Buddhist and Hindu temples in Indonesia

Borobudur in the early morning

Although Indonesia is predominantly Muslim, there are plenty of Buddhist and Hindu influences in the country.

View from Borobudur

The Borobudur temple is a beautiful Buddhist temple that has been forgotten for hundreds of years and then rediscovered and restored. I visited in the early morning, thus avoiding the worst tourist crowds and enjoying magnificent views through the morning mist.

Stupas on Borobudur

The Prambanan temple is one of the largest Hindu temple sites in southeast Asia. It was severely damaged by an earthquake in 2006 and is still undergoing reconstruction.

Prambanan

Detail on Prambanan

Parts of the temple are open to visitors. Due to the reconstruction works still in progress, tourists are issued helmets for safety. In both temples, Borobudur and Prambanan, all visitors must wear sarongs. This applies to both men and women as well as to foreign tourists and local people. The reason for this is to honor the ancient tradition of wearing sarongs in the temples.

Sarong and helmet for visitors

My visit to the temples was somewhat spoiled by souvenir vendors who are allowed into the temple complexes despite a high entrance fee that tourists must pay. So instead of focusing on admiring the sights, I had to direct my attention to brushing off annoying touts who wanted to sell me postcards and tee shirts and souvenirs.

Passing through Jakarta

National monument

Jakarta was exactly how I imagined it: a sprawling city with chaotic traffic and with nothing much to see or do. That's why I only passed through, flying in from Singapore in the morning and taking the night train to Yogyakarta in the evening.

It was a scorching hot day that I planned to spend reading in the shade in the park that surrounds the National monument. But then I should have known that in Asia, you can't sit and read. So many touts pestered me with their services that I finally retreated into a museum. To get to the museum I had to cross a road and that was a huge ordeal: I had to remember again how to survive in traffic buzzing with motorcycles and where traffic lights exist only for decoration.

Jakarta

Jakarta lies on the island of Java and I was eager to try my first cup of java coffee. It was real coffee, with dregs at the bottom of the cup! It's good coffee.

And it's good to be back in Asia. Yes, I hate the traffic and not being able to get around on foot. But the people are nice and I feel welcome.

Botanical garden from the future

Gardens by the Bay

Sometimes it pays not to have a specific plan what to do in a city. While wandering aimlessly along the Singapore river, I caught sight of Marina Bay Sands, a resort that Lonely Planet describes as a "fish slapped on top of three towers". I recall seeing photographs of this resort on the internet some time ago and since it looks so intriguing, I went to have a closer look.

Marina Bay Sands

Behind the resort I noticed signs directing towards Gardens by the Bay and I followed them. I was completely blown away by what I saw! It's a high tech futuristic botanical garden that opened recently, just a few months ago, that's why it's not on the tourist circuit yet.

Canopy walkway among the supertrees

The first thing one notices are the artificial trees. I wondered what's the purpose of artificial trees in Singapore, where real trees grow everywhere. I discovered that the trees - called supertrees - symbolize sustainability. They are steel structures with solar cells at the top and plants such as orchids and bromeliads growing along the sides. The power from the solar cells illuminates the supertrees at night. The plants are watered by a sophisticated system that collects rainwater and redistributes it via irrigation systems. Visitors can walk high above the ground among the supertrees on a canopy walkway.

The garden includes two conservatories, round buildings that received the "2012 Building of the Year" award. The tropical conservatory houses a tall structure covered in tropical plants and a waterfall. Visitors ride an elevator to the top of the structure - it's 7 floors up - and then gradually walk down steel walkways that wind through the structure.

Tropical conservatory

Walkways through the conservatory structure

Decorations among the planted gardens include steel statues of insects that remind me of Terminator.

Steel fireflies adorn the reservoir

I'm so glad I discovered this garden. I never would have imagined that a botanical garden could be made to look so futuristic.

Sweating on the Southern Ridges

View of Singapore from Mount Faber

In the future, if I'm asked what was the most difficult summit I ever accomplished, I'm going to say:

"Mount Faber, the second highest peak of Singapore, 105 meters above sea level."

I'm kidding, right? No, I'm not.

***

Singapore wasn't on my list of destinations I wanted to visit. I dismissed it as just another Asian megacity. I changed my mind because my flight out of New Zealand went via Singapore and as long as I was passing through, I decided to stay for a couple of days.

The only thing I was even remotely interested in seeing in Singapore was to hike the Southern Ridges trail.

After spending the previous month in cooler autumn weather of Melbourne and New Zealand, my body wasn't prepared for the shock of returning to hot and humid Asia. Funny, because I thought that I was beginning to get used to being hot all the time. I even managed to run a half marathon in such weather. But I once again feel just like I did almost six months ago, when I first arrived in southeast Asia, ambushed by the heat and humidity.

