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Indonesia's Green Hotels

Excellent service, strategic location, as well as clean and complete facilities are not the only consideration for travelers to choose to stay at a hotel, more and more travelers are demanding hotels with eco-friendly standards.

The followings are some hotels in Indonesia that have won the ASEAN Green Hotel Award which was held earlier this year in Kuching, Malaysia.

Borobudur Hotel
The hotel located in Lapangan Banteng area, Jakarta, has been famous for its ox-tail soup menu.

The hotel had recently added more reputation as the number one green hotel in Indonesia with its recycle water and green cleaning system. The waste water in the hotel is recycled to be used to water the plantations and flushing the toilets.

The hotel also uses LED lights that are considered as a more ‘energy saver’ compared to conventional lights. The use of air conditioner and waste reductions are also proven efficient.

St. Regis Bali Resort

The St. Regis Bali Resort is located not far from Ngurah Rai International Airport of Bali. It is nested in front of Nusa Dua beach that offers beautiful scenery plus calm parks combo.

Regis has been certified in the Earth Check Silver Certified for its ecofriendly building that is considered beneficial from nature, cultural heritage, and local economy.

Alila Villas Uluwatu

The villa was built on the high land near a beach and consisting of 50 hotel rooms and 35 family villas. The hotel also has infinity pools that faces the ocean. Spending the afternoon at the hotel can be a perfect moment.

Alila Villas Uluwatu becomes the first hotel in Bali that received environmentally sustainable design (ESD) certification and exceeding the green globe requirements.

Alila incorporate Balinese pavilion architecture with rural scenery by the touch of modern open space. The building materials were taken from Bali or Java.

The Dharmawangsa Jakarta

The colonial-styled tropical house has high ceilings and large doors and windows that reinforce its grandeur look. The design also allows more air and sunlight to penetrate into building. Dharmawangsa was indeed designed to be in harmony with its surrounding nature by implementing green principles.

It enables the hotel to save 20 to 50 percent of the operational cost without reducing the aesthetic and international standard services.

The Dharmawangsa has certified for energy and water saving, solid and liquid waste management, eco-friendly materials usage, and for the cooperation with local communities.

The hotel also supplies its water necessities from the rain and recycling the waste water.

Source : Tempo

The Breathtaking View of Lembang Fault

The grey cliff was standing tall in the middle cool air in Lembang, West Bandung, West Java.

The aroma of pine growing on the cliff emphasized the clement ambience around the location.

“The view is so breathtaking, this is a good spot to take some photos with beautiful sceneries on the background,” said a female visitor from Bandung, Agniatun. “From here, we can also see the top view of the Bandung city.”

The cliff, known as Gunung Batu, was an andesitic hill having the height of 30 to 50 meters.

“The formations of the stone often used by nature lover clubs to practice cliff climbing,” said 68-year-old Maman, a staff of earth quake-monitoring station on the top of Gunung Batu.

Gunung Batu also the most popular spot along the Lembang fault. Lembang fault is a geological phenomenon in a form of crack on the earth crust due to a plate dislocation. The crack causing the ground in the north of Lembang moved down while the ground in south arose.

“On the coming October and November, the raptor birds from Japan, China, and Taiwan will migrate and cross above Lembang. It will be an additional attraction,” said Nugraha Prayogie, a member of a photography community of Bandung Birding.

From the highest spot of Gunung Batu, visitors were able to see the stretch of mountains starting from Mt Bukit Unggul on the east, Mt Palintang, Mount Kasur, and Mount Manglayang.
Turning to the north, visitors would see the grand Mount Tangkuban Parahu and Mount Putri. In the south, a row of Mount Malabar, Mount Wayang, Mount Patuha, and Mount Windu.

To get to Gunung Batu, people can go from Jl. Setiabudi through Lembang Market towards Maribaya. Alternatively, people can go from Ciumbuleuit or Dago through Punclut, head to Pagerwangi Village, and towards Gunung Batu.

Source : Tempo

Ancol remains favorite holiday destination

Ancol Dreamland in the northern coast of capital city Jakarta has continued to be one of the favorite holiday destinations for families, especially during the Idul Fitri festival.

Up to 78,000 people had visited on the second day of Idul Fitri on Tuesday, while its Fantasy World attraction drew up to 7,000 visitors, Ancol's corporate communication manager Metty Yan Harahap said.

On the first day of Idul Fitri on Monday, up to 75,000 people had visited Ancol, she said.

