Kalimantan’s Top Jungle Travel Junkies

The Travel Junkie

After the rain in Kayan Mentarang National Park (Image courtesy of Tamas Brunner)

Traveljunkieindonesia.com – Kalimantan’s most celebrated inhabitant is the unbearably human-esque orang-utan. These rich amber–coloured primates with their soulful disposition are an undisputed highlight of the islands fauna and an obvious magnet for tourists.

And, Kalimantan has some spectacular jungle journeys for travel junkies. The following require resilience, respect, Bahasa Indonesia and a keen sense of adventure; the reward is glimpses of ancient rainforests that may not be around for much longer.

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The Tarsier : King of Cute from Sulawesi

The Travel Junkie

Tarsier (Image courtesy of Bas Schonenberg)

Travejunkieindonesia.com – If you’re visiting Sulawesi’s Tangkoko-Batuangas Dua Saudara Nature Reserve or Lore Lindu National Park, keep your eyes peeled for something looking back at you: a tiny nocturnal primate known as a tarsier.

These creatures are recognisable by their eyes, which are literally larger than their stomachs, so big in fact that they cannot rotate them within their sockets. Luckily their heads can be rotated nearly 360 degrees so their range of vision isn’t compromised.

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Happy Valentines Day from The Travel Junkie

The Travel Junkie

Traveljunkieindonesia.com – Happy Valentine’s Day to all my readers and friends out there. Don’t be shy to express your love to your special someone, to your family, to your pet, to your camera, to your backpack, and mostly to the world.

“A life without love is like a year without summer.” -Swedish Proverb

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Jungle Know-How in Indonesia

The Travel Junkie

Traveljunkieindonesia.com – The Indonesian jungle is legendary for its terrain: steep slippery pitches and precipitous drops. The trails can be well-worn paths or barely visible breaks in the underbrush. This is no stroll through the park, you’ll need to be responsibly fit, and well prepared, for any jungle wander.

Trekking Checklist
Bring along mosquito and leech repellent, sunscreen and lots of water. Wear long sleeves and long pants to protect against bugs and thorns, and sturdy shoes with good grip to combat gravity. A dry change of clothes and sandals for camp are a good idea.

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Moko from the Solor Alor Archipelago

The Travel Junkie

Wonderful Moko (Image courtesy by Scott Bickell)

Traveljunkieindonesia.com – The Solor Alor archipelago is home to some indigenous tribal groups that are renowned for their Moko drum culture. Alor’s chief fame lies in its mysterious Moko – Bronze drums about 50cm high and 33cm across, tapered in the middle like an hourglass and with four ear-shaped handles around the circumference.

They sound a bit like a bongo when thumped. Thousands of them are scattered around the island – the Alorese apparently found them buried in the ground and believed them to be gifts from the gods, though they were probably brought by traders from India, China or Makassar.

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Heirloom, Hong Kong, Mexico, and Indonesia

The Travel Junkie

Traveljunkieindonesia.com – where you at now? Hong Kong? Check this out. Restaurateurs Ashton Winkler from Mexico and Vivian Herijanto from Indonesia use six ingredients – chili, tomatoes, cumin, fennel, coriander and onions – in the majority of the dishes they serve at Heirloom.

The restaurant opened on Hollywood Road at the end of 2011. “If you’re having a bad day in Hong Kong, everything here would make you happier. The most common comment is that the food was made with love. It’s the best compliment anyone could give!” says Winkler.

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Candi Sukuh : One of the Best Sites in the World That Celebrate Sex & Sexuality

The Travel Junkie

Wonderful Sukuh Temple (Image courtesy of zh.wikipedia.org)

Traveljunkieindonesia.com – I love sexy Candi Sukuh, Central Java. This site is one of the best sites in the world that celebrate sex & sexuality. One of Java’s most mysterious and striking temples, Candi Sukuh (9am-5pm) stands 900m above sea level on the slopes of Gunung Lawu, 36km east of Solo.

It is a large truncated pyramid of rough-hewn stone, which is curiously Inca-like, and while the sculpture is carved in the wayang style found particularly in East Java, the figures are crude, squat and distorted. The temple isn’t wildly erotic as is sometimes suggested, but there are fairly explicit and humorous representations of a stone penis or two and the elements of a fertility cult are qulte clear.

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Australians Prefer Bali Holiday Over WA Visit

The Travel Junkie

Balangan Beach Sunset (Image courtesy of Travel Junkie Indonesia)

Traveljunkieindonesia.com – Aussies are vacationing in droves overseas with New Zealand, the U.S. and Indonesia as their favourite destinations. Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that in 2011, Australians made 7.8 million international trips.

The strong dollar which provided Australian travelers higher purchasing power when overseas as well as budget flights were the reasons why they opted to spend their holiday abroad instead of local destinations.

On top of their favoured hideaways are resort island Bali in Indonesia as well as other Asian nations known for their beautiful beaches such as Thailand and the Philippines. As a result, travel for other traditional vacation destinations for Aussies such as Japan, South Africa and Canada declined.

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5 Days Climbing Gunung Rinjani Lombok

The Travel Junkie

Traveljunkieindonesia.com – Towering over the entire northern part of the island, the mighty Rinjani volcano is of immense cultural (and climatic) importance for Lombok’s people, while climbing the peak is one of Indonesia’s most exhilarating experiences. The great cone, which reaches 3726m, and its upper slopes were declared a national park in 1997.

Gunung Rinjani is the highest mountain in Lombok and the second highest in Indonesia. Its caldera contains a cobalt crescentshaped lake, Danau Segara Anak (Child of the Sea), which is about 6km across at its widest point. The crater has a series of natural hot springs known as Air Kalak, whose waters locals take to blend with herbs to make medicinal treatments, particularly for skin diseases. The lake is 600m below the crater rim, and rising from its waters is a minor, newer cone, Gunung Baru (or Gunung Barujari), which only emerged a couple of hundred years ago. This ominously grey, highly active scarred peak erupted as recently as October 2004.

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Top Reasons Why Indonesia is the Best Place in the World for Backpackers

The Travel Junkie

Traveling alone - Maryam a backpacker from Holland

Traveljunkieindonesia.com – The Indonesian archipelago has long been a favorite for budget travelers, almost to the point of becoming a cliché. There is a reason that the place is so popular though and there are a lot of merits to including the region on any major trip. Once you look past the raging party towns and Australian kids on spring break, Indonesia has a lot to offer any traveler.

Plenty of people backpack Europe and South America – with good reason too, but in my opinion nowhere in the world is more backpacker-friendly than Indonesia. The combination of vivid cultures, fascinating foods and cheap prices make it the ultimate for backpacker living and a must for anyone planning an extended trip.

Here’s why Indonesia beats out everyone else:

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Top 5 Dive Sites in Biak

The Travel Junkie

Biak Wrecks (Image courtesy of Matthew Oldfield)

Traveljunkieindonesia.com – The underwater attractions around Pulau Biak have the potential to compete with Raja Ampat, with the added bonus of being cheaper and less overrun by tourists. However, some local fishermen blithely continue their practice of dynamite and cyanide fishing, so you may find spots that are slightly less stunning than others.

The diving industry in Biak is small but growing, and there’s nowhere else in Central Papua to organise diving/snorkelling trips or rent equipment. Around Pulau Biak, the best and most accessible diving spots:

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