Pic of the Week 15

Posted on August 14, 2013 by Philipp Dukatz
A Komodo Dragon approaching. Better make way for this bad boy!

A Komodo Dragon approaching. Better make way for this bad boy!

Again, I am late with the Picture of the Week. Too much going on, too less time and too less places with proper internet. Time to pick it up again. This was taken on the small island of Rinca in Komodo National Park. I did an excursion to hike and hopefully spot the dragons from Flores, just two hours by boat. Originally I wanted to go to Komodo Island itself but unreal prices for the boat and actually less chances of seeing the dragons made me decide to go to Rinca instead. And it was well worth it. We did a two hour hike across the island and all of sudden this bad boy of a Komodo dragon came down the path. Even our guides were a little nervous and kept highly alert when it was passing by. For me, it was exactly what I came to Rinca for and it wouldn’t be the last specimen we would encounter during our hike. More details about my stay in Flores and around Komodo will follow soon.

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Maybe the most beautiful Beach.

Posted on August 13, 2013 by Philipp Dukatz

Pantai Bira-2After travelling down Sulawesi for about three weeks, long transportation days on bad roads and a cultural highlight in Tanah Toraja, my Sulawesi trip was coming to an end. Before taking off to Flores, I figured I would need a couple of relaxed days somewhere on the beach. Since my ferry to Flores would depart from Makassar, the sleepy beach town of Pantai Bira sounded like a worthwhile option. A five hour drive from Makassar, the town was supposed to be small, not too touristy and very very laid back. Exactly what I was looking for to top off my Sulawesian experience. Read more »

Categories: Indonesia | Tags: , , , , | 12 Comments

Funerals, Graves and Buffalos in beautiful Tanah Toraja

Posted on August 7, 2013 by Philipp Dukatz

Tanah Toraja-6I enjoyed my stay in Tentena and was more than glad that I decided to stop there for two nights. However, it was a stopover on my way to the region of Tanah Toraja and it’s main city Rantepao. I heard great things about the area – strange rituals, funeral ceremonies and animal sacrifices, amazing traditional house scattered throughout the countryside and and an abundance of beautiful scenery all around. My expectations were high as I got into the car that I had chartered to get there. Supposedly the public bus would have taken forever so I decided to spend a little more and have the comfort of a fast and air-conditioned car. I arrived in Rantepao in the evening. My driver dropped me off t a very nice and cheap (a rare combination) guesthouse and I was lucky to get the last room available. Good start but what I didn’t know at that point was that things would not continue as smoothly as this. Read more »

Categories: Culture, Indonesia, Trekking | Tags: , , , , , | 8 Comments

A surprisingly nice Roadstop in Tentena

Posted on August 1, 2013 by Philipp Dukatz

Tentena-6103The Togean Islands were nice and relaxing but after those three days I was ready to move on and go exploring again. I just can’t live the lazy beach life for too long. So I took an early morning ferry back to the Togean’s main city Wakai down to Ampana. From Ampana my plan was to charter a private car and drive down to Tentena. I had the number of a local driver who had told me that I would need at least four more people to make it happen. Luckily I was able to motivate two couples to come along. I arranged the rest and off we were to Tentena, avoiding a long and exhausting bus journey. Read more »

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Togean Islands – Swimming in the Jellyfish Lake

Posted on July 23, 2013 by Philipp Dukatz

Bunaken-6006After my memorable stay on Bunaken, it took a very long journey to make it to the Togean Islands in Sulawesi. On the way down, this trip seemed like a legit option which literally everyone here does. The islands also promised some nice diving and easy chilling on nice beaches. But first I had to take an 8 hour car ride from Manado to Gorontalo and straight after that another 10 hour ferry ride. I finally arrived in Wakai, the main city of the Togeans, at about 7 in the morning and was greeted by grey skies, rain and comparably low temperatures. Pretty unusual for this time of the year and not what I really expected but I was too tired to really worry about it. What I did expect though was a rather uncrowded place with less tourists but that didn’t go as planned either.

