Sempu Island

Have you ever seen Leonardo DiCaprio's The Beach movie? Yeah, that was good movie I think when I was young. Some guys want to search secret island in Thailand. The legend among the backpacker says that the secret island has a beach that so perfect, still pure and virgin, looks like a heaven. Then they finally find where is the island, by swimming across the sea.

Actually, the secret beach in The Beach movie is located in Phi Phi Island in Thailand. But here in Indonesia, there is a beach that look alike with Phi Phi Island in Thailand, where the real location of the movie is. Even it's prettier than in Thailand itself. It is Sempu Island in Malang, East Java.

As I mentioned before, Sempu Island is a small island located in the South of Java. This island is a part of Kabupaten Malang. It's not far away when you go to Sempu from Malang. You can either use public transportation to reach the location or using your own car. When you arrive at Sendang Biru beach (the other beautiful beach, I will discuss later), you have cross the sea by renting a boat for your group. It's not that expensive, only Rp 40.000 for 15 people to carry you to Sempu and back. It takes only 15 minutes to get to in the Sempu Island by boat. Don't forget you have to report to the government officer first in Sendang Biru, because Sempu Island is protected by law,so you have to do carefull in order to protect Sempu's wild life.

The amazing thing that you can do, as they do in The Beach movie, you can do swimming and snorkeling as much as you want. As the cliffs surrounding the beach, creating a large natural "sea in the sea". Giving you time to do snorkeling and swimming, because it's a calm sea surrounded by cliff. Sempu Island is a wild life that protected by law in Indonesia. So, you will find a lot of natural coral when you do snorkeling in here. And if you are backpacker, you have to do camping in Sempu. Back to nature. Because Sempu offers you great adventure in here.
Enjoy it.


Read More ..

Traditional Market of Art Sukowati

If you want to go some souvenirs that will remind you forever about your time in Bali, Pasar Seni Sukowati is the right place for you to go. Pasar Seni Sukowati, or Traditional Art Sukowati is the place that has colmplete collections of souvenir that you can purchase in Bali. Pasar Seni Sukowati is located in Kabupaten Gianyar of Bali. It is 20 km from Denpasar, you can travel there by 30 minutes.

Whoever you are, either domestic tourist or foreign tourist, when you have time to go shopping, come in Sukowati. Sukowati has many traditional souvenirs. For example, unique Balinese handcraft, Balinese clothes, surfing clothes (you can even get stuff like Quicksilver or Billabong here), merchandise, paintings, and many more. All of souvenirs in Bali wherever you can find, will be available in Sukowati with cheaper price. It's the cheapest place to get some souvenirs in Bali.

When you are here, make sure you have to do some bargain. Because every stuff in here can be get cheap. So do some bargain with the seller to get a great price over. They don't get mad, because they are accustomed with that. Use cash money, because they don't use credit card machine in here. Enjoy it. Read More ..

Chicken Satay (Sate Ayam)

This is a kind of food that you will like it most when you come to Indonesia. This one is called as Chicken Satay, or in Indonesian is called sate ayam. It's easy to find sate ayam in Indonesia, because it's well famous then you can find it everywhere in Indonesia. Sate ayam has different recipe and delicious taste depends on what variety and the recipe that different city has. The most popular sate ayam comes from 3 cities. There are sate ayam Ponorogo, sate ayam Madura, and sate ayam Padang. Every sate ayam from those cities has own delicious taste, different version with other.
Sate ayam is originally comes from Indonesia, but it popularity has reached another Southeast Asia country such as Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Philipine.

Here is the recipe for sate ayam (chicken satay) :


Ingridients:

• pound chicken breasts, boneless, or leg meat, with skin if you desired
• ounces chicken livers, trimmed
  
• cup soy sauce, sweet or 1/3 cup each regular soy sauce and molasses
• peanut sauce
• tablespoons onions, finely chopped
• tablespoon fresh lime juice
• tablespoons chile paste

How To Make:

• Preheat the grill to high.
• If the chicken has skin and you plan to use it in the recipe, remove it from the chicken and reserve; otherwise, discard it. Rinse the chicken, chicken skin (if using), and chicken livers (if using) under cold water. Then drain and blot dry with paper towels. Cut the chicken and livers into 1/2-inch dice and the skin into 1/2-inch squares. Thread the pieces alternately on the skewers; each saté should be about 3 inches long. Place on a platter, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and refrigerate while you prepare the marinade.
• Combine 1/4 cup of the sweet soy sauce, 1/4 cup of the peanut sauce, the onion, and lime juice in a shallow dish and stir to mix. Roll the satés in the marinade to coat thoroughly.
• When ready to grill, oil the grill grate. Arrange the satés on the hot grate and grill, turning with tongs, until lightly browned and cooked through, 1 to 3 minutes per side (2 to 6 minutes in all). Brush once or twice with the chicken fat as the satés cook.
• To serve, place the remaining 1/2 cup peanut sauce in a small bowl and spoon the remaining 2 tablespoons sweet soy sauce and the chile paste into the center (the motion of dipping the satés into this sauce will mix the ingredients together). Transfer the satés to serving plates or a platter and serve accompanied by the sauce.

Sate ayam is perfect food to be eaten at night. Don't worry how to get one. Because you don't have to go to some cafe or restaurant to buy one. There will be a lot of people at night that walking around in neighborhood to sell sate ayam. You just order it and it's not really expensive.
Make sure when you traveling in Indonesia, you have to eat sate ayam.

