In a recent post, he mentioned this nice looking set of islands off the South coast of Singapore. Looks perfect for a weekend run out of the country and enjoy a day or two of camping and riding. Seems like a perfect way to go out there and enjoy the outdoors without obsessing over preparations. Must. Visit. A. Few. Islands. This. Year.

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Update: realized that the Grand daddy of exploring biking around Singapore has made a mention of Kundur too.

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1. Photo Gallery – Bike trip, road trip et al, USofA 2010.
2. road trip in sabah – primer

You can find more about batur in wikipedia. Gunung Batur is a wonderful place. The temperature is lower than in the southern end of  Bali and is a nice place to head out to contemplate life’s mysteries. A large lake, Danau Batur stretches between the foothills of Gunung Batur and Gunung Abang. Batur being a frequently active volcano (still is active) has been spewing ash regularly and the slopes of the mountain is covered by pyroclastic remains. Vegetation seems to be returning in patches as seen in the picture.

The views are breathtaking and makes you pause to take in a better look. I hear there are nice hikes around the region that one can take to get away from the tourist mess. This picture was shot from the extremely congested and infested Kintamani.

What guidebooks do not mention is that if you get sucked into the typical tourist ride, you will be left with a very bad feel about the state of affairs. You would be taken to Kintamani, very likely experience a heavy traffic jam and be showed into one of the fixed (and overpriced) lunches that sucks. I guess the redeeming factor is that you get wonderful views of Batur which eases the mind a bit.

The place seems to me like it is nice to cycle to. There are steep sections no doubt and will be take a heavy toll on ones legs but it is a short distance and once you get out of Kintamani there are numerous small villages that would be willing to spare space to pitch your tent. From what I hear, it might be a better bet to get down to the lake and figure out a place to pitch tent. I did witness a couple of cyclists racing down the hill at top speed giving cars and buses a run for their money.

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1. the three sisters from bali

I had not done my research so was not sure what to expect, but I have heard that the place is swarming with hoards of aussie tourists and could get sleazy. Well that partially set my expectations and when I landed there and hung around Kuta, I for first hand sleaze showed on me. Not one to worry about these things (and given that I can easily integrate into local culture), I looked for the real Bali. After a couple of days of being trapped in the tourist mode, I managed to find it.

To experience the real Bali, one has to go out the regular haunts. I decided to go and visit an obscure waterfall near Tajakula. A place known to locals and very few tourists. I highly recommend going there, however it is not someplace everyone knows. I spent long time with a local driver to  figure out the bearings of this waterfall. Anyway, I digress and I will relay the story in another post.

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I would like to discuss the three tall (still active) volcanoes in the Central-East of the island. Gunung Abang is the least known as I suspect it is not attractive to ferry tourists there. However Abang is extremely reveared and famous among the locals and the ‘culture’ tourists. The most commercial is Batur as it is easy to get to and very congested with tourist traps. I longingly looked down the not so beaten path that leads to the lake below and imagined myself trekking there some day.

The three sisters from bali

I guess the gods decided to be nice to me when out of the blue (sic), I was shown this wonderful presentation of the three sisters in harmony. Well, a fulfilling trip to me is a trip with one picture I can come back to over and over and live the moment and this is it for me for Bali.

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1. More on Gunung Batur