Indonesia - Lombok - July 2007

We did not go anywhere far this year. Instead, we visited Indonesia again. Just like last year. Since this is one place with the right weather during July period.

This year was Lombok. Weather is tropical with 2 main seasons; the wet(oct-mar) & the dry (may - sep). The main highlight for us was Mount Rinjani with the crater lake. It is an active volcano and was last active in year 2004. It rises to 3,726m making it the 2nd highest volcano in Indonesia.

14 July, Saturday
We arrived at the Airport of Lombok - Selaparang. It is a 2 hour plus flight journey. We took a 3d2n trek from John's Adventures, so they picked us up at the airport. The airport is small and simple, looking like any other domestic airports of Indon. Only thing is that this is an international airport. Took a 2 hours plus car ride, and we reached Senaru. The place where we will start the trek the next day.

As he rested in the accomodation, I went out with a guide to the nearby village for some pictures...

Their houses they stay in.

Yes! This is rice! But not ready to eat yet.

And this is part of my guide's house. Its the kitchen section.

15 July, Sunday (Trek - Senaru)
We started early at 7am. Took a little car, looking just like Bangkok tuk tuk, which was packed all with our porter's stuffs.. which includes our tents, sleeping bags, mats, meals, etc etc.

We started our trek with the guide. This was the last provision shop you get to see before you are in the wildnerness.

16 July, Monday (Trek - Lake)
After our first night at the camp, we did not really get to see sunrise, but this was the view we had from our camp(below).



This day was a 1000m down trek to the lake in the morning followed by the hotspring, lunch at the lake side, and then a 1000m trek ascent to the base camp.

On the trek down, you get to see the view of the lake. (below)

This was on the way to the hotsprings.

We finally reached the hotsprings.I think the hotspring was really nice.

Weather was cold, we were sweaty and smelly. The hotspring was definitely hot! and rejunvenating...

17 July, Tuesday (Trek - Sembulun Lawang)
This morning was supposed to be the summit trek at 3am. But we did not join the rest of the people. Instead, we chose to rest alittle longer and woke up at 6am for the sunrise beside our tent.





Because today is day 3 of the trek and also the last day of our trek. We were feeling a little tired, and that today we need to do a descent of about 1300m. Thus if we were to do the summit trek at 3am, it will mean we will need to do a descent of a total of 2300m in a day's time!

Guess we do not want to do too much in a holiday. Thus I will say that the sunrise is just as rewarding.

Soon we were on our way to leave the campsite(above). After the descent, we reached the village called Sembulun Lawang. From here we took the transport to John's place, and then to Villa Sayang.

Villa Sayang
Our driver lost his way, as he was unsure of the exact location of this accomodation. But after stopping the car alongside the road many times to ask for the directions, we finally made it here at 5pm plus.

This place was practically heaven after Rinjani's trek.

We had a much desired wash up, and a great dinner consisting of Beef Burger, Fried Chicken Strips, Gado Gado, and Pumpkin soup with toast for dinner, alongside with Bintang beer and Orange juice.

18 July, Wednesday (Villa Sayang)
Morning, was a slow nice breakfast (indonesian breakfast) with the view of the mountain range and the padi fields. (below)

Followed by a morning swim

Then was body massage for an hour.

After lunch, we caught a ride from the Villa Sayang's owner's car to Sengiggi for the Stick Fighting Festival.

19 July, Thursday (Villa Sayang)
Early morning, we went to the market. The free tour from Villa Sayang. Then went through the same breakfast(ABF), swim and massage routine. How luxurious...

Afternoon, went out nearby to take a look at a temple and some stuffs. And then we head to the airport for home.

Canadian Rockies (2004)

Day 1 (13 June)
Vancouver
We walked around the town, checked out the tourism board and rented a car. We saw Starbucks at almost every street corner!

Day 2 (14th June)
Whistler
We started our drive towards Whistler. Along the way we stopped at the Shannon falls. A pretty falls. We wanted to visit the ski town. It also served to break the long driving to the national parks, so we chose this place to rest. The hostel was behind a railway and right in front of a lake. It is a pretty place but not the kind that is awesome. :)

Day 3 (15 June)
Fields

Yes, the town is called Fields. The drive to reach the Fields was quite scenic. Guess we are approaching the National Park already. The snow mountain range can be seen already.

