Baliem Valley Resort

The Baliem Valley Resort is located at 1900 Meter in the Jayawijaya Highlands and offers a bird's eye view of paradise, plus a touch of 3 star luxury resort of the beaten path situated in an area of 1600 HA. The resort takes its name from the Baliem Valley.

It is a luxurious 15 bungalows designed after the traditional "Honay" style, specious round houses with thatched roofs, modern bathrooms, picture windows and veranda with spectacular view overlooking the valley below.

Baliem Valley Resort offers nature walks through orchid gardens, alpine forests and suspension bamboo bridges.

Explore the culture of the around 300 Danifarmers who live in the Resort, walk along tiny village and friendly people. Men stride along the road wearing "kotekas".
Baliem Valley Resort is surrounded by mountain rainforests, walking trails, rivers, lakes and villages.
Baliem Valley Resort is devoted to offering fun and thoughful ecological knowledge to their visitors.

Borobudur Temple

Borobudur Temple is one of the greatest Buddhist monuments in the world. This colossal relic of Borobudur Temple was built by Sailendra dynasty between 750 and 842 AD; 300 years before Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, 400 years before work had begun on the great European cathedrals. Little is known about its early history except that a huge tropical heat to shift and carve the 60,000 Cu m of stone.Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles revealed Borobudur Temple in 1814.

He found the temple in ruin condition and ordered that the site be cleared of undergrowth and thoroughly surveyed. The massive restoration project began from 1905 to 1910 led by Dr. Tb. van Erp. With the help of UNESCO, the second restoration to rescue Borobudur was carried out from August 1913 to 1983.

The overall height of Borobudur was 42 meters, but it is only 34.5 meters now (after restoration), and has the dimension of 123 x 123 meters. The building has 10 floors or levels: Hhumtcambharabudara, the mountain of the accumulation of virtue in the ten stages of Bodhisatva. Borobudur is located 41 km northwest of Yogyakarta, 7 km south of Magelang, Central Java.

video indonesia diving

Bunaken Scuba Diving (North Sulawesi)

Scuba Diving in North Sulawesi

North Sulawesi is known as The Land of Smiling People and lies in the very epicentre of the world’s marine biodiversity in the Indo-Pacific Ocean. It offers more than 100 different dive sites, all rich with tropical marine life, with diving all year round. It is also very easy to get to, with direct flights from Singapore 3-4 times a week, depending on the season.

There are three dive areas to choose from. The first area is the clear waters of the Bunaken National Marine Park which was voted the global winner of British Airways Tourism for Tomorrow Award in 2003. The amazing walls of the park teams with thousands of different fish species, with huge sponges and beautiful hard corals, and countless number of fascinating critters.

The second area on the other side of the mainland is Lembeh Strait, and it is known as the world’s best ‘muck-diving’. These waters are full of extraordinary marine critters, many of which are the masters of camouflage.

In the northern tip of the mainland between Bunaken and Lembeh you can find a group of tropical islands with white sandy beaches and beautiful coral reefs. This is the third diving area of Bangka Island with amazing soft corals and even more critters.

There is something for every diver in North Sulawesi. Whether you prefer to admire the steep coral walls of Bunaken National Marine Park, explore the reefs in Bangka area or dive in the enchanting world of nature’s little wonders in Lembeh Strait, we can guarantee that you will leave North Sulawesi rich with memorable experiences.

Between the diving you can visit the area’s other attractions. These include the bustling city of Manado, the lush vegetable gardens of the Minahasa highlands and the tropical jungles in Tangkoko Nature Reserve.

This web site is supported by the North Sulawesi Watersports Association, the local environmental organization participating in the protection of this unique part of Sulawesi. All the resorts listed here are active members of this association, and there is a wide range of facilities available from 5-star accommodation to beach-side cottages. They all have one thing in common, they offer eco-friendly dive services and facilities.

Legong Dance in Bali Island

'Stage' of the legong, as for many other dances and dramas in Bali, is called kalangan in Balinese. This is an open space with a kind of horse shoe half circle created by the spectators. With a big tree, usually an enormous banyan tree, overshadows the stage, and an elevated beautiful carved candi bentar gate as the back drop, from where the dancers emerge, the stage is complete. Watching legong performance in such a place under a moonlight at night is quite an experience, for some, this also means a revelation...

Up to now, at least eighteen forms of legong had been recorded. Some of them successfully revived only recently. And the others are quite popular that almost in par with kebyar dance. The legong are, lasem, kupu-kupu tarum, jobog, kuntul, legod bawa, smaradhana, andir, condong, and many others.

Some villages in Central and Southern Bali are considered home of the legong. They are, Peliatan, Ubud, Saba, Bedulu, Sukawati in Gianyar area, Binoh in Badung area, Kerambitan in Tabanan area, among others. These villages posses long legong traditions, and most of them still own high quality legong troupes today.

Some of Balinese dances are now labeled as 'classic'. This classic label only presented to an arts form that posses exceptional quality and endurance to survive for many generations, and legong is considered as one of them.

