South East Asia Experience

Once back to Yogya, I contacted my friend at KAPPALA, a NGO headquartered here. Staffed by a group of dedicated volunteers mostly university students educated in related fields, the focus of KAPPALA is disaster management in a country that geologically prone to earthquakes and tsunami. They had contributed much effort in the devastating destruction of the village of Bantul in May 2006 by an early morning earthquake of 5.9 Richter scale. Besides, it also involves daily in local community empowerment using environmentally responsible approaches.

A recent project of KAPPALA includes the rediscovery of a lost dance and music tradition that had not been practiced for over 50 years. Members interviewed elders from different villages and finally found someone who had distant childhood memories of this particular art form and willing to teach newer generations. A festival was held with the tourism officer from Jakarta and hundreds of villagers attended.

I was honored to be invited to join one of their activities in Gunungkidul, an area about two hours southeast of Yogya. A wonderful university student major in international relations and environmental science took me on his motorbike to a village called Purwodadi through the winding roads around beautiful karst/limestone mountain. We arrived at the house of the village head. To my surprise, she is a young muslim woman in her 30s, elected democratically by her village and can stay in her office for life although she is likely to retire in her 50s and pass on to someone more capability at that time. As a matter of fact, two of the four sub-villages had female village heads, a rarity in Muslim society. We will escort her and a woman group to another village an hour away for a meeting to exchange knowledge of crops the next day.

We spent the late afternoon walking around the dry fields of kasafas among beautiful limestone hills, paying tribute to Bukit Pacang, a legendary hill where locals climb up and pray when problems arise. Since the government already have plans next year to expand the small road here so large trucks to come into this area for the high quality limestone which can be turned into cement. KAPPALA is preparing villagers in case their resources and more importantly, their natural environment, are taken away with little compensation.

Another 10-minute drive took us to a quiet beach called Siung beach which, like most south java beaches, is not suitable for swimming or even fishing because of the strong waves. Nevertheless, the remoteness and serenity add to the beauty of this coastal area especially during sunset. Sitting on a small limestone hill, we discussed current politics - how parties with conservative islamic agenda in indonesia are gaining power with the support of similar movement in Malaysia, how this lead to increasing foreign involvement in law-making and this potential devastating long-term effect of many natural resources and diverse environments in local communities.

Back to the village head's house, she prepared fresh tuna we bought from the tiny restaurant by the beach for dinner. While waiting for her family to cook with kasafa wood, we sat next to the stove in the large traditional kitchen and chatted more about family, relationship and the amazing differences between east and west culture even in the 21st century.

Early next morning, we met with over 20 women villagers and boarded them on a small bus to another village called Pacarejo. Since most men make their living by working in nearby town while women attend the fields, KAPPALA feels that this is a great opportunities to empower and give hope to many of these women by exchanging experiences with other villages. Today's focus is for them to learn new technique from other villages which had successfully planted and used umbi umbian (local form of root plants like ginger, potato or taro) for selling at the market especially when demand is larger than supply at this point. Villagers can make $2-3 per kilo if they turn these into chips.

A long meeting and several hands-on demonstrations later, we had lunch. Then we went to another village and visited the local radio station that KAPPALA set up several years ago. More demonstrations and meeting followed. Agreement was made to help each other on distribution with already establish network at supermarkets domestically and perhaps even export through larger companies from Jakarta. Back to the first village, the friendly elder showed all of us how to make organic fertilizers using material around the farm such as cow or goat dungs, certain plants etc...

Finally, we took the tired group to the only natural reservoir that still functions in the area today, one that soil is still compact enough to store rain water for local use and refill itself by absorbing water from the surrounding fields. Chemical fertilizers used over the years had deteriorated soil in the field making them very loose, therefore many reservoirs were not able to store the rainwater more than a week. Some villagers even stated that chemical fertilizers accelerate their aging process. By using organic fertilizers on more profitable crops, the villagers can be benefit financially by working together using their natural resources in an environmentally responsible manner.

By this time, being the only woman in the group, I made friends with many other members of KAPPALA. We had great fun and joked around while we worked. Big thumb up for KAPPALA! Stay tune for their new website in October 2008 - http://www.kappalaindonesia.or.id.

Back to the Bandung bus terminal early in the morning, I boarded another local bus for Cibodas after bombarded by sellers trying to unload their drinks, bread, cigarette, towels, books, snacks on passengers one more time. Their tactic is to place what they are trying to sell next to you and if you don't keep and pay for it, they will take it back. After crawling for two hours, we arrived in Cianjur and changed into an AC bus. We waited further for the driver to finish lunch before moving on to Cipanas. My patience was running out after over four hours on the road, got off before the proper stop and took an ojek up the steep winding road up to Cibodas trying to balance with my backpack at the same time.

Cibodas proved to be a lovely place with its cool, misty weather and potted plants amid small gardens along the village's major road. I checked into my homestay, then walked to the famous Cibodas Botanical garden next to the entrance of the Gunung Gede National Park. Situated inside primary rainforest, this botanical garden hosts many species of plants from all over the world including many trees hundreds of years old. I walked around aimlessly from the Sakura garden to the herb garden, crossing over the large lawn with pond and fountain where young couple camp overnight.

