A Behind the Scenes Look at Making Gudeg in Yogyakarta
10 December 2012
Categories : Sightseeing - Cuisine
The heat from the flames was almost unbearable, the lack of air circulation stifling. A surprisingly tall, young, shirtless man in flip-flops entered the room. Male or female, it was hard not to notice his abs, covered in sweat, and seemingly carved from stone. He deposited a shovel full of red-hot coals underneath one of the many large cooking pots, without a word, and left the room again. Walking into the kitchen of Gudeg Yu Djum, a famous restaurant in...
Tag : Yogyakarta
Mount Bromo: Visiting an Active Volcano in East Java
10 December 2012
Categories : Adventure - Hiking, Trekking, and Eco - Sightseeing - Travelings
Stumbling out of bed, I skipped the shower, brushed my teeth, and stepped outside into the cool darkness. Craning my head toward the night’s sky, I was greeted with a scattering of white stars. It was a good sign. In a trip filled with early mornings, getting up at 3 AM to watch the sunrise over Mount Bromo in East Java was the earliest. We’d been warned to dress warmly, as temperatures can drop close to freezing, but I didn’t even find a hat...
Tag : Mount Bromo
Komodo Dragons in the Wild
10 December 2012
Categories : Adventure - Hiking, Trekking, and Eco
The stories began on Rinca Island. A park ranger ambushed in his office when the door was accidentally left open. An elderly villager attacked. A local child killed. Our guides seemed to take it all in stride, having grown up amongst endangered Komodo monitors, the world’s largest living lizard, all their lives. As a visitor, I was both fascinated, and increasingly worried. The only tool guides carry to fend off aggressive Komodo dragons, as they are...
Tag : Komodo National Park
Observing Orangutan Behavior at Camp Leakey
7 December 2012
Categories : Travelings - Adventure
Following the epic photo shoot with the delightful Sweet Hope, we devoured a breakfast of toast, fruit, and fried rice aboard the klotoks, and then disembarked. By then, two dozen other tourists had arrived to watch the morning’s orangutan feeding. We walked a few minutes along another raised boardwalk, until we reached the ranger station. Behind one of the buildings, a mother orangutan was hanging from a tree trunk, along with her adorable little baby...
Tag : Camp Leakey: Renowned Orangutan Research and Rehabilition Center
Watching the Sunrise from Borobudur Temple
7 December 2012
Categories : Sightseeing - Travelings - Culture and Heritage
Approaching the stone steps of Borobudur Temple in the pre-dawn hours, the sky slowly began to lighten, revealing a blanket of grey clouds. Getting up at 4 AM was no longer about seeing a multi-colored sky, but experiencing one of Indonesia’s greatest cultural landmarks with as few people as possible. Borobudur Temple is the world’s largest Buddhist monument, its construction dating back to the 8th and 9th centuries (300 years before Cambodia’s...
Tag : Borobudur
