Indonesia - Introduction

kind travelers, photographers, explorers. It was time to give you some piece of our action, from the last time I've been to Indonesia. With over 15000 islands, there is a never ending amount of places to discover in this incredible archipelago in Oceania.

BALI

My journey to Bali Indonesia, all started back in 2017, when I was still traveling with my ex-partner when she was denied access to board a plane to New Zealand ( a place still high on the list of to visit countries). Affter being denied acces, and being stranded in Kuala Lumpur, all of a sudden we had to make a choice to go somewhere else and the next day we booked a flight to Bali.

Little did I know that this was not going to be the only time I will come to Bali, better yet living there!

I’ve been making my first shots of the coconuts being washed up on shore or left behind by humans. ( Never understanding this behavior of people but probably it all comes down to proper uprising). For a visit to this picture click here:  https://www.rudolfodalamicio.com/bali/coconut-perenenan

In 2017, Canggu was still a decent place where not too many people were roaming around and was mostly occupied by surfers and digital nomads ( I was one of them). The streets were not so crowded, the tourists all went to Kuta and Seminyak and Ubud was a very far away place where mostly yogi’s were staying. Uluwatu was a great place with many surfers all around and full of energy, parties and nightlife that never stopped.

I spend most of my time doing work for my dutch company, and when I had the chance, drive around my Scoopy ( scooter) to discover new places, find waterfalls, climb jungle stairs, find surf spots, and of course, enjoy the many beautiful sunsets, best to see on the south side of the island.

Another cool place that is worth checking out and not that far away from canggu, is the big tempe Tanah Lot https://www.rudolfodalamicio.com/bali/moody-ocean.

In 2021 I came back to this place, and had a much better light during sunset as can be seen in this image https://www.rudolfodalamicio.com/bali/ocean-temple-bali

The Hindu religion is one of peace and tranquility. Blessing the gods and worshiping them.

They have built temples all over the island, adding up to more than 1000. This one is situated at the rock at Tanah lot https://www.rudolfodalamicio.com/bali/sunset-on-tanah-lot-temple

But, all of that was so different, when I came to Bali back in 2021, escaping all the ridiculous, mandatory quarantine rules and restrictions all around the world. 

When I landed back in Bali I immediately felt like being home. The plan was to sit out the BS epidemic and stay at least for 6 months. 

It started off with my best friends being on the island with me and we spent some time together, having parties, going to Savaya and of course enjoying some of that magical mushroom tea you can easily find here on the island. 

During my 6 months here, living in Kerobokan ( next to Canggu), i’ve spent a lot of time finding beautiful places, capturing the sunrises on the volcanos, hiking to find waterfalls in the jungles, doing some exploring of the other islands around Bali like for example Nusa Penida ( you can find all pictures and a blog here: LINK BLOG / LINK pictures.

There is a lot of worshiping going on, here on the island of the Gods, Bali. Trees are home to magical creatures, 

NUSA PENIDA

Indonesia has a whopping 17,508 islands!! It’s impossible to visit all of them, and most of them are too small to even visit. But one of the most attractive islands is of course Bali. From Bali it is very easy to move around and visit many other islands that are just a boat ride away ( 1-3 hours tops).

One of the islands is Nusa Penida, that is located just a 2 hr boat ride from the east part of Bali.

The great thing about the little islands around Bali is that cars are either forbidden or very scares, making those islands an amazing place to breath and relax for a couple of days and escape the busy, vibrant roads of bali;s hotspots like Canggu, Kuta and Denpasar.

Nusa Penida is an island you best discover renting a scooter and to explore hidden gems like Kelingking Beach Nusa Penida, Broken Beach / Pasih Uug - Nusa Penida, Atuh Beach, Thousand Islands Viewpoint and many more. I’ve listed some of the best spots here:

1. Broken Beach

2. Island Milky way

3. Kelingking T-rex beach

JAVA - JAKARTA

This has been an interesting experience. Shooting mostly from my hotel bedroom as I was in a Quarantine period of 10 days, in order for us civilians to be able to enter Bali..

https://www.rudolfodalamicio.com/jakarta-indonesia

Altho I couldn't leave the floor, I was still able to capture some incredible sunsets, cityscapes and after having spent 10 days ‘in prison’ I was finally released and able to get to a high floor, to have a look out over a roundabout to catch a long shutter light trail of cars going both ways on the roundabout.

Jakarta has a great skyline making it easy to capture great cityscapes, find interesting angles, and show the concrete city in its full color. With some luck you will have beautiful sunsets too, but during the rainy season, you are more likely to catch some thunderstorms building up from the ocean and dropping down an enormous amount of water in just a few minutes.

SUMBA TIMUR

8 days of Sumba, 6 days of wild people, rough terrain, challenging kitchen food, and amazing landscapes all around the island ( and of course very undiscovered yet - so much exploring to do).

