Indonesia

Candi Bhima

Candi (Ancient Temple in English) Bhima is located at the Dieng Plateau in Indonesia. The roof, its most remarkable feature, displays numerous sculpted Shiva heads looking out from horseshoe arches. The decoration is originated from the ancient architectures in South India

Dieng Mountain Volcano
The geography of Indonesia is dominated by volcanoes that are formed due to subduction zones between the Eurasian plate and the Indo-Australian plate. The seismic upheaval we have seen in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and the occasional seismic disturbance in Australia underscores the perilous risks which are increasing for countries along the Indo-Australian Plate, particularly Indonesia. (Courtesy: Internet).
Mount Dieng has around six craters viz Sileri, Tambang... some being dormant and some inactive. Nowadays the Disaster Mitigation Agency had declared a one-kilometre radius around Timbang off-limits.
Carbon dioxide gas emissions on higher scale threw a spate of fatalities, forcing immediate evacuation of thousands of families.

When I had my visit in 2004, the craters were just dormant, grey in colour, but the sight of the grey lava spewing was a fascinating sight. You could feel the steam from the lava meters away. Craving to feel the heat of the lava, I threw a coke can into the lava; the can melted within a blink of my eyes.

The famous pumice stone in its authentic form can be bought from the shops near to the volcanic site.
Pumice is a lightweight rock made from the cooled foam from the top of volcano lava. This naturally porous material helps remove dead skin cells and callouses from feet and hands. Pumice stones are simple tools that are extremely effective when used alone or combined with lotions or creams. Proper use and care of your pumice stone ensures good hygiene and ensures your stone will smooth your skin for a long time to come. The simultaneous cooling and depressurizing of the lava and water mixture gives pumice its unique porous texture. Raw pumice is inexpensive and easily carved, so buy ray pumice in bulk and make it ready for commercial purposes.I stocked some volcanic rocks as well.


Surabaya
Surabaya is Indonesia's second-largest city. To Indonesians, it is known as "the city of heroes" due to the importance of the Battle of Surabaya.
Surabaya is the location of the only synagogue in Indonesia.Surabaya's zoo is very famous, opened in 1916, was the first in the world to have successfully bred orangutans in captivity.
Cheng Ho Mosque, the first mosque in Indonesia built with Chinese-style architecture is a sight of elegance. Surabaya boasts of a cigarette museum owned Sampoerna brand cigarette, and is also one of their factories.


Yogyakarta
Jalan Malioboro (Malioboro Street) is a major shopping street in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. I just had a night here as transit, so couldn’t explore much around Yogyakarta.
The malioboro street is the centre of Yogyakarta's largest tourist district surrounded with many hotels and restaurants nearby. Sidewalks on both sides of the street are crowded with small stalls selling a variety of goods. In the evening several open-air streetside restaurants, called lesehan, operate along the street, good place for street side food, shopping, matahari super market, and a line of elite hotels to stay upon.

Purwokerto
Purwokerto comes as a  cross-road between Jakarta and Yogyakarta. The town is on the foothill of Gunung Slamet volcano, the highest volcano in Central Java. Purwokerto also the main entrance to climb Gunung Slamet. There are lot of famous people from purwokerto. The names of these people are honoured as a street name all over Indonesia.

Bali - Indonesia

Indonesia
The country with the largest number of Muslim population in the world.
 Indonesia comprises of approximately  17,500 islands. The nation's capital city is Jakarta. The country shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Malaysia. Other neighboring countries include Singapore, Philippines, Australia, and the Indian territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Indonesia accounts to around 150 active volcanoes. When you fly in Indonesia, it’s easily to sight the awestruck sight of smoking volcanic mountains.

(Courtesy : Internet)

Bali

Nearest airport: Ngurah Rai Airport, fascinating as well, located at Tuban on the Island of Bali, the runway is beside the ocean.
Bali is the most sorts after tourist spot in Indonesia. Bali has a huge Hindu population. The first Hindus arrived in Bali as early as 100 BC were the Indian traders. Bali used to be ruled by Hindu Empire’s of Java.