Read More ..

Food Review

Food can't be separated from your traveling experience. Getting in the new place means a lot of fun time to try all special food in new place has. Your trip won't be completed if you miss your chance to try all different new food. So from now on, traveler portal will include reviews about food from around the world. From every tourism object and every place in the world. Food that you won't find anywhere except you have to try it by yourself. Something that you won't forget after your visit. Great place plus great food means Great Experience for traveler. The review will be listed with the recipe also, so you can always try it at your kitchen.
So for the traveler, hope you will like it. Read More ..

Hotel Room Safety Tips

Hotel Room Safety Tips is taken from http://hotels.about.com/cs/travelerstools/a/hotelsafety.htm

To protect yourself:

• Keep the door to your room locked at all times. If you are inside the room, turn the deadbolt and fasten the security chain.
• When you leave your hotel room, pull the door completely closed behind you. Make sure the latch has engaged. Take a moment before you leave to try the door and make sure it is closed and locked.
• 
  
• Do not open your door to strangers. Use the security viewport to see who is outside your door. Do not trust someone claiming to be a hotel employee if you are not expecting one. If you are unsure, call the front desk to check. Leave the security chain engaged while opening the door for further protection.
• Check all windows and doors in your room every time you enter it and leave it to make sure they are closed and locked.
• When entering or leaving the hotel after dark, use the main entrance.
• If you travel often, consider buying a portable alarm system to hang on the doorknob for added protection. These movement-sensitive devices can awaken you if a door lock should happen to fail.

To protect your valuables:

• Use the safe provided in the room to store keys, wallets, extra cash and credit cards, jewelry, and other small valuable items you are leaving in the room. If no safe is supplied, check with the front desk. They may have locked storage available for your use.
• Don't leave cash, travelers checks and expensive electronics and jewelry lying around the room.
• Leave larger expensive or breakable objects at home, if at all possible. If you must bring them, store them in the closet and out of the way of the cleaning crew.

By using your common sense and taking a few precautions while on the road, you can protect yourself and your loved ones from danger and hang on to your possessions.

Read More ..

What Traveling Means To You

What traveling means to you?
For me, traveling means a lot. Traveling means a lifetime learning lesson. It's beyond just relaxing, taking picture, or playing in the beach. Traveling is a effective method to accept the difference among us. Traveling doesn't have to be expensive. By the time you take your first step, you already decided that you are in it. Traveling can be effective way to create peace and spread love to the world. Imagine if you have a chance to know a lot of good people around the world, chance to feel the the atmosphere of different place, have a good time with local people. Giving you a hard lesson that not everybody in the world is just happy as you are. A lot of people keep dying, poverty, diseases, war, and another. It's a noble if you are planning to go to some underdeveloped country. Helping the kids, the people, and to know how they suffer.

Just as John Lennon's Imagine Song
Imagine there's no heaven, it's easy if you try
No people below us, above it's only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no country, it isn't hard to do
No need to kill or die and no religions too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you will join us
And world will live as one

Imagine no possessions I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger a brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing for all the world

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you will join us
And the world will live as one

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
Take my hand and join us
And the world will live as one

Read More ..

Jet Lag

What do you feel about Jet lag? How to avoid it? Here is everything that you need to know about Jet lag. This is a article from www.wikitravel.org

JET LAG

Jet lag is not caused by flying per se, but is a form of disorientation and fatigue caused by abruptly switching to a different sleeping/waking schedule and different daylight hours. Some people are affected more than others, but it tends to happen when crossing two or more time zones in a single flight (which first became commonplace with the development of commercial jet air travel, hence the term).

One way to avoid jet lag for short stays is to ignore the difference in time zone, and maintain the same sleeping schedule as you would according to the time "back home", perhaps keeping lights on to simulate daylight and pulling shades to simulate night. This is less practical for longer stays, or when travelling several time zones from home which would place you far out of synch with local hours.

The impact may be diminished by gradually adjusting your sleep schedule in advance of a long-distance trip. For example, before flying from California to Germany, you might start a week ahead of time, going to bed and waking up an hour earlier each day. By the time you actually made the trip, your sleep schedule would be almost in synch with your destination.

For flights lasting longer than you are used to, have enough sleep right before the date of your fly--it's even worth sacrificing packing right or having done all the work you promised before going to vacation.

Another remedy is to attempt to have a normal day, but in terms of the time zone you've flown into. If you land at 7am, for example, you will probably have been served breakfast on your flight, so head to your accommodation (ask if they can mind your luggage if it's not check-in time yet) and go and see some of the sights, making sure to get some fresh air. You'll feel tired, particularly by the mid-afternoon, but keep pushing on until an early dinnertime. Eat dinner and then go to bed. You should be tired enough for a good night's sleep, but have some sleeping tablets handy in case. That way, if you wake up far too early because you're on the wrong time zone, just take a tablet and go back to sleep. After a couple of nights, you'll have adjusted to the point where sleeping tablets aren't needed anymore.

