Lisa and Waterfalls

Last night's sunset

I remember my mother (Happy Birthday today, Mummy) telling us just before she died that Niagara Falls was really boring and that it was "just water, water, water". Well I have never been to any really famous waterfalls like Victoria, Niagara, Iguazu so my experience is limited but today Lisa and I hiked up to Langanan Falls in the Poring National Park and yes it was water, water, water, but Mummy dear it wasn't boring at all!

Langanan Falls

It was the highest waterfall that I've ever been under and it was beautiful, mesmerising and quite magical. I was trying to imagine what it must have been like to just come across these amazing waterfalls without any warning. We knew that it was our destination and yet we were quite taken aback and amazed when we actually saw it. One thing that I've noticed on my travels is that if a place involves a certain amount of physical exercise to get there, tourists won't bother to go. Ijen Volcano was much more spectacular than Bromo but the hike up put people off . So today Lisa and I hiked through beautiful rainforest for three hours on our own only meeting three people at the waterfall.

Another rafflesia!

Canopy walk

   Lisa had a trip down to the Kinabatangan River last week and in the first half hour had seen an orangutan and then a crocodile rearing out of the river and eat a wild boar! The rest of the time was  quite quiet after that but she did manage to see the usual - proboscis monkeys, silver-leaf monkeys, hornbills, kingfishers etc.... I'm sorry to sound so blase but hey I've nearly been here 2 years now! Apart from that we have been to the Tip of Borneo again and the usual Ranau sights - if you are interested, Lisa has some wonderful photos on her blog lisasontheroad.blogspot.com and there are only photos - no ramblings! Anyway, next weekend we are going to the Rainforest Festival in Kuching - a 3 day Festival of World Music which we are really looking forward to and then Lisa will be off to Thailand on her last leg of her 5 month trip.

Beautiful Bali but for how much longer?

The Twin Lakes

A Hindu temple

Lake Braton

We arrived in Ubud after a stunning drive over the mountains visiting the Twin lakes and the temples at Lake Bratan. I couldn't recognise a single feature of Ubud as it was full of shops, hotels and restaurants. I remember it being full of temples and a fruit and vegetable market but it had changed beyond recognition somehow retaining its charm and cultural and spiritual ambience. We stayed in a lovely homestay with it's own family temple and wandering around the streets you can understand why people fall under Ubud's spell. We went to the watch the Balinese dancing which has now been reduced to a manageable hour and a half rather than the epic three hours, Andrew and I sat through! We walked through the padi fields, visited temples including the vast Goa Gajah Temple that is only partially excavated, ate in exquisite tastefully decorated restaurants  and bought more ikat sarongs which are hand woven in Bali (which Lisa and I love) It was charming and full of  French and Canadian Quebecois tourists and women searching for "something". The film/book  Eat Pray Love, was set in Ubud but since I haven't seen it I've no idea what impact it has had except that there are many spas, botox clinics, yoga centres and spiritual places to find "oneself" in.

Our Homestay's temple

Goa Gajah Cave

Offerings for the Gods

The market

Another Temple!

The Balinese Dancers

We got a mini-bus to the airport from Ubud and that is when I realised how much Bali has changed. I was so relieved that we had come in by ferry from the north. It is completely built up with hotels, shops, malls, businesses selling anything and everything. Fortunately we only drove through it but I could not have stayed one night there. Please Bali, don't lose your charm.

Bromo and Ijen Volcanoes in Java

The day of Lisa's birthday was spent in a mini - bus travelling through a busy main road heading towards the east coast. We changed buses about 8 pm and then headed up the mountains not seeing a thing except hairpin bends. We arrived at our very basic homestay about 10, put on our thermals, had a cup of tea and got into bed and rose again at 4 am for the sunrise over Bromo. We joined hundreds of jeeps all heading the same direction for the sunrise and even though It was wonderful it wasn't quite the same when one had to fight to get a view for a photograph. We, and the hundreds of others, then went to climb the volcano, which was made easy by concrete steps and horse-rides for those who were willing to pay. The Tenggerese people, who live in the mountains, ride horses, grow vegetables and wear lovely sarongs .

The crater

Lisa too close to the edge

 Straight after breakfast we headed off to our next destination which was the Ijen Volcano. We went through some beautiful countryside and rainforest as we headed into the National Park. The journey took all day and again we stayed in a basic hostel and started our day at 4 am. This time however we were nearly on our own accompanied by a few sulphur miners on their way to start their days work. It was amazing and took about 2 hours climbing up by foot and we reached the crater by sunrise. The miners continued their descent into the crater and cut 100 kg of sulphur , packed it into their 2 baskets before climbing up and then down again before it was weighed and the process started again. They do two trips a day and earn $10 which is a good wage in Indonesia but they certainly earn it. There were hardly any tourists and it was incredible and well worth a visit  if you are in Java.

Me not too near the edge!

The miners

A well deserved rest

Weighing

Borobudur and Prambanan

Lisa and I returned on Thursday night to Sabah - only just getting on the plane with all our purchases. I was wearing a skirt over trousers, Lisa's hiking boots, a couple of sarongs for scarves, not to mention the raincoat and sweatshirt tied around my waist! Anyway we are back in Ranau now and looking at our photos and thinking what alot we took  and what a wonderful time we had. So I must put some up before I forget where we have been and what we did.
 One of the first days in Yogakarta was spent visiting Borobudur and Prambanan Temples. Tanya had visited the temples seven years ago and I remember her photos really well and wanting to visit them but never thought I would. I'm not going to write lots of details about them as you can all look up Wikipedia too like me! 

One of the 504 Buddhas

Borobudur Temple is a 9th Century  Mahayana Buddhist Temple and consists of six square platforms topped by three circular platforms, and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. A main dome, located at the centre of the top platform, is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues seated inside a perforated stupa. ( thanks Wikipedia) Apart from that I can tell you that it is a huge tourist attraction and pilgrimage for Indonesians. There were lots of school children visiting and they all seemed to want to have their photos taken with random white tourists. It is a UNESCO Site and underwent a huge restoration and opening in 1982 after being abandoned for many years.

A relief panel

The next stop was the Hindu Temples at Prambanan which was just as popular with Indonesians. This was again built in the 9th Century and has been abandoned, restored and then recently in 2006  suffered a lot of damage from an earthquake.

Hard hat in case of earthquakes!

Restoration continues

 Both of the temples were wonderful and well worth visiting . They were very  popular with the locals and there was no respectful quietness and it was as if we were all at a funfair which was rather nice!

Bali after 27 and 3/4 Years

Lisa in Bali

Yes here I am back in Bali not really intending to be here but we just followed the flow and it seemed the most logical thing to do. Andrew and I stayed here over 27 years ago whilst backpacking around South-East Asia and I was worried that it might have changed beyond recognition but so far it  has retained all the charm, tasteful decor and amazing scenery as before. We are staying on the north of the island in a sleepy tourist town called Lovina in a charming hotel with a lovely garden. Today we head off over the mountains to Ubud where our last few days will be spent. In a strange quirck of fate, Bali was when I first suspected that I might be pregnant with Lisa and so we celebrated her 27th  birthday last week where she spent her early days!! These are just a few photos of our wonderful trip but get ready for the deluge next week when we return to Sabah.

A Fruit Salad Birthday Cake with our Polish friends