Before dark, I left the botanical garden and headed for the internet cafe. Over the next two hours, I chatted with Ipai, the owner, also a mountain guide about everything including the notorious spirits that exist in many mountains of java. His last encounter happened during a week-long cleanup trip at the summit with other rangers when they saw a circle of villagers on the plateau below. Another time he saw the legend of Gede in a fireball floating in the dark sky at 2am towards Bogor and joked that this spirit was annoyed by all the young boy scouts camping in the park.

The next morning, I registered and paid at the office and started the hike an hour away to the waterfall with groups of teenagers. After letting the impatient youngsters pass me next to the beautiful turqoise lake with fishes the size of one's arm, the waterfalls finally appear saturated with bodies playing in the water and laughter.

I left the crowded waterfall and kept trekking up along the rocky trails to the air panas (hot spring) about two hours away. 'Now I can enjoy the jungle by myself', I told myself and at the same time, strangely wary about the daytime spirits which might just happen to hover around me. At noon, I finally reached the steamy forest high up in the mountain and held on to the rope tip toeing on the hot rocks to the rest area where a few local campers was having lunch. I enjoyed the serene atmosphere amid the humid air for a while and made a wish.

Another long and crowded minibus ride with a friendly driver later, I arrived at Bogor which like other indonesian cities, filled with too many exhausts choking the air. I took another ojek on the highway with my backpack to another homestay and headed to the famous Bogor Botanical Garden early on the crowded Sunday morning. Students and families from nearby Jakarta made this otherwise quiet park very lively. To beat the crowds, I walked among ancient trees and their roots. While elementary students asked foreigners for 10 minutes to chat in English, I was interviewed by high school students who are overjoyed by their 'discovery', a tourist who looks just like them.

A short stroll in the orchid greenhouse and the main lawn filled with families and karate students later, I walked back to my guesthouse and headed to the bus station back to Yogya.

I flew back to Jakarta from Kota Kinabalu. Arriving at the airport at 11pm proved to be a challenge since taxi drivers are relentlessly persuasive and overcharge by the thousands (rupiah). After attempting to get some ridiculously high quotes from a few drivers, I was extremely frustrated and sat down inside the 24-hour Mcdonald, ready to wait til sunrise for bus to the train station. Luckily, I met a few Spanish backpackers and one Japanese man in his 50s transiting like myself. We naturally striked up some very interesting conversation about different places and cultures after sharing a taxi to the domestic terminal. Before long, the sun was up. My airport friends left to take another flights.

I got on the shuttle to Gambir train station, with my backpack, and went to the toilet. When I came out, my bus and my backpack was gone. My nervousness attracted the attention of a friendly local. With hand signal and broken English, we communicated perfectly and chased for my bus in the terminal after a night of no sleep and sore muscles from the Kinabalu climb one day ago. He accompanied me to Gambir station on the next bus and fortunately, my backpack was waiting for me. I thanked him with quick breakfast and got on the train to Yogya one more time.

I arrived just in time for Indonesia's independent day ceremony. Every village and town had contests such as pole climbing and volleyball etc. Here, poles were lubricated with oil making climbing to the top almost impossible. Prizes were hanged at the top for the toughest locals. Volleyball games were played using instead a normal net, a solid plastic sheet, which prevent athletes from seeing each other. It was most hilarious to watch the two sides catching last minute balls coming down 'somewhere from the top'. I met up with my spanish airport friends and went to the concert outside kraton in yogya. Because of their foreign look, every young concert goers stares at them as we passed with curiosity.

After a week in yogya, I took a train to Bandung, a city for shopping from people in Jakarka. I, of course, had no interest in shopping, but the volcano scenery in this area. I befriended a nice man who sat next to me on the train. He took me to the fanciest Chinese restaurant (in which the fish comes with a hook) for dinner with his uncle and dropped me off at my hotel in his new Honda.

The next morning, I boarded a local bus to Ciwidey. After being approached by tens of sellers trying to make a living out of everything from bread to drinks to cigarettes to fruits to gadgets, we finally left the station with crawling speed out of the traffic jam in the city.

I got off this extremely slow bus before Ciwidey and jumped on an ojek (motorbike) to go to Kawah Putih. Communicating with my broken Indonesian, he became my tour guide and photographer. We trekked around the beautiful turquoise lake in the crater, dangerously close to the bubbling lava until the smell of sulphur was too overwhelming and drove through the extensive tea plantation on the mountains at Rancobali. I must admit that there is something about riding in nature on a motorbike, the freedom with no glass window in between is addictive.

Back to the Bandung bus station, I was choked with pollution and crowded minibus. So I decided to stay another night and treated myself with a good dinner. Luckily, a brand new shopping centre called 'Paris van Java' was 10 minute walk away from my hotel. I searched desperately for what I came here for - sushi. After loading up at a great bakery called 'Breaktalk', I became the only customer at the only sushi restaurant and had the most delicious fried tofu, handroll and tuna sushi. Then watched 'The Mummy' for less than $3.

