestant religion to the Dayaks.

* West Kalimantan is the third largest province in Indonesia after West Papua and East Kalimantan. It is the only Indoneisan province that shared an International land boundary with Malaysia (i.e., Sarawak). Its capital is Pontianak, which in some local dialects means vampire or 'Dracula'.

* The migration of Malay people who intermarried with the indigenous Dayak people in South Kalimantan around the sixth century, is believed to be the beginning of the Banjar tribe. Dayak people of the Banjar tribe are the mixture of the Maanyan, Bukit Lawangan, and Ngaju tribes, were influenced by the Malay and Javanese cultures, which then become the most dominant culture in the region.

* Kalimantan is known of its exotic wildlife and flora. The world's largest flower, the Rafflesia is from here and Orangutans are only found here and in Sumatra. Kalimantan is probably best known as the home of the Dayak. The Dayak consist of various tribes with much diversity of art styles, customs and life-styles. Although now banned by government authority, the Dayak previously were skilled headhunters and are known for their massive longhouses and unique culture and traditions.

Vacation To High Place

Ijen crater is the biggest crater lake in Java. The sulfur crater lake lies in sulfatara of deeply etched rock. It is 200 meters deep and contains about 36 million cubic meters of steaming acid water, shrouded in a smelling swirling sulfur cloud. Inside the crater the different color and size of sulphur stones are found. Indeed, the crater of ljen is a beautiful garden of sulphur stone as well. It located in Banyuwangi east java Indonesia.

The view o sulfur miners who climb and go down to the crater is also amazing. A man puts about 110 kg of Yellowish stone in to his basket before he descends the mountain slope to sell his load carrying the same basket, going in the same direction, digging the same mineral. The sul fur collected 6-7 ton a day. It is the natural picture that can be seen everyday. It is located in “Licin” Sub District 45 km from the city of Banyuwangi. Picture besides is the activity of sulphur man in ijen crater.

So it's still a lot of interesting thing that you can see in there.

Making Nice and Cheap Vacation

It located 54 kilometers to the east of Bali lies the Island of Lombok. Though relatively new to tourism Lombok is fast emerging as one of Indonesia’s best kept secrets.

The friendly people of Lombok include Sasak villagers , some still living in traditional villages with mud and thatch huts , still virtually untouched by western influences, while the cities of Mataram and the Dutch-influenced Ampenan are bustling little towns.

Resort beaches of Senggigi or Kuta cater for travelers looking for peaceful beaches and a more relaxing pace.

The famous Gili Islands are a diver’s paradise while the rugged countryside and in particular the awesome Mount Rinjani or Tetebatu offer some fabulous trekking and beautiful scenery for the more adventurous.

Lombok is also becoming known as a shoppers paradise, being the home of the now famous Lombok pots. The island also offers tightly woven baskets and silk weaving at prices you wont believe.

Whether you get a car or motorbike and drive yourself, or let our experienced guides show you the way, you’ll find an island of natural beauty, friendly people and areas still waiting to be explored without the hordes of tourists which visit its more famous neighbor.

How to get to Lombok

The most common way to get to Lombok via Bali.
From Singapore there are direct flights to Lombok with Silk Air which makes it easy to combine a Lombok getaway with a journey through other areas in Asia.

From Bali , there are 3 main ways to reach Lombok - by small aircraft , high speed ferry or by the local and slow public ferry.

Flights: From Denpasar Airport, Merpati Airlines offer a number of services every day. The aircraft are generally 24 seat propeller driven planes which take approximately 30 minutes for the one-way trip. The first flight departs Denpasar around 7.30 am while the last flight is around 4.30 pm. The last return flight from Lombok is approximately 5.30pm.

Vacation With Bounty Cruises

Cruising from Benoa Harbour to Lombok with Bounty Cruises operates each Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

As weather conditions are variable, they cannot stop in Senggigi. The cruise will stop at 'TELUK NARA' on the north-west coast. Transportation from this port to Senggigi is included in the price. There are two classes - Economy and Executive. Departure time: 9:00am and arrives in Teluk Narat at 11:45am via Nusa Lembongan. Departure time back to Bali: 12:15pm and arrives in Benoa Harbour 15:00pm via Nusa Lembongan.

Public Ferry: Large ferries carrying passengers, goods and vehicles operate daily between Padangbai ( near Candi Dasa in Bali ) and Lembar Harbour. These ferries are quite basic and slow, taking between 4-8 hours for the crossing. While they are cheap, it can cost quite a bit extra to get to Padangbai so its worth comparing all alternatives.

This can only be booked direct and costs approximately US$ 5 one way

ONE WAY PRICES PER PERSON (USD)

Bali to Lombok or v.v

Flight $47.00 Adult $33.00 Child