Meanwhile, story of the birth of the legong is no less intriguing than the legong it self. In early nineteenth century, a prince in Sukawati was in a coma condition caused by his ill. In his coma he saw two beautiful nymphs dancing a feminine and delicate dance. Not only he saw the dance, he heard the sound of music that accompanying it as well. Struck by the mysterious and beautiful sight and sound, later after his health revival, together with artists of the village, he transformed his imagination into reality. So, born the legong, another performing arts form, as a gentle touch of the arts to the already arts fertile island.

Rinjani Mountain

Mount Rinjani or Gunung Rinjani is an active volcano in Indonesia on the island of Lombok. It rises to 3,726 m (12,224 ft), making it the second highest volcano in Indonesia. The first historical eruption occurred in September of 1847. The most recent eruption of Mount Rinjani was on 1 October 2004. The volcano and spectacular Segara Anak crater lake, are protected by a national park established in 1997. The 6 km by 8.5 km oval-shaped caldera is filled partially by a lake known as Segara Anak (approximately 2000m above sea level and estimated at being between 200m and 300m deep); the caldera also contains hot springs. The eruptions of 1994, 1995, and 1996 have formed a small cone, Gunung Baru (or Mountain New - approximately 2300m above sea level) in the center of the caldera and lava flows from these eruptions have entered the lake.

The highlands are forest clad and mostly underdeveloped. The lowlands are highly cultivated. Rice, soybeans, coffee, tobacco, cotton, cinnamon, and vanilla are the major crops grown in the fertile soils of the island.

Gunung Rinjani National Park lies within a major bio-geographical transition zone (Wallcaeae), where the flora and fauna of South East Asia meets that of Australasia. The National Park, one of over 40 throughout Indonesia, was established in 1997. For the people of Lombok, Sasak and Balinese alike, Mt. Rinjani is revered as a sacred place and abode of deities. The crater lake is a pilgrimage destination for tens of thousand each year. Pilgrims place offering in the water and bathe away ailments in the hot springs.

For visitors, the three-day Rinjani trek route from Senaru to the crater rim, down to the Crater Lake then on to Sembalun Lawang, is considered one of the best treks in South East Asia. Trekkers that are more adventurous aim for the summit, it best reached from Sembalun Lawang returning after four days to Senaru. To assist with conservation and ensure that communities on the boundary of the National Park benefit from tourism revenues, the Rinjani Trek is managed by a partnership of National Park officials, the public and private sectors of the Lombok tourism industry and community representatives. Community run cooperatives coordinate the Trek at the Rinjani Trek Center (RTC) in Senaru and the Rinjani Information Center (RIC) in Sembalun Lawang. Each has roster system for guides and porters, village tour activities and handicraft sales.

Revenue from tourism activities and entry fees is used for conservation, raining, management and assisting the National Park with maintenance of the Rinjani Trek, thus ensuring sustainability. Overseeing and supporting these activities is the Rinjani Trek Management Board, combining the authority of the central government (National Park) and local government (tourism office), with the voices of Lombok tourisms private sector, and the boundary communities. This institutional model is unique in Indonesia and considered an example for practical implementation of the ideals of ecotourism.

Getting There

We can manage the transport to Senaru or Sembalun Lawang. These two village can be reached by private and charter vehicle, or by public bus. Form the west, catch a bemo to Anyar, from where bemos travel to Senaru about every 20 minutes until 4 pm. If you are coming from, or going to, eastern Lombok, get off at the junction near Bayan (your driver will know it), from where bemos go to Senaru. To Sembalun Lawang and Sembalun Bumbun, from Kali Putih to the north, a few bemos run along the rough road to both villages, usually only in the morning.

Moth 'beauty' Orchid

The moth orchid was traditionally an expensive exotic that needed special care and growing at the nursery stage. However cultural break through in nursery practises, has halved the retail price. Phalaenopsis amabilis was very popular in Victorian times, with one specimen selling for 15 guineas in 1847, the equivalent of nearly £1000 at today’s prices!

Phaleanopsis is pronounced phal-A-nop-sis, which means "resembling a moth" which is why it is known as the Moth orchid. The flower sprays have up to 15 large waxy flat oval-shaped flowers on long stems. Moth orchids originate in the tropical forests of Indonesia and Java which gives us a hint of its perfect conditions.

They need minimum night temperature of 16-19°C, and you can initiate flower spikes by reducing the temperature by 5°C for four weeks. After flowering, the spike should be cut down, if it is healthy, by two nodes (below the top two spent blooms). This will stimulate more flowers. Make the cut just above the third node down.

Komodo Dragon

Varanus komodensis

Endangered

The Komodo dragon is the world's largest lizard species. It is found mainly on the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rintja, Padar, and Flores. There are only an estimated 1,000 to 5,000 of these monitor lizards living today. Reaching lengths of up to 3 m or more, and weighing up to 126 kg, these reptiles are swift runners and climbers with great appetites for deer and wild boar.
Although often regarded as pests, they are not a serious menace to humans. In order to protect the dragon, the Indonesian government has made the islands of Padar and Rintja into nature reserves for both the lizard and its prey. Commercial trade in specimens or skins is illegal under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.