PHOTO-TRIP

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Photography Trip

If you love photography and you still don't have any plan for your next holiday, why don't you join me to go for a photography trip in some interesting places in Indonesia, to capture its natural beauty and its cultural richness??

Just drop me an email if interested.


Cheers,
Yoga Raharja & Archipelago Photography team

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Thursday, October 28, 2010

SUNRISE AT SANUR BEACH


















































































































































































































































SUNRISE AT SANUR BEACH

Sanur Beach is a popular tourist destination on the island of Bali. This place is located just east of Denpasar, the capital of Bali. Sanur was in Badung regency.
This place is also famous among the tourist for surfing. Not far off Sanur Beach there are also dive and snorkel sites. Therefore, the current conditions are safe, dive sites can be used by divers of all levels of expertise.
Sanur beach is also known as Sunrise beach (sunrise beach) as opposed to Kuta Beach, a beach sunset

The Sanur area is sandwiched between the main Jalan Ngurah Rai bypass and the beach. One main route called Jalan Danau Tamblingan runs north to south through the town and it is easy to orient yourself with reference to this road.

It is a 20 minute taxi ride from the Ngurah Rai International Airport, and a pre-paid coupon costs Rp 120,000. There are plenty of metered taxis all over the island who will be keen to take you to Sanur.
If you are driving yourself, this is one of the more staightforward areas of Bali to find as the main Jalan Bypass Ngurah Rai is the western boundary of Sanur. There are many well signposted exit points from this main road into the heart of Sanur. Allow about 20 minutes driving time from Kuta or Legian, about 30 minutes from Seminyak or Ubud and 10 to 15 minutes from Denpasar.

Jalan Danau Tamblingan, the main street in Sanur, has a number of outlets for car, motorbike and bicycle rental. A large number of metered taxis patrol the streets looking for passengers. Local bemos run with some regularity up and down both Jalan Danau Tamblingan and Jalan Danau Poso.
Sanur is also a great place to walk. Distances are not large, the streets are relatively quiet, and there is a splendid, paved beach front path which runs the whole length of the district.

Camera : Nikon D700
Lens : Nikkor AF-S 17-35 mm F2,8 and AF-D 80-200 mm F2,8
Location : Sanur Beach

**** All photos on this website are copyrighted material and may not be used without expressed written permission of the photographer. All rights are reserved****

Thursday, July 29, 2010

SUNSET AT KUTA BEACH, BALI























Sunset at Kuta beach, Bali

Kuta is administratively a district (kecamatan) and subdistrict/village (kelurahan) in southern Bali, Indonesia. A former fishing village, it was one of the first towns on Bali to see substantial tourist development, and as a beach resort remains one of Indonesia's major tourist destinations. It is known internationally for its long sandy beach, varied accommodation, many restaurants and bars, and many renowned surfers who visit from Australia. It is located near Bali's Ngurah Rai Airport.
Kuta was the site of the October 12, 2002 1st Bali bombing (202 killed) and the October 1, 2005 2nd Bali bombing (26 killed).
The Balinese Provincial Government have taken the view that the preservation of the Balinese culture, natural resources and wildlife are of primary importance in the development of the island. To this end they have limited tourist development to the peninsula on the extreme southern aspect of the island; Kuta beach is on the western side of this peninsula and Sanur is on the east. To the north of the peninsula no new tourist development is supposedly permitted.[citation needed].
To the south, Kuta Beach extends beyond the airport into Jimbaran. Other nearby towns and villages include Seseh (6.4 nm), Denpasar (4.5 nm), Ujung (1.8 nm), Pesanggaran (2.0 nm), Kedonganan (2.9 nm) and Tuban (1.0 nm).

Kuta beach is well-known for its sunset view. Many tourists, foreigner or domestic, spend their sunset time along the beach. Many activities could be done during sunset time : doing massage on the beach, surfing, playing foot-ball, fishing, or just lay down on the beach accomapnied by a bottle of Bintang (brand of local beer).
Here's some photos that I took in Kuta beach some times ago.

All photos taken using Nikon D200 + lens Tokina AT-X Pro 12-24 mm F4 and Nikkor AF-D 80-200 mm F2,8 ED

**** All photos on this website are copyrighted material and may not be used without expressed written permission of the photographer. All rights are reserved****

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

THE PEOPLE OF BROMO TENGGER






































The People of Bromo Tengger

Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park is located in East Java, Indonesia, to the east of Malang and to the southeast of Surabaya, the capital of East Java. It is the only conservation area in Indonesia that has a sand sea, the Tengger Sand Sea (Indonesian: Laut Pasir Tengger), across which is the caldera of an ancient volcano (Tengger) from which four new volcanic cones have emerged. This unique feature covers a total area of 5,250 hectares at an altitude of about 2,100 m. The massif also contains the highest mountain in Java, Mount Semeru (3,676 m), four lakes and 50 rivers.

The Tenggerese are the descendants of the Majapahit princes. Their population of roughly 600,000 is centered in thirty villages in the isolated Tengger mountains (Mount Bromo) within the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park in East-Central Java.
Scattered communities of Tenggerese also exist in the Pasuruan, Probolinggo, Malang, and Lumajang districts of eastern Java. They are traditionally believed to be the descendants of Roro Anteng and Joko Seger.

The Tenggerese speak an archaic Javanese (Majapahit) dialect called Tengger. Elements of modern Javanese influences can be seen in their speech. They have their own written Kavi script based on the old Javanese Brahmi type.