Steel canopy walkways

Nevertheless, I embarked on the Southern Ridges trail, smirking at tourists who were buying tickets to ride the cable car or lining up for a bus tour to Mount Faber. I was confident I would reach the summit in a matter of minutes. By the time I finally reached the summit, I was sweating and struggling from the heat, thinking I would rather be on the air conditioned tour bus. I had to sit down and have an iced drink from a coffee shop before I was ready to continue. It took many more iced drinks and rests in the shade until I finally finished the trail.

The trail itself is interesting in that it's not really a hiking trail but more a city stroll. The paths are made up of either concrete steps, wooden bridges or steel walkways. Thankfully it passes through stretches of parks and forest that keep it shaded for most of the way.

Henderson Waves

I admired the Henderson Waves, a futuristic wooden bridge. A sign explains that it's well lighted at night and looks like waves from afar. Which got me thinking why I seemed to be one of only a handful of people who hiked the trail during the daytime. The locals probably come at night, when the temperatures are more bearable.

So long, Middle-earth

Lake Taupo

Sometimes I wonder what New Zealand was like for tourists before Peter Jackson started filming The Lord of the Rings. What would one do in Auckland or Rotorua besides visit Hobbiton? Where would one go in Taupo or Turangi besides Mount Doom? What would one explore in Wellington besides the studios or the filming locations? Even the museum of natural history in Wellington hosts stuff related to the movies. New Zealanders certainly know how to exploit the movie industry for tourist attractions.

I leave New Zealand with bittersweet feelings. Yes, I loved the natural beauty of the country. It's even more breathtaking than I imagined. The people are friendly and outgoing. It was easy to get around. The beer is good.

So what bothered me? It was frustrating to not have unlimited access to the internet as I was accustomed to in Asia. Hostels in New Zealand typically don't provide free WiFi to their guests. I soon learned that if a hostel description says "free internet" this means that they allow you to use their desktop computers for a half hour. If I wanted WiFi, I had to pay for it, but even then I had to be constantly mindful of the time when it expires, and of which provider I was using because there are so many. On the other hand, they expect tourists to make bookings online, many information brochures only list the web address for details so it's a constant chore and a hassle to find ways to get online.

This last post from New Zealand comes from a McDonald's in Auckland. Thank you McDonald's for the free WiFi!

I was surprised that some of the hostels where I stayed in New Zealand were so dirty. After putting up with dirty Asia for months, I was looking forward to enjoying cleaner accomodation. But I was disappointed a few times. Almost all of the hostels where I stayed advertised cleaning staff jobs and I found out that there is a shortage of unskilled labor in New Zealand. So the uncleanliness might have been related to a lack of cleaning staff. But still, does that mean that the owners of the hostels are not responsible for getting them cleaned one way or another?

I have the impression that despite the nice and friendly attitude of all the locals that I met, there is a fair amount of crime in the country. All parking areas displayed signs warning tourists not to leave valuables in their cars because of possible break-ins. Many parkings in remote places charged a small fee which covered the expense of an on-site guard. Isn't it sad that you can't leave your car while exploring the natural beauty of the country without worrying that something might happen to it? I also heard from other travelers that one girl's backpack was stolen when she left it on a hiking trail while she went to the toilet. Who steals backpacks on hiking trails? And in the hostels, kitchens always displayed signs that security cameras are in place to monitor those who steal other people's food. Who steals food in hostels? This last one is probably not a reflection on New Zealand but rather a reflection on the demographic that stays in hostels in New Zealand. I was lucky that no one found my salad ingredients that I kept in refrigerators in hostels worth stealing.

My time in New Zealand is over. I only scratched the surface of the Northern Island. I haven't set foot on the Southern Island. Somehow I didn't get around to seeing any animals, such as the kiwi bird or the tuatara reptile. There are still so many national parks to visit and explore so that overall I would definitely consider coming back again in the future.

Windy Wellington

Windy Wellington

I only spent two days in Wellington. One was rainy and one was sunny. They had one thing in common: both were windy. I'm now convinced that Wellington is truly the windiest city in the world as they say.

I was going to visit a friend who lives with his family in one of the suburbs of Wellington. I originally planned to take a local bus to get there. While I was gathering maps and bus schedules at the tourist information office, I chanced upon a brochure about the Northern Walkway which passes through the Botanical garden and ends up in the very suburb I was going to. Perfect! A look through the window confirmed that it had stopped raining and I was on my way on foot.

View of Wellington from the Northern Walkway

Four hours later I knocked on the door of my friend's house and imagine their surprise when I told them I had just walked from downtown Wellington. It was a scenic walk through parks and across peaks that opened up to magnificent views across the bay.

No fish on my bus!

Maori dancers
(Illustration only. They weren't on the bus.)

After traveling in Asia for months, taking local transport in all shapes and forms, fighting my way on buses with local people and all their luggage and chickens, I didn't expect to encounter something similar in a developed country such as New Zealand. True, the locals here don't travel with their chickens - because they travel with their fish.

