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Waypoint Adventure SEA

My friend Dan visited us for a week after Christmas, and we had the first ever South East Asia Waypoint Adventure adventure (go to waypointadventure.org to see the great things his organization is doing in MA).  We drove across East Java to the north west side of Bali and back over 4 days, returning to Surabaya on the last day of 2013.  This is not a very relaxing road trip, as traffic is pretty crowded and the roads are, uh, made locally.  But it’s a unique way to see life at ground level, and the scenery is incredible.  So, if you ever visit, and you should, you can expect to see views like those included here.

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Already long time (sudah lama)

 

Here are a few images from yesterday.  It’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything, or even had the energy to try anything creative with a camera.  So, in an effort to (re-) kick-start the shooting and posting, these will have to do for now.  This post is brought to you, and made possible, by our new visas (hooray!).  The first two are abstract/impressions (what Carolyn calls ‘blurry’; you may sympathize).  I’d like to print them both, huge.  

Image  Image

 

And finally, my fair lady, relaxing at kebun Bibit, a garden-park in Surabaya: 

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Arjuno

Gunung (mount) Arjuno to the west of Malang is the second highest peak on Java at 3339 m.  Back in October our friend Matt from Boston visited, as he had some work to do in SE Asia, and was able to swing through Malang to visit our team.  He loves to climb, and a few of us, along with our guide* were able to bag a route that started from the southern side, near Batu.  We had a vertical mile up, and summitted in about 3.5 hours, had an hour at the top, and a 2.5 hour decent.  The day had rolling mists coming through, so a view of Gunung Semeru (Java’s highest peak at 3676 m) on the other side of Malang wasn’t possible.  But it was beautiful all the same, with constantly shifting views, and we got some good sunburns and aching limbs to boot.  The panorama included here was taken two weeks ago, on one of the few relatively clear day’s we’ve had this rainy season.

*guide is a loose term here, meaning someone who will help you get access to a route or region.  They can usually get you to the start of your climb, even if the specifics of your agreement with them don’t resemble your experience to that point.  They may or may not be with you while you climb, up or down.  They may leave inexperienced climbers behind. They themselves may get lost, for hours.  Care for the safety of the climbers they are guiding may not be a familiar concept.  Needless to say, be guided at your own risk, and “your mileage may vary”.  This description is only anecdotal.

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The Many Looks of Elijah

Last week I had an hour to spend with Eli before taking him to school, and we had enough time to visit an abandoned building project a little way up the hill from there.  Originally the building was supposed to be a club-house of some sort, but the project was ended before any exterior walls were in place.  Now it’s just 3 levels of open concrete flooring and random brick walls, with falling-hazards everywhere.  It’s a popular spot for photographers, since the light streams in from all directions, and there are great views of the city and surrounding mountains.

We spent about a half-hour climbing stairs and checking out the various rooms and floors while I tried to get some portraits of the boy. He doesn’t listen to well.  Or stay still.  But his expressions, completely unprompted, mostly make up for that.  I hope you can tell, he brings a lot of joy and mischief to our lives.

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normal
hesitant
silhouetted
sulky
pleased
reflective
tired
what?
confident
all smiles
business
inquisative
goof
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Guns

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Watering Flowers

Eli has taken to guns recently – in a big way.  I guess it’s all part of being 3.  He can turn almost any food into a gun with judicious biting.  “Look dad, I made a gun” is heard around our place most days.  Lego guns, water guns, sandwich guns, and double-barrel pistoles guns-with-his-hands guns… can’t take those away.  His spray bottle brings hours of fun, and is almost useful sometimes.

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Yogyakarta

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A few weeks ago we took a chance to drive to Yogyakarta from Malang before the kids all started back to school.  We made the somewhat harrowing drive over the mountains at Batu and across the flat lands of eastern and central Java.  Picture a narrow 2-lane highway running 6 lanes of traffic that includes cars, motorcycles, pedestrians, chickens, tour buses, overloaded transport trucks and children on bicycles.  The only real rule of the road seems to be that tour buses always have the right of way in both lanes.

Yogyakarta is the cultural heart of Java and has seen it’s fair share of kingdoms come and go.  All sorts of classic Javanes art comes from this region, and most of it has now been monetized in some way: you can buy (in highly variable quality) all kinds of batik fabric and clothes, art work, tickets to dances and plays, etc.  Hawkers will give you plenty of opportunity to buy, whether you want to or not.  Yogya (pr. Jogja) is also the place that “proper” Indonesian is spoken, and we got plenty of chances to test our language skills – I guess it’s the equivalent of visiting Paris for those studying French.

Yogya is also home to many relatively ancient temples, and we were able to visit two such complexes: Candi (temple) Prambanan and Candi Borobudur.  These sites were both constructed during the 8th and 9th centuries, and both have seen ruin and partial restoration.  Both sites have a mix of Hindu and Buddhist features, and both were abandoned not long after construction was completed, as kingdoms fell and Islam spread throughout the island.

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morning sky above Yogya
not plastic
Sewa buddhist temple complex
seated
the ruins at Prambanan
doorway
temple statue
stretch
Candi Prambanan
ruin walk
filling in
at lunch
below Candi Borobudur
half-way up
the stupas of Borobudur looking west
the stupas of Borobudur looking east
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Photo Randomizer

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It’s been a while since I’ve managed to post anything here.  None of these images fit a story very well, but in some way capture typical life here.  It seems that Indonesia is colorful.  Maybe it’s the saturated colors of film (yes, you can still do that here, and I love it), but I think there is more to it than that.  Bright cloth and paint are used everywhere and by everyone here.

Incidentally, most of these images were made with film, and a fully-manual no-batteries-necessary Pentax K1000 that’s as old as I am.  Only three in this set were digital capture — can you tell which?

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Kampung Joy
Mother and Daughter
Snake Fruit Sellers
Pasar Besar (Big Market) Treat
Polka Dots
Dresses
Becak Reflection
Dream Bus
The Strait at Sendang Biru
Juice Bike
Fruit Bike
To Each His Own
Snake Fruit Bike
Feathers
The Sandal Boot