We stopped at the Fields. As we were planning for our next accomodation, we called the Elizabeth Parker Hut. Wanting to go into Yoho National Park tommorow. However they said that the area in Yoho was snowing. Thus they are not opened yet. We were alittle disappointed. But then we decided to make Yoho our last stop instead. So we booked the place for 2 nights at the end of our trip.

We stayed at an Inn, with the car parked right in front of our room. I find this place prettier than Whistler. We took dinner just opposite where we stayed. I took the salmon. Was fantastic! The restaurant was called the Truffles Pig. (pix below)

Day 4 (16 June)
Fields (Yoho NP)
We decided to stay one more night. But they ran out of rooms at the INN, thus the owner of the INN referred us to one of the bungalow, a street away. It was a real good deal! The whole house, with a kitchen, living hall with television and 2 bedrooms!

Then we visited Emerald Lake which was nearby. It was an easy drive in and you will reach the lake. Lake was indeed emerald in colour. But it was a cloudy day. Nevertheless we went ahead to one of the trails to Emerald Basin, but it was not really impressive. Guess the main highlight ....was our first encounter with a bear. But we were quite far away. And it was too busy eating to notice us. (We went back again on a clear day to take the pix)

Finally, a good way to end the day was the food at Truffles Pig again!....

Day 5 (17 June)
Fields - Lake Louise (Banff NP)
We checked out of the accomodation at the Fields. The weather was much better. Clear blue skies. We drove to the Emerald Lake again, to get a couple of nicer shots. Then we headed for the trail-Paget Lookout. This trail is about 1.5 hours one way, with an elevation gain of 520m, bringing us to a maximum elevation of about 2135m. I was quite slow. So by the time we reach the top, the clouds started forming. No more blue skies. :(
But we could still see the Kicking Horse valley.

We did a short drive to the Lake Louise hostel. We took a 4-bedder room for the 3 of us. Would have been alot more economical for 4 persons.

Then we drove to the Lake - Lake Louise. The lake is Beautiful! Just like the pictures, turquoise in color. And with a backdrop of the snow-covered Mount Victoria. We took the lakeshore trail, walked around the lake and soak in the beauty. entered impressive-looking hotel facing the Lake. It's a beautiful hotel. But the place is infested with Japanese. And lots of Japanese signs in the hotel too, to cater for the Japanese tourists I suppose. There is a nice cafe facing the lake too. The hotel is called the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. An extremely pricey place to stay. But if you have the money why not?!!!

Day 6 (18 June)
Lake Louise (Banff NP)
We woke up early for an exciting day's hike. The trail - the Plain of Six Glaciers (left) combined with the Lake Agnes via the Big Beehive. It is a beautiful trail. We get to be so close to the peaks.. for the Plain of Six Glaciers. :) The combined trail is about 14.5km, with an elevation gain of about 520m reaching a height of about 2255m at the Big Beehive.
(So all in all, this day we did a 14.5km hike.)

Close to the end of the first part of the trail we had lunch at the Plain of 6 Glaciers TeaHouse. (pix on the left) It was very nice. After walking all the way...you get the rewarding scones, hot chocolate, and sandwiches, with the view of the moutains behind.

Some of the trails were still covered with snow as shown above, even thou it is really summer. But in any case, there are footpaths, and informative signs.

Then we headed for the other trail, the Beehive trail, which led us to the top with a view of the lake louise and the Chateau. Then when we made our way down, we had a drink at the other tea house, on the other side of the beehive, with a view of the semi frozen lake and the snow mountain. Too bad the weather wasn't too good. Thus there ain't any pretty pictures.

Day 7 (19 June)
Lake Louise (Banff NP)
This day we attempted a sunrise shot of the Lake Louise. Usually in the night the temperature will drop below 0 degrees. So before sunrise, as we made our way to the lake, and set up our tripod, awaiting for sunrise, we were really freezing. Guess we are not very professional photographers. Because after this attempt, we told ourselves that we will not do sunrise shots for the rest of the trip. :p Anyway we were not too satisfied with the pix below. Wonder how we could have improved it.





Then we drove to the Morraine Lake. (below) It is also a short drive away from Lake Louise. Wow wow wow. The lake is awesome! I never knew such beauty actually exists! I kept asking myself if this was real. Somehow I like Morraine lake better. I thought Lake Louise was already beautiful....but this is really something you have to experience it. Turqoise lake with the 10 snow mountain peaks behind.... We spent quite abit of time on the Rockpile trail on the left to capture a good view of the lake with the 10 peaks.

