where to adventure travel in indonesia

The Tropical Rainforest is earth's most complex biome in terms of both structure and species diversity. It occurs under optimal growing conditions: abundant precipitation and year round warmth. There is no annual rhythm to the forest; rather each species has evolved its own flowering and fruiting seasons. Sunlight is a major limiting factor. A variety of strategies have been successful in the struggle to reach light or to adapt to the low intensity of light beneath the canopy.

The Tropical Rainforest has always been one of the most mysterious and adventurous place to visit. Throughout the whole world, only a few tropical countries are lucky to have tropical rainforest with them, these are Amazon tropical rainforest, Cameroon, Congo, Nigeria, Indonesia and Malaysia.

When travelling in the tropical rainforest, it's adventurous and mysterious; we definitely want to think about our own safety. Amazon and Africa Tropical rainforest system are similar to the one in Malaysia and Indonesia, but for safety reasons, we always encourage visitors or tourists to visit the 3rd largest island in the world - Borneo.

What is in Borneo?

Sarawak in Borneo, the best place in the world for visitors or tourists to explore the wonderful Tropical Rainforest, you get to experience living inside the tropical rainforest, seeing Orang Utan, experience the local tribes and their local cultures and even to experience the tropical rainforest weather.

How to get to Sarawak, Borneo?

Sarawak is part of Malaysia. You can use any airlines to reach the 2nd largest airport in Asia - KLIA, and use either Malaysia Airlines or Air Asia to transit to Kuching, the capital of Sarawak.

How to get around Sarawak, Borneo?

One of the reasons to travel in Sarawak is because of their multi culture, majority of their populations speaks good English. They do have Taxi and public transport, or you can rent a car or even appoint Borneo Explorer Travel Agency to plan everything for you.

Is it safe?

Yes, Sarawak, Malaysia is safe enough for you and your loves one to travel. Remember to ask about the visas before entering the country, read more at the resource box below.

What is the exchange rate?

Currently the exchange rate is around USD 1 = RM 3.2. There are plenty of Banks and legal money changers around town.

How are the hotels and conditions?

Sarawak is one of the best developing states in Malaysia, they are the 2nd most tourists visited state as well. You get to see some big names like Hilton, Holiday Inn, Sheraton, Somerset Gateway etc, they are all rated at 4 stars and above. You also get to enjoy local resorts which is not too far from Kuching at very reasonable price.

What are the attractions in Sarawak, Borneo?

Borneo Sarawak tropical rainforest - The most complex tropical rainforest in the world, very safe for travelers.

Mulu & Niah Cave - One of the world's largest cave systems and one of the oldest known human burial sites in Southeast Asia.

Orangutan Sanctuarys - The orangutans are two species of great apes known for their intelligence, long arms and reddish-brown hair. They can only be found in Borneo Island and Semengok orangutan sanctuarys are the best place in Borneo to watch the semi-wild orangutans.

Bidayuh Longhouse tour - Take a visit to the local tribes, known as the Borneo head hunters, but they stop doing that decades ago, so don't worry about them. Learn their cultural and how they live in the tropical rainforest for centuries.

Satang & Talang Island - Other than the tropical rainforest, Kuching is famous for the beaches, stay in one of the best resorts in Sarawak for a few days before ending the trip in Sarawak. Go explore the turtle conservation and hatchery area, this is one of a few places in the world that allow tourists to visit.

Sea Kayaking, diving or snorkeling - While staying at the resort, always remember to go for sea kayaking or diving. Borneo has always been one of the best place to dive in the world, no shark, warm water, it's just perfect for a romantic, adventurous and mysterious trip.

Who's suitable and is it expensive?

The living standard in Sarawak, Borneo is cheap. You only pay USD0.50 to get a 325 ml of Diet Coke, that's how cheap it is. Anyone is suitable to explore the tropical rainforest in Sarawak. We use romantic, adventurous, mysterious, fun, relaxing to describe Sarawak, Borneo.