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Categories: Diving, Indonesia | Tags: , , , | 13 Comments

Enter Sulawesi: Heaven and Hell on Bunaken Island

Posted on July 15, 2013 by Philipp Dukatz

Bunaken-5914After surfing in Bali, I decided it was time to leave and go exploring some more remote regions again. In the end, venturing off the beaten path is where my heart is. I remembered that I always wanted to see Sulawesi, a huge island situated right between the Malucas and Borneo. I had heard of remote islands, unspoiled and rugged regions without a lot of tourists, great diving at untouched reefs and difficult transportation. Exactly the adventure I needed after three weeks spent in a rather blissful manner. I had booked the flight to Manado, Sulawesi’s Northern capital and gateway to my final destination Bunaken Island, just a few days before. And that flight was already an odyssey itself with a delay of six hours, arriving at 5 am instead of 10:30 pm, a change of planes and a whole lot of chaos at the airport. A good start of this adventure but what I didn’t know at this point was, that there were other, way more nerve-wracking challenges waiting for me.

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Categories: Diving, Indonesia | Tags: , , , , , , , | 25 Comments

Pic of the Week 15

Posted on July 7, 2013 by Philipp Dukatz
Rice Terraces by dawn on the way to Balian.

Rice Terraces by dawn on the way to Balian.

Never been this timely with the Pic of the Week – this one comes exactly one week after the last Pic. It was taken during a day trip to the little beach town of Balian on Bali’s North Westcoast. It’s a long ride up there and the traffic is crazy. The road is the main connection between Bali’s South and the ferry-port of Gilimanauk, where all the traffic to and from Java gets handled. Hence the road is congested with overloaded trucks and buses. A stressful and very dirty affair. But every here and there you get rewarded by the beautiful scenery on the way. And this is exactly how this picture was taken.
I was riding an hour already and was almost there when I had to take a break. Once I got off the bike, I saw these amazing rice terraces with some farmers walking around in them just starting their work. It reminded me a little of the Ifuago Rice Terraces in the Philippines. The light was perfect since the sun just had come up. Only 5 minutes after taking the shot, my battery went down so I got a little lucky on this one.

Categories: Indonesia, Photography, Pic of the Week | Tags: , , , , | 5 Comments

Eat, Sleep, Surf at Stormrider Surfcamp, Bali

Posted on July 2, 2013 by Philipp Dukatz

Stormrider Surfcamp Bali-2-6Prior to my arrival on Bali, the so called island of gods, I had arranged a one week stay at Stormrider Surfcamp. My goal was to completely focus on surfing and hopefully take it to the next level. The professional setup of the camp, its nice facilities as well as its prime location in the heart of tranquil Canggu made the decision an easy one. I arrived at Denpasar Airport around midday and went outside the airport to get a taxi. It is usually way cheaper outside than within the airport premises. After a bit of haggling I got a good price and off I was for a week of surfing, eating, sleeping and several repetitions of that routine. I was excited. Read more »

Categories: Destinations, Surfing, The Philippines | Tags: , , , , , , | 22 Comments

Pic of the Week 14

Posted on June 30, 2013 by Philipp Dukatz
Pic of the week-5714

Surfer’s Sunset somewhere in Bali

I figured another Pic of the Week would be a great start for this new chapter of my journey. I just made my way to Bali, the island of gods, in Indonesia. The land of waves is a haven for surfers and surfing was also the main reason why I decided to come here. I wanted to focus on my surfing skills and hopefully finally improve them a fair bit. It is so hard to get better being landlocked in the middle of Europe and being forced to travel in order to catch some waves. A few weeks of surfing in quality waves should be good. Besides that, Bali is also good for the soul. Tasty food, nice people, beautiful landscapes and an inspiring culture. I am not sure for how long I will stay here before continuing my travels, but updates are soon to follow. Hang Lose.

Categories: Indonesia, Photography, Pic of the Week | Tags: , , , , , | 5 Comments

The Philippines at its Best – Island Hopping around Matnog

Posted on June 22, 2013 by Philipp Dukatz

Matnog-5299First of all my apologies for not having kept those updates coming lately. As some of you might now, my laptop had to get fixed in Kuala Lumpur about two weeks ago. Apparently the guy at the repair shop didn’t do a good job since my machine broke down again by the beginning of this week. Such a bummer and more money wasted for the repair. But I am happy it is working again and hope this time it will last for longer than about a week.
Anyhow, before closing my Philippines chapter with the final roundup, I wanted to post one more article which could be a showcase for all the great things about this amazing country. Good friends, friendly locals, great beaches, turquoise waters and a trillion of pristine islands.

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Categories: The Philippines | Tags: , , , , , , , | 30 Comments