Category Archives: Indonesia

6th July picture of the day…

06 Tuesday Jul 2021

Posted by in Bali, Indonesia, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel

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It’s been a quiet few days here in Bigland towers. The pair of us have been busy working from home which has been fine as the weather’s been spectacularly wet with torrential showers accompanied by claps of thunder and grey, apocalyptic skies. On Monday I didn’t even manage to get out for my daily constitutional because every time there was a window of opportunity the heavens opened so I put it off. There’s not even been time for blogging as I’ve just kept my head down trying to catch up on writing for a living and scanning old slides in order that I’ve another set ‘in the bank’ ready for editing when I have some down-time away from the office.

Mind you, it’s the semi-final of the football tomorrow night, which means I’ll be finishing early to transfer to cooking duty so that Dawn can watch the match!

The latest batch of old slides that I’ve been scanning are from two very different batches. This morning I finished scanning the last of a series of travel pictures taken in Bali, Indonesia way back in 2003. In fact, they were the final batch of travel slides I ever catalogued and had in albums. I did go to the Maldives in early 2004 but those pictures remained in boxes until I finally edited and scanned them last year. Unfortunatley, the albums haven’t been scanned in order, so I’ve still a few from the 1990s and early 2000s to occupy my time with yet. Right now I’m working on something different, an album of personal and social issues pictures taken between 1994 and 1997. Talk about a trip down memory lane! These are from the days when I still worked in London as a Housing Officer and boy, has the world changed a bit since then…

Right now – especially with the weather being what it is – I’ll leave you with something less heavy and more colourful. I took this shot of a procession of the Gods in Ubud, Bali on the 19th September 2003. Here a group of men are carrying an effigy of the God Dewa Bramha down the main street of Ubud, with many other Gods following behind.

These events are incredibly colourful as the statues are part of a huge parade which includes musicians, women carrying offerings on their heads, men dressed as warriors and young men and women dressed up in traditional finery. You can find the rest of these pictures by following this link to my Zenfolio website.

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If you enjoy reading this blog, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course (although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab!), but the revenue from them helps to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank you!

29th June picture of the day…

29 Tuesday Jun 2021

Posted by in History, Indonesia, Musings, Photography, Travel

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I can’t believe we’re on the penultimate day of June already! Half way through 2021 in what (in many ways) feels like the blink of an eye. Admittedly, because of Covid part of me has been wishing it away, purely so we can see the back of the pandemic and the world returning to a normal life – although I suspect that’s not going to happen until 2022, despite the UKs success in rolling out the vaccines. Populist politics has shown it’s the Emperor’s new clothes in several countries, exacerbating the problems in countries like India and Brazil to name but two. It’s going to take time to unpick the mess, but at least the USA dumped Trump and got back on the road to recovery. Now, if only we could do with a certain blond buffoon here…

There’s been no travelling for me this week as I’ve had too much to do at home, catching up after so many days away. That’s not been a bad thing. It’s allowed me to get all my recent pictures edited and placed on my Zenfolio website, get other images out to clients and wade through a load of paperwork. Plus, after some weeks where thing have been allowd to slide (if you’ll pardon the pun) I’ve also managed to get some more of my old travel transparencies edite and on the website. So, finally, 29-30 years after I took them, all the scannable pictures I have from my 1991-1992 world trip have been added to this gallery. Now I finally feel like I’m getting somewhere after so many years and a project that’s taken me three decades is finally drawing to an end. Oh, I’ve still got a few thousand to scan but that’s manageable. When I added the latest batch to my website earlier day I realised I’d passed the 5000 mark in less than six months – and that’s with new pictures also. The most I’ve ever managed to add in a year since 2011 when I started stocking my new site has been 6200. If anything’s come out of Covid for me, it’s been this.

Apart from being a personal trip down memory lane I’m hoping I can provide an interesting archive for those who want to see how much the world’s changed in the past few decades. Plus, the pictures are going to allow me to tell quite a few stories when I get around to digitising and cross-referencing some of my old diaries as I’ve quite a few travel stories to tell from the days when backpackers went overland rather than jetting in and jetting out of disparate destinations.