The Tenggerese generally profess Hinduism as their religion, although they have incorporated many Buddhist and Animist elements. Like the Balinese, they worship Ida Sang Hyang Widi Wasa (Roughly "Big Almighty Lord") for blessings in addition to other Hindu and Buddhist gods that include the Tri Murti, namely Shiva, Brahma, Vishnu and Buddha. Their places of worship include the Punden, Poten and Danyang. The Poten is a sacred area of ground at Mt. Bromo's Sand sea, and becomes the focus of the annual Kasada Ceremony. Within the Poten, it contains several buildings and enclosures, arranged in a specific composition called the Mandalas (Zones).
The Tenggerese also worship a host of spirits (ancestor worship). They include cikal bakal, the spirits of the founders of the village, the roh bahurekso, the village guardian spirits and the roh leluhur, the spirits of the ancestors. Rituals to propitiate these spirits are conducted by special priests. During these rites little doll-like figures representing the spirits are clothed in batik cloth and are presented with food and drink. It is believed that the spirits partake of the essence of these offerings. The Bromo volcano is considered one of the most sacred places. If it erupts, they believe that their god is very angry.
The Tenggerese gave offerings to the gods in different forms. One of these, Sajenan, is presented to the guardian deities by the priest in formal liturgy. For different occasions different sorts of food are offered as Sajenan. For instance, during weddings a cone of rice, Tumpeng Walagara, is offered, and this is considered to be a source of blessing for the couple as well as the whole village. The second sort of food offering, called Suguhan, are those that are offered by ordinary Tengger Hindus to their ancestral spirits. The third type, Tamping, are food offerings to evil spirits so as to ward off bad luck, and typically consist of meat, rice and bananas wrapped up in leaves and placed at places considered inauspicious such as cemeteries, bridges and road intersections.
Their priests are called Dukun or Resi Pujangga, who play a middle role in their religious worship. They are believed to possess spiritual knowledge called Ilmu of the gods and the spirits, which they carefully guard from ordinary Tenggers. Membership of the priesthood is hereditary, and generally passes down from father to son. Each village has only one of these three priests, together with three assistants, namely Legen, Sepuh and Dandan.
However, in the past few decades, due to over-population in Madura, many Madurese settlers have exploited the Tenggerese land by clearing some of their nature reserves for land and converted 2-3% (up to 10,000 of them) of the Tenggerese to Islam in the process, particularly those living in the more accessible areas in the lowlands just outside the Tengger range. Because of this Islamic missionary activity, the remainding Hindu Tenggerese asked the Balinese Hindus for help by reforming their culture and religion closer to the Balinese. The Indonesian government finally declared the Tengger mountains as the Bromo-Tengger-Semeru national park, and has also declared that any more logging in this area is an illegal act.
Both Muslim and Christian missionaries have attempted to convert the Tenggerese. However, the Christians had little success; they only managed to convert a few hundred to Christianity. Even so, due to the negligible number of them, most of them either reverted back to Hinduism or converted to Islam. The Tenggerese Muslims have a more successful conversion, though they frequently mix original Hindu-Buddhist ideas and spirits to their Islam and celebrate Tenggerese festivals at the same time.

The Tenggerese are basically either agriculturalists or nomadic herders. The agriculturalists generally live on the lower altitudes, while the nomads live on the higher altitudes, riding on small horses.

The main festival of the Tenggerese is the Yadnya Kasada, which lasts about a month. On the fourteenth day of the Kasada, the Tenggerese go to Poten Bromo and ask for blessing from the main deity Hyang Widi Wasa and the God of the Mountain (Mount Semeru) by presenting annual offerings of rice, fruit, vegetables, flowers, livestock and other local produce. They will also see the examination of the medicine men memorizing prayers. The medicine man who passes the exam is chosen to be spiritual leader of Tengger tribe.
The origin of this festival is a legend which dates back to the Majapahit kingdom, during the reign of King Brawijaya, in which the queen of the Kingdom gave birth to a daughter named Roro Anteng, who married Jaka Seger, a young man from the Brahmin caste.
According to the legend, Roro Anteng and Jaka Seger were among many others who fled from the already tattering Majapahit kingdom during the 15th century, when the Islamic religion was gaining followers rapidly. The couple later settled in the Tengger mountains and ruled the region jointly under the title Purbawisesa Mangkurat Ing Tengger.
For a few years the Tenggerese people flourished under the leadership of Jaka Seger and Roro Anteng, yet the king and queen were unhappy for they had no children. Desperate, they decided to climb to the top of Mt. Bromo and pray for help. Deeply moved by the couple's depth of his faith, the god of Mt. Bromo assured them of offspring but with the condition that the youngest child be sacrificed in the crater of the volcano. After giving birth to twenty-five children, the time came for Roro Anteng and to fulfil her part of the pledge. Although they were reluctant, they were threatened with catastrophe, forcing them to futfil their pledge and complying the god's wishes, they have no choice but to sacrifice their 25th child, Kesuma, by throwing him into the crater.

Before the 15th century, the past of the Tenggerese was linked with the Majapahit and other kingdoms from the earlier period. According to legend, Jaka Seger and Roro Anteng are the ancestors of the Tenggerese. Since then, the Tenggerese lived in near-complete isolation until recently.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenggerese)


All photos taken using Nikon D700 + lens Nikon 24-85 mm + Nikkor AF-D 80-200 mm F2,8 ED

**** All photos on this website are copyrighted material and may not be used without expressed written permission of the photographer. All rights are reserved****