With the rise of Islam, the Hindu Empire in Java fell and Bali became independent near the turn of the 16th century later the Dutch conquered most of the parts and made their colonial rule until the Nation’s Independence.

Balinese Hinduism is to an extant radically different from the Hinduism practiced in India. Balinese have a primary deity Acintya – the all in one god, the other gods viz Siva and Vishnu are just manifestations. Acintya is the supreme god of Indonesian Hinduism.Every aspect of Balinese life is fused with the hindu religion

Arjun and Krishna Statue - Epic from Ramayana

Kuta

   Kuta is administratively a district in southern Bali, Indonesia. A small fishermen village by origin, transformed drastically into one of the most desired tourist attractions for the globe trotters.
Kuta’s USP being long virgin sandy beaches, many restaurants (sea food being my choice) bars and a good surfing spot. Kuta square the commercial hub of kuta, caters to all kind of tourist delight viz shopping, disco’s, pub’s, antiques with an endless chain of  local hotels and international hotels  viz Hard rock, Oberoi, Hyatt, Intercontinental..and local hotels as well. Every year it attracts loads of tourists mainly from Australia for surfing, Europe etc.  You could see, Bali really boasting of the Balinese culture in every nook and corner wherever you travel.

The Kuta accounts to closely packed pubs, designer boutiques, restaurants, video arcades, bookstores, supermarkets viz Matahari, travel agencies, money changers, banks, beauty parlours, cyber-cafe's, surf shops, clothing, DVD shops, fake watch stores, antique shops, wood carvings and painting shops -whatever you want you name it.

Nearest airport: Ngurah Rai Airport.

Transportation

Kuta square is a tough place for the travelers as the roads are flooded with motor cycles, with lack of formal traffic rules to add on. Motor cycles can be rented as well, for between Rp 50,000 – 80,000 per day. But being on a foreign land, you have to keep your mind on, do obey the rules only dare to rent the vehicle if you have an International Driving Permit to avoid penalization. But the law being not so stringent, paying a fine will allow you to keep driving… lol. so for the law breakers and freaks there is always a fair option to continue our holidays.

Kuta beach stretch

Bali witnessed the 2nd bali bombing in October 1, 2005 were around 25 were killed, the first being on October 12, 2002 with the highest severity of around 200 lives. Bali bomb memorial had been made in the kuta square with after the 2002 bombing. It’s very disheartening, whenever I think of Indonesia, in spite of geographically located in the lap of  Tremors, Volcanoes, Earthquakes and Tsunami’s, the bali bombings are totally unacceptable.

Once the sun goes down, Kuta is a ready party zone of Bali, even after the tragic events of 2002, 2005. The five km long sandy stretch of Kuta is debatably the best beach front in Bali. The beach is safe, partially clean, well-maintained. The long wide stretch of sand is often full of sunbathers and surfers. Beach shore can witness people selling cigarettes, beer, masseurs displaying their massaging skills to the customers.

The 24*7 legian stretch of kuta could see sex as one of the main factors permeating the Bali’s tourism industry. Though its illegal in indonesia, but the bad economy and a reason for survival for many, makes them step into the shoes of prostitution. Most of the discotheques and bars will have a torrent of hookers around us always trying to attract and market themselves.This is mostly the main reason for single tourists and youngsters spearheading  to kuta always once they arrive in Bali. Kuta also offers clandestine strip clubs,weed joints,herbal alternative of viagra etc but those in the know can tweak in.

Poppies street is the best street to shop,also for the bar goers. Bounty bars and twice bars are some of the famous night joints.

For the party freaks, Kuta will never make you bored, as the whole stretch is flooded with pubs, discos and lounges, most of the joints remains open till 2:00 – 3:00am. I had an awesome time partying in bali, my pick being the hard rock cafe.

