26 November 2022 - STUNNING LAKE TEMPLE in BALI

 

 STUNNING 

LAKE TEMPLE

 in BALI

G'day folks,

I found this temple and massive lake by pure accident, whilst riding my motorbike, searching for things to photograph.This tiny lake temple is dedicated to a water goddess and seems to float on the surface.

Bali’s Pura Ulun Danu Bratan temple pokes up out of the waters of Lake Bratan as though it is simply the peak of some much larger temple just beneath the water. While it is as starkly humble as it seems, its importance to the community would seem to back up that grander fantasy. 

 

Constructed in 1633, the temple is devoted to the goddess of the lake, Ida Batara Dewi Ulun Danu, in Balinese. The pair of relatively small pagodas that sit on the lake’s waters act as the mother shrines to a countless series of smaller shrines set up at various points downstream. The lake itself has been the main reservoir for a large portion of central Bali for ages and is thus not only functionally very important but also holy to many. In order to keep the waters clean and flowing, the temples on the lake are devoted to the goddess Dewi Danu whose demesne includes rivers, lakes, and other waters. There are also fertility idols at the site of the temples due to the area’s legendary potency and virility, which is also attributed to the waters of the lake.

 

Visitors to the Pura Ulun Danu Bratan site will first pass through an ornate temple structure on land before being able to board a canoe directly to the pagodas, which seem to almost float right on the water. The little buildings actually sit on a pair of small lake islands; however, the visual effect is nonetheless impressive. The site is popular among those looking to take in Bali’s most beautiful temples, but the meditative quietude of the lake backdrop is likely enough to make up for the presence of any strangers.        

 

28 November 2022 - ABANDONED RESORT IN BALI, INDONESIA

 

ABANDONED RESORT

 IN BALI, INDONESIA

G'day folks,

 An abandoned hotel in the highlands of Bali is shrouded in stories of ghosts, curses, and corruption. 

Near the road from hard-partying Kuta to picturesque Lake Beratan, a massive luxury resort stretches languorously down a mountain ridge—not a particularly notable sight, but for the fact that this hotel sits dark and empty. Built in the 1990s and seemingly abandoned on the eve of its opening, the pristine modernity of this derelict building adds significantly to that giddy, something-bad-happened-here feeling that tantalizes ghost hunters and urban explorers alike. 

 

The Ghost Palace Hotel—more formally known as the PI Bedugul Taman Rekreasi Hotel and Resort—lies overgrown with creepers, weeds, and legends. One story suggests that the real estate developer behind the project became cursed due to his corrupt business practices and subsequently went bankrupt. Another tells of a fully operational hotel filled with workers and guests, all of whom suddenly disappeared in one night, leaving specters and demons to stalk the hotel’s empty corridors. Other ghostly accounts chalk up the supernatural presence to the spirits of laborers worked to death in the construction of the hotel.

Bizarrely, the actual history of the Ghost Palace Hotel is somewhat difficult to verify, but the most likely scenario is that it was built starting in the early 1990s as an investment project of Tommy Suharto, the youngest son of former Indonesian President Suharto. Tommy went to prison in 2002, after being convicted of ordering the assassination of a judge on Indonesia’s Supreme Court who had previously found him guilty of corruption charges. Subsequently, construction of the hotel ground to a halt and has never restarted.

Now abandoned for over a decade, the building still bears the furnishings and fixtures of a hotel preparing to receive its first guests.

23 November 2022 - THE TOUGHEST JOB in INDONESIA

 

 THE TOUGHEST JOB

 in 

INDONESIA

G'day folks,

Think you have a tough job? Try carrying 200 kilos through a cloud of sulfur down the side of a volcano. 

It is an American pastime to complain about one’s job. A bad boss, late hours, poor pay; there is always plenty to complain about. However even the worst office 9-5 in the U.S. is a cakewalk compared to being a sulfur miner on Kawah Ijen, an 8,660-foot active volcano in East Java, Indonesia, which bears a certain similarity to Dante’s vision of hell.