Always feel free to browse the link at resource box to see more photos of the tropical rainforest and Sarawak. Plan a trip there and experience the beautiful mysterious tropical rainforest.

Jayden has been living in Borneo for more than 25 years and he has always been sharing Borneo to everyone around the world.

For more information or photo gallery, please visit us at [http://www.KuchingTravel.com]

On the Pennefather, Cape York Peninsula, Australia

This article, and future articles, will share some of my various trips to Australia to work with, and assist, various Aboriginal tribes in the Cape York Peninsula.

Terry Graham, a white man, is one of a handful of people that are welcomed as an outside expert on construction and infrastructure by a number of tribes in the Cape. Terry has spent a great deal of his life working and interacting with various Aboriginal groups around the Cape. He is known and trusted, so it is natural the tribes turn to him when making significant plans and changes. It is also widely known that Terry is an expert on the historic and cultural histories of the Cape York Peninsula and is one of few allowed a limited access to the inner circles involving decision making for a tribe.

As an aside, Terry headed up the Australian relief construction team to Dili, East Timor, when the Indonesians pulled out leaving chaos behind them. I've also done relief work in Afghanistan, Lebanon, Iraq, Indonesia (post tsunami) Viet Nam and other hot spots throughout the world. We have a long history together in various challenging places at challenging times.

Terry led a group of us to assist the Mapoon people located on the northeastern part of the Cape. They are located north of Weipa, wild and wooly bauxite town loaded with adventurous people living similar to the Klondike days. The journey to their land involves a lot of slow four wheel driving through swamps, sand and scrub. As the northern part of the Cape York Peninsula offers some of the finest fishing in the world many residents of Weipa, and elsewhere, would like to enter and stay in the pristine paradise. The Mapoon control all of this area required to permit giving travel permission to outsiders.

The Mapoon people, and other peoples of Australia, have been the victims of discrimination similar to the history of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. It's shocking how the Rufus River Incident, in Australia, it is so similar to the event at Wounded Knee, in the States, that killed so many. The Aboriginals have only recently recovered their children and had their land returned to their sole control. Since "the return" and their governance of their land they found it beneficial to form various Corporation of Peoples (term tribe is and/or inaccurate) to help with infrastructure and management of their land (countries). Various Australian organizations have spent years attempting to make life a bit better for the Aboriginal after so many years of destructive treatment by a succession of governments.

These people have a number of significant challenges that can be assisted by income generated by the needs and desires of the roustabouts in Weipa adventure who want to visit the area for fishing and camping.

Unfortunately, many of the Mapoon's young people have lost a bit of their connection to their heritage and land. Many of the young are affected by addictions to petrel sniffing to brain destroying habit, as well as to grog and all the problems brought by that involvement. The tribe is attempting to draw their youth back into their country to get them away from petrel and grog and to teach them the ways that have existed for perhaps 40,000 years.

The plan when we arrived was to help construct to gravity water system from the bush to the beach waterline in order to allow tourists some comforts. The scheme called for constructing a number of showers and dunni. The Mapoon would allow in tourists charging to fair price for camping with limited amenities.

Balkanu Cape York Development Corporation, Terry Graham, Australian Rotary, and volunteers such as myself had agreed to help them with this construction and other ventures.

We are working with about forty tribe members lol. When we arrived, after hours of grueling driving, we were told most of the tribe was off on to "Stone Ceremony' to commemorate a member who had died a year ago.""No worries." This was almost predictable, according to Terry, as our schedules in no way exist on their timetables. If something more important comes up that is what drives the day. That this plan had been talked about for months didn't affect the situation. That five thousand gallon tanks with four miles of pipe had been shuttled from Cairns days before our arrival didn't slow anyone down when their plan was to go to ceremony. We would have to make do.

Two of our group were master plumbers/electricians who came along to train some of the young people on how to set up and maintain the systems, pumps and generators. That there were going to six of us, and a dozen of them, was the situation we faced as we kicked around how to accomplish all the work within a fortnight. No one had any idea on when the majority of the tribe would return.

