Indonesia

Berastagi, Karo Highlands, Sumatra

Gunung Sibayak (2,212m - 7,257ft)

Berastagi meaning 'rice store' is a town in the Karo Highlands of north Sumatra also known as Tanah Karo or Karo Land and is pretty much the rice bowl of the area with vast fertile lands created by the two Volcanoes of Gunung (mount) Sibayak and Gunung Sinabung many years ago.

The dominant ethnic and linguistic group is Karo Batak and the language in use along with Bahasa Indonesia is Karonese.

Berastagi Town as seen from Gundaling Hill

Situated at 1400m above sea level the climate is perfect, neither too hot or too cold. From Indonesia's third largest city Medan it is only a 2 hour journey by road to reach this beautiful hill station. Tourists are a bit thin on the ground compared with the high numbers that used to pass through in the 1990's and Berastagi has grown not only with the size of the town but also the population and the high street sees much more traffic than it used to back then. Nevertheless Berastagi is still an exceptional place to visit with the amount of attractions near by especially for the nature lover.

Sikulikap Waterfall

Sikulikap falls is a 30m high gushing torrent of a waterfall and can be found about 20mins drive back down the road that goes to Medan. It is extremely ill signed to say the least, in fact there is no sign at all. Some people are aware of it and others not. It is situated at the warungs or stores beside the road that sell Jagung or sweetcorn. There are many lined up beside the road on the incline and at the base of the incline where the last or first warung depending how you approach is a small bridge and gate, look closely and you will see signs through the foliage of some old steps, follow them through the jungle and after 15mins you will arrive at the falls. You may be able to hear the gibbons hooting amongst the trees and look out for the scavanging macaques!

Gonsol Village with great views of Gunung Sibayak

A good place to view Mount Sibayak one of the main attractions of Berastagi is behind Gundaling hill which is a stones throw away from the town centre, the first village you will come across is Gonsol a very pretty place with well maintained gardens and local houses.

Trekking to the Crater of Gunung Sibayak

The final approach to Gunung Sibayak

Gunung Sibayak a small stratovolcano (inactive at the moment) that overlooks Berastagi. It's roughly a four trip up and down depending on how long you stay at the crater but the weather can be very changeable at certain times of year so that could be a factor. Clouds storm in very suddenly but can evaporate as quickly as they came. 

Looking into the crater of Sibayak from the edge

From Berastagi itself you can take a 'Kama' Angkot (minivan) to Pondok Masuk (3000 rupiah) where there is a small cafe, this is where you pay the entrance fee of 1000 rupiah and have a strong Indo coffee to get you going. From here it is a walk thru the forest on an old metalled road for a couple of km then you are off roading, the way gets steeper and you will reach a small plateau where Pertamina used to be based. At this point you have to be careful, if you are on your own without a guide as I was the steps leading you further upward and on the right track are not easily spotted and again there is no signs! I at first headed straight over the plateau and into thick jungle on a small track that looked little used with a lot of unbroken cobwebs with big spiders barring the way. I guess this was unused of late so retraced my steps before it was too late.

The Steps are to be found on your left as you first hit the plateau on the raised ground.

Sibayak sulphur at the crater

Sulphurous fumes

Smoker

It's around two hours to walk up and then you can either walk back down the same way or take the steep route down to the thermal hot springs at the small village of Semangat Gunung. I'd suggest this route although it's a bit tough on the knees. There are steps of some description part of the way but more often than not they are broken and the way can be pretty slippy if the rains have been recently. The earth is clay and in the shade of the tight and narrow jungle path remains sodden for quite some time. The hot springs at the bottom when you get back to civilisation are a welcome treat and cost 5000 rupiah a go. There are quite a few to choose from.

The route down to the hot springs

The second Volcano worth a mention is Gunung Sinabung, it is higher at 2,460m (8,071ft) and some distance away from Berastagi, 2 - 3 hours drive away due to traffic and a dodgy road but you can also see Lake Kawar at the base. The trek takes about 9 hours up and down and a guide for this one seems to be the done thing. If you don't reach it you can have specatacular views from the top of Gundaling Hill which is a short walk from the Monument on Berestagi high street (Jalan Veteran).