The most important book ever written for the international traveler about preventing jet lag was Overcoming Jet Lag by Charles F. Ehret, Ph.D. and Lynne W. Scanlon, published by Berkley Publishing Group. Dr. Ehret's research was underwritten by The U.S. Government and used by The U.S. Army Rapid Deployment forces so they could be "fighting ready" no matter how many times zones they crossed to get to their destination. With Dr. Ehret's permission, that outdated and out-of-print book was rewritten, revised, and republished in October 2008 by Back2Press Books with a new title: The Cure for Jet Lag by Lynne Waller Scanlon and Charles F. Ehret, Ph.D.. The new edition contains multiple flight plans -- eastbound, westbound, zigzag, one landing, multiple landings and corresponding 3-Step Systems for each flight pattern. It also contains a chapter on "old" remedies used by international travelers like Henry Kissinger and Lyndon Johnson, some of which work fairly well, but none of which are comprehensive.

It's also important to note that Dr. Ehret did not subscribe to using any drugs to prevent jet lag. He felt not only that they were unnecessary but also that the body had to work over-time to get rid of the foreign substances in the body. This just added another negative element complicating jet lag.

The article is taken from

http://wikitravel.org/en/Tips_for_flying

Read More ..

Lawu Mountain

This review is suitable for you if you prefer to have an adventure especially if you have hiking as your hobby. The one that I'm talking about is Gunung Lawu. The term of gunung means mountain in English. Lawu mountain is a mountain that suitable to be a hiking place. The mountain itself is located in the border between East Java and Central Java. Half of the mountain is located in Magetan (East Java), the other one is in Solo (Central Java).

Lawu's height is 3265 above ocean surface. When you have a plan to do hiking in Lawu you can choose 2 different options about your route. If you like to try to do hiking with challenging road, quicker time, you can start your hiking from Cemoro Sewu. Cemoro Sewu is an entrance of Lawu mountain that located in Magetan. However, you may get tired easily when you pick that path because it's not gonna be easy way. The journey itself takes more of less about 7 hours from the entrance to Argo Dumillah, the name of the peak. While the other path, Cemoro Kandang in Solo (Central Java) is a easier way to the peak with flatter road but longer time. If you're planning to do easier way of hiking, Cemoro Kandang is the right choice for you. It takes about 9-10 hours ow walking without stopping. The road in Cemoro Kandang is flatter, in contrast to Cemoro Sewu, which has a hard challenging road. The texture of the road in Cemoro Sewu looks like a natural stair made from big rocks. You have to step more than thousand rock stairs until you find you don't want to count it anymore.

Lawu is a very cold place. Make sure you all have everything that your need is packed in your backpack. Warm jacket, gloves, pair of shocks, everything that makes you feel warmer must be taken. Flashlight, food, water, camera and don't forget plastic bag to collect your trash. Most people start their trip at night. So that's why you will need a flashlight. Don't worry because you won't get lost at Lawu because there will be only one road that you can follow from every entrance. However it's good idea to have somenone who experienced to accompany you.

Near the location of Cemoro Sewu entrance point, there are some house selling food, kind a traditional cafe. You may want to fill your stomach first to satisfy yourself. Give you more energy to start your hiking. Lawu would be so crowded with so many hikers come from every place in Indonesia. The most crowded event occurs in The Independence Day of Indonesia (where they have big ceremony at the peak), New Year, and 1 Syura (New Year based on Islamic Calender). That would be a mass hiking. You meet another people over and over again in every turn, every step. When you are in condition like that, the common way is to say "monggo" or excuse me and say hi.

The road to the peak of the mountain , there will be 5 different checkpoints. From the entrance up until the 3rd post, you will most likely walk in the forest. You will find a lot of gigantic rocks along in the way. All you can see in Lawu is spectacular. Feels like you are part of nature. Actually there is a reason why it's better to start the journey at night. The first one is to fight the cold. By the time when you walk at night, you will find that is not that really cold, because when you walk, your body produce more heat. So when you arrive at the peak, there will be less time left to wait the sunrise come, means less time to fight cold when you are resting in your tent. The second one is I mentioned it already, the sunrise. People go hiking in Lawu to watch it legendary sunrise. The last reason is when you are walking at night, It makes you harder to see the texture of the path so it helps you mentally to face the difficultness of the path.

When you arrive at the peak, which is called Argo Dumillah, you will feel that you are in the top of the world. Your position is above the clouds anyway. So when you look downside, you will see a ocean of clouds below you. Make you feel you wish you can fly and go to the clouds. It's so pretty. You would realize how amazing your world is. Prepare to watch the most beautiful sunrise on earth after your hardwork climbed up the mountain. Then take a picture to memorize your wonderful journey. When you are about to leave the peak, make sure you don't leave any trash. Kepp the mountain clean. Well, you ready to go home now. Visit Indonesia Read More ..

Borobudur Temple

As we know that Indonesia is a country with the biggest moslem population in the world. You may know that already, but do you know long before Islam came in Indonesia, Hindu was the first religion that came in Indonesia, then Buddha came in Indonesia. In Indonesia, there is a world famous temple, Candi Borobudur. Who doesn't know Borobudur? If you don't, so you have found the right travel blog for you. Here we go.

Candi Borobudur, or Borobudur temple is located in Magelang, Central Java of Indonesia. It's about 100 kilometers Southwest of Semarang and about 40 kilometers Northwest of Yogyakarta. Borobudur was built by King Samaratungga, one of the king of ancient Mataram kingdom, descended from Wangsa Syailendra. The construction of Borobudur took 75 years to be done. That made Borobudur temple so massive and wonderful enough to be decided as a one of World Heritage Site.

