Bali is know for its culture and beaches. But it is also a hot spot for adventure. A classic two hour visually spectacular rafting trip on the Ayung river in Ubud region of Bali is a mix of excitement, fun & breathtaking views. Carving through some of Bali's most fantastic landscape, Class II & III rapids wind through deep valleys, cascading waterfalls, dense tropical rainforest and towering cliffs. An adventure worth an experience while in Bali. There are a few rafting operators in and around Ubud and Sobek is one of them which was our operator for the trip. Rafting is a thrill and it helps when the instructors are lively and engaging. The base is just a few kilometres from Ubud town in the forest area. Rafters get into gear at the base and then trek downhill amidst deep fo...
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There were many revelations for us in Bali - an island of Hindu culture in Islamic Indonesia. And many of them came to us in the Bali Art Centre. I will be talking about the Bali Art Centre in a later post, but this is about something we witnessed there. Pre-wedding photo-shoots are not uncommon world over. Even Bali is famous globally as a wedding and honeymoon destination. But here I am talking about pre-wedding photo-shoots of local Hindu Balinese couples. Its grown into a tradition now and is extremely popular. Its quite unlike hindu traditions in India where to be bride and groom are not supposed to meet openly before the marriage and a planned, open and detailed photo-shoot is out of question. But here, to be couples get the photo-shoot at all type of exotic, traditional, hist...
Read MoreHaving talked about Borobudur Temple in Indonesia earlier, Prambanan temple can't be left far behind. We have seen some sunset photos of the Prambanan Temple earlier, its now time to talk in some detail about it. Prambanan temple is in central Java and close to city of Yogyakarta. It is largest hindu temple in Indonesia located in area which is termed as Prambanan plains. It is also one of the biggest in South East Asia. Prambanan temple is dedicated to tridev- Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh (Shiva). There are six main temples- Shiva in the centre, Brahma to his right and Vishnu to his left. And right opposite to temples of these three deities are the three temples of their respective vahanas- Nandi in front of Shiva, Garuda in front of Vishnu and Hamsa (swan) in front of Brahma. All t
Read MoreWe visited Borobudur temple in the third leg of our Indonesia trip, when we were stationed at Yogyakarta. Yogyakarta is the biggest city close to this UNESCO world heritage site. Borobudur at Magelang in Central Java province of Indonesia is a Mahayana Buddhist Temple built in 8th and 9th centuries. It has been recorded as the largest Buddhist Temple in the world. But not just that... it is not just because of its size. It is considered to be one of the greatest Buddhist monuments in the world and for that matter, among the greatest monuments in the world. Complex is huge and very artistically and geometrically built. It wasn't possible for us to see it from the top, but this aerial image (below) taken from internet gives an idea of what this structure is like. In the image below yo...
Read MoreIts always fascinating to capture a city from the sky while landing or taking off in a flight. More so when the city is new and the images give you a entirely new perspective of the city. Even if not that, it is still fun to have a top view. These images were my 'Hello' to capital Jakarta on my recent first ever visit to the Indonesia. And the results were certainly not disappointing - a warm welcome to a wonderful country - Wonderful Indonesia. Sitting pretty! Clouds on their pockets of the islands!! Lagoons and the beaches! Anticipation of nature's bounty!! A glimpse of the turquoise blue waters! These white spots are the indication of a harbour nearby! Truly enough, we close in to the port city! The sea, the land and the air... all in the nature's single frame! Somebo
Read MoreIndonesia is a land of volcanos. Its has highest number of volcanos in any country in the world. Out of them more than 125 are active volcanos. Indonesia has suffered most due to volcanic eruptions than any other place in the world. But it seems volcanos are part of their lives. That is why active volcanos are also a place for tourist attraction here. This is the Ratu crater of active volcano at Tangkuban Parahu near Bandung in West Java province of Indonesia. This volcano had last eruption in 1983. Tangkuban Parahu is a natural Park located at the altitude of 2084 metres. There are three main craters here- Ratu, Upas and Domas. Ratu is the main crater, visited most and has the most developed infrastructure around. There are a couple of adjacent craters. There also some hot springs ...
Read MoreIn an earlier post I had showcased some Sunset silhouettes from the Kuta beach in Bali. But I haven't included the actual sunset photos in the post and saved them for later. Here they come, few of the selected ones. Well, sunsets are never enough. For me, going to a beach destination essentially means to watch the sunset. But then so has for any other destination as well. Sunrises and sunsets always catch your imagination. As I said in the earlier post, sunset at the Kuta beach in Bali was the only second sunset of the whole trip that I was able to capture. First, one being the sunset at Prambanan Temple near Yogyakarta. Although we landed in Bali in the late morning but it was only in the evening when we managed to check in our hotel close to Kuta Beach. Having left with ve
Read MoreKuta is one of the most happening places in Bali. Earliest place to get commercialised in the island for the sake of tourism. This was my second sunset in Indonesia, first one being at Prambanan. This was first one at Bali. It is always very overwhelming to watch sunset at a beach- nature's two most powerful forces merging into each other to give such a soothing effect. Standing alone and still, calmly watching the sun taking another dip in the ocean is so fascinating, as we can see the person in the image below, so soaked in the moment. For me, photography has always been the attempt to capture the moments. So here are few of the silhouette moments at Kuta beach in Bali. Few of these are the couple moments- let's play love... Few other are some lonely feelings, reflecting at
Read MoreIn my earlier post about Jakarta, I had mentioned about the National Museum of Indonesia. The building which houses this museum is called as Gedung Gajah because of an elephant statue in the front courtyard of the building. Hence it is often called as Gajah Museum as well. Gajah (गजः) is elephant in Sanskrit. It is one of the most complete museums I have ever visited with everything about country's history, art, culture, heritage, music, sociology, anthropology, architecture, etc. Museum is located very close to the Merdeka Square, which houses the Monas. This is central part of the city with most of the ministries and even the President's House nearby. The museum collection is said to be among the richest, the most complete and the best of its kind in Indonesia and also perhaps one
Read MoreWhen erstwhile Congress government in Delhi was planning a BRT corridor to decongest traffic in the Indian capital city, it said that its officials had studied many such projects around the world and learned from them, presumably they even visited those countries. I don't know whether Jakarta was one of those cities or not. But after spending just over a day in the Indonesian capital, it was not at all tough for me to notice the glaring dissimilarities between the two. I could easily conclude why BRT was such a glorious failure in Indian capital and why it is gloriously successful in Indonesian capital. Delhi's BRT was very unceremoniously dismantled just recently, its few relics are still standing on the roads. But story for Jakarta was totally different. As I mentioned in my previ...
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