Nostalgia’s not been the only thing that’s kept me occupied this week. I’ve been sending out a backlog of pictures to clients and I’ve a new article to write for RAIL magazine on the High Speed 2 railway following my site visit last week. Once this week’s over I’ll be back travelling as I’ve got several commissions and other travels lined-up. July’s going to be a busy month.

In the meantime, I’ll still be adding pictures old and new as well as blogging – and poking fun at what’s left of the anti HS2 campaign which is on its last legs. But, tonight I’ll end with a picture of the day from my 1991-92 travels. I took this picture of Kupang, West Timor, Indonesia in September 1992 as I returned from a boat-trip to nearby Semau Island.

At that time Timor was an unhappy Island. The Indonesians had invaded East Timor many years before and a civil war still raged. The East is now its own master again, but that’s not the only thing thing the Island is known for – Kupang especially has another place in history, as anyone who’s heard of the story of ‘The mutiny on the Bounty might know, because it’s here that Captain William Bligh and 14 of the crew who refused to take part in the mutiny made landfall after being set adrift in one of the ships boats. It was an extrordinary feat of navigation after a journey of 47 days and 3,618 nautical miles to land here, navigating using only a pocket-watch, a quadrant and a compass, but no charts.

Thankfully, my Island hoping was always a little more relaxed, but I have to say it was quite a buzz to visit a town so far away but with such a history.

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Thank you!

26th May picture of the day…

26 Wednesday May 2021

Posted by in Flora and Fauna, Indonesia, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel

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I’m not going to be writing a magnum opus tonight, the pair of us have had a lovely day with Dee being on holiday and the country coming out of its Covid shell so a short blog will have to suffice. The pair of us have really enjoyed having a lazy aftermath to Dawn’s birthday. The weather was crap so what was the point of getting up early and travelling to the coast as we’d originally planned? Instead, we took it easy and relished in the fact we had nowhere to be. Instead we lazed at home, Dawn did her stuff whilst I followed the political car-crash and score-settling that was Dominic Cummings giving evidence on the Government’s response to Covid. Or rather, the Government’s lack of a response. It was a an awful spectacle as it showed just how far the UK has sunk when it comes to politics and the people and parties many are willing to entrust with their vote. Here we had the spectacle of a liar accusing other liars of lying! Who to believe, eh?

By late afternoon we did decide to venture out and made it as far as the Bolster Moor farm shop to pick up food supplies for the next few weeks and indulge in a guilty pleasure – one of their award winning pork pies. Well, when in Yorkshire!

On the way home we stopped off at an old favorite that’s recently re-opened – the Moorcock Inn on Norland Moor. Because we’re allowed indoors once more the awful weather was no deterrent. Catching up with Aimee and the folks who work there really made us feel like we’re coming out of Covid – even if the road may be rocky.

Now, back home we’ve been busy again. Dee’s been occupied in the kitchen (with some help from me) prepping a batch of home-made lasagna whilst I’ve been editing a few more old slides – which supply the picture of the day.

Following in David Attenborough’s footsteps I visited Komodo Island (famed for its ‘Dragons) on the 2nd September 1992. In those days the park rangers used to take small tour groups off into the hinterland to see dragons which were waiting to be fed. a dozen of us would be accompanied by a couple of PHPA wardens and a goat but for the goat it would be a one-way trip. Here’s how feeding time looked…

Talk about nature ‘raw in took and claw’…

I went back in 1998. By then the wardens has stopped feeding the Dragons as it has made them lazy, so you’d never get to see scenes like this again.