The origins of the name of Borobudur itself however are unclear . They have different theory about the name of Borobudur. One of them says that the name is originally came from Sambharabhudhara, which means bedrock hill (bhudara). The other teory is Borobudur means vihara in the high place. The name Borobudur was first written in Sir Thomas Raffles' book on Javan history. Raffles wrote about a monument called borobudur, but there are no older documents suggesting the same name. The only old javanese manuscript that hints at the monument as a holy Buddhist sanctuary is Negarakertagama, written by Mpu Prapanca in 1365.

As one of 8th Wonder in the world, you have to come to Borobudur. Borobudur was built 3 centuries before Angkor Watt in Kampuchea was built. Borobudur has 1460 reliefs and 504 stupas. If you are visiting Borobudur, try to walk in every side of Borobudur in clockwise because the reliefs in every floor has a different story. By walking clockwise you will see the reliefs have a message to everybody. One of the most famous story in reliefs is the legendary story of Ramayana. The others have different story, like the one that tells you the condition of people at that time. The examples are reliefs about farmer's activity that show you the farming system at that time or reliefs that display the ships as a representative of sailing system. Each relief in every floor of Borobudur is so pretty and perfect architectured that show us how good was the artist in ancient time.

Borobudur Borobudur lay hidden for centuries under layers of volcanic ash and jungle growth. The facts behind its abandonment remain a mystery. So it's maybe your chance to reveal the real story of Borobudur by yourself. Come and see the heritage of ancient time, Borobudur Temple's over centuries secret is waiting for you to to be revealed.

Visit Indonesia

Read More ..

Health Tips For Traveling

When you are in a trip to somewhere for few days or more, it's always important to maintain your health. When you are planning to have a trip, you must consider how well your body is. Because if you are traveling and then you get sick that makes your trip screwed.

Something that has to be in your mind is if you are taking a trip with your family or traveling abroad for several weeks, it's easier for you to get sick when you are in a new place because your body hasn't had adjust to the weather, food, and the environment itself. I remember my first time when I came in USA from Indonesia, that was my first time going abroad. And then I got pretty bad cold even in USA was in summer. And when the winter came, It got worse and I got sick again with worse cold than before.

The first thing you should do if you're heading overseas is to find out what kinds of vaccinations you'll need in advance because different countries have different requirements. In the United States, contact your doctor or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for a list of necessary vaccinations. You'll want to allow plenty of time for this step in case you need to get vaccines that require more than one dose. Before I went to USA for student exchange program, I had to get some vaccination.

Sometimes the excitement and the stress of travel can make you more likely to get sick. When you are a teen, your immune system is as strong as an adult. But make sure you have a enough time to get sleep. And avoid poor diet because that causes you get sick easier. If you come in a new place, when you are going to eat something that you don't familiar with, ask the waiters, or look on the menu. It gives you detail what ingredient is included in the food. So you know what kind of food you need to avoid if you have a allergy. After long drive you should take a rest by taking a good sleep. So you will be fresh again and ready to start your journey.

Three of the most common health problems that you may experience when traveling are jet lag, altitude sickness, and diarrhea. When you fly across time zones, the differing amounts of light can change your internal body clock, resulting in a condition known as jet lag. Jet lag may cause some symptoms that are bummers on a fun trip, including upset stomach, insomnia, and tiredness.

There are some things you can do to combat jet lag; for example, if you're traveling from west to east, you should stay out of the sun until the day after your arrival. If you're flying from east to west, go for a brisk walk as soon as possible after you arrive.

Altitude sickness is caused by dry air, a decrease in oxygen, and low barometric pressure when you travel to a higher altitude than you're used to. As a result, you may have problems, such as headaches,dehydration, and shortness of breath. Some people are affected at 5,000 feet (1,524 meters), but others aren't affected until they reach altitudes of 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) or more. Find out what altitude you're traveling to before you go to see if altitude sickness could be a problem.

The best prevention for altitude sickness is to gradually increase your altitude every day to get used to it. If that isn't possible, a drug known as acetazolamide can help relieve and even prevent symptoms of altitude sickness. If you think that you might get altitude sickness, talk with your doctor before you leave home.

Diarrhea can be a serious problem for traveler. Traveler's diarrhea known as turista, often occurs when a foreign type of bacteria enters your digestive tract, usually when you eat contaminated food or water. The best way to prevent turista is to be very careful of the food you eat and the water you drink on the road.

Read More ..

Senggigi Beach

Bali has so many beautiful tourism object that we will discuss later on. It's time to move to another great place in Indonesia. And this review is about wonderful beach in Lombok Island. The name of the beach is Senggigi Beach. So let's begin our trip to Lombok.

People say that Lombok is the next Bali of Indonesia. This is because Lombok has a lot of great places with different and unique scenery on it. We hope that in the future Lombok can be famous as Bali in international world, because people around the world have to know that Indonesia is a beautiful country. Someday Lombok will be so famous because what Lombok has will satisfy all the traveler's thirst of world's paradise.

The most well known beach in Lombok is Senggigi beach. Senggigi beach is a famous tourism object in Lombok, so exotic that some people say it more beautiful than the beaches in Bali. Located in the west of Lombok island, this one is the best beach in Lombok that so pretty than you can only imagine. If we compare it with Kuta beach in Bali, we would realize that Senggigi is not big as Kuta. But the major difference is Senggigi has more natural appearance than Kuta has. Kuta, we could say that is influenced by modernism right now. And Senggigi is just a natural beach, the exotic one that Indonesia have to proud of.

