Toraja men (and boys) with their buffaloes

Toraja men (and boys) with their buffaloes. Torajans greatly value their buffalo, and will pay high (indeed, quite extravagant) sums for a prestigious albino animal with particular auspicious markings.  

Toraja trucks

Mass transit system, Toraja style. Compact trucks like this are the almost ubiquitous means of moving large groups of people (and buffaloes, rocks, timber or whatever) around in Toraja, South Sulawesi. And in fact they…

36 Views of Kalimantan (Part 3)

More from the series 36 Views of Kalimantan – Random photos 2014-17. Hope you like some of them! 36 Views of Kalimantan is published here in three parts. Click on these links to view Part 1 or…

36 Views of Kalimantan (Part 2)

More from the series 36 Views of Kalimantan – Random photos 2014-17. Hope you like some of them! 36 Views of Kalimantan is published here in three parts. Click on these links to view Part 1 or…

36 Views of Kalimantan (Part 1)

Here’s a somewhat random selection of my photos of Kalimantan, taken from 2014 – 2017. Loosely (very loosely indeed!) inspired by Hokusai’s landscape prints from 1830-32. In fact, his main inspiration, apart from the title,…

Flying dragon (Draco volans)

There are some pretty remarkable creatures here in Kalimantan. Take this little lizard. Only 20cm long – including tail – he (it’s a male) has at least three amazing attributes: 1. That spectacular flap of…

Play, pray, or chase the buffalo?

Last year we visited villages in the Krayan district of North Kalimantan, a remote highland area close to the border with Sabah (Malaysia). We were fortunate to be invited to a Dayak Lundayeh wedding ceremony…

Nutuk Beham at Kedang Ipil village

Kedang Ipil village sits beside a small tributary of the Mahakam River, in the district of Long Bangun, about six hours’ by road from where we are living in Balikpapan. The name means ‘River where merbau…

Produce of Pasar Klandasan, Balikpapan

Photos of produce for sale at the Pasar Klandasan, Balikpapan. Plus one cat photo. No people, no story, no captions. Just some shapes and colours and lighting and composition that I liked. By rights, each…

Vendors of Pasar Klandasan, Balikpapan

There are three ‘traditional’ markets along the waterfront of central Balikpapan. Of these, the most long-established is the Pasar Klandasan (‘Klandasan Market’). It sells a fairly comprehensive range of fresh produce and non-perishable goods, it’s…

Monyet biasa?

Monyet biasa (‘Ordinary monkeys’), a.k.a. Long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis), this morning at the Kebun Raya Balikpapan. Common perhaps, but anything but ordinary. Mungkin sering terlihat, tapi masih monyet luar biasa.

Anzac Day in Balikpapan

This morning we attended the Anzac Day dawn service at Pasir Ridge here in Balikpapan. And it was every bit as interesting as we had expected it to be. The event did however involve some…

Fishing at Pantai Ngandong

I’ve previously written about the beauty and tourist attractions of Pantai Ngandong, located on the south coast of Central Java, in the Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta (the ‘Special Region of Yogyakarta). But besides tourism there is also…

Tourism at Pantai Ngandong

The little seaside village at Pantai Ngandong sits snugly in the limestone karst landscape of Central Java. It’s actually located within the ‘Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta’ (the Special Region of Yogyakarta), but it’s over two hours’…

Anti-drug murals in Jogjakarta

To the foreign observer, the Indonesian attitude to drug use may appear to be, well… inconsistent. On the one hand, according to the World Health Organisation, there are 95 million ‘active’ tobacco smokers in Indonesia.…

Gula aren

Indonesia has a sweet tooth. Syrupy snacks and cakes are hugely popular, and it can be challenging to order a cup of tea or coffee without it being liberally dosed with sugar. I’ve been asked,…