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19th May picture of the day…

19 Wednesday May 2021

Posted by in Indonesia, Musings, Picture of the day

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There’s been no travelling for me today, unless you call going out for a walk travelling. Instead I’ve been busy at home editing the past two days worth of pictures and getting them on my website which took up nearly all of the morning. Once that was done I had time to email a couple of clients who’ve expressed an interest in them. To be honest, I was quite happy to be stuck at home. The gorgeous sunny weather I experienced yesterday was clearly a flash in the pan judging by the forecast. Today we’ve still had some sunshine but it’s also been accompanied by torrential showers and even hail – in May! Now the temperatures dropping and it looks like we could be in for a cold night. Sadly, the weather’s predicted to be pretty crappy tomorrow too, so I may just be spending another day in the office but as I’ve plenty to keep myself occupied with, I’m not too bothered. After all, sat on my desk there’s another 60 old slides already mounted and awaiting scanning, just waiting for a rainy day! There’s also some blogging I’d like to catch up with as I’ve still not written an update on progress building HS2 (there’s lots) – so let’s see what happens.

As the scanning progresses I’m building up a massive archive of material for ‘picture of the day’. I reckon I’d have to live to be 100 just to show them all! Here’s today’s picture which was taken on the 29th June 1992 at Lake Maninjau, West Sumatra, Indonesia.

Here a local bus is slowly making its way up from the lake in the crater (yes, this was once a massive volcano) climbing up a road with 44 hairpin bends to allow it to gain sufficient height to breast the lip of the crater. It’s not a journey for the faint-hearted. As you can see, it’s a very fertile area. You walk past some superb rice terraces or little homesteads with their own fishing ponds and vegetable gardens. Not being daft, I’d taken one of these buses half way up in order to walk down getting pictures. Even so, it was quite a trek but well worth it for the views although by the time you get to the bottom you’re ready for a cold beer! You can find more pictures from the series in this gallery on my Zenfolio website.

Soon after this I finally moved on from Sumatra to Java and continued my island-hopping journey all the way to Timor, so expect plenty more pictures from the amazing country of Indonesia…

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Thank you!

16th May picture of the day…

16 Sunday May 2021

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There’s no long blog from me today. It’s Sunday and I’ve been busy having quality time with Dawn. The ‘orrible weather we’ve been having these past few days finally broke so the pair of us decided to ditch the plans we’d had for working at home and went out for a long walk along the Rochdale Canal towards Luddenden instead. We had a lovely stroll watching life returning to the trees as well as the canal. There’s an explosion of greenery right now as the woodland wakes up for summer. That said – it’s not all green – the woods along the canal and by our home are carpeted in bluebells! The wildlife is making the most of it too with ducklings busy making frantic zig-zagging convoys on the canal, accompanied by their (sometimes indifferent) parents. Boaters have also returned. We passed several narrowboats making their way to Sowerby Bridge although the town itself was surprisingly quiet as several pubs with outdoor seating remained closed – on a Sunday, normally one of the busiest days of the week. Maybe they’re busy getting ready for the relaxation of the rules on Monday? Who knows…

All in all, it was a lovely interlude. Now we’re back at home. Dawn’s busy cooking a curry for tonight and the smells coming from the kitchen are wonderful. I’ve been occupied mounting a load more slides to be scanned later in the week and getting ready for another foray to the South tomorrow. The new national rail timetable started today but tomorrow is the first weekday. Many trains that were knocked out of the timetable due to Covid have been reinstated as passenger numbers are growing again. Plus, there’s some new services too. East Midlands Railway have started their new electric train service from London – Corby today, so I’m going to sample it tomorrow. This means another early start as I have other things to check out as well. I’m expecting a long and busy day. I’ll be running a rolling blog as I see how services are faring and what day brings.

In the meantime, here’s todays picture. During my travels over the decades I’ve come across many strange sights and incongruous stuff that makes you do a double-take, think ‘what the f**k?’ – or just burst out laughing. Here’s one such sight. My last picture was from the amazing Mentawai islands and their incredible inhabitants who lived a life so removed from modern society and the present day. On our return to the modern world we were travelling downriver in canoes to get to the sea, ready to catch a ship back to Sumatra when I spotted this – a TV aerial atop a palm tree in the jungle! God knows how they were generating the power to run a television back in 1992 – or how they managed to get the thing up there! Mind you, I also wonder what the picture must be like when the tree sways in a high wind!

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If you enjoy reading this blog, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course (although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab!), but the revenue from them helps to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank you!