A sojourn to The Netherlands

Amsterdam:

Amsterdam is the largest city in the Netherlands and the capital.
Amsterdam's name signifies, a dam in the river Amstel.
The Amsterdam canal system is a planned, conscious architecture and is worth a marvel.
Amsterdam also boasts of the biggest flower trade in europe.
Amsterdam is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe, the city is lively and colorful. You could find all kinds of nationalities, caste, creed living and moving around in the city. It is said to be the city where you can do whatever you wish to. Its the center of fashion, flower trade, tourism,prostitution,yachts etc.
The Amsterdam Stock Exchange is the world's oldest stock exchange and is one of Europe's largest largest stock exchange. It is situated near Dam Square in the city's centre.

Things to do:

You can take a canal ride in Amsterdam, visit the Madamme Tussad's museum, Nemo maritime musuem, Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank Museum, Marijuana Musuem, Singel's Flower Market, Red light district etc.Nemo houses loads of experiments and exhibitions inside. No matter your background and your age, you will learn something new and have fun while doing it.

National Monument – a memorial to the war victims

Amsterdam -Picture Post Card

The old centre of Amsterdam was formed by rings of canals with unique mostly 17th century residences of wealthy merchants, financiers, craftsmen,engineers, doctors, lawyers, politicians, beuracrats and artists. Because of lack of space, these houses were mostly narrow. The office of the merchant was usually on the ground floor. Like in Venice the canals were the main way of transporting the goods.

Aerial view of Amsterdam ( Courtesy: Internet)

De Wallen, the largest red-light district of Amsterdam, is a major tourist attraction, and the most famous in the world.De Wallen is a confined area for legalised prostitution and is Amsterdam's largest and most well known red-light district.It consists of a labrynth of roads and alleys containing several hundred small, one-room apartments rented by sex workers who offer their services from behind a window or glass door, typically illuminated with red lights. You can pick your choice and head on into the illuminated rooms.
Prostitution is legalised,licensed and taxable in the Netherlands, and in Amsterdam the window prostitution dates back to years.
A decade ago, the government in the Netherlands legalised prostitution in an effort to cut human trafficking and organised crime.
But it seems their efforts have had the opposite effect,  the red light district has turned into a hub for human traffickers exploiting the country's liberal approach to sex business. Government is pushing hard to bring in more regulations to stop this dark side of Amsterdam.
Photography is forbidden in the red light area, hence i am posting some from the picture post cards of my Amsterdam collection.

The sale, possession, and consumption of small quantities of cannabis, while technically illegal, is legal in small quantities.
In Netherlands, you can possess/ sell small quantities of  intoxication esp the soft drugs viz Cannabis, Marijuana etc. Soft drugs may only be sold in assigned coffee shops which are strictly checked by the authorities to see if they follow the rules. They may never sell more than the already mentioned 5 grams. Soft drugs may only be sold to persons of 18 years and older which has to be proven by showing a valid ID.

Amsterdam is one of the most bicycle-friendly large cities in the world and is a centre of bicycle culture with good facilities for cyclists such as bike paths and bike racks, and several guarded bike storage garages. Bicycles are used by all socio-economic groups because of their convenience, Amsterdam's small size gives motor driving a painful experience for majority of the people.

Tactile guidance for the blind to the railway station.

Shell Oil Headquarter

NEMO museum

Nearest Airport  : Amsterdam Airport Schiphol - one of the busiest airports in the world.

