Indonesia with Free and Easy
Ulawatu a cliffside temple in the southern part of Bali, the monkeys at this temple can be unbearable at times but the views are incredible, and I am told it has some amazing surf as well.
I went on a day tour of Bali hiring a driver on my last day, to take me to a few of the sites and we stopped quickly by the rice terraces of Tegallalang, in Bali...rice is grown all over Indonesia but not many big layered terraces like these, this was a big thing on my list of things to see in SE Asia however I am told I need to see the ones in the Philippines still.
This was sunset at Coral beach on the Gilli Islands, amazing diving, pristine beaches, a great laid back lifestyle and all around incredible beach paradise, this is where I went diving for the first time, and relaxed for 5 days..
One of the most spectacular Hindu temples in the world - Prambanan, located in Yogyakarta, we had dinner here then went and watched a unique cultural Ballet, which was very interesting.
The first stop on my day tour of Bali was this waterfall, I didnt get the name, it wasnt on the map we had. As well you can get right down close to these falls but it was too wet and misty for me to get a decent enough picture this one ended up the best from this area...a pretty impressive waterfall compared to the other ones I seen on the trip.
We spent 2 days in Yogyakarta, and on our last day we did a sunrise tour to the temple of Borobudur which is a is a 9th-century Buddhist monument and a shrine to the Lord Buddha. This massive temple was easily as impressive as the temple of Angkor wat, and just as touristy within 5 minutes of taking this picture there was people everywhere making it impossible to get a shot off without someone in it...but still one of the most interesting spots we visited.
Along my tour on my last day in Bali, the driver took me to a view point of another active volcano called Mt.Batur apparently lava can be seen shooting from this volcano occasionally, but it was pretty calm on this day. this was our final destination of my day tour of Bali, well worth the 8.5 hours in a vehicle and 40 bucks it cost me to hire the guy for the day, if you look closely the black on the volcano is fairly recent hardened magma..and there is a village down there that is in and around the lava flow path..
This is Mount Rinjani at sunrise, a 7 hour hike that brought us to this stunning view of the active volcano and crater lake, the big peak off in the far distance is the highest point on Rinjani which unfortunately was another days hike away and we didn't have time or energy...the big group of tents on the far left was our campsite and as you can see the volcano Baru in the middle of the crater lake Segara Anak is still smoldering, apparently late at night you could see magma but I was asleep shortly after sunset so I was sure not to miss this beautiful sunrise, it was worth it I think...this is a 10 pic panoramic image of our camping experience on Mt.Rinjani my favorite part of the trip...
I was the first person to make it to the top on our Rinjani hike and I was rewarded by seeing this Rainbow, unfortunately it was only there for about 2 minutes long enough for me to take a picture and then disappeared, this is the Crater lake, the opening of the volcano is just in the clouds..
A local Indonesian I encountered on the way to Yogyakarta, very friendly and curious of the camera.
This is the main road that goes around the entire island of Gilli Trawangan, only about 30% I would say is paved the rest is sand and beach...this paradise island only takes about 2 hours to walk around and its main source of transportation is horse carriage and bicycle.....This is the view outside our bungalows.
To the tourist its known as "Paradise Island" to the Locals "Jail Island", this is where we camped out for a night, we were the only ones on the beach the entire time, and that is pretty rare for Indonesia...according to the locals this island is where the Indonesia prison is for the worst people in the country, terrorists, murderers, the people who were responsible for the Bali bombings, etc. However it is a big island separated by dense jungle, but kind of neat to say we shared the island with some of the worst people in Indonesia..
Sunrise on Gilli Trawangan, this was a 1 minute walk outside of my bungalow, and the mountain range in the back is the volcano and Mt.Rinjani which we hiked a couple days before coming to the Gillis.
One of the crazy monkeys at Ulawatu this one looks friendly but really he is just contemplating on how to steal your stuff, they are very aggressive and will steal sunglasses, wallets, food or anything small you may have...they are the reason I and most people hate monkeys, sure they are cute in the Zoo or in Captivity but in the wild most are very aggressive and wont hesitate to jump on you, and if you get bit there is a chance you can get rabies which can cause for a very bad vacation..
Most of the group stayed at Soundwave bungalows but those filled up quick and we stayed at Turtle bungalows and up until Bali they were some of the nicest rooms I stayed in throughout SE Asia, this was the view from our patio..about a 30 second walk out down that path and it was white sandy beaches and a small Sea Turtle conservation area.
This is one of the monkeys near the top of Rinjani, probably not the best idea to get bit by him, but out of all the monkeys I think I have encountered in SE Asia, these were the most timid, this little guy is acctually in mid-yawn.
Sunset at the famous Kuta Beach in Bali, it is very difficult to get a shot off without someone in your picture here, there are thousands of people on this small beach, especially around sunset time when everyone wants to watch the sun go down. But I managed to get one good picture off without anyone in it.
This waterfall was located on "Paradise" Island, a short hike through the jungle brought us to this nice little area.
The Komodo Dragon, as much as I wish I could have seen one in the wild this one was taken at the Bali Zoo, it was pretty awesome to see, this lizard was huge, but apparently they can get almost twice as big in the wild, this one was about 1.5 meters long and they can get up to 2-3 meters long.