15th May picture of the day…

15 Saturday May 2021

Posted by in Indonesia, Musings, Picture of the day, West Yorkshire

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Is this really May because you could have fooled me. The weather’s been bloody awful. On Thursday I was freezing my tits off in London whilst dodging the rain. Since I’ve been back in West Yorkshire we’ve seen nothing but rain, OK, the mercury has risen a smidgeon, but seriously? The pair of us would have loved to have gone for a long walk today but with visibility down to a few hundred metres and the rain being constant you feel severely disinclined to venture out and concentrate on other things instead – which is what we’ve done after enjoying a lazy morning. There’s one bright spot. Last Saturday I spent an abortive night waiting for a Pacer train to be unloaded by crane in Huddersfield. There’d been a possibility it would be re-arranged for tonight but that’s not happening, so I’m not in for another soaking and long walk home as the jobs been postponed until June. Instead I’ll be able to have a lovely evening with Dawn and a sensible start tomorrow in order to crack on with some projects at home ready for a new week ahead.

My recent flurry of slide scanning has resulted in over 120 new pictures appearing in my 1991-92 travel gallery. The series has now moved on from Sumatra to Bali which is a little frustrating because it makes me realise what I’m missing – which is about a month’s worth of pictures. Let me explain…

When I returned to London from my trip at the end of 1992 I had 1000s of slides which were unmounted. I’d had many films developed as I’d travelled and posted the pictures back to the UK. Partly because it wasn’t worth the risk of carrying them with me and the possibility of them being stolen but also because of the amount of space they’d have taken in my rucsac. Sadly, some of them got damaged in transit and I’d kept them between sheets of paper in my flat in London which seemed like a great idea at the time – until (inadvertently) I threw the paper away, not realising what it contained. The frustrating thing now – 30 years later – is that I’m starting to remember some of those pictures, and there were some beautiful and unique shots amongst them. But, c’est la vie and all that…

I may have lost some images, but some of the ones I didn’t are still special. The memories they evoke will always stay with me, like the one that I’ve chosen as picture of the day…

I took this shot of a Indian tribal healer ready to go hunting on the island of Siberut in the Mentawai Islands on the 18th June 1992.

How I ended up here and what happened whilst I was is a long, long story that deserves a full blog of its own to do the trip justice. Whilst I’d been in Sumatra I’d heard from some of the more adventurous travellers about the chance to go jungle trekking on Siberut, one of the Mentawai islands off the West coast of Sumatra. I’d also heard about the importance of getting the right guide (one who spoke the local language) as you would end up relying on the hospitality of people like this as it would be their homes you’d be staying in. It really was the most amazing experience but I was lucky. Not only did we have an excellent guide (Joni) and team of helpers, the group I went with jelled very well. We were a mix of Brits, Aussies and Scandinavians from a range of ages but that was no problem. OK, in a longer blog I’ll explain why someone was nicknamed ‘Rambo’ and another the ‘Wingeing Pom’ (not me I hasten to add!). Groups dynamics can make or break experiences like this and they’re often the luck of the draw as you never know who you’ll be trekking with and as a solo traveller that’s really important. I once went camel trekking in India with a small (but mixed) group and had a fantastic experience. When I got back I met a lovely young German girl who’d gone on a similar trip where she found herself alone with five Israeli’s. You can perhaps guess how that went. Anyway, for now I’ll leave you with this image. There’s plenty more in the gallery I mentioned earlier. Please feel free to take a look.

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Thank you!

3rd May picture of the day…

03 Monday May 2021

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I’m so happy we took note of the weather forecast and went out walking yesterday as today we’ve had traditional bank holiday weather – absolute crap! When I first gazed out of the bedroom window this morning I thought “well, it’s not brilliant, but at least there’s no rain”. Little did I know what was in store for the afternoon…

As we’d nothing exciting planned and Dee was feeling the effect of so much walking uphill we decided to have a lazy start to the day. Well, it was a bank holiday after all and we’d certainly put effort into yesterday! Several cups of coffee later we both decided that – actually – a day at home wasn’t really a bad thing. Then the rain arrived…

One of the beauties of where we live is that we have a commanding view across the Calder Valley and the direction that most of the weather arrives from, so we can literally see it coming. Today was a case in point as the skies got darker and more ominous, making it clear what we were about to experience. Depending on the speed of the wind we can normally expect to see the rain sweeping in about 10 minutes before it hits us and today was no exception so it was a case of batten down the hatches, make another coffee and get on with other things. In my case this was sifting and editing pictures for my next article in RAIL magazine then spending time Photoshopping another load of old slides from my 1991-92 travels that have been added to this gallery. So, not entirely a wasted day and listening to the rain beat against the windows was actually rather therapeutic.