So we wanted to visit this island for a long time, since we are living in Bali throughout most of the covid-pandemic, so we didn’t get out much from Bali. The island of Sumba is very close to Australia and many of the people living there are related to the aboriginals from Australia. After some weeks of preparing, what we wanted to achieve, photography wise, and possible collaborations, we decided to fly in April. It's unfortunate that it's still the rainy season at the center of the island, creating dramatic showers between 11-17:00 o'clock most days. We weren't really prepared for this..
So we booked a one way ticket to Sumba knowing that it won't be difficult to fly from Bali to Sumba ( 1 hour) and back. When we arrived at the airport and flew with NAM air ( recommended), we had a smooth flight and landed at the western airport of the island, tambolaka. As you would imagine this airport is tiny and luggage is with you the moment you step out of the plane. 

Before our trip we decided to rent a car on the island, without a driver ( we like adventure) and we got both- the car and the adventure! But it's so recommended. Please don't rent a bike, you'll regret it later. 
Our Toyota rush was old but with all necessary equipment, including a roof rack and much needed air conditioning. We also had an automatic gear and, when you drive on the island almost everyday, for at least 3 hours, you'll understand you need a 4x4 with automatic gears. The roads are beautiful but challenging. Sometimes you can't drive faster than 10 km hr..

Day 1: 15 april 2022

Starting from the airport, we had to stop in a town called Waikabubak, which turned out to be a town we visited very frequently and had most items we needed for our stay, like fruits and some different food. We stopped at a warung called D'Sumba Ate Waikabubak, where Elmia was fortunate enough to find fresh fish and I got some banana pancakes ( turned out we ate that everyday, as bananas are one of the only fruits widely available on the island). 

We arrived at our hotel after a drive of about roughly 2hr to a surf spot in the bay of Pantai Kerewei. Our beach lodge called Sumba Beach House is a lovely little place straight on the beach. The access is easy and the place is surrounded by palm trees and wide beaches ( much different then Bali’s black beaches mostly without palms). The room was nice, easy and the bed was great. Recommend this spot, although it's expensive for what you get ( compared to Bali prices for example).

Elmira went out to surf in the morning a couple of times during our stay, but should have taken the boat out to some surf spots, as paddling took almost 20-30 min just to reach the right break.

We had some luck, with the sunsets, as you can see in these pictures, we took from some beaches around our place. Little did we know that the sandflies biting us every morning and evening were the worst bites that you can get, when it comes to scratching. 

Day 2. 16 april 2022

We started to wake up super early, to either catch sunrise( between 05:30/06:00 or to go out and surf. Exploring some parts of our area is the best thing you can do, especially when you drive a car, and I found some amazing beaches like Pantai Watu Bella and Pantai Marosi.

If you are lucky,  you can also find locals performing ceremonies at the hills near our beach, where they ride horses and do competitions. The views from these planes are breathtaking and highly recommend to visit, ( Lapangan Pasola Lamboya - Panorama Hobba Kalla)

During out trip, we discovered the Cacao beans, and curious to what they look/ taste and feel like, we decided to take one with us.

After an amazing breakfast served by our chef, we found ourselves driving towards the lagoon Waikuri Lagoon. We didn't take any pictures here as the weather changed when we arrived and because it was a Saturday, the lagoon was full with locals, making it an un-photogenic place at that time :(

Surely this lagoon in the summer or in the early morning should be worth a visit. ( mind that you shouldn't pay more than 50K We decided not to take the same road back. We went up north and came across 25 wild men hunting. ( wild pig) 

They wanted to stop us for things. Beaches all white color with blue marine water.( road doesn't show in google yet)

During our road trip, we realized that this is not going to be an easy vacation, but a challenging week for us, both as a couple, photographer and as tourists. The drives on the road were really challenging, sometimes we spent 1 hour on 1 road that didn't allow us to speed over 5 km hr. Almost a standstill. Crazy! 

We must have had some patience because it took such a long time!

Day 3. 17 april 2022

We decided to take the same road again, because we wanted to see some planned views from the cliffs along the southwest coast line of the island. Little did we know that the locals here are very wild, have no idea how to treat tourist ( they see you as a walking white ATM) and they have no manners, as they are quite savages and you feel really scared when they come at you in the middle of nowhere, with their machetes, pushing you to hand over some money. You really feel uncomfortable when this happens to you on a cliff..

The sunset on this day was one for the books.. The whole sky just lit up and it lasted for 1 hour.

We were able to drive from 3 different points, to have 3 different kinds of photo’s all during the same sunset. That doesn't happen a lot as the distance between spots normally takes a long time. 

Day 4. 18 april 2022

On our fourth day in Sumba, me and Elmira decided that it was finally time to take a small Jungle hike and check out 2 waterfalls; Air Terjun Matayangu, and Lapopu Waterfall. Elmira decided to wear a beautiful dress but that turned out to be very unfit to hike a jungle with very slippery slopes and dangerous pathways ( the island isn't yet well equipped for tourists and everything is at your own risk. Walking on flip flops didn't make anything much better during our hike down to the base of the waterfall.