Senggigi is a beach that doesn't have big wave. The water is just so calm. That makes Senggigi has more advantages. The visitor can do snorkeling as much as they want. The ocean in the East of Indonesia is well known for wonderfull coral reef. Make sure you have to try snorkeling in Sengggigi. You will have a good time on it.

Senggigi has a white sand, you might want to take a seat a while, trying to enjoy your moment of life at that time. The beach itself extend outward as fas as 10 kilometers. Walking in the white beach, coconut trees along the way, the sun shines, a crystal blue water, enjoy all the Senggigi natural beauty. If you want to try something new, you can walk around the beach by riding cidomo. Cidomo is a traditional dogcart that the local people have. It's not expensive, so you would like it. Riding a dogcart along the beach. And don't forget the sunset, because it has unique scenery. It's better than the sunset of Kuta said some tourist.

Lombok island itself has been a major tourism object that really suitable for honeymoon. People belief that if someone go honeymoon in Lombok, they will be a happy family forever. So, it's perfect place where you and your soulmate have to be. Enjoy the Senggigi beach, It's the most romantic beach all over the world. Spread Love Over The World.
Visit Indonesia Read More ..

Clothing Tips For Backpacking

1. Using lighter weight pants is easier than jeans. Jeans are harder to dry. If you are concern about your laundry budget in your travel, jeans are not good idea. You will get more charge when you laundry them, because jeans weight more than another kind of clothes.
   
2. Bring a few clothes with you, avoid to take a lot of clothes. More clothes mean less room in your travel bag, especially if you use a backpack. Taking 3 or 4 clothes are enough, plus 1 warm jacket. You can always wash it on your journey or laundry it. Getting a new clothes at the street is good idea, then you can discard your old clothes perhaps to the local people.
3. Always bring a big plastic bag with you. When it rains so you can protect your clothes at your backpack with it. You sure you will get a nightmare when your clothes get wet.
4. Learn about your destination such as how the weather is, the climate. It helps you to decide what kind of clothes you will need most. Humid country will always been different with cold one. It's bad idea wearing thick warm jacket in Indonesia or Thailand
5. Some items such as shoes, t-shirt, or short pants can be purchased cheaply. So don't worry about that.
6. Your travel clothing must be comfortable for you. If its don't, it would ruin your trip.
   

Read More ..

Sarangan Lake

Sarangan Lake or in Indonesia it is called as Telaga Sarangan is a tourism object located in Magetan, East Java of Indonesia. Sarangan also known as Telaga Pasir or in English It will be The Sand Lake. It's called as The Sand Lake because the name of the sand lake it came from Sarangan traditional folklore. Sarangan is well known as a natural lake in Magetan that attracts people to come and enjoy what Sarangan offerrs.

Sarangan Lake is a favorite object in Magetan. Every year, thousand people have came to enjoy the scenery and relax after their stressful daily work. For people of Indonesia who live in tropical country like in Indonesia, Sarangan lake is always been a favorite place to go in holiday. Sarangan is placed in the foothill of Lawu Mountain makes the air in Sarangan always been fresh and cool. It’s about 18 up to 25 degree Celcius When you live in country that so humid and hot like Indonesia, that sounds chilly one. It’s a great place where you can refresh your mind, relax, and just chilling out with your family or friend. The lake is about 30 hectare and the depth is 28 meters.

There are so many that Sarangan offers to you guys. Something that you have to do when you are in Sarangan is, make sure you are wake up in the morning and walk around the lake. It’s about a 4 km if you are planning to walk around the lake. It gives you a fresh start of the day. Around Sarangan, they have a lot of things that you can try. You are hungry? Don’t worry, there are a lot of women in Sarangan that sell a traditional Indonesian food called Pecel. It originally come from Madiun, 2 hours from Sarangan. Pecel is made from rice, and then vegetables, given a hot peanut sauce. Pecel is always a good choice to eat for your breakfast. And this one is the special food of Sarangan, rabbit satay. You may familiar with chicken or lamb satay, but you definitely have to try out for this one. It has softer texture than the chicken of lamb. It’s so delicious that you have to try it.

You can rent a car or bike in your tourism object in your country, in Sarangan you can rent a horse. There are always a man with the horse, not to mention they always named the horse with cool names. If you are planning to rent one, you will ride cool horse around the lake. Don’t be afraid because if you do, the man will be always accompany you jogging beside you while you are riding your horse around.

If it’s time for you to try on what experience the lake has then go for it. They has a speedboat or a boat that you have to paddle it. It depends what you want, wanna a fast ride with some speedboat or you want to enjoy it slowly with the paddle boat. You already walk or ride a horse around the lake? It’s your time to go by a speedboat or paddle boat.

Around the lake, there will be some places that sell a unique souvenirs. Most of them are handmade product. And because Sarangan has a chilly weather, they always sell a fresh vegetables such as cucumber, cabbage, spinach, and many more. Strawberry is available also at the traditional market. You can always do a bargain with the seller, so you may go home happily bringing low prize souvenirs and unforgettable memory. Visit Indonesia.

Read More ..