Having felt virtuous because I’d achieved so much I decided to venture out for some shopping and get some exercise despite the weather. OK, I’d have to don full walking waterproofs, but what the hell, I was only going to the supermarket, not the North Pole. It seemed like a great idea at the time until I started walking back and the high winds arrived which turned the rain almost horizontal! It was at that point I realised that perhaps my waterproofs need a little TLC as they were were more water than proof! Despite my rainwater revelation I rather enjoyed being out in the eye of the storm. I don’t quite know what it is but there’s something about being out in the elements when you feel the full force of nature. Perhaps it’s the fact it puts you into perspective – puny humans with their momentary lifespan against the elements that are timeless and ageless.

The theme of the elements brings me on to the picture of the day which is another of my latest batch of old slide scans. I took this at Lake Maninjau in West Sumatra, Indonesia during the first week of June 1992.

In some ways Maninjau reminds me of where I live now although the landscape couldn’t be more different. Maninjau is a lake in the caldera of a massive extinct volcano. But, the lake is so wide and where I was staying faced the prevailing weather you could watch storms approach in the same fashion that I can now. The little ‘homestay’ I shared with several other travellers was right on the lake. We has access to canoes and rubber rings (old wagon inner-tubes) so we’d spend many a happy hour floating or swimming in the temperate waters of the lake. In the evening we’d sit there with a few beers, chatting and watching the sun set, which sometimes produced scenes like this.

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Thank you!

7th March picture of the day…

07 Sunday Mar 2021

Posted by in Bali, Indonesia, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel

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Well, that was a week I’m not unhappy to see the back of! Hopefully this next one will be rather calmer and more productive, there’s certainly a lot to look forward to anyway so I’m going to remain positive and optimistic whilst taking one day at a time.

I’m not going to bore you with a blog about the minutiae of life as there would be plenty of minutiae to bore you with! Instead, I’m going to go to the picture of the day, which has been chosen from some of the few slides I had time to scan today. It’s the end of an album, so you won’t be seeing any more like it for a while as its partner and next in the series is further down in the queue.

I took this shot in the town of Ubud on the isle of Bali, Indonesia in December 1994.

One of the many cultural delights of the island is going to see some of the variety of Balinese dance performances that you can witness at hotels, temples or theatres. This particular location is the Ubud Palace which provides an excellent backdrop for the dancers. It’s also right in the centre of town, which makes it very easy to get to. The dances vary from solo to mass performances, all of which are accompanied by a live Gamelan orchestra. The movements of the dancers are extremely stylized and choreographed, plus – they take years to learn. Many Western tourists don’t appreciate the art or understand the messages the dances convey and just enjoy the spectacle – which is OK as it helps fund these dance troupes and keep the traditions alive. I’ve always been impressed with the way the Balinese have managed to (mostly) make foreign tourism work for them without it subsuming their unique culture. I’ve many more pictures to add from Indonesia but the next batch will be from a country that’s culturally very different but that has some stunning scenery. Personally (out of the two) I know whose food I’d prefer, but I won’t knock some of the American national parks!

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Thank you!

16th January picture of the day…

16 Saturday Jan 2021

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Rain staged a comeback today. It’s persistent nature made short work of the snow we’d enjoyed over the past few days which was a shame in some ways but a relief in others. Snow’s lovely when it’s pristine. When it hangs around in sub-zero conditions, turning roads and pavements into ice-rinks it’s a pain in the arse – so the rain’s done us all a favour in that respect – although I’ll miss the chance to get some more snow pictures.