Working on the side of the active volcano in temperatures surpassing 100 degrees Fahrenheit, workers use metal poles to hack out chunks of elemental sulfur. Using ceramic pipes, they channel the gases which drain out as liquid red sulfur which then hardens into the yellow chunks the miners carry out. To do all this, the workers must stand near a live sulfur vent pouring out masses of the noxious, choking gas (the air carries H2SO4 and CaSO4, which are both toxic). The workers then load baskets with 150-200 pounds (68-91 kilos) of sulfur chunks and haul them up 200 meters to the crater rim, and then down three kilometers of traile and 1500 meters of elevation to the weighing station where the sulfur is sold to be used in vulcanizing rubber and bleaching sugar. The reward: around US$13 a day.

 

One of the problems with improving the men’s situation is that they are all essentially freelance, with no direct employer, so the only safety standards are those the men impose on themselves, which are very few. The men generally work without (expensive) gas masks, despite the fact that prolonged exposure to the noxious fumes can cause respiratory problems similar to severe asthma. And that’s not to mention the sheer backbreaking nature of the work. One reason the men work in the mine, despite having a life expectancy of about 30, is that it pays marginally better than being a farmer.

 

There is a nearby crater lake, which from afar looks like it might be nice for a cool dip after a hard day of mining, but one would be seriously mistaken. The lake is a 90-degree pool of sulfuric acid in which nothing lives, and which would kill any that dared to swim in it. Birds have been reported to drop dead from the lake’s fumes and to fall into it if they fly overhead. There is no respite to be taken in the harsh volcanic world of Kawah Ijen.

Paradoxically, the unusually high sulfur concentrations that feed Kawah Ijen’s mining industry also result in brilliant blue flames that erupt from the volcano and flow lava-like down the mountain. The spectacular display, visible most nights, occurs when the volcano’s sulfuric gases reach the surface and ignite. Burning liquid sulfur creates the appearance of blue lava streaming down the mountainside. From a distance, Kawah Ijen appears not as an unforgiving workplace but as one more of nature’s odd and beautiful phenomena.

1 September 2022 - PREHISTORIC CAVE ART - INDONESIA

 

PREHISTORIC CAVE ART 

- INDONESIA -

G'day folks,

These 40,000-year-old stenciled hands are older than the famous cave art in France and Spain. 

A torch beam finds a stencil of a hand, its ochre outline surprisingly vibrant given its age. Next to it, a sketch of a babirusa—a type of wild “pig-deer” found in Indonesia—shows such attention to detail that the gender of the animal (female) is still clear nearly 36,000 years after its creation. It’s thought to be the oldest known example of figurative art in the world.

The Pleistocene-era rock art is spread throughout the karst caves within the Maros and Pangkep regions in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Researchers from Australia’s Griffith University used uranium series dating and found that one of the handprints was roughly 40,000 years old. The collection of paintings, which includes the handprint and the babirusa, contains artwork that is slightly older than the images found in European caves.

  

The rock art’s ancient age shattered the preexisting notion among many Western archaeologists and historians that the cave art originated in modern-day Europe. While little-known, these Indonesian cave drawings are even older than the famous stenciled caves in France and Spain. 

But though it wasn’t celebrated until recently, the cave art wasn’t unknown. H.R Van Heekeren, a Dutch archaeologist, documented the figures and published his work in 1950. However, the paintings were deemed to be of no real significance and subsequently no additional exploration was done until nearly 60 years later.

The purpose behind the rock art is unclear. It’s commonly thought that sites with rock art are ceremonial, but there’s no actual evidence to say whether this is truly the case. One theory is that the rock art was an early library cataloging the animals and fish eaten by the people who dwelled here. Another theory is that the stenciled hands may have more symbolic meanings, such as protecting a house, expressing a person’s connection to the place, or attempting to communicate with the spiritual realm.