New Zealand is a very clean country. The buses are clean. They don't allow hot food or ice cream on buses. On my trip from Taupo to Wellington, the bus driver repeated these rules over the loudspeaker, to make sure we all understood that hot food such as burgers or fries is not allowed because it would cause the bus to acquire a smell that wouldn't go away. He didn't recite any rules about transporting chickens or fish.

At one of the stops, a group of local Maori women got off the bus. I watched them through the window, unloading their bags and boxes and stuff. I noticed that one of them carried a white styrofoam container. I briefly wondered what might be in the container. Organ transplants?

I didn't have to wonder for long. The bus driver started yelling nervously:

"No fish on my bus! The next time I won't allow you to board my bus. No fish on my bus!"

But there was nothing he could do as the woman was already getting off the bus with her fish in the styrofoam container. Apparently she managed to sneak onto the bus with it without anyone noticing. And I have to say that the container was closed tightly enough because there wasn't any smell of fish on the bus at all.

Travel is still full of surprises.

The Tongariro Crossing is truly a great walk

Start of the Tongariro Crossing track

Probably the main reason I came to New Zealand was to do the Tongariro Crossing. It's referred to as New Zealand's best one day hike and one of the Great Walks.

I had the misfortune that there was recent volcanic activity in the region which caused a part of the track to become too dangerous to be accessed and is therefore closed. However, the part of the hike up to the closed section is still accessible so I was able to do at least part of the crossing.

Mount Ngauruhoe aka Mount Doom

The Tongariro Crossing passes the Ngauruhoe mountain. I learned on the hike that the mountain was filmed in The Lord of the Rings movie as Mount Doom of Mordor. Considering the black lava rocks and the ominous shape of the volcanic mountain, it was a good location choice.

Rocky way up Mount Ngauruhoe

The path up Mount Ngauruhoe was unbelievably tough. The entire slope of the mountain is scattered with rocks, pebbles and sand. There is no fixed path up the mountain so hikers have to scramble up, effectively going two steps up and sliding a step back down. It feels like battling the mountain the entire way and it takes about two hours to get to the rim. But at the top, what a fantastic sight into the gigantic crater and the views beyond!

Crater on Mount Ngauruhoe

Getting back down from Mount Ngauruhoe was easy: I just surfed down the scree in less than half an hour. Since this was a filming location for The Lord of the Rings, it's not surprising that fans come here, dressed as Hobbits. How cute.

Hobbits

The trail continues towards Red Crater, another fantastic sight.

Red crater

The final point of the track is the Emerald lakes. My camera doesn't capture the various shades of emerald green of these lakes but again, the sight is breathtaking.

Emerald lakes

This is where the trail ends and all that was left to do was to turn back to where I started. Yes, the Tongariro Crossing is a Great Walk.

Bubbling cauldron

Waiotapu geothermal area

New Zealand's volcanic origin means the ground underneath is alive with geothermal activity. Whether it's volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, geysers or hot springs, there's something bubbling everywhere I turn. It's an explosion for all the senses that reminds me of a cauldron of simmering soup.

I can see the vibrant colors of the mineral deposits in rainbow hues of orange, yellow, green and blue.

I can hear the hissing and bubbling of the water and mud, erupting in a rush from the ground.

Lady Knox Geyser

I can smell the unmistakable smell of sulphur that reminds me of rotten eggs and that is a telltale sign that geothermal activity is nearby.

I can feel the steam erupting from the ground, giving me what a tour guide called a natural facial.

I can taste food that has been cooked in nature's own pressure cooker or submerged in a scalding pool of water.

Natural pressure cooker

Maori meal: Hangi pie and corn cooked in a geothermal pool

A stroll through the Shire

I could be a Hobbit

I couldn't resist visiting the Hobbiton movie set. I'm not so much a fan of J.R.R.Tolkien as I'm a fan of movie sets. But I did read The Lord of the Rings and saw all three movies of the trilogy so the behind the scenes movie set tour was very exciting.

The movie set with all the Hobbit dwellings is well preserved partly so that tourists can visit and partly because they have to finish filming the remaining two parts of the Hobbit trilogy. It can only be visited with a tour guide and nothing may be touched, except the one Hobbit dwelling where we were allowed to take photos.

The location of the set was chosen because it was naturally suited for Hobbit dwellings. Only the oak tree above Bilbo and Frodo's house is not real. Or at least it used to be a real tree that they cut down at a different location and assembled again in the movie set. Artificial leaves had to be applied and spray painted a suitable color that filmed well.

Bilbo and Frodo's house with the fake oak tree

Everything on the movie set is a prop, including garden plants and flowers and laundry that hangs from the lines. A gardener is employed full time to take care of the plants and a prop person was in charge of hanging the laundry during filming.

Everything is a prop, including the laundry

For the party scene in The Lord of the Rings movie the actors were allowed to drink real beer because the director wanted the scene to be authentic. However, the beer was specially brewed for the filming in order to have a lower alcohol content. They still brew beers and allow tourists to taste them at the Green Dragon Inn. One of those beers that I tried is the Girdley Fine Grain Amber Ale.

Beer tasting at the Green Dragon