We benefitted for another reason too. Today we had to drive over to Huddersfield to drop off shopping for Dawn’s parents. The clear surfaces meant there was no danger of pranging the car on steep hills or icy country lanes which was a relief as Dawn only changed it for a more modern model yesterday! We also stopped off at Huddersfield railway station so that Dee could pop into work for a few minutes. Whilst she was rummaging through paperwork I did a quick circuit of the town centre – which was deserted. OK, the fact there’s sod all open makes a difference, but even so – it was good to see that most people (including the young) were heeding the ‘stay at home’ advice. I wonder when normality might return and the town centre will be buzzing with people the way it used to on a Saturday? Personally, I can’t see that happening this side of Easter at the earliest. It’s been so long I’ve forgotten what it’s like to walk into a busy pub or restaurant. That might take some getting used to again. Odd to think that this was my first trip of the year outside the Calder Valley. We’re half way through the month and the furthest I’ve travelled is 8 miles!

Back at Bigland Towers we’ve settled in for the night which is why you’re getting today’s picture earlier than normal. I’ve been a busy bee finishing off yet another old album of travel slides which will be added to my website tomorrow. In the meantime, here’s a taster. I took this shot on the 19th November 1998 on the island of Java, Indonesia.

It looks beautiful, doesn’t it? Lush paddy fields full of rice, banana plants and coconut palms. And peaceful too, with an ancient volcano as backdrop. Only, that volcano is Mount Merapi -and it’s anything but peaceful…

Indonesia is famous for its volcanos and Merapi is the most active of them all. It’s erupted in spectacular fashion several times in the past few years. In 1994 it killed 27 when a pyroclastic flow caused havoc around the nearby town of Muntilan. In fact, since I took this picture, it’s lost 38 metres in height due to a major eruption in October-November 2010. Since then it’s erupted in 2013, 2020 and as recently as last Thursday!

And to think I’ve complained about a bit of snow…

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If you enjoy reading this blog, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course (although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab!), but the revenue from them helps to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank you!

10th January picture of the day…

10 Sunday Jan 2021

Posted by in Bali, Indonesia, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel

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After the glorious winter’s day we had on Saturday, today was very much an anti-climax and back to the usual routine of low cloud and mists accompanied by drizzle that slowly eroded the remaining snow, leaving the ground sodden and muddy. Hardly great for walking but I forced myself to go out and complete my full seven days of exercise even if I did come back somewhat bedraggled! At least it gave me a sense of achievement – as did having added another huge tranche of old travel slides to my ’round the world’ gallery. Rather than give you a link to the gallery, here’s a link to the first of the new pictures. You can find your way from there.

I’ve plodded on throughout the day scanning more. It’s a time-consuming, mechanical process yet I’m slowly but surely coming to the end. The bright spot is that I get to see pictures of times and places I’d forgotten about, so it can brighten up a dull day, despite the repetitive nature of the task. Even so, I’ll be glad when it’s finished and I can concentrate on the future and new pictures rather than the old.

I’m looking forward to a bit more variety this week and the opportunity to escape the confines of the Calder Valley as part of a commission, even though I won’t be going far. Let’s see what happens. I’d like to have a day out with the camera but the weather forecast isn’t looking promising so I expect to be housebound for most of the week – but taking a break from scanning slides. I let my eBay account run out of goodies to sell at Christmas, so it’s time to resurrect that to start disposing of more surplus slides and assorted railway memorabilia which has the bonus of freeing up cupboard space as well as making some money. Watch this space…

OK, on to the picture of the day. I took this in Lovina, Bali, Indonesia at the end of October 1998. Bali is famous for its dancers and their exotic and colourful costumes. Visiting a temple of an evening to watch some of these performances is always a fascinating experience. The routines are highly stylized and the dancers are accompanied by Gamelan music from a live band, so they’re real theatrical performances Here’s a young man performing the Baris (warrior) dance.

I’ll be adding this and many other pictures from Bali to my Zenfolio website tomorrow until the end of the week when I should have the album finished.

I’ve a favour to ask…
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