Although I was feeling dizzy looking at the seemingly unlimited stretch of palm oil mountains in the back of his truck when the head of the NGO Organization raced through the winding roads from Sakau with his Toyota truck, we did arrive in Ranau in record time. I found a new guesthouse in this quiet town and watched the Olympic Opening ceremony in the tiny television at the restaurant while enjoying my noodle soup late at night.

The next morning, after failing to negotiate a decent price for the minibus (because the bus driver thought I am Japanese) and waiting for it to get full, I arrived at Kinabalu National Park around 10. The quota for climbing Mt Kinabalu is 198 each day and I was lucky to register and climb on the same day after someone cancel and a bed in the lodge was found for the night.

My guide was a young friendly muslim. We walked 4.5 km from the headquarter office to the main gate before I got a chance to have my breakfast, the lunch bag included in the package. The first few kilometer was gently sloped and I was able to catch up with most other hikers. The last km proved to be a bit more challenging with increasing steepness. I took my time and finally arrived at the rest house restaurant at 3100m (6km) where buffet were served to crowds of hungry climbers. We checked into our lodge and slept early, hoping for a good start early next morning for sunrise.

I slept only for two hours. It might be my anxiety or constant footsteps from people going into the toilet opposite our room. Nevertheless, I unwillingly got dressed in layers of thermals and start climbing with my guide at 2:30am. Going up hundred of stone steps in the cold night is not the most pleasant thing for the legs, but with hikers in front and behind me, I was not about to give up although the climb got rougher by the minutes. We used ropes to pull ourselves up the rock surface in the last km. Since I did not pack any gloves, by this time, my fingers were so cold that they were about to break off from my hands. It was at this point that I truly appreciate the encouragement from my guide who took my hands into his, warm them up and almost pulled me through the steep last 200m to the submit (4095m, 8.7 km).

The view was magnificent at the submit of Mt Kinabalu. Although clouds had dimmed the sunrise, the surrounding peaks and rock surfaces are truly memorizing. It almost looks like the surface of another planet. Everyone took their opportunities for photos. I was overjoyed and really glad that the ascent was over.

After almost 30 minute at the submit, I finally start descending. The smooth rock surfaces prove to be quite easy to go down compared to going up. The peaks now reflected the early sun ray and demands more respect. We arrived at the rest house after almost two hours of descent and had a very much deserved breakfast. Then continued to go down another 6 km back to the main gate during when I had some wonderful conversation with my guide about everything from Muslim to pop culture.

Suddenly the rain started coming down when we are almost back at the headquarter, it is a rain forest after all. My knees and feet needed rest, not wetness. I said goodbye to my wonderful guide. Without him, I would probably still be climbing and cursing somewhere on the trail. It must be the magic of Mt Kinabalu and friendliness of my guide that had made this climb possible.

I braved the rain and waited for the bus outside the entrance of the national park to Kota Kinabalu.

Crossing the border from Tarakan in East Kilimantan, Indonesia to Tawau, Malaysia by speedboat only took a few hours, but the scenery on the road sides are dramatically different. Here in Sabah, palm oil plantations cover not just small hills but mountains stretched as far as the eye can see. I took another bus from Tawau to Lahad Datu, a town closest to a few wildlife reserves in this area.

Understandably, most tour packages in this region are not catered to single traveller that show up without reservation. After inquiring about some 2 day 1 night tour into these wildlife reserves and getting ridiculously expensive quotes from two different travel agencies, I decided to try my luck at a research office. To my surprise, I was allowed by a very nice manager at the local Department of Forestry to camp next the river at the Taliwas Conservation area which used to be logged 30 years ago, about 45 minute from Lahad Datu.

For the next two days, I trekked with a ranger in the secondary forest nearby and spotted a wild male orangutan making a nest high on the tree, bite by the fighty fire ants, saw the rare marble cat in our night safari drive and helped to plant trees. I've befriended the hospitable manager's family who invited me for dinners and played with his young son, Aedan.

From Lahad Datu, I took a bus that dropped me off at a junction and another shared taxi with a few plantation workers on a dusty roads to the village of Sukau, a beautiful village along Sungai Kinabatagan. Due to the abundance of palm oil plantation in this area, most wildlife nowadays are trapped in a very narrow stretch of secondary forest by this mighty river in East Sabah. In recent years, the acidic level of the river was risen dramatically by fertilizer from nearby mountains and mountains of plantation and the water level was risen by abandoned logs on the river bottom. Fortunately, local conservation teams and NGOs are working hard to save the last piece of land by replanting native trees and protecting the remaining wildlife population.

From the moment I watched the Borneo Elephant show on Animal Planet, I was determined to come to this part of the world to further understand this unique specie. I decided to try my luck, again, by talking to a local NGOs headed by a french couple doing research on orangutans and was introduced to a master student who is working on these elephants. For the couple days, a dedicated research student took me to track for her collared female, Belina, and her family in the forest. I exchanged my notes with her on animal behavior and had a wonderful time with her conservation team. Her valuable information allowed me to have a much deeper understanding on the conflict between human and elephants, for my own studies. My dream had come true.