Future articles will share how all this came together with all the challenges that were presented to us upon arrival.

M. Barrett Miller
Managing Director
Let Kids Be Kids Inc.

While living in Ireland, England and Russia, Mr. Miller traveled extensively throughout Europe, Africa, Australia, Asia and the Middle East. During those travels, Mr. Miller had the opportunity to observe and assist people living in extremely difficult conditions. This experience included assisting various organizations in the development of programs to distribute food and educate the poor and disenfranchised. These experiences led to the creation of Let Kids Be Kids Inc.

The book (s) "View from the Tent" is a compilation from the interaction with a homeless man who wandered the streets and camps in Seattle for a number of years.
"ICE" focuses on loneliness, isolation and abandonment of HIV/AIDS sufferers.
"Trust Kids" deals with honoring the value of listening to our young people.
"Visiting the Mapoon and Lamalama" speaks to the challenges of two tribes of the Cape York Peninsula that Mr. Miller has visited. Mr. Terry Graham, Mr. Miller's founding partner in Let Kids Be Kids, has spent a lifetime interacting with various Aboriginal tribes in Australia.

In addition to years in business Mr. Miller has 16 years teaching full/part time in college and middle schools. Multiple awards have been received for his social justice work with young people.
See http://www.letkidsbekids.org to learn more about the company and our activities to support those on the margins.

Once it has left the catering, guests have said their goodbyes and the cake had been reduced to crumbs, it's time that the most exciting party of the wedding - honeymoon! Try not to insist on this part of the wedding - possibilities of that have already stressed you the most during the preparations for the wedding. Honeymoon two an opportunity to take a break from the madness of the wedding, as well as sealing the link newly forged.

Whatever the honey that keep in mind, make sure your spouse shares his enthusiasm for it. There is no point in honeymoon that leaves a person feeling flustered because she didn't really a moon of honey on the side of beach - is a bad start for the wedding. Make a list of possible places and sit down with your partner. You give a chance to avoid destinations that excite no - feel free to be frank, if a certain point seems monotonous or boring.

Destinations go, the world is your oyster. You can choose between beach destinations, hillsides and rural areas is removed, cultural cities like Paris and Rome for romantic getaway like Venice. If the two share a passion for adventure, choose bungee jumping vacations, packages of swimming with sharks and other daredevil adventures.

For those on a budget, a package inclusive vacation all might be the best deal. These all inclusive will have much of the complications of honeymoon planning in your hands. All you have to do is show up with a smile. Activities will include enough sailing, snorkeling, diving and paragliding to last a lifetime. With all comforts including food and night life in the resort, allowed plenty of time for yourselves, that is what should be honeymoon.

While booking your package, call your travel agent if there are some out of season packages available. These are always cheaper, and you could be found in an exotic destination of your dreams and all within your budget. Countries in Asia such as Thailand and Indonesia have beautiful honey Moon spots that don't cost a bomb. Your budget will allow a trip to exotic lands, massage spa of the couple, exotic entertainment, delicious cuisine, tapping of nightlife and tons of shopping at low prices.

If you are heading abroad for your honeymoon, don't forget your travel insurance. It seems uncomfortable to think of theft or accidents on honeymoon, but insurance will help cover the worst scenarios if they occur.

This author lives in Flemington, New Jersey with her husband and their 5-month-old daughter and is an expert author contributing to a boutique wedding favors of luxury, offering variety of beach wedding favors, wedding favors. This author and WeddingFavorStation.com is also dedicated to providing valuable and informative articles on wedding planning, wedding party ideas, styles of wedding dresses wedding and wedding etiquette.

Asia could be the perfect destination for travel. Not only offers Asia holidays wonderful experience but it can also provide a great educational opportunity to learn about all the different cultures and attractions. This especially true in programmes such as Korea South study abroad or study abroad Thailand travel.