Getting to the karsts requires boating down the narrow river before an hour long walk through rice paddies. A monkey or two may shriek from the tops of the strange palm trees—described by the guide as “shrimpfingers”—before disappearing. Nearby, cows laze and graze under the monolith overhangs and ducks forage for huge snails in the rice paddies. 

 

25 April 2020 - STUNNING KELIMUTU VOLCANO IN INDONESIA

STUNNING KELIMUTU VOLCANO

 IN INDONESIA

G'day folks,

Welcome to a beautiful part of the world where three wildly colorful calderas exist. 

Lakes, volcanoes, and colors are all on impressive display at the Kelimutu Volcano, an otherworldly series of geologic cauldrons that hold lakes of startling brilliance.

50 miles from the town of Moni on the Indonesian Island of Flores is Kelimutu Volcano and its three summit craters containing their three lakes. The westernmost of the lakes, Tiwu Ata Mbupu (Lake of Old People), is blue, while Tiwu Nuwa Muri Koo Fai (Lake of Young Men and Maidens) is green, and Tiwu Ata Polo (Bewitched or Enchanged Lake) is red, the latter two separated only by a crater wall.

Historically, the lakes have been the source of minor phreatic eruptions from the 1639 meter high Kelimutu volcano. In addition to being three different colors, the lakes’ color varies on a periodic basis, likely due to chemical reactions from the minerals in the lake triggered by volcanic gas activity, but no thorough studies have as yet been performed. That the three lakes are of the same volcano and are at the same crest, yet have different colors, is incredibly rare and of extreme interest to geologists.

The Kelimutu Volcano is one of nature’s most stunning displays of color and chemistry and has attracted a number of photographers and tourists over the years. So long as it never erupts, this candy-colored mountain is just a gentle giant. 

Clancy's comment: I would certainly suggest you visit this area. Indonesia is one of my favourite countries for obvious reasons. I've visited two other former volcanoes like these and they were simply stunning.

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3 April 2020 - SPIDER WEB RICE FIELDS IN INDONESIA

SPIDER WEB RICE FIELDS 

IN 

INDONESIA

G'day folks,

The unique design of these rice fields was created by the traditional way communal rice paddies were divided up among the indigenous people. 

 

 The colorful rice paddies found throughout Asia are commonly laid out in rectangular plots, or sometimes as stepped terraces, adding to their natural beauty. On the island of Flores, however, the rice fields form a delightfully unique shape, one that looks like a giant spider web.

 

 

This wonderful insect resemblance was not intentional, but rather the result of the traditional communal agriculture of the indigenous Manggarai people. Centuries ago, the cultivated land, known as lingko, was shared by the entire village. The communal fields were circular, with the lodok at the center, where ceremonial rituals were held around the harvest.

 Each family was allocated a segment of the rice field, radiating from the center outward. (Each was inaugurated by the sacrifice of a water buffalo.) The more resources a family had, the larger their slice of the pie; at the time, the rice fields were shaped like pie charts. Later, the paddies were further subdivided by the decedents of the original owners, leading to the striking, web-like shape of the lingko today.

 

Clancy's comment: I've photographed some of these in Bali. The trip up the mountains was not easy, but my first view of these was just gob smacking.

 

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1 April 2020 - LIANG BUA CAVE IN INDONESIA

LIANG BUA CAVE 

IN INDONESIA

G'day folks,

Welcome to a real-life "hobbit" cave in Flores, Indonesia. 

A new “hobbit” species of human was found in the remote Indonesian cave of Liang Bua. This limestone cave has yielded some of the most important finds in modern anthropology. The remains of two “hobbit” people, as the media calls them, were found here in 2003.

Homo floresiensis, a homo (or human) genus was discovered here by Mike Norwood, professor of anthropology at the University of New England in Armidale, New South Wales, Australia. Norwood and others have shown that this human existed as recently as 12,000 years ago, possibly putting this species in contact with local homo sapiens.

What makes H. floresiensis so remarkable is that they accomplished the same things as their larger H. sapiens cousins, such as making fire and hunting in cooperation with each other, while being less than four feet tall and having brains approximately one-half to one-third of the size of H. sapiens.

