David Hooper
My wife Denise & I like to travel "on paths less travelled" that capture our imagination, inspire my photography & where we mix with locals & remain safe.Dancing Dave
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May 26th 2012
JAVA...THE MEN. When Surabaya travels to Yogyakarta...to play Football ...the local Police are ready for trouble...ready to meet the "Football Hooligan"...ready and waiting. But unlike the "riot squad" attitude necessary in some parts of the World...in Java they have discovered the answer... how to control the "Football Hooligan"...Javan style. There was a time when Surabayan supporters...packed into a 5 hour train ride to Yogy...arriving hungry...going through the warungs that had assembled to feed the masses...vendors complaining they were not paid...some warungs trashed...fights...more fights...opposing supporters...Police busy. Then someone in the Police...the Polisi...had an idea. So now when Surabaya travels to Yogyakarta...to play Football...the local Police are ready...ready to meet the Surabaya supporters. On arrival they are each given a... read more
May 12th 2012
JAVA: Surabaya...Graffitti & Submarines. Long final breakfast...breathing in the majestic beauty at the Ijen Resort...one last time...aahh...now have to return to Surabaya...and infernal traffic. I think Fandi our Guide was happy to go...pretty boring for him to hang around for several days...sometimes only seeing us for meals...Hady our driver happy to see us again...and then there was the music. When we travel I bring along compilation CDs of my favourite Blues & Rock tracks...Fandi singing along...Hady happy to rock along...we happy as our previous guide Joe preferred Javanese temple music..!!! Down to the coast...waving to the poor souls on that island close enough to wave to...known as Bali...suckers...you can't swim over to this side...the current is against you...sailing craft and happy swimmers on this side...suckers..!!! Stop at one of the beaches for another ... read more
May 6th 2012
JAVA: Ijen...Danger, Poisonous Gas. My image of Ijen is a turquoise crater lake with sulphur workers extracting that noxious yellow element...as Ali captured in his blog . But in true travelling, everyone's experience is different, notwithstanding we may visit the same locales, or even the same paths & lookouts. And when we visited Ijen...that is how it was for us. Joe had warned us Ijen had just become active days before we hit Yogyakarta...villages were being evacuated...he did not know if we would be able to access the crater. So instead of cancelling that portion of our trip...we booked extra time there..!!! In planning our trip and choosing accommodation, I had been seduced by pictures of Ijen Resort & Villas at Banywangi...accessed by the roughest road imaginable...so said all the reviews...so I was determined to score ... read more
April 28th 2012
JAVA: Bromo Jeep Club. Up at 3.30am...no time for a shower to wake up...into thermals, wet weather gear, head torches, cameras, video, boots...check... meet Fandi our Guide at 4am...jeep ready...time to head off for the photo opportunity we have come so far to see...the Penanjakan Sunrise. The Dutch saw nothing at sunrise yesterday...clouded in then and raining...will we be lucky today? To travel anywhere in the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park...the home of five volcanoes and the Tengger people...you can walk...which if you are travelling distance is silly...or promote the local Tengger economy...and travel by jeep...known in these parts as...the Bromo Jeep Club. As we leave Lava View Lodge...along the edge of the Tengger Caldera rim...pitch black...no volcanoes yet visible...immediately join a line of jeeps snaking to higher ground...cover a couple of kms...stop...... read more
Travelblog's 10th Birthday: Party in KL
Published: April 15th 2012Asia » Malaysia » Wilayah Persekutuan » Kuala Lumpur » Bukit Bintang
April 13th 2012
TRAVELBLOG'S 10th BIRTHDAY: PARTY IN KL...7-9 APRIL 2012. As I had not received any response to my Oceania Recruitment Drive...I woke up on 1 March 2012 and said in OZ venacular to Denise... "Bugger it...lets go to KL for Easter." "Great idea...I was thinking last night we could go to Vietnam over Easter to meet Cockle." "Mmmm...He'll probably go to KL...let's surprise him there!" Seemed a cool idea to further my quest for enlightenment at the "Holy Shrine" known as TB HQ...on its Holy Day..! Denise...straight onto the internet to book flights from Sydney for Good Friday...yikes only two seats left...gotta hurry...book it...what about a hotel it asked...like the one with the peaked roof...book it...confirm RSVP...done...phew just made it..! As a result we RSVPed for the KL TB's 10th B'day bash on Sunday 8 April 2012. ... read more