In these charming Nations, you will quickly find adventure, fun, nightlife and a great opportunity for cultural education. Tourists and students both indulge in seductive and charismatic attractions in many of these Nations. In recent years, travel across different Asian countries and programmes such as the Malaysia study abroad have become very popular and fashion. Asia offers from the guides of the nature of Thailand to the Tokyo fashion boutiques, once in an experience of life for anyone interested.

Vacations on the beautiful beaches of Asia are popular for many Americans and Europeans. As crossing the countries of Southeast Asia, your trip is not complete without at least attempt to surf and a fun beach party. There are not many travelers and students who can walk away from the beaches of Asia without a lasting memory of its White Sands, which are quite rare...

A trip to Asia gives you the opportunity to fully discover the beauty of nature, what keeps. If you are planning a vacation or planning to enroll in a program of study of Thailand abroad, this part of the world is the perfect destination. Every day wake up to the discovery of new cultures. He became fascinated with the famous hospitality of world of Asian culture and tradition. Here are a few more good reasons why should sign up for a study abroad South Korea or Malaysia study program abroad:

A long break is an excellent opportunity to spend some time in Asia. Almost guarantees a great time to stay within its budget of expenditure. This is due to the favorable change of the dollar and the currency of the countries of Asia. What possibly can be better having a great time spending basically there is no money to do so?

If you want to do a bit of homework, you can easily find some cheap tour and travel packages. It is not difficult to find some travel agencies that offer lower prices for the holiday experience around. There are also a lot of rentals available offering a relaxing experience not soon forgotten.

The region of Southeast Asia is world renowned for its impressive collection of beaches. Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines and Malaysia have some of the most beautiful beaches found anywhere in the world.

Anne is director of student services and programs, to AsiaLearn. Its programme of Korea of South abroad study abroad Malaysia and study led to his growing experience in these studies, as the curriculum of Thailand abroad .

Like other Southeast Asian countries, food stalls are everywhere in the streets, markets and festivals of Thailand, providing an endless smorgasbord of aromas, color, sounds and flavors - food in Thailand is a feast for all of the senses.

Picture a barbecue hotdog stand outside a North American sports stadium. Now, instead of hotdogs and buns sizzling on a grill, the food cart is laden with fresh bananas, which are slathered in batter and deep-fried to golden in a giant wok, then scooped into a paper bag like a super-size order of extra thick homecut french fries. That was my first breakfast in Thailand while I watched hundreds of beautifully costumed elephants play soccer and tug-of-war in an annual Elephant Round-up in Surin, in the far northeast of the country!

The next 'hotdog stand' does have a grill, placed over a large bin of charcoal, with flattened chicken quarters sizzling on sticks that you eat like a popsicle; next door to that is yet another steel cart heaped with fresh, ripe pineapple, mango and papaya, and sporting a huge mortar and pestle for transforming the greener papayas into a crunchy, sweet-sour-spicy salad with morsels of shrimp or squid, chiles, garlic and sugar.

What makes Thai food so delicious and distinctive among other Southeast Asian food is this unique blending of fresh herbs, spices and other ingredients that combine for a perfect balance of sweet, sour, salt and heat that leaves your mouth feeling clean and your tastebuds popping in the afterglow.

Fresh fruit, salads and even soups and noodles are ladled into plastic bags with a skewer, fork, spoon or straw for eating on the go or perched on a folding chair at a nearby metal card table in the market.

Thai buses and trains become moving picnic grounds, with everyone chatting, eating and sharing the fare hawked through the vehicles' windows at roadside stops and terminals: Gai Yang, the flattened barbecue chicken on a stick, skewered meat and fish balls and sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves.

Carnivals and markets feature huge woks at knee-height, bubbling with deep-fried critters of all sorts, many unidentifiable. Are they grasshoppers? crickets? spiders? baby birds? small frogs? -- my mouth and eyes were constantly wide open in wonder and amazement!

I spent an inordinate amount of time in the fresh produce and night food markets -- exuberantly fascinated and often visibly discombobulated, to the great amusement of the vendors and shoppers.