"The number is up from last year," she added.

Ancol Dreamland offers various attractions such as the Fantasy World, Atlantis Water Adventure, Ocean Dream Samudra, Dreamland, Arts Market, and Ocean Ecopark.

Ancol Beautiful Beach meanwhile was also crowded, as it was a more affordable alternative destination, with an entry ticket of only Rp25,000 per person, to enjoy and play in the beach as long as they wished.

Although the temperature on Tuesday had reached 30 degrees Celsius, people were not discouraged to play in the beach, especially children.

Along the coast, families meanwhile spread mats to enjoy the sea breeze and scenery.

A mother, Mrs Andi, said she had come from Depok, West Java, along with her child Anggi and grandchild Aditya, and wished to enjoy the Idul Fitri holiday as she had not visited the beach for a long time.

Another visitor Erni from Tangerang, Banten, meanwhile said that she has been visiting Ancol on Idul Fitri every year along with her husband, children, and nephews.

She said Ancol Beach remained her favorite destination because its entry ticket was cheap.

Panca, who had come with 11 family members, said that Ancol Beach still remained his family's favorite destination although it was very crowded.

"I was indeed disturbed, but it is affordable and located not far from our home. Moments ago, we had taken a boat trip and played in the water with the children," he said.

Source : Republika

Exploring Bali and Raja Ampat in "TravelbyDrone"

increasingly popular map service provided by various vendors.

One of the most widely used is Google Maps, which in it has the StreetView feature.

Well, there are other similar services StreetView map, but using drone video.

As quoted from BGR , the service map with names TravelByDrone ( travelbydrone.com ) is providing video footage taken by drones (unmanned flying vehicle), from various places. A place in the world that has a video recording drones will be marked on the map are displayed.

Site TravelByDrone is basically a site that was developed jointly by the user. In this site, they can share drone video uploaded on YouTube, as well as providing information on the location where the video was made.

Such information will appear on the map with a red pin marks. After the video was submit , a team of Traveling By Drone going to review the video before validating and publishing.

Once validated, the video footage taken by the drone will be displayed on the map.According to the monitoring KompasTekno , in Indonesia there are two places that have the drone video footage uploaded to the site, three videos are in Bali, and one in Raja Ampat, Papua.

So that the video can be validated, the TravelByDrone suggested that the video be taken by drones, have good quality, and include a clear location where the video was taken.

Videos will not be accepted if it is recorded in the room ( indoor ), derived from military drones, or promotional nature, including promoting products, politics, religion, or other personal messages.

In a statement, TravelByDrone says it does not store or have uploaded a video. All videos are retained by YouTube.

Here is an example of a video that is uploaded on the site Traveling By Drone, located at Raja Ampat, West Papua.

Source : Kompas

The Mystical Mount Agung

When the sun first came up, it was just a glimpse of orange color on the east.

It slowly cracked up and it’s light coloring the gray morning mist in the height of Karangasem, Bali.

Watching the giant ball moving up from between leaves brought a particular mystical sensation. The sun arose as if it was to wake the sleepy peak of Mount Agung.

I enjoyed the romantics of the sun-rise view from Mahagiri, a resort and restaurant located in Rendang Village, Karangasem Regency, Bali. Even the name of the resort was tempting: Mahagiri Panoramic Resort and Restaurant.

It was located two hours drive away from Denpasar. Approximately two kilometers from Denpasar-Pura Besakih highway, through Semarapura, Klungkung.

Once I entered the resort I saw a view that was so typically Bali. The carpet of paddy field covered the lower land with Mt Agung stood as the background.

Mahagiri was built on the hill and the paddy field around it located on a valley surrounded by hills. There were also coconut, coffee, and cacao plantation along the view.

The resort owner provided services like yoga and tracking for its guests. There were two tracking options. The first option was the medium distance tracking that last for two hours, and the second option was five hour tracking around the rice field area.

The fresh air and hospitality of the local residents could be the cure for tired body and mind.

Source : Tempo

Journey to the Madakaripura Waterfall

I was heading to Probolinggo from Yogyakarta when I stopped at Bangil town, Pasuruan, East java and had the opportunity to taste the town’s punel rice.

Punel rice is the distinctive dish of Bangil which is consisting of seasoned vegetables, bamboo shoot, and seasoned kikil beef tendon) called klomotan.

It served with sambal consisting of long bean sliced in thin pieces. A portion of punel rice priced at around Rp10,000 to Rp20,000.