Safety Tips

1. You need to do some research about your travel destination, especially if you are planning to go foreign country, make sure you are ready to face all possible risks your destination may has
2. You are only normal people, so you still be under the jurisdiction law of your destination. Make sure you know the local laws, at least don't do some stupid thing that gives you trouble with local laws
3. Do not attract unwanted attention by wearing flashy jewelry or bringing large amount of cash on your wallet. It's better idea only to bring some enough cash for the day, using a credit card is safer one. Left you cash at hotel.
4. You must be careful when you choose hotel to stay at night and public transportation. Safety is number one. Thief is noted for their operation in some public transportation.
5. Mom says don't talk with stranger. If you are in the new place, perhaps it will be safer not to discuss your travel plan with stranger.
6. Never accept gifts or packages from unknown parties.
7. Don’t accept items from locals to carry out of the country and deliver or mail to someone they know.
8. It's much safer to travel with your friend. Avoid traveling alone in place that you don't know. Sometimes it's great idea to stick around with group that has the same nationality with you if you are traveling in foreign country.
   

Read More ..

Bus Trip

When you are on travel in far away place, going aboard, you may wondered how you are gonna move around the place, going from one tourism object to another. Especially if you are in long holiday and you want to spend like a week or more on your travel. Sometimes It's not a good idea to rent a car by yourself. Some people will say well that's the easy way of traveling. Just pay cash and you choose your own rent car. And drive along way, listening the music, and just drive again all along.

But if we are talking about a special trip that you never forget, you have to try on public transportation like a bus. You get a cheap prize by going with a bus, saving money so you can buy a extra souvenirs or another. You can interact with more domestic people on your trip while you can practice more about their native language in case you are in a foreign country trip. Getting know some new people, perhaps asking them where are the other cool place in their area. Getting more information about what you should do, and what you should don't.

Before purchasing a ticket, you should look all the options that the bus offer. Because sometime they have a best deal for students, seniors, children or persons in military, giving them a discount. That's worth to saving more money that you will need later.

Sometimes the rules about baggage can be really strict. Make sure you check on it about the amount of your bag, the size and the weight. If you don't do that, when you carry a over limited bag, you can get a additional fees because they will charge you more money to pay out your bag. Don't use a big carry on bags, because it makes you hard time to fill it in the overhead rack or under your seat.

You have to take responsibility of your own carry on bags, because the bus company won't handle it. When the bus stops, the people on the bus will be required to exit the bus. Because the passenger will have a meal time while the bus is being cleaned. Make sure you don't left your carry on bag on the bus, especially if you put your precious stuff in your carry on. You can left your jacket or you carry on bag if you don't put your precious item like a passport, visa or your wallet on the coach. Don't put your stuff at the floor when the bus is being cleaned.

Make yourself as comfortable as you can at the bus, because sometimes you will spend hours at the bus.

Read More ..

Sanur Beach

This one is also a famous beach in Bali. Different with Kuta's special for it sunset, Sanur has the opposite way. Sanur is well known as it beautiful sunrise scenery. Sanur is located in the east of Denpasar, Bali. You can reach it by car, or another transportation because it's only 6 kilometers to get to Sanur from Denpasar.

People have to stay all day in Bali to get the amazing view of the sun. People go to Sanur in the morning because Sanur has a breathtaking scene of Sunrise that so pretty you can only imagine. Sanur is a favorite place to spend in the morning with your family or friend. Sanur was the part of the tourism development in Bali. It was in 1940 when they started to build Inna Grand Bali Beach at that time.

Sanur has a pure salt water on it. By the time when you walk down to the beach, you will clearly see the inside of the water. Sanur's wave is a calm one. If you are are not a good swimmer, Sanur is right choice for you. Because the calmness of the wave you may want to take a walk in the beach because you can see all the coral in the water. It's nice one. It's safe to play kayak in Sanur. You can rent a kayak boat from kayak rental because it's so cheap one. It's not a deep one so so may do kayaking in the water kind a far. When I was in the middle school I went kayaking and then It was really great. While kayaking you can also look down at the sea's life in the bottom of the water. You can interact with the fishes down there.

If you are done with kayaking, then you will know that the sea's life at the bottom of the sea is really wonderful. So why you don't go swim with fish? Sanur offers you a lifetime experience with snorkeling. Sanur has a long stretch of white-sandy beach that is protected by a reef few hunderds meters from the shoreline. Although the beach is suffering from erosion, it is a good place to have a swim and to do some snorkelling. There is a lot of marine life to see on the top of the reef, preferably during high tides. Sanur has some nice divesites at it's reef. The names of the dive sites are Penjor Reef and Channel Pointa. So you can go to the dive site with local boat to guide you around this area. And prepare to see the excitement of under water of Sanur

The dive sites of Sanur are a good place for beginning divers and for refeshing your underwater skills. There are some coral formations and the life to encounter consists of; Mantis Shrimp, White-tip Reef Sharks, Blue Spotted Rays and many other kind of small and juvenile underwater life. You will spot blue ring octopus, anemone fish and ghost pipefish in the Sanur area.

Enjoying the sun while you are kayaking, it's nice to enjoy the beach with some activity. You want to spend the night? It's not a problem because there are a lot of hotels and restaurant in Sanur. You can enjoy the night at the beach. People say that when it full moon in Sanur, it will be a beautiful night that you can remember in the rest of your life. Full moon at the night, calm waves, the water is shining, everything is fit together.

Sanur is a great place where you can spend your morning in Bali before you continue your travel. Make sure you don't miss the great sunrise in here because you must get a great start beginning in your journey. Visit Indonesia

Read More ..

