Emeralds in the Sea - Andamans

The Five -Day Trip to the Andamans was an absolute enchantment. More so when you are surrounded by loved ones and ever embracing Nature. At Andamans, the dominating colours are Blue (Sea) and Green (Vegetation). The main mode of transport is by Sea, so be ready to rock and roll long after you've left the boat! Must share some pics of the places I visited.....

You can see: the Church at Ross Island; the Hanging cell at Viper Island; Corbin's Cove; Light and Sound show at the Cellular Jail, Port Blair; Symphony Palms at Havelock Island

Kubang Hill - in graphics

A glimpse of what we enjoyed: The Backwaters; Our Guides, Boatmen and Boats; the Fantastic Proboscis Monkey; the Riot of Colours in the Sky at Sunset

More of Indonesia's Kalimanthan

The trek to Lubok Baji took its toll on the muscles. Climbing the stairs to my hotel room was a painful ordeal. The falls I had taken and the walk on the slippery earth had strained the muscles badly. We turned in early as we had quite a day ahead at Kubang Hill.
Early next morning we drove to Teluk Melano, loaded ourselves with provisions for lunch at the market. Two speedboats were arranged and we sped off on the river, Matan. The river bank was lined with tall buildings with tiny square openings on them. When asked, we were amazed to know that these buildings were a part of the 4 billion dollar industry. Swiflets would make nests inside and these nests were exported to be a part of the bird’s nest soup, a delicacy of the orient.
In 45 minutes we were at Batu Barat where we shifted to boats and had boatmen and guides to row us through the jungle stream – the backwaters with mangroves growing densely on both sides. This boat ride was completed in absolute silence, only broken by bird calls and animal sounds. Occasionally the boatmen would excitedly point towards colourful butterflies, flowers, monkeys and snakes. Suddenly, our boat hit a huge tree which had fallen across the channel. The men immediately got to work with machetes. They chopped a way out. The water was a queer reddish colour. Then, from nowhere, the stillness was broken by a motorboat coming right behind us. All of us were rudely jarred out of our trance. A forest official was on tour in the smoky motorboat! All the birds disappeared in a jiffy and the magic of the moment was broken.
We finally climbed on to a tiny jetty jumping out of the boat trying to avoid the water. Got myself a sturdy walking stick, procured in an instant from the forest.
We walked into the dense mangrove where there was a semblance of a path overrun by roots and trailing branches and the soil was quite slushy. So we slipped and swayed and barely had the opportunity to look up. Our guides would point out Orangutan nests, Durian trees and beautiful birds and butterflies. After an hour’s trail we had to stop to catch our breath. I felt stinging pain on my feet and removed the sandals to investigate and was horrified to find two fat leeches sucking away my blood. Our guide expertly pulled both off. I discovered more in between the toes as did the others. It seems we were lucky, the mangroves are generally submerged in ankle deep water and then the leeches simply climb all over!!! After a short rest which included snacking, decided to turn back. This time all of us were alert to all insects trying to climb on us, and this included some pretty dangerous looking ants, and hoped it wouldn’t rain. Before we boarded the boat we had a sparse meal of steamed rice and boiled vegetables.
Our ride back was quite exciting. Since it was close to sundown, the forest came alive. Birds began their return to roost, butterflies disappeared, snakes were seen hanging from boughs. What had us mesmerized were the Proboscis monkeys. Around a dozen of them decided to give us an exclusive show of their antics. We hung around enjoying ourselves.
As we returned to Batu Barat the boatmen insisted we alight and come into their village. A few huts were lined up in a row a little away from the river. All was peace and quiet. Our motorboats then took off at high speed towards Sukadana. The sun was setting and we were witness to a glorious riot of colours in the sky. I doubt there was any colour that we missed. These are moments when life seems worth living.

Trekking through an Indonesian Rainforest

The massive trees, the waterfalls, orangutan nests and the log house - all these and more turned the trip into a magical journey.

Come with me to Indonesia's jungles

My visit to Indonesia, more specifically West Kalimanthan and Jogjakarta, was nothing short of marvelous. Five of us began with our flight from Delhi to Kuala Lumpur through the night and landed in the wee hours of morning. Waited in the airport (no visa for Malaysia) and left for Jakarta after a couple of hours. Landed and again took a flight to Pontianak, the equator city - the imaginary line passes through here. We left Pontianak the next day for Ketapang which is a six-hour motorboat ride.
We managed seats outside the captain’s cabin in the open and suffered severe burns because of the exposure – that’s the Equator for you!!
From the Ketapang wharf an SUV took us to Sukadana, a bone rattling two hour drive in the dark. Early the next morning, along with our Indonesian guide, Darr, we purchased provisions for food for four meals in the jungle and set off. Thankfully, Harry, the native boy, loaded our eatables on his back and was off in a jiffy. We crossed a moat with a very narrow cemented path with a rope above us acting as the railing and then we were engulfed by the green world. There is no well-defined path in this jungle and Darr had a machete to slash his way through. Only red ribbons tied on some branches told us we were on track.
It was an upward climb all the way and we stopped frequently to catch our breath and wipe the sweat of from our faces and in my case, my glasses were getting fogged (the humidity was that high). Fast flowing streams intersected our path and we crossed them stepping on slippery stones all the while hanging on to ropes (not very sturdy) above our heads tied between trees. We did slip though! The dark forest canopy was like a cocoon and the shrill sounds of insects and birds kept us company. Strange millipedes, centipedes, insects, frogs and beautiful butterflies and dragonflies met us. We reached finally after four exhausting hours climbing all the way but quite satisfied. Our log hut on top of the hill was a welcome sight. After lunch and crashing out, we trekked around the area before the sun set by 6pm. No electricity. So we had a dinner cooked on fire (ancient method) and washed the utensils in the stream nearby. A tiny wooden shack next to the log house served as the washroom. (It was very clean). It began to rain, and in the rainforest it rains torrentially. It rained through the night and the constant drumming on the tin roof lulled us to sleep. Early morning, awoke to noises made by gibbons and orangutans. Set off on another trail and this time got a glimpse of the forest spread in the Gunung palung area stretching away for miles. The red leaf monkeys and gibbons played hide and seek with us on the way. We left after a quick and frugal lunch and this time the journey downhill was even more treacherous. The overnight rain had made the path covered with leaves more slippery. So we held on to dear life and the ropes hanging above or on the sides and coaxed our feet to land at the right spot, failing miserably many a times. The rain began again when we were somewhere in the middle of our trek. By the time we reached the car, we were soaking wet. Every muscle seemed to be awake and aching. But there was to be no respite. The next day we set off for Kubang hill, another part of the national park for some more fun!