At this point, this cave is the only site where the “hobbits” of Flores, Indonesia, have been found.

Clancy's comment: Amazing, eh? What will they find next?

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24 October 2019 - KIM WHEELER - GUEST AUTHOR, PHOTOGRAPHER AND POET

 KIM WHEELER

 - GUEST AUTHOR, 

PHOTOGRAPHER AND POET -

G'day folks,

Today, I interview a very talented and generous man with whom I've spoken many times via skype from the UK. Kim is now living in Indonesia and we are still Skyping. 

Welcome, Kim ...

1.   Tell us about you and what you do.

I was born in London in July 1954 and was dumped by my birth mother, no known father, spent formative years in children’s home which left an indelible mark on my life and made me stronger for the experience and not weaker. I am a published author of twelve books though three are no longer available. I am also an award-winning photographer (which changed my view on mother earth, seeing her utter beauty which I hadn’t really noticed before being too busy with work). I rescue dogs which I have now done for twenty-five years and just completed a re-written version of Rescue Dog Rescues Man with a shiny new name ‘When Your Best Friend is a Dog.’(out soon) I have worked in many different jobs, failed selection for the army three times (blessing in disguise) worked in petrol stations pumping petrol, gas fitter, lathe turner, professional decorator, HGV Class One driver, short spell as Driver Bodyguard and quite a few dead-end jobs. Now after a succession of injuries and near death took early retirement and became a writer and a published author of several different genres of books including children’s, award winning poet, biography and photography books but now I teach English at UKRI University in Bandung, Indonesia which is without doubt the most fulfilling and enjoyable job I have ever had and it’s something I always wanted to do but always thought that I was under qualified, how wrong was I?? I also give my time for free.

2.   What was the happiest moment of your life?

I got two Clance…being born and getting married

3.   What was the saddest moment?

Losing a brother to Cancer and putting four of my rescue dogs to sleep…and knowing I will have to put more of these faithful once unwanted and unloved friends to sleep, gets me every time...but however painful this is for me, I won’t stop rescuing.

4.   What surprised you most?

The dishonesty of certain politicians but especially the ones like T Blair and G Bush who happily and without any sort of conscience lie to the world and send troops to die and then to suffer the pain from appalling injuries and PTSD, and then have the nerve to praise themselves for what great job they have done. The greed of certain people mainly the rich and famous, the cruelty of certain humans towards each other and animals, and human’s propensity towards violence especially in the States and UK but also the benevolence and kindness of sadly the few and not the many.

 

5.   What was your greatest disappointment?

In short Clancy, humanity for being too weak, too feeble to fight and too apathetic to make the changes this world needs, rather relying on others to do their dirty work for them while they sit and shout at the television about how wrong the world is but if this is a personal question about my greatest disappointment then I would have to say failing the army because I knew at a young age that I needed strong discipline, first I was too young to join and the other two times being just not physically  fit enough. It would have saved me from myself and I certainly wouldn’t have accepted that joint that someone passed me those many years ago. I needed to toughen up not fail myself time and time again.

6.   Who did you misjudge? Why?

Friends, hoping for a lifetime of closeness and brotherly love only to feel utterly betrayed when my life changed (for the better) after a series of injury’s and life-threatening illness.

7.   What or who was your biggest challenge?

Myself, trusting, finding love, accepting my life and not being so angry at it and forgiveness of what appears to be so many but my expectations of love was destroyed and trying to fill that huge void from birth was always going to be an enormous struggle, happily I got there in the end but it took a lifetime of pain to eventually find.

8.   What has been your biggest regret?

Perhaps giving in too easily and happily jumping thru fire in order to be accepted and wanted.

9.   What would be your dying comment? Why?

To my wife, ‘to continue your work as an ambassador for good and for God, to become a world leader and the first female Muslim President of Indonesia, use my strength to help the weak and to carry on our stoic work with the frightened, the poor, the unwanted and unloved, I love you to eternity Zora, you are and always will be, my light in dark blue oceans.