Travel Packing Tips

1. The main equipment or your traveling is your bag. The bag is important thing you have to think of it first. You may use the smaller size for your travel. It gives you more secure and comfortable one than carrying the large one that give you more time to unload thing that you need quickly. You are traveling just for a few days, not for a month.
2. When you get large, bulky and full bag gives you less room to fill it with your souvenirs. You might realized that it will be your worst day ever in airport when they have to check it out. And gives you more time to wait the inspection to be done. Wasting time.
3. Smaller bag gives you more advantages, you can easily carry it away with ease when you have to walk faster to catch a taxy. Just jump out with your small bag over your front. In some country where there are many thief in the mass transportation such as bus or train, smaller bag gives you more secure feeling. It won't attract bad guy's attention.
4. Organize your stuff based on what you need it mostly. Put the important stuff in the top of the bag such as a passport, visa, wallet. You won't need to unload all your stuff from the bag if you organize it. Put the unimportant stuff at the moment at the bottom of the bag. Be wise what you are gonna need most and aren't.
5. Be realistic about what is your real plan on your travel is. Carrying a camping bag perhaps is not a good idea if you are traveling from town to town. It limits your move. So it depends how long are you gonna travel, and what place your destination is.
   

Read More ..

Belitong Island

There is a really inspiring novel and then later adapted as a movie in 2009 that's called Laskar Pelangi. The book and the movie itself has been a phenomenon in Indonesia with high selling over the years and have got many awards in novel category and the movie award either. It is because the story is really good and inspiring every people that all the kids in the world whoever they are, rich or even be so poor, they have a right to get a education for their life. The story is about a group of a poor kid in the Belitong island where they have to struggle everyday just to study in their almost collapsed school. But they never give up even they have to help their parents such as become a laborer in a tin industry, a fisherman, either a worker in a traditional market when they are in holiday. But in the future, after their fight in their childhood time, one of the kid (the writer) got a international scholarship and go to Sorbonne, France to study in his only childhood dream. So this movie has a noble message for us. Everything begin with only a dream. And then you have to try as hard as you can to live up your dream.

In the movie when I watched, I was amazed with Belitong Island. So that was the reason why I would write a review about Belitong. Belitong is a island located in the east of Sumatra, Indonesia. This island is noted for its production of pepper and its natural resources such as tin. Most of the people in Belitong live in the coast. They go to fishing in the sea because the sea in Belitong has so many fishes on it. The one spot that is so spectacular in Belitong is the beach. Belitong itself is a beautiful island surrounded by unique beaches that you won't find another in the world. Something that very interesting is because in the beach, it has a lot of gigantic granite rocks on it. Imagine what you are gonna feel. It's something ordinary to find a beach with some coconut trees on it, but this one is decorated by natural gigantic granite rocks. This was my favorite scene of the movie. You can view pictures of beautiful Belitong beach at www.belitungisland.com. There are a lot great pictures taken by profesional photografer. The beach is still pure not polluted from the unresponsible people. Belitong Island itself perhaps hasn't been famous for its tourism as another places in Indonesia. But since the fenonenal Laskar Pelangi movie, so many people are curious about Belitong itself. It is no doubt that the movie is affecting people to so much to see Belitong. Well I see that that is understanding. From the pictures I've got in www.belitungisland.com, Belitong is so pretty at all that you have to come visit it.

Best Regards
Visit Indonesia

Read More ..

What Kind Of Traveler Are You ?

What kind of traveler are you?

It's a question to everybody who likes to travel around. Are you a kind of traveler who likes to buy experience or you the opposite way. Are you a kind of traveler who likes to buy a thing?

For people who have enough budget it's not really a problem when you are in situation where you can buy a lot of expensive souvenirs or getting involve in the new experience of the place has. You can purchase all of them if you want in the same time. But this is for the traveler who only have low budget. When you have a chance to go somewhere new, you might want to spend your money to get some nice and yeah kinda expensive one. But when you realize your money is running out, you get only few left to eat and stay at hotel. And the sad part is you miss your only chance to feel something new that your place doesn't have. Like riding elephant in Thailand, scuba diving in Lombok, watching Barong Dance in Bali. Or you want to buy expensive purse at Singapore, nice jacket at Paris. It's nice when you getting older, you have some souvenir at your home to remember your travel, but the thing is there is more than just a stuff that are so valuable when you want to memorize what have you done in the new place. Experience. Picture speaks more than a thousand words. I believe that what you must get is what you feel new and different about tourism object. Souvenirs and stuff can be purchased whenever you want, even if you are not in that place (export import I guess).
But the real experience is the one that you can may get another time, but sometimes you cannot get another one. Because there is always a first time for everybody.

So what kind of traveler are you?
buying thing or buying experiences?

Read More ..

Kuta Beach

Wellcome to Bali. Kuta Beach is the most popular beach in Bali among the others. Well yeah I feel sorry to admit that most people don't really know where Indonesia is but they know a lot about Bali. Sometimes they do know Indonesia is, but with wrong idea like Indonesia is a part of Bali. I am as the part of Traveler Portal team will glad to tell you guys that Bali is a island of Indonesia. So okay back to the most beautiful beach again. When I asked people around the world, what are you thinking about Bali? Most of them will answer my question like the beach, the sunset, bikini, sunbathing, blue water, and white sand, sunset and the beach again. Yeah you are right, most of my people around the world have the same thinking about Bali, and they were thinking about Kuta Beach.

Kuta Beach is located in southern of Bali, in the Denpasar city the capital of Bali. One thing that really interesting is in the beginning where Kuta was not famous as it now, Kuta Beach was only a little village where the people passed by from Denpasar to Peninsula Cliff. But right now, Kuta Beach is so famous in the world. We can even compare it with another famous beach such as in Miami or Hawaii, Kuta is as good as the other world famous beaches.