My destination this time is the Madakaripura waterfall located in Sapih Village, Lumbang District, Probolinggo regency, East Java. I went with seven people from Yogyakarta and more people joined us on our way.

We got on a small bus in Surabaya and entered Sapih Village three hours later. The road on the hills started to get bumpy with many turning points. Sometimes my eyes caught a scene of deep canyon below.

Approaching the waterfall location, the road became narrower and finally the bus was unable to climb the steeping road and stopped at a turning point. We had to come off the bus and helped to move the bus using big wooden blocks.

The bus started to move again and we got back into it to continue our journey.
I have prepared everything for this trip and I felt that I am ready for the adventure. In addition to the trekking shoes, I also brought my mountain sandals to be used on wet environment like on the waterfall.

When we arrived on the parking area, a giant statue of Mahapatih Gajah Mada, greeted us. The Mahapatih sat cross-legged with his arm folded on his chest. His eyes gave impression that he was watching all of the visitors.

The statue was built by the local Tourism Agency to emphasize the legend that says the location was the place where the ancient military general of Majapahit Empire spent the rest of his life in seclusion and disappeared.

Madakaripura is located within the Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park and the waterfall is unique for its recess surrounded by higher grounds that drop the water on its entire cliff.

We continued the journey on foot and the adventure begun. We had to cross a river with heavy current. Some men in our group took initiative to cross the river first so they could help the other by reaching out their hands.

When we are crossing he river, several young men that we believed to be local people were approaching us in rush. They insisted that we had to use their service as a local guide although we already have a guide in our group.

“Unfortunately, that is the typical of Madakaripura. There are thugs, especially local residents. They offer services like guide, parking, and vehicle washing, by force,” said Agus.

We finally had to take them with us to avoid further hassles. One of them helped us to cross the river while carrying our snack bags.

Crossing the river was not the only challenge we encountered during our journey. We had to go into the river and walked against the current to avoid the canyons on our sides.
Finally, I could see a waterfall from afar.

Some part of the water fell heavily while in other part the water fell just like a mist. We arrived at the first waterfall one hour later. This was not our final destination but we had to walked pass it to reach the Madakaripura waterfall. The waterfall made the so-called an ‘eternal rainfall’ and everyone who passes it will get wet.

We also passed by the cave where Gajah Mada spent the rest on his life in seclusion. In about 30 minutes, we arrived at our final destination. I spent a moment to let myself stared on the wonder around me. The upright cliffs on both sides have joined to form giant half circle wall, remind me of a giant well.

The recess on the wall was about five meters in size. I could not peek into the recess since it was pretty far from my position. There was, the legend says, the place where Gajah Mada disappeared and never come back.

The water fell into a large pond having depth up to 7 meters and large up to 25 meters. None of us took a swim on the pond since the pond water was brownish and turbid.

We ended the adventure when the sun started wove westward and we walked our way back through the same route from which we came from. Some street vendors appeared on our way back and a cup of coffee plus fries were too tempting to be ignored.

Source : Tempo

Coral Reef Wonder in Biawak Island

Biawak Island, which is located in Indramayu, had become an alternative tourism spot for tourists to see the beauty of coral reef and its fishes.

The water is clear with color gradation from light blue to darker blue. Snorkelers will be spoiled by the thriving coral reefs and colorful fishes on the sea bed around the island.

The 120-hectare island is full with thick mangrove converged with other kinds of plantation. When the dusk arrived, the lizard called biawak, or Varanus salvator, were seen creeping around the beach to catch their prey. The fish was the main menu for the island endemic reptile.

“It is really exotic, no need to go to Raja Ampat or Derawan Island to see the beautiful coral reefs, we can find it here,” said 28-year-old Lexi, a traveler from Bandung.

The shallow water around the Biawak Island did not allow boats to dock near the island, making it clean from boats’ waste pollution. The Biawak Island is located in the Rakit Islands where two other islands, Candikian Island and Gosong Island, lie.

However, only the Biawak Island seemed to be maintaining its pristine beauty. The nearby Gosong Island was severely damaged since the reefs around the island were taken out for construction material of one of State-Owned Oil Company Pertamina station.

Around 28 miles off the Indramayu beach, a lighthouse was seen from a boat that carried Tempo team entering the area of Biawak Island. The lighthouse was 65-meter high and was built by Dutchman Z.M Willem on 1872.