As for why Clancy…I was a broken man struggling to see the point in living at all with myself whose dogs were my only true friends, who lived alone and had very few honest and trustworthy friends, this lady helped me by loving me for who I was, for understanding and accepting my physical and mental scars and I carried many, never ever thinking or believing I was a bad person and she was right. I wasn’t but I felt I was.

10.                Who or what stunned you the most?

The power of silent prayer for others needs and not your own, it works, my God does it work.

11.       What would you like written on your tombstone? Why?

Faithful Husband and father of two, animal lover, rescuer, teacher and friend.

As for why Clancy, six or my best attributes if I am to be honest.

12.      Who would you rather have not met? Why?

There’s quite a list here of people who have hurt me beyond reason but I have learnt that without these bad people I wouldn’t have grown so strong but if I have to name names then I would say those who so physically and mentally abused me during my childhood. No child deserves that.

13.                Who were you most envious of? Why?

Jimi Hendrix...need I say more

14.                Who did you forgive – for doing something you never thought you’d forgive?

My birth Mother Kathy (who at the time of my birth was a prostitute) and the man who paid to have sex with her resulting in me. It’s difficult to forgive such cruelty but I wasn’t prepared to carry even more scars with me for the rest of my life and forgiveness for me was closure but believe me when I say, it was not easy. Truth is in her abandoning me was actually the best thing that could have ever happened even though life after 5 days old was hell in a children’s home but certainly better than it would have been with her, and without the sperm donor, who doesn’t even have a name I would not be here, so grateful for small mercies…

15.                What was your greatest moment in your life?

Having the balls to see my life as it was when I was at the bottom of my very own shit pit, and find the inner strength to climb again and again out of this cold dark lonely hole to become who I am today, by having the balls to completely change absolutely everything in my life, moving away from so called friends, giving up the drugs, the alcohol, the bad volatile attitude, and moving country after I was healed sufficiently to start life anew.

16.                What is your greatest achievement?

Rescuing and continuing to rescue dogs because the loss is unbearable and knowing that one day, I will have to say goodbye is without doubt the hardest emotion that I have ever faced.

17.                What personal traits would you like to have in your next life?

Parents would be nice Clance…sorry I digress, I think better, wiser stronger, decision making to listen to me and not fall in to the trap of believing others

18.                What advice would you give to world leaders?

You are NOT God…Remove your ego and be prepared to listen and to be wrong when you try to change the world.

19.                What advice would you give to parents today?

Love and never-ending patience, and never ever hit a child.

20.                Who would you choose to be stuck on a desert island with?

My wife...

21.                Have any heroes? Why? Who?

John, Paul, George and Ringo, my childhood friends thru unfriendly days and nights who were the most incredible talented bunch of guys you could wish to have as heroes and no getting naked like todays so called celebs, no bad attitudes or foul language, just four guys who wrote and performed some of the best music ever written and I still listen to them most weeks some fifty years later.

 

 What are the greatest legacies you will leave behind?

No matter how many times you fall down never ever give up and never ever give up being a good guy and help anyone/anything who needs you’re support from the poor starving to the abandoned animal who needs it without expecting anything in return.

What’s lacking in the world today?

LOVE & PATIENCE

22.                Any pearls of wisdom for the rest of us?

If you have more than you need then, give and donate anything that you really don’t need.

23.                What would be the last sentence you ever write?

‘Wow, what a journey.’

24.                What inspired you most?

Failure…

Below is one of my favourite quotes

Q, what’s the secret of success?

A, right decisions

Q, how do you make right decisions?

A, experience

Q, how do you gain experience

A, wrong decisions

25.                Who or what made you laugh the most?

British sense of humour/comedy such as Monty Python, Morecambe and Wise, The Two Ronnie’s and more lately Frankie Boyle.

26.                What would be your top three chosen careers in your next life?

Formula one racing driver, Author, Astronaut.

