It was an early, pre-dawn start from Orion II as we departed in a flotilla of zodiacs for the 2 ½-hour trip up the Sungai Sekonyer River. Life on the river began to awaken as we did and within the first 40 minutes of the journey we were treated to our first orangutan sighting in the wild — a large
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The word “orangutan” derives from the Malay words, “orang” is person; and utan comes from human which means “forest” … thus, “person of the forest,” and that is what we’ve come all this way to see! It is the largest tree-dwelling mammal, the only ape in Asia and shares 97% of human DNA. They are only found on Borneo and
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After two and a half days at sea, it is a happy event to catch our first glimpse of the third largest island in the world, Borneo, or Kalimantan, as the locals call it. As seen from the sea, it is seemingly flat and featureless, however, we all know that it’s lowland rain forests contain one of the most diverse
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We’re now 24 hours into the trip and commencing our first “day at sea.” The Java Sea, which is known to be rough, has been remarkably calm and we are delighted that Mother Nature is smiling on us. It’s a bit overcast, so not exactly “sunning on deck” weather, but not to worry as we’ve been kept very busy with
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An early morning yoga session with yogi, “Putu” was a great start to the day! It took place in an open-air pavilion and the soft pitter-patter of falling rain, tree frogs singing and birds chirping were a stark counterpoint to the claustrophobic, sweaty walls of my yoga studio at home. Sadly, it was a morning of packing and preparing to
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Our arrival in Bali coincided with a magnificent sunset, whetting our appetite for what was to come. The mere sound of the word “Bali” conjures up images of an exotic tropical paradise and I was feeling romantic (after all, it was Valentine’s Day!) with the lyrics of “Bali Hai” ringing in my ears from “South Pacific…” If you try, you
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Today began with a more leisurely start — abundant sunshine and breakfast on the terrace. We bid farewell to Amanjiwo, departed for Jogya with our guide, Udin, and decided to stop on the way to sample the famous Kopi Luwak coffee a.k.a. “Civet coffee.” It may well be the most expensive coffee in the world — like $200/pound and this
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The pre-dawn wake-up call was preceded by the 4:15 a.m. call to prayer, but the thought of beating the crowds to one of the greatest Buddhist monuments in the world with “Ibu (Mrs.) Toni” at the helm was all the incentive I needed! The die-hard photographers in our party left the hotel at 4:30 a.m. and I brought up the
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A two hour non-stop flight brought us to Yogyakarta on the island of Java (let’s not discuss Air Asia’s outrageous overweight baggage policy!). We had opted for the “visa on arrival” which is so quick and easy — all you do is pay your $25 in crisp new bills — compared to the onerous process of getting an Indonesian visa
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Singapore is a city/state that occupies just 700 sq kilometers, has a population of 5.2 million residents, virtually no crime to speak of, no traffic jams or road-rage, and a sleek urban skyline full of architectural marvels. It is incredibly neat, tidy and seemingly orderly. One has to wonder how they achieve this? Singapore exists with a well-structured set of
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