After traveling every aisle of food carts and woks on my mission to find the freshest, most interesting and tasty-looking dishes, I was often met with earnestly shaking heads or "No, you don't want that - that's Thai food!" by English speaking cooks or bystanders when I pointed and gestured and tried to ask for a meal I knew I truly wanted. On my first such adventure, I did not know that the custom was for the cook to show the ladle with the amount of the garlic and chili for you to indicate how much you wanted: thinking she was simply asking if I wanted those Thai ingredients, I nodded vigorously at the heaped display, and in it all went! Yes, it was Thai food, and I enjoyed every sizzling touch to my lips under the watchful, laughing eyes of the vendors and bystanders who had gathered.

I spent as much time learning about, admiring and experiencing the food as I did with major tourist attractions, often spending hours strolling through streets and markets taking in the sights and smells and sounds: quiet clucking rising up from a heap of vibrantly coloured roosters or chickens tied together at the feet - a Thai rooster's plumage is extraordinarily beautiful; plastic tubs and buckets just full enough of murky grey water to keep the fish, frogs or turtles alive until a sale was clinched; mounds and mounds of green and red, and purple and orange; the pleasant stench of durian and jackfruit - pleasant because I was just so thrilled and in awe of it all!

I tried deep-fried grasshoppers at a carnival in Kanchanaburi during a sound and light show of "The Bridge On The River Kwai" that ended with a fabulous fireworks display recreating the Allied bombing campaign that destroyed the bridges of the Death Railway in 1945. I tried a few tiny roasted wood worms offered by a very thin host in a northern hill-tribe village near the Myanmar border, and feared that I was eating his family out of house and home. I discovered countless traditional dishes I had never tasted and savoured authentic versions of some I had had in Toronto's newly arrived Thai restaurants. As often as I could, I watched their creation so that I could try to replicate them when I got home and got a kitchen again.

Many people are alarmed at how daring I was with my stomach. During two years of round-the-world travel, including six months in Southeast Asia, I only had one tiny bout of queasiness over a couple of days on Sumatra in Indonesia. In fact, I had never eaten so well or felt so healthy in my life. I must have found the perfect balance of common sense and adventure, or, some might argue, I was just lucky.

I don't recommend trying everything, and I do recommend a few common sense tips for sampling the full range of the food on offer throughout your travels:

at street and market stalls, do watch the cooking for awhile to ensure that the ingredients are fresh and the food is being cooked thoroughly; if you have any doubts, move on to the next vendor
choose vendors that have a good steady flow of customers - not only is the food probably very good, but the turnover means fresher food
ask your guesthouse host and any other residents you meet for their favourite places to eat, and for recommendations on dishes to order
follow the other safe eating tips you find in travel guides, like recommendations about water, ice cubes, and peeling fruit and vegetables

Of course, you will find an endless selection of sit-down restaurants where you can savour some of the more familiar Thai dishes now found in restaurants around the world: green curry with chicken, red curry with beef, pad Thai and other noodle dishes, and wonderfully aromatic sweet basil dishes.

Whether you plan to sample the fabulous foods from the street vendors and markets or stick to what you know, learn a few tips on deciphering a menu or asking for a type of dish with a few Thai Food Terms.

Many supermarkets are now carrying a range of prepared sauces, curries and other Asian products, but if you enjoy adventure and creativity in your own kitchen, many Thai recipes are fairly easy to create once you've mastered a few essentials. Gai Yang, after all, is really just barbequed chicken with a Thai twist! A good food reference guide or cookbook with a glossary of Asian ingredients will help you gain that perfect balance of sour, sweet, salt and heat that is unique to Thai cuisine.

© 2005 recipe-for-travel.com

Carolyn Nantais is a freelance writer, website copywriter, world traveler and culinary xenophile who indulges in temporary retirement from time to time to travel and eat around the world. Her new website, The Recipe for Travel, is a food companion for travel lovers and travel companion for food lovers, with stories, recipes and practical travel planning tips gathered through adventures in round-the-world travel and food.