Kuta has become major tourism spot of Bali since 70s. When you visit Bali you will feel different excitement than your tourism place in your country. You might feel as a king, with a flower necklace handmade given by the people of Bali when you step first outside the airport. The airport runway itself is located in the south of the beach means while you are in the plane ready to landing, you see the famous Kuta. Give you the feeling you must go to the beach.

Kuta is a perfect one for you to spend holiday. Sunbathing, playing with the sand, the waves, nice sunshine, everything are fit together. Coconut trees line the sand as long as you can see, it's nice spot to give you relaxing time in Kuta. The waves is good for surfing. For you who are young and like to feel some adventure you have to try surfing in Kuta's waves. There always a surfing board for you to rent if you don't bring one. I'm suggesting you to stay in Kuta for longer because you cannot miss the breathtaking scene of sunset. The sunset is so beautiful more than you can only imagine. It's the major attraction that Kuta has, as opposed with Sanur Beach. Sanur is well famous for sunrise beach, and Kuta is famous with sunset beach. Make sure to take a picture of the sunset, because it's a long time memory for you.

Some guy in Bali will offer you to give a temporary tattoo for you. The tattoo usually last for 2 weeks. You can find them easily, they always carrying some books filled with all the designs of the tattoo. It's not expensive to get the tattoo, they will create the tattoo with the ink, don't worry because they use the pen, not the needle. For your friend, it's nice one to give them some souvenirs. Along the way in Legian street, you can purchase some unique Balinese handicraft. It's not a rude thing to have a bargain with the seller, but don't insult them with bargaining with too low price that irrational. If you want to spend the night at Kuta, the accommodation in Kuta range from a modest home stay for a few dollars a night to luxurious, five star, international hotels costing several hundred to several thousand dollars a night. It's up to you.

Make sure you visit Kuta Beach when you have a chance to go to Bali, because you will never regret what you see, what you feel, the excitement of Kuta Beach. The kindness of Indonesian people when they meet tourist, you are not gonna miss your country because you will be accepted as a family to them. Not mentioned that Indonesia is the country with the most smiling people in he world. Visit Indonesia 2009

Read More ..

Dreamland Beach

You might wonder where you will find a way to spend your summer vacation this year. Going to the movie, mall, and other sophisticated places perhaps is not really good idea for you this year. Yeah you can always go to those places in every weekend. So, why don’t you go far away, going aboard, and feel the real traveler? It’s time for you to try new experiences that your place doesn’t have one. Dreamland Beach in Bali, Indonesia is the perfect place for your destination this summer. Question number one. Why Dreamland Beach? Okay, here is the review about Dreamland Beach in Bali, Indonesia.

Dreamland Beach is located in the Pecatu Village, south of Bali. You can access Dreamland Beach 30 minutes from Kuta to the direction of Jimbaran. Or when travel go to famous Uluwatu, you will find Dreamland location. Dreamland Beach is one of the most beautiful beaches in Bali, the others are Kuta, Sanur, and Jimbaran Beach. Kuta Beach is well known as one of the most beautiful beach in the world, so exotic, but here is the major difference. Kuta Beach is so crowded right now, perhaps you don’t have more time to feel it beauty and it famous sunset alone, because you have to share it with other people. Dreamland itself looks alike with Kuta Beach, white sand, bright blue sea, warm water, good wave for surfing but with natural looks. Dreamland itself has a cliff surrounding the beach, where the entrance is, along in the way with the beach far away, so huge and give you spectacular view. The cliff made you feel that you are having a private beach for you. Isolated from the outside, giving you the feeling of free private time by yourself to enjoy every moment of your life at that moment. It’s a nice one to have you enjoying the sunset or just watching the surfers doing great stunt in Dreamland’s wave.

Perhaps you may wondered, why they named it Dreamland beach because all the tourism spot in Bali use native language such as Kuta, Uluwatu, and Sanur. The history of the name itself began long time ago. In Pecatu area where the beach is located, there was a big project for the biggest and the most unique tourism center in South East Asia. It would be a luxurious resort combined with tourism spot that offered the natural beauty. It was a dry land before they started to build it. When the economic crisis destroyed Indonesian’s economy in 1998, this project was left out and never be done. But people in neighborhood really hoped that the project can be done so they can change their occupation from the farmer to the tourism job such as tourist guide or another, so they called it the land of dream which is called Dreamland in this day.

Dreamland may be known as a new beach in Bali. But from every aspect that the beach has, Dreamland is going to be famous as Kuta in the world. If you are planning to stay in Dreamland for a night or so, it has villa or resort that you can check in with your friend or family. Some of the villa and the resort are built in above the cliff. So you will have a chance to see the Dreamland from the top of the cliff, giving you spectacular view from your balcony, or either enjoying the starlight with some beverage in your balcony with friends. According to the tourist guide, Dreamland Beach is the only place in Bali which using the International Law so that makes people can do things more freely. You may notice some people drinking alcohol or some women in topless without given a fine or punishment.

Whatever you want to do, you want to just chilling out in the beach, do some surfing, and do not forget this one, all beach in Indonesia have warm water every year, every day. People get disappointed when they go to some beaches in USA including myself when I touched the water, it was just cold as ice. Indonesia has tropical weather so if you want to spend your holiday, Dreamland is the right choice to go. Visit Indonesia.

.

Read More ..