27.      What is your prime focus in life today?

Hopefully to help others understand the importance of how pets are so intrinsic to the wellbeing of the sad, broken, injured or those who suffer with mental health issues including PTSD as I know from experiencing all the aforementioned how my dogs changed my life. To continue giving my time for free in teaching students life skills and English and to continue being one of the good guys for others to emulate and to continue being a good husband, father, animal lover and dog rescuer.

28.                Do you have any fear of doing something wrong?

No, not really as I have after many years of getting so much wrong finally taught myself to wait, to be patient, to breath and to not rush into any rash decisions.

29.                If or when you reflect on your past, can you identify any world events that you believe had a significant impact on you?

Most wars including Vietnam, the lies surrounding 911, but especially the lies to take the USA and the UK to war in the Middle East and the death of Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon I don’t often do tears but when these two died, I cried.

30.     Do you think one can live a purposeful life without knowing the meaning of life?

The meaning of life is our own perspective of reality and as none of us really know the answer to that, my response to this clever question Clancy is, ‘yes, of course’.

31.                 From your perspective - what is the way forward for the world? 

Love Mother Earth more, respect the earths climate is changing and adhere to the rules of life as we will never ever win any battle against nature, stop the cruelty to all animals, become vegetarian, do not vote for lying, selfish, greedy politicians be man enough to make changes to self and others, do not be so easily led and fooled and stop the incessant need to go on safari trips in order to take selfies, and leave wildlife alone and to stop destroying the worlds heritage sites just so you can share your photographs on pithy sites like Facebook/Twitter and Instagram just for a puerile ‘like’ and to CLOSE all circuses and the barbaric treatment of animals in bull fighting and bull riding and finally for the NRA to wake up and see what damage you are doing to yourselves and the USA

32.                Imagine that you were given a chance to live again, what will you do first and what will you do differently?

Hopefully take on all that I have learnt from this incredible journey into my next life and just try to improve myself in becoming a better person, to be more patient, more understanding, to give more than I take or need. There’s lots of things that I didn’t have in this life, like my parents so having the love of a Mother and Father would be a bonus but I did pretty well without them in this life.

33.                 Do you have a bucket list? Tell us more.

Not getting any younger Clance, and the scars hurt so anything physical is now out of the question though I would have loved to have swam with a whale, skydived and climbed Everest but that’s gone now so I would love to write a best selling book and donate the money to those who need it most and perhaps paddle alongside some friendly dolphins

34.                Any great claims to fame?

None really but going from an orphanage, an uneducated, non-speaking, broken child with just hope in his eyes to have a better life to finally become a teacher of English and life skills in UKRI University takes some doing. I am proud of that ‘small for others but large for me,’ achievement.

35.       Anything you’d like to add?

Yes, I would like to say a special thank you to Clancy, writer, award winning author and photographer who over the years has become as close as a brother to me - a wise, generous, bloody funny, bald, forthright, angry as a Philips screwdriver, no nonsense man, who takes absolutely no shit from anyone,  for not just being a bloody close, supportive and loyal friend, but for giving me the chance to again appear on his blog.

Clance you are a diamond…, it’s an honour for me to have a friend like you in my life...live long and prosper…love your work…

WEBSITE 

INDONESIAN TV INTERVIEW

Clancy's comment: Well, folks, I did have the pleasure of writing my thoughts on the back cover of Kim's book, 'Light and Dark', and I thought it was worth sharing. My words sum things up fairly well.

LIGHT & DARK REVIEW

Kim Wheeler is the master at expressing his inner thoughts and feelings in words. He is also a great photographer and poet. With seven published books to his name, he continues to impress me. His poetry is often gut-wrenching and brutally honest, but I admire any male who can express himself so frankly. It shows a personality that is striving to be the best person possible.

Kim’s photographs also show an exceptional talent. As a published author and photographer myself, I can relate to the connection between words on a page and taking photographs.

This is a thought-provoking book that has taken great courage to compile.

Clancy Tucker

Award-winning Australian author and photographer. 

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