Papua: The Missing Land (The Extreme Eastern Indonesia)

West Papua forms the western half of the large island widely known as New Guinea. Administratively part of Indonesia, West Papua is officially known as Irian Jaya.

To experience West Papua is to embark on a voyage into one of humanity's deepest mysteries. This far-away and little known island lies like a curled infant in the lap of Mother Nature.

West Papua is home to the most ethnologically primitive cultures on Earth. In here you will find a vast display of tribes and tribal customs. These are people largely unaffected by the strictures of the modern world as we know it; a race adapted to daily life solely through their basic survival elements.




There remains a tremendous gap between those of us raised in western society and the most primitive people still alive on earth. If you are an individual who enjoys the exploration of this mysterious human condition you would certainly find a visit to West Papua immensely rewarding. Equally, if you simply enjoy and appreciate environments totally different from your own, then West Papua is surely for you.

Bromo : The God’s Mountain

Bromo : The God’s Mountain




Mt. Semeru, in the background, at 12,066 foot (3,678 m) is the tallest volcano on Java, and Mt. Bromo, in the foreground, is the center piece of a beautiful national park.

Mount Bromo also called Gunung Bromo, located in the Tengger Caldera, is one of the most popular tourist attractions in East Java, Indonesia. It is an active volcano and part of the Tengger massif, and even though at 2329 meters it is not the highest peak of the massif, it is the most well known. The word “Bromo“ orginated from Sansekertaneese of “Brahma”, which has the meaning of “God among God”.


Legend:
According to a local folk tale, at the end of the 15th century princess Roro Anteng from the Majapahit Empire started a separate principality together with her husband Joko Seger. They named it Tengger by the last syllables of their names. The principality did prosper, but the ruling couple failed to conceive children. In their despair they climbed Mount Bromo to pray to the gods, who granted them help, but requested the last child to be sacrificed to the gods. They had 24 children, and when the 25th and last child Kesuma was born Roro Anteng refused to do the sacrifice as promised. The gods then threatened with fire and brimstone, until she finally did the sacrifice. After the child was thrown into the crater, the voice of the child ordered the local people to perform an annual ceremony on the volcano, which is held until today.

Now:
In the 14th night of Kasada month, the people of Tengger brings their offerings in an ongkek (some kind of container) consists of various farm and cattle harvest. And then they wait at the temple for the elder shaman to come and start the enchanting. When the time comes, approximately at midnight, the shaman coronation in the middle of Bromo’s sea of sand begins. For the people of Tengger, the role of the shaman is very important. Their job is to lead ceremonial activities as well as weddings. Before they “graduated” they must truly memorize the enchanting and can perform them well enough.

After the ritual finished, all of the ongkek is brought to the edge of the crater, and then thrown inside as a symbol of sacrifice done by their elder. They threw some of their harvest as an appreciation and expression of gratitude to God. Inside the crater, there are a lot of beggars and tengger people who lived in the deeper area of Tengger. They come from far away places and built a place to stay many days before the ritual. They hoped to be able to acquire leftover from the offerings thrown inside the crater. Activities from Tengger villagers who lived in the deeper area can be seen during the ceremonial day of Kasada Bromo.

Bali

Bali : The Paradise Island

Picture tell much than thousands words... :)

Bali : The Paradise Island (Cont'd)

Bali : The Paradise Island (Cont'd)

Kuta in addition to being the sunset site number one, with its daily spectacular sunsets, it is also the centre of night life activities in Southern Bali and a shopping mecca, with its lines of shops, boutiques, and galleries, tattoo parlors and travel offices.

Restaurants line up the streets as well as the beachfront, hotels, ranging from a small, inexpensive homestay to a luxurious resort, will ready accomodate you.
Set on Asia’s most famous surf beach and stretching out long a miles of golden sand, Kuta is a center of entertainment, sport and relaxation. For thrill seekers, the opportunities are endless – you may try bungy jumping, surf surfing, sky diving, paragliding, wakeboarding or gocart racing. Bali’s waves are world famous and range from safe beach breaks for beginners at Kuta, to the awesome swells at Uluwatu and Nusa Lembongan, which regularly attract the world’s most adventurous surfers.

The beach of Kuta is one of the first favorite beaches discovered by tourist.
On the south, the beach is fenced by the airport's runway, which gives you a breathtaking landing experience. The beach stretches as far north as the eyes can see.
As short walk away north, waves will invite you to test your surfing.

Kuta is very short drive away from the airport, and transportation is readily available to take you from and to Kuta to and from anywhere else in Bali. Along the north of Kuta, Legian street offers a number of high quality boutiques, excellent restaurants, cafes and bars influenced by western style. Exclusive hotels can be easily found in Seminyak, further north of Kuta, while antiques wooden furniture shops in Jalan Raya Kerobokan.

On the other hand, no-one will think the worse of you if you spend your time soaking up the sun and relaxing. In fact, teams of masseurs and other alternative health professionals will work hard to help you achieve the perfect state of equilibrium as you lie on the beach or the massage table. With excellent spa facilities, a full range of natural treatments are available for both men and women.

Nor does the fun stop when the sunsets. Kuta’s bars and discos offer something for everyone, from quiet, open air-bars near the beach where you can have a soothing drink before bed as you gaze at the stars or into the eyes of your lover and let the sound of the surf wash over you, to elegant hotel lounges where you can enjoy a grasshopper or an Irish coffee, to rollicking, raunchy beer barns that are very much designed with young singles in mind. So what are you waiting for?

Indonesian : Archipelago Islands

Indonesian Archipelago

The name Indonesia has its roots in two Greek words: "Indos" meaning Indian and "Nesos" which means islands. It is an appropriate description of the archipelago as there are estimated to be a total of 17,508 islands, of which only about 6,000 are inhabited, stretching for 5,150 km between the Australian and Asian continental mainlands and dividing the Pacific and Indian Oceans at the Equator.

Five main islands and 30 smaller archipelagoes are home to the majority of the population. The main islands are Sumatra (473,606 sq.km), Kalimantan 1539,400 sq.km), Sulawesi l 189,216 sq. km), Irian Jaya (421,981 sq. km), and last but not least, Java (132,187 sq.km), home to 70 percent of the country's population! Indonesia shares Irian Jaya with Papua New Guinea and two thirds of the island of Kalimantan with Malaysia and Borneo.

The islands and people of Indonesia constitute the fourth most populated nation in the world. As a democratic republic, Indonesia is divided into 32 provinces, special territories and classified geographically into four groups.

First are the Greater Sundas, made up of the larger islands of Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan and Sulawesi. Second are the Lesser Sundas, consisting of smaller islands from Bali eastward to Timor. Third is Maluku which includes all the islands between Irian Jaya and Sulawesi. The fourth and final group is lrian Jaya in the extreme eastern part of the country.

Picture tells more than thousand words :)
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