WOMADELAIDE 2012: Staggeringly Good
Published: March 24th 2012Oceania » Australia » South Australia » Adelaide
March 24th 2012
WOMADELAIDE 2012: Staggeringly Good. Denise saw our luggage on the carousel at Adelaide Airport...headed for it...tripped over someone's foot...and recorded the following: "Got in a tangle with Baaba Maal, famous Senegalese rock star at Airport. I said "Sorry Honey" as I accidentally squeezed his bicep and chipped my nail polish on my left big toe. I think he felt my pain. ...Laila the Taureg." Later we met him again...at Womadelaide...Baaba Maal looked at me, smiled and said "I remember you"...I had to laugh...always nice to be remembered..! Our first visit to WOMAD...the brainchild of Peter Gabriel...the World Festival of Music, Arts & Dance...in OZ kicked off in 1992 in Adelaide's Botanic Park......now in its 20th year...Adelaide's Womad reputedly the best in the world... read more
BLUE GRASS IN BROMO: New Year 2012
Published: March 5th 2012Asia » Indonesia » Java » Bromo Tengger Semeru
March 4th 2012
BLUE GRASS IN BROMO: New Year 2012. We are in the restaurant at the Lava View Lodge overlooking the nest of volcanoes in the Tengger caldera below...four nights booked..."noone stays that long" they say..."most come to see the sunrise and then go". "We prefer it to traffic"...is my simple response. Who wants to sit in heavy traffic in cities...if you can enjoy this view?...which as it's wet season...is constantly changing . But the reality is we love every minute of it...would stay longer if we had the time...hoping four nights is enough to satisfy our souls...and remain etched in our memories. We toured, discovered and got into the many sights Bromo had to offer (see next blog)...fantastic...but probably our best times were partying with the locals...at night...with "Blue Grass"...while others probably sleep for want of anything ... read more
March 1st 2012
FACES OF JAVA: The Tengger. Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park in East Java...famous for its volcanoes...its volcanoes and its volcanoes...seduced to visit there by extraordinary photos on Travelblog...dreaming of that magic shot of a blast from Mt Bromo...like wheresjason caught...active in 2011...with Mt Semeru puffing merrily as backdrop. Well that was the inducement. I had no idea there was another reason to visit that area...overlooked in my research...not reported on actually...something that was there to be discovered...to be revealed in the doing...that would excite this portrait junkie. Not a something...but a people...the inhabitants of this nest of volcanoes...living and farming on precipitous slopes...in harmony with the volcano gods...the Tengger people. Not to be confused with the people of Nusa Tenggara Timur Provence...the Southeast Islands...includi... read more
February 20th 2012
JAVA...Erotic Temples. Solo... (Surakarta)...65 kms NE of Yogyakarta in Central Java... known as the Capital of Batik...one of the cradles of Javanese culture...also famous for Javan dance. It is also the home of "Jamiah Islamiah"...the radical jihadist group responsible for the Bali bombings. As a result...Joe said...Solo was often avoided by tourists. The bombing of a Protestant Church in Solo in September 2011...by a suicide bomber...seemingly did not assist the local tourist industry. But 36 kms East of Solo...on the western slopes of Lawu volcano...are two temple sites that are guaranteed to take your mind off fears of terrorism...and cast your mind to another time and place...unique in Java and S-E Asia...the erotic temples Sukuh and Ceto...one like a Mayan pyramid. Built in the 15th Century A.D...they are the last Hindu temples built in Java...before Islam ... read more
February 12th 2012
JAVAN MASSAGE. A massage is like a haircut...one of those things you need to do regularly...but often wait until you really need it...like when your hair is suddenly unruly...and it affects your wellbeing...muscles or hair knotted. And like a haircut...similar but different techniques...each time a new experience...result subjective. There we were at Pondok Tinggal... traditional Javanese style digs...in the village of Borobudur ...an oasis...a place for me to battle the wickedness of the World that had attacked my gut...a place to recover. Let me be clear...I'm no wimp...I'm a tough old rooster...never keep a good man down. But when its raining non-stop...no afternoon shower and fine up this day...no rush...got two more days here...might as well smell the flowers...and do as little as possible. So when Bari...the waiter...when serving iced strawberry jui... read more
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