Gunung Sinabung as seen in the distance at sunset from Gundaling Hill

Close up Gunung Sinabung at Sunset

Sinabung was an inactive volcano along with Sibayak until august 29th 2010 when she erupted, ash spewed into the atmosphere upto 1.5km high. 30,000 local villagers were evacuated but returned to their homes two days later. Prior to this it had not been active for around 400 years! During early september of the same year it continued to erupt sending smoke 5kms into the air. At present she is stable once more.

Gunung Santubong sits on a fertile plateau in the Karo Highlands

Singapore

Night Photography

Raffles Quay - Singapore

The city state of Singapore has over 4,300 completed high rise buildings the majority of which are located in the Downtown Core. In the city area there are more than 49 skyscrapers that rise higher than 140m (459ft).

Marina Bay Sands

Marina Bay Sands is a resort fronting Marina Bay in Singapore, on most nights they have a laser light show with accompanying music to wow the visitors to the city. The complex is topped with a 340m long sky park with a capacity of 3,900 people and a 150m infinity swimming pool, set on top of the worlds largest public cantilevered platform which overhangs the north tower by 67m!

Marina Bay Sands Lightshow

Fountain opposite Marina Bay

Esplanade Mall - Singapore

Esplanade Drive-Bridge

Esplanade Bridge

The Philippines

Seascapes around Ilocos Norte, North Luzon

Silhoutted Fisherman

The Philippines is a Republic in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. It is made of of an archipelago comprising 7,107 islands. Surrounded by water you have to the north across the Luzon Strait, Taiwan. West across the South China Sea is Vietnam. To the southwest across the Sulu Sea lies Borneo and to the south you have the Celebes Sea seperating it from the Indonesian islands of Sulawesi and the Moluccas.

Rocky Coast

A huge portion of Filipinos rely on the sea for their livelihood, due to the vast amount of Islands that make up the Philippines the Filipino people are never far away from the sea. Many live on the coast and work in the fishing trade although fishing nowadays is not what it used to be, stocks have been greatly depleted and most struggle to make a living this way.

Hauling in the net - Filipino fisherman on makeshift bamboo raft

Fisherman's Catch or maybe not!

The Philippinnes is divides roughly into three main geographical regions Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, here I am focussing on the Ilocos Norte region of north Luzon, particular around Pagudpud and its environs. Pagudpud itself is well known for its stunning idylic pristine beach which has been overlooked in the past but is now gaining in popularity.

Saud Beach - Pagudpud

Coconut palms adorn the beach

Pagudpud has a population of around 20,000 people and sees few tourists for most of the year but this is slowly changing.  For those willing to put themselves out to get there with either a flight from Manila to Laoag its nearest city (45 miles or 72 km's to the south) or a 10 hour coach journey you won't be let down. It is a relaxing place where buildings are no higher than two storeys on a whole. Accommodations can be found in small resorts or local homestays and you will find for most of the year you can have this lovely beach to yourselves.

Saud Beach Sunset

Long Exposure Sunset

Nearby Pagudpud is the town of Bangui (5 km's away) famed for its Wind farm. Located on the beach there are some 20 towering Wind Turbines equally spaced out cutting a rather impressive figure.

3 sec exposure to capture the motion in the wind turbines

If you are down on the beach at Bangui in the morning or late afternoon you will have a good chance of seeing the giant fishing net hauled in with a daily catch. A small boat lays a net from one part of the beach in a semi-circular fashion to another part of the beach maybe a couple of hundred metres away. Locals take hold of the net at either point and begin to slowly and laboriously haul in the net getting closer and closer to each other as they go. Encircling the fish they eventually meet after an hour or so of hard work and pull onto the beach what is hoped to be a big catch. I was told the catch these days of say two or three ton is a fraction compared to that of previous years!