The Hague:

The Hague (Den Hague in dutch) is the seat of the Dutch government and parliament, the Supreme Court, and the Council of State, but the city is not the capital of the Netherlands which constitutionally is Amsterdam.
The Royal Dutch Shell  commonly known as Shell, is headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands

Parliament

Den Hague - Scheveningen is a modern seaside resort with a long sandy beach, an esplanade, a pier, and a lighthouse. The beach is popular for water sports such as windsurfing and kiteboarding.
The nude beach of Scheveningen is one of the oldest nude beaches of Holland. If you prefer going to the beach wearing no cloths then this is the place to go.
The area is marked with clear signs indicating that nudist recreation is allowed. Outside of this area nudity is forbidden.
 It is however permitted to enter this part of the beach wearing cloths. For privacy reasons it is not allowed to take pictures or use any other recording equipment.

Rotterdam:

Rotterdam is the second largest  city of Netherlands.
The port of Rotterdam is the largest in Europe. Till 2003, it was the world's busiest port; then it was superseded by Shanghai.
The German army invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940. Germany decided to conquer the country in a single day, but to their dismay, they faced huge resistance by the Dutch army, and then on 14th May gave a big blow by bombing Rotterdam and threatened to bomb other cities as well. The  city was almost completely destroyed by the german troops killing thousands. During the war, Rotterdam was bombed several times during allied raids that were aimed at the harbour area. The  City Council decided to create a 'new' and better city than rebuilding only the damaged areas of the city.
By  1970s, the city was rebuilt. By 1980 the city council envisaged and started to give a new look with the  State of the art and new styles apartments, office buildings, towers and recreation facilities resulted in a more livable city center.

The Euromast is a tower in Rotterdam, which is the tallest building in Rotterdam. It has an observation platform around 95 meters above ground and a restaurant as well.
From the apex of Euromast, you can get a bird's eye view of the Rotterdam city and especially the harbour and the dock.

Aalsmeer:

Alsmeer Flower Auction is a flower market center of the world, every day, thousands and millions of flowers come to be marketed to the Netherlands and throughout Europe, the largest flower market area in the world.It cannot be described, photographed as its so huge in size, over 1 million sq.m. Every day, millions of flowers esp tulips(Nether land's own baby), plants are brought to Aalsmeer, where it is auctioned off to potential buyers all over the world, thus setting the price of flowers, daily turn over of more than 6 million euros, making .All these are completed pretty early, by 6-7am in the morning, so that the flowers can reach the buyers anywhere in the world while they are still fresh, with a high end sophisticated state of the art logistics system.
Everything happen round the clock within 24 hours.

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8PM Transport – Growers select their flowers for auction and send them on their way to Aalsmeer.
10PM – flowers are checked in electronically
10:30PM – all of the flowers are put into different refrigeration areas to prepare for auction and flowers are grouped by variety
4AM Inspection – Quality inspectors move throughout the trolleys of flowers checking quality and making notes that will be included with the auction data
6-8AM the clock – the various auctions begin and bidders buy as the ‘clock’ ticks down in pricing.
7-10AM Distribution – Flowers move to the distribution area and resembles a chaotic mess
11AM Transport – flowers are transported out to customers who bought them
4PM – the flowers have made it to the consumer…whew…all in less than 24 hours.

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Kinderdijk :

The Netherlands is famous for its windmills. Today there are still more than 1.000 mills. Nowhere in the world you will find as many windmills as near Kinderdijk.They have been well preserved.
The mills drain the excess water from the polders - below the sea level, which are mainly found in The Netherlands, after which the water is made to flow into the river through sluiceways.
Nowadays power-driven pumping engines do the job, instead of the wind.
In 1997 the mills of Kinderdijk has been listed in UNESCO's World Heritage Site.

As Kinderdijk is in a rural area, getting there with public transport can be a time-consuming process. The easiest way to get there is to first take a train to railway station Rotterdam Lombardijen. Further, you have to travel by bus to reach Kinderdijk.
The windmills were used to help with Netherland's drainage problems.. and to ensure that places with large area do not get flooded because some parts of Netherlands is below sea level.
In winters, Kinderjik turns to be a skating zone. All the small lakes turns into freezing ice land, which attracts thousands to do ice skating.