Before I write about the waterfall, i decided to continue along the mountain theme and write a bit more about Gunung Batur.

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.

I have mentioned in my chronicles, I had taken a short vacation during christmas. The destination of choice was Bali, primarily due to the fact that it was a place I have never been to, I have a local friend there and it was cheap.

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.

Rural japan is beautiful. It has an unique structure. Flat lands with paddy fields set up a distinct green pallette. Beautiful village houses in traditional tiled architecture dot the landscape.

This sounds pretty normal but what adds surprise is the presence of stubby and dense forests jumping out from the flat lands. These forests are small but dense. Really, really dense. I am not sure if enough sunlight reaches the ground. It is also surprising that the houses are built close to the forest or they are in the middle of the farm.

Seems to me that it can let the imagination run pretty wild on what might be lining in these woods. No wonder miyazaki’s (yes, the totoro guy) cartoon have a very strong influence from these backgrounds.

In fact, a close depiction of rural japan can be found in “my neighbor totoro” or in “spirited away”. The small rivers and narrow streets included. And they still exist in japan and I suppose totoro does exist too.

Update 1: I have to apologise for numerous typos before the update. The post was written on my ipod and the “smart keyboard” amended some of the words and I overlooked them

Update 2: Check out the beautiful art of Totoro at the totoro forest project. I am definitely going to buy the book when it is out. I would love to own an original art (Check out the gallery) but it may not be possible.

Sometimes it is nice to take life in the slow lane (quite literally, although no pun intended) and take time to smell the roses so to say. I have found that there are a number of side benefits to cycling and I have discussed them (will discuss in future) elsewhere. One of the things I enjoy is the exposure to elements. These are both natural elements – rain, sun, elevation etc… and artificial – interaction with traffic, observing human behavior, sights, smells etc…

Riding an hour to and from work not only gets me to my destination in convenience but I also get to indulge in exposing myself to the elements. For instance, I have been observing the construction of the F1 Pit garage and the circuit over the past few months and have witnessed the changes to the asphalt being laid out on the circuit. The lighting systems are being put in place to ensure ‘bright as day’ lights over the circuit when race heads to Singapore in September. While I observe this, I see hundreds of people in cars consumed in their own world and not aware of small changes happening around them on a daily basis. A small but none the less nice incentive.

I also happened to see the lady on the red vespa the other day. What struck me was the lovely colors and since I had my camera handy, I snapped a picture. Imagine my surprise when I saw the same lady a week later in the same spot. I was lucky to shoot her the second time. I did see her a third time but this time I was riding in a busy part of my route and could not whip out my camera for a shot. I am sure I would bump into the red vespa again and will be ready with my camera. Deja vu is fun

Cycling can be a sustainable form of transport. It has been so for centuries on and currently is going through a renaissance of sorts with emphasis for cycling for commuting in major cities in Europe and the US of A. Even in sunny Singapore, there are social experiments being conducted to see if Cycling can be included as an alternate mode of transportation**.

Over the past few decades however, as we witness, cycling has been relegated to two different groups in the society. Cycling for sport and recreation (typically involving light weight and expensive machines) and transport for low income people. the bicycle companies seem to have found a perfect middle ground – They can sell expensive high end bicycles to people who do not need them and constantly crave better (and they can afford it) and at the same time do not antagonize the rich oil companies and car manufacturers. At the same time, extremely cheap and crappy bikes flooded the market and were consumed by the masses which further made commuting by bicycle less glamorous.

The renaissance that we are experiencing now is putting emphasis on utility bikes that people use. There are a number of reasons why people do not want to ride and if you start to cycle, you will find that every reason is pretty much senseless. I have been trying my hand at riding to work and have been pretty happy with my progress and my choice of lifestyle. I want to actually move further and experiment with cycling as a sustainable mode of transportation for most needs. With that in mind, I took my bike out when I wanted to pick come stuff up from a nearby bike shop. Well it was about 10 km from home and rides through traffic free roads. I did make it in one piece and learnt a couple of things. The ride back with load was not too bad given that the load is heavy and unwieldy and it save me at least about 20 bucks on the round trip. Not bad for a start eh.

to bring emotions back to normal, let me relate this story of another set of entertainers conducting business at the same place and time as the ones in the previous post.

The day was bright as it was hot. if you observe the picture herein, the ground is washed out primarily due to the intemsely bright sunlight. The place in ahobilam, a small town in andhra pradesh. Ahobilam is an important religious place but it does not seem to get the attention or oney as other famous temples in India. The place is unique since the temples are dedicated to narasimha, an embodiment of god in a half beast – half human form. You can read the mythology some day here. The trouble is that the place has numerous temples and they are situated in different, not-so-easily-accessible locations. One can drive to some places but a few require strenuous climbs.

It is known that often the temperatures in the deccan plateau sore above 45 deg C. This day when we reached there was also hot but bearably so. While doing a couple of sorties of the ‘base camp’ (a more traditional temple setup on ground level), I could catch up on photographing some of the people around here. One of them was this old couple singing devotional songs. Though they were not the best of singers, one really has to appreciate their will to work for a living. Along with them was this cute little kid (guess is their grandson) who has joined them in their business today. If one looks closely, he is wearing a framed painting of Narasimha – in the hope of wooing pilgrims passing by.

But in true kiddie fashion, this feller is oblivious to the business he is attracting but is more interested in the sweet guava he is munching on.

I was looking for a interesting picture to post to my visions when I stumbled on this image I shot in Nov’04. The place was Ahobilam, a fairly religious place in Andhra Pradesh, India. We were climbing up to the altar when I noticed this kid with his whip and costume along with a couple (adults, probably his parents) also dressed similarly. Their ‘job’ is to whip themselves for money. I guess the deep rooted belief is that when these gypsies punish themselves, they do it so that someone else’s sins get washed away***. The feller who wants his sins washed, invites these self-floggers, pays them some money and enjoys the show. One can imagine that this cannot degrade anymore – but as it turns out, the business has dulled down for these floggers and as a consequence, they now flog themselves for the sake of entertaining the bystanders. Though it sounds harsh, this is still commonplace in certain quarters of the country.

Now, before I sound all sentimental and shit, I will say that as long as there is willing audience and performer, the situation is not going to change. But what kicks me at my butt is the fact that as long as education and support is not available to the performers, they will remain deluded with the illusion that they have no other choice in their life than to accept their “fate”.

I guess, almost similar sentiments were running through my mind when I shot a few pictures. This particular image stood out for me and it makes a strong statement about this situation. The little feller has not much choice now – he is totally reliant on the family. May be he is the star of the show, people definitely pity children undergoing pain and tend to be more generous. However, when he grows up, what is he going to do? Follow in the foot steps of his parents? Break out of this cycle? Where is the welfare for such poor souls?

The positive side is that the kid is still impressed with the dirty tank with pebbles. During his free time, he can return to fleeting glimpses of being a child. I guess that is redemption enough for him before he gets back to his routine act. Life is unfair indeed.

Journeying across India makes one appreciate the positives in their own life. Try it!