You can climb the 16-floor lighthouse to have a view of the ocean and the ships. Climbing the stairs up to 16^th floor could drain your breath, but the view it offers worth the effort.
The management in the island limits the maximal number for visitors up to 200 people per month.

In addition to keep the island green, the limit was set as a result of lack of transportation. The local government only had two boats that can accommodate 10 to 30 persons. The boats were operated on Saturdays and Sundays for Rp320,000 per person for 1 to 1.5 hours travel.

To reach the island from Bandung-Indramayu (Tirtamaya Beach), you can drive four-wheeled or two-wheeled vehicle. You can explore every inch of the island with a local guide assistance, or rent snorkeling devices for Rp150,000 per set.

Source : Tempo

The Other Side of Raja Ampat

Children gathered under the coconut tree in front of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Deer Village, Raja Ampat, West Papua.

The children were waiting to take part in the drawing competition held by TNC to celebrate Coral Triangle Day on June 13.

I came to Raja Ampat together with three other journalists to photograph the marine ecosystem conservation in the area, especially Kofiau Island, which was three hours away on a speed boat from Sorong.

The Kofiau Island is a heap of paradise located in the ocean nearby West Papua. It’s clear water, complete species of fishes (1,000 species) and the diversity of its coral reef, which is 75 percent of the worlds’ coral reef, has made Raja Ampat underwater tourism a popular destination in the past five years.

The coral reef covers in Kofiau is the best in Raja Ampat which is around 90 percent. This fact has become the reason why TNC focuses on conserving the area since early time.

Although many visitors came to enjoy the underwater wonder of Kofiau, not many of them stayed overnight.

“Most of them only came by speedboat and did not stayed over in the village,” one of custom leaders in Kofiau, Costan Mambrasar. There were no guesthouses available in the 170-hectare island. Therefore, visitors who intend to stay had to stay over in resident’s houses.

In the past, Raja Ampat was under the rule of Ternate and Jailolo sultanate based in Maluku, Therefore, many of Raja Ampat residents are muslims and look more like Ambonese than Papuan. Some of the hamlets in Kofiau are named in Arabic: Balal, Talabi, Mikiran, and Awat.

The hamlet where I stayed, Deer, has a different story. Costan said that the hamlet was named by his ancestors which were migrants from Waigeo Island, which is also located in Raja Ampat area. The ancestors’ boats were stranded on the coast.

“So they named the hamlet ‘Deer’, which means ‘stranded’,” said Costan, who comes from Betew tribe, the only indigenous tribe living in the area.

When I took a walk around the Deer Hamlet, in one noon, there were only few people seen. Most of them were mothers with their children. According to one of Deer residents, Naftali, the adults were busy working on their farmlands in the other island.

Farming has become one of primary source of living for the people who live in the not-too-fertile area. They plant chocolate, sago, and copra. They sell the copra for Rp7,500 per kilogram. They also open farmlands in surrounding islands.

The income they get from the farmlands was quite amazing.

“If they are lucky, they can get up to Rp10,000 per month from selling the corps,” said Naftali.

People were relying more to the farm yields than the ocean. It happened because the weather sometimes brings fierce wind and high tide that it would endanger those who want to go fishing.

Despite of that, all families own a small boat to be used as transportation means and sometime to catch fish.

The residents work six days in a week and go to church on Sundays. Most of the people in Kaifau are religious.

“We don’t want to mess around if it is concerning the religion. That is why we don’t damage the environment,” said Naftali.

Protecting environment was taught in religious events. So it is understandable that many of the residents are patrolling in turns to keep their environment unharmed.

“We will remind the fishermen if they catch fish using bomb or other means that can harm the marine ecosystem,” said Valen Ambrauw, one of the people’s sea patrol officer.

They have a traditional system of conserving the ocean, which is called sasi or kjabus. Sasi is done by stopping the hunting that decreases marine biota for a certain period, in which is agreed by the people there.

“Most of sasi zones are located in south of Kofiau Islands. People are rarely fishing in those zones,” said Naftali who is trained by TNC to help monitoring the conservation.

In Kofiau, there is an island called Pamali Island. According to Constan, the island is considered as sacred by the residents. They believe that magical events happen on the island. There is a sacred lake on the island where one-eyed and one-tailed fish live.

Constan and people of Kofiau believe that whoever takes the fish from the lake, will suffer from leprosy. The "curse" also happens to people who cut down trees, which destroys the nature. It is said that they will get some kind of nasty allergy.

Source : Tempo