We knew after 4 days of experiencing heavy rain falls in the middle of the island every day between 1-4 pm, that hiking would be wet. We did it anyway and after 1 hr we found our self just 200 meters away from the waterfall, but with thunderstorms, massive monsoon rains and super dangerous rocky and slippery paths, stuck and as a protector, I decided it was best to turn around to a safer place and not stay in this jungle ( we were completely alone, no guides, and as it turned out, covered in mosquitoes and blood leeches). 

After some crying, and high stress moments and shaking of most leeches, we returned to our car, disillusioned, disappointed and drained of our energy, with no pictures taken.. What a day! 

Day 5. 19 april 2022

Last day in the west part of Sumba! We decided to spend a day at the hotel, to be relaxed, try to surf and not rush. We did a morning shoot but relationships sometimes need work ;) so we had to skip the shoot ( very unfortunate as this beach has great photogenic potential for personal shoots for dresses and jewelry. 

Day 6. 20 april 2022
It was time to leave the west side of the island and explore the east ( especially I had a wish to take pictures of the dancing mangrove trees) part of the island. We drove for about 3-4 hours, stopping at our favorite city and having some good quality food there.

Along the way we made a bunch of moving street videos in the ever changing landscape on the island ( the east part is very different from the west). 

 The best part are the hills called bukits and they are easily accessible by the main road. 

The views are stunning, really, just get there during sunset/ or sunrise to catch the best light ( we choose to be at the dancing trees so this time there are no colorful skies for us).

When you are driving on the island, you will notice that there is almost no straight line of road, and the roads go up and down all the time. This is quite tiring and impossible for the co-driver to read or do anything other than to support the driver ;) ( PRO TIP! lol)

There is just 1 main road leading from the west to the east to drive without much hassle. Arriving at the other big city called Waingapu, we immediately realized this part of the island is much more civilized so we recommend you start your journey here if you are looking for a little bit more relaxed ‘soft’ landing in Sumba. Because Sumba is not like Bali. There are no restaurants available in 99% of the island, not even warungs, and food is scarce. And if you find any, accept that it will be fried, with a lot of sugar and unhealthy. And nobody speaks English. 

So we came to Waingapu and our hotel was just 10 min away from the city center ( don't think about an actual center - more like a busy crowded road). The hotel we took was brand new and we enjoyed our stay here: Kambaniru Beach Hotel and Resort.

The rooms are good, the bed big and nice and the breakfast good enough to get your belly full for another day of exploring.

Because we arrived in time we still had time enough to drive 30 min from the hotel to the Dancing trees, to finally get those incredible sunset pictures I was dreaming about, since I saw them on the page of Daniel Kordan, 1 of my personal favorite photographer.. ( link)

When we drove up the beach I already saw it wasn't going to be my lucky day.. Gray skies were rushing from the Indonesian sea toward Sumba and when we arrived on the beach, it started to rain later. 

One of the things always a pain in the ass about popular places when you want to shoot a landscape, are the many people it attracts ( including me). Finally we arrived at the dancing trees that are just unique and so photogenic ; LINK, but I had a group of selfie hungry Jakarta families that wanted to have a photo taken with every tree. So when the clouds were moving in and the tourists were hiding from the coming rain, it was finally time to catch some shots. Luckily for me I planned 2 nights here, so my chances of getting a sunset grew by 50% :D.

I still love the work I took here during a more moody sunset, and it also gave me time to understand the compositions I wish to get the next day, just hoping the sunset will be amazing

Day 7. 21 april 2022

When we woke up in our hotel we saw a couple of mountain bikes for rent and we decided it was a good idea to drive a bit around the sea shore and see some village life from up close.

It was great fun but rather heavy and a not so common experience for Elmira as she doesn't drive bicycles every day ;)

After a sweety hour of hilly landscape exploration, we took a quick shower, and went to waterfall called (link) Air Terjun Tanggedu

I was a bit skeptical about the many reviews and comments but this was very, very worth our trouble. The waterfall itself is not made for swimming as it is too strong during our stay there. But the road leading up to the waterfall all the way down from the beach ( we found an oasis called Pantai Puru kambera) is one of the best roads I have driven so far. 

The views during this ride are completely insane. Nothing like you would expect from an Island somewhere in the Indonesian Archipelago. This was more like a road from some part of Tanzania.. Dry fields of grasslands, rising above the sea level and therefore creating endless views all around the island. The curvy landscape is perfect for clouds and shadows to crawl along the fields and create a perfect atmosphere for stunning landscape photography. 

( follow this IG account to see all the movies and reels that we've made) 

Final day 8. 23 april 2022

As we didn't get the chance to take a PCR test in time, we were forced to spend another day in Sumba. We decided to take the advice from our friend and stayed at ORO beach, again, a breathtaking beach close to the airport and surrounded by nothing more than nature. The sea is so clear, the water so blue and the beaches so white. It’s paradise.

We decided to spend a morning trying to catch some nice light for a shoot for jewelry, but the light was already too bright to get the shots we set out to get. LINK

The great thing about these natural, secluded beaches without any people, you can feel free, drop your swimming pants and have a naked bath in the sea. What a life!

Thanks for exploring with us and hope you like to share this Blog and my Vision. See you next time!
Best Regards,

Rudolfo Dalamicio and Elmira