After the work is done - what of the catch?

Saud Beach with Bangui Windfarm in the Distance

Other highlights around Pagudpud are Kaibigan Falls which is just off the main highway as one travels towards Maira Ira Point or The Blue Lagoon. To see the falls requires a small trek of around 45mins that runs besides rice paddies and a small river before branching off into the jungle.

Kaibigan Falls

About 16km away by road is Maira Ira point at Gaoa. Very popular place due to the Blue Lagoon being a couple of kilometres further on. Another beautiful white sand beach marred only in my opinion by the Hannah's resort which takes over most of the hillside behind the beach. Somewhat of an eyesore as you approach but can easily be overlooked when you are swimming in the turquoise coloured waters of the bay.

Mountains overlooking Maira Ira point at Gaoa

Long Exposure shot, 30secs using a B+W 10 stop ND filter

Whilst in the area myself I managed to take a few more Long Exposure shots as it was an ideal place for such seascape photography. The following images are taken around Saud Beach and the from the headland Burayoc Point.

Sunset fisherman - 8 secs using B+W 2 stop ND Grad filter

View from Burayoc Point - 30secs @f/13 using Hoya ND8 filter

Alternate View - 3 images tonemapped

Burayoc point - 30secs exposure

And if your lucky when the rains come and you're on the beach you might just see a beautiful rainbow which will really make your day, it certainly did mine.

Native Filipino boat or Banka (Bilog in Ilocano)

Cham Dance

Kungri Monastery, Pin Valley, Spiti, India

Let the festival begin

Kungri Monastery in the Pin Valley region of Spiti is a Tibetan buddhist monastery of the Nyingma sect, it was built around 1330 A.D and is the second largest monastery in Spiti. Situated high up on a hill overlooking the Pin river it affords majestic views up and down the Valley. And that is not all, it is also known for its annual Cham Dance.

Opening Ceremony

The Cham Dance is a buddhist festival, a masked costumed dance that the local monks take part in whereby traditional drums are beaten, horns are blown and mantra's recited as masked monks dance around the monastery courtyard to the wonderment of the local residents.

Masked monks re-enact incidents from the life of Padmasambhava

Cham Dances are considered an act of meditation and an offering to the Gods with merit given to all those who perceive them. These dances often offer moral instruction to us mere mortals relating to one of the main buddhist tenets of compassion.

Buddhist Devotee

Not only do the local buddhists come to watch the Cham Festival but others travel from far and wide to witness the two day event. Prior to the opening ceremony, stalls outside the monastery are heaving with customers bartering over himalayan shawls, clothes, fancy jewellery and other haberdashery items. It's a real day out that the everyone makes the most of.

Locals from Pin Valley

Hitching a ride

The cultural religious festival of Cham at Kungri Monastery took place this year 2011 during the month of July on the 9th and 10th. As for 2012 it's hard to say what the actual dates will be as it changes with the Tibetan Lunar calendar. Finding out this year was quite a trying job, locals seem to have a vague idea but your best bet is to speak to a lama in one of the local gompa's (monasteries) and they will consult the magic book!

Demon Mask

Scary Masks

Kungri Monastery is located some distance up Pin Valley which in turn is situated within Spiti Valley and even though I was there during the summer month of July the weather was overcast, windy and very cool. It is a high altitude valley in the Indian himalaya so even in summer if the sun does'nt show itself prepared to get wrapped up to some degree.

Kungri Monastery

Spectators

Rosary Beads

Masked Dancers

The Audience

The Band

Pin Valley itself is a steep sided valley with towering mountains either side of the Pin River, the rock formations are astounding, outlandish to say the least and you can also see a variety of wildlife along with the huge domesticated Yak. At the end of the valley is the village of Mud where if you want to go any further its a matter of trekking for several days over high altitude passes to reach a metalled road over in Parvati valley.

The village of Mud itself is full of character and characters. 

Local Residents

Girl from Mud

Spitian Man