Bromo and Semeru Mountains

In celebration of Indonesia Visit 2008, I would like to share my journey before to Bromo and Semeru. It is one of my memorable experience if I might tell you honestly. I was really exhausted to do the trip but it paid off after looking the scenery there.

Bromo is located in East Java. If you travel by air, you need to land in Surabaya city and continue with land transportation to Ranu Pani Village. The village is small but full of facilities because it is well known for tourist spots in East Java. From the village, you can visit the view deck where you see the Bromo mountain with 2329 meter altitude and at the back of it, you can see the Semeru mountain with 3,676 meter altitude. Semeru mountain is the highest mountain in Java island.

If you want to take a closed look at Bromo and Semeru volcanoes, you need take a 4WD jeep to reach there. Make sure you consult first with the local government for the safe time to visit because Bromo and Semeru volcanoes are considered an active volcanoes. When traveling to approach Semeru (called as well as Mahameru), you would find interesting sites and scenery to enjoy. It was a good visit for me.

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Lembang Tea Walk

Year 2008 is the year of Visit Indonesia. Most of tourists know Indonesia because of Bali. However, there are many other places worth visiting in Indonesia. In you are business man and visit Jakarta, I could mention some areas near Jakarta that you could visit on weekends without traveling to far from Jakarta.

One of the place is Lembang. Lembang is near Bandung, it is about 150km from Jakarta. With the Cipularang High Way, you could reach it easily in 2 hours. Lembang is well known for it's nature scene. You can enjoy the beauty of tea plantations. You can ask around to find some waterfalls in Lembang. It is worth visiting to chill out and escape from your daily routines.

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2007 UN Climate Change Conference in Bali

A big conference was held in Bali discussing about Climate Change. One thing that interest me is the discussion about 5 reasons of avoiding burning forest to open new area for plantations.

Most farmers or plantations company use method of burning forest to open new area or land clearing because it is considered as the cheapest way. However, they should know the consequences in doing so.

1. Wood biomass that present in forest keeps nutrition for the land. Land clearing by burning will invoke loss of land quality to prevent erosion and water quality under the land.
2. Burning is obviously produces excessive smokes that can affect global warming.
3. Wood in forest can be used for paper materials. So, why burning them?.
4. Burning will produce excessive carbon that can affect the quality of next plantations. The result of next plantations will be greatly affected.
5. If it difficult to control the spread of fire in the area. Windy environment can spread out the fire to locations that was supposed not to be cleared.

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Borobudur Temple – The biggest Buddhist temple in Indonesia

Borobudur temple located in the Jogjakarta city on central Java and it is the biggest Buddhist temple in Indonesia. Some archaeologists believe that Borobudur temple was abandoned during 14th century following the fall of Buddhist in Central Java and Javanese stated to convert to Islam. It was then that Borobudur was discovered by Sir Thomas Raffles, the British ruler of Java in 1814. Since then, the Borobudur has undergone some restorations and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

I have been 3 times went to Borobudur temple and I was always amazed on how many tourist (both local can foreign) to appreciate the structures and reliefs of the temple.

A quote from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borobudur:

The monument comprises six square platforms topped by three circular platforms, and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. A main dome is located at the center of the top platform, and is surrounded by seventy-two Buddha statues seated inside perforated stupa.

The monument is both a shrine to the Lord Buddha and a place for Buddhist pilgrimage. The journey for pilgrims begins at the base of the monument and follows a path circumambulating the monument while ascending to the top through the three levels of Buddhist cosmology, namely, Kamadhatu (the world of desire); Rupadhatu (the world of forms); and Arupadhatu (the world of formless). During the journey, the monument guides the pilgrims through a system of stairways and corridors with 1,460 narrative relief panels on the wall and the balustrades.

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