In Indonesia is it acceptable to call your parents “the old people”, “orang tua” in Indonesian. In June my orang tua spent a couple of weeks in Bogor seeing the sights. Mum and dad arrived the day before my birthday, bringing with them the required gifts from visitors of gin, marmite and proper English teabags. … [Read more…]
Last week Andy had a week’s work in Laos so thought I’d take advantage of a seat sale on Thai Air to join him. What’s not to like about lovely Vientiane, with its lack of macet (traffic jams), great food and drinks and relaxing atmosphere? So, with Andy in the Mekong River Commission office all … [Read more…]
Last fall one the specimens of Amorphophallus titanum flowered in the Bogor Botanic Garden. Of course, by the time the Jakarta Post had managed to report that it was happening and we went along to take a look, the flower was looking a little droopy! The titan arum has the largest inflorescence in the plant … [Read more…]
Climbing one of Indonesia’s highest mountains is a good challenge. At 3726 m (12,224 ft) Gunung Rinjani dominates Lombok; it is active, with a huge crater lake where there is a new cone that last erupted in 2004. We booked a trek from Rinjani Explorer (http://www.rinjaniexplorer.com/index.html) , which includes a guide and porters to carry … [Read more…]
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