Then we took another trail - Paradise valley. It is about 2 hours one way with elevation gain of about 385m. Considered manageable for me. We visited Lake Annette. This place is pretty too. Much quieter thou as it is not such a popular trail, unlike the Plain of 6 Glaciers. And a much shorter trail too. Another highlight of the trail was that we encountered a porcupine along the trail.

Day 8 (20 June)
Banff Town (Banff NP)

This day we headed to the Banff town, to have a less tiring day. :) We drove to the town, and took the cable car up to the Sulphur Mountains(below). Up at the top, you get to have a good view of the mountain range. All capped with snow.... it is pretty. Lots of tourists comes here.

Then we took a drive to visit other spots like the Two Jack's Lake (below), and the Castle Mountain. All easily reached by driving. We also went to the Johnston Canyon.

At the end of the day, we went back to the town for meals and souveniers. Rested at the Banff hostel.

Day 9(21 June)
Banff town - IceFields Parkway (Banff NP/Jasper NP)
Today we set off early for Jasper. We will drive through the IceFields Parkway. Supposedly to be the most scenice route. :) This is one of the world's most spectacular mountain highways. The whole highway is about 230km. Along this highway, there were many viewpoints and attractions.

The first attraction we went for was the Bow Falls. It was not up to expecations. Maybe there wasn't enough volume in the waters. It was about 4.7km from the carpark area to the falls, with only 95m elevation gain. Thus the bulk was more in the distance, and time. Maybe I have seen way too many scenic attractions that my expecations went up. :) However, the Bow glacier was quite nice thou. But not sure how to have a good shot of it. :p

Next was the Peyto Lake. Very pretty isn't it? (pix below) Too bad there were just too many Japanese Tourists taking pictures with their cameras and video cameras.

Departed Peyto Lake and headed for the Mistaya Canyon(only abt 0.5km from the carpark). It was very nice too. You wonder how so many attractions are all nestled together, and so easily accessible.

We rested at the rustic hostel - Beauty Creek for the night. The place is right in front of a lake. A very nice place to stay. The place is a nice place filled with a group of nice and warm people. But there were only dormitory available, and no shower facilities available.

Day 10(22 June)
IceFields Parkway(Banff NP/Jasper NP) - Jasper NP
We woke up, took a walk near the lake outside the hostel, then had a great breakfast, pancakes with Canadian Maple Syrup together with the rest of the people. Free flow of pancakes, freshly cooked.

We started our journey back on the IceFields Parkway again. Saw the Weeping Wall along the road. Took a couple of shots. Then quickly headed for the start of the trail for the Wilcox Pass. Should have started earlier, as clouds began to gather when we went up. From here you get a real good view of the Athasbasca Glacier across the road(IceFields Parkway). But the trail was not a long one, about 1.5hours one way, with an elevation gain of 335m, bringing us to an elevation of about 2375m.

After the walk, we drove to Tangle Falls. It is a nice fall for pictures and not too difficult to reach.
Upon reaching Jasper, we drove around the estate there, and found a nice B&B and rested for the night.

Day 11 (23 June)
Jasper NP
This day we still are covering attractions along the IceField Parkway. But as these attractions are nearer to Jasper, we based ourselves at Jasper instead as there are no proper accomodation along the highway. This is because they try to conserve the area here thus not much built up places here.

We went to the Athabasca Glacier, as shown above. A picture taken where we waited to board the 'SnoCoach'. A bus that drives you all the way on top of the glacier, and you can alight to take pictures.

Then we drove to the Athasbasca Falls. It is worth it too. Pretty. It is more a huge/wide fall , rather than a high/tall one.

At the end of the day, we drove to another highlight of Jasper. The Maligne Lake. It was really calm, we went there around sunset. So the colours are richer. But I think maybe a better photographer would have captured a nicer picture. It is quite a big lake. Calm and serene. Like many other lakes, you could canoe here too.

Along the way, we had to stop our car to allow a family of bears cross the road. There was a mama bear, and 2 cubs. So cute! But too bad lighting was low, I did not get a good shot of them.

Day 12 (23 June)
Jasper NP
This day was a rest day from attractions. We walked around the Jasper town, bought some souveniers. Went to the laundry shop to do our laundry. Ate A&W for lunch then we headed for their cinema. It was a small one, but it was good enough. We caught the Harry Potter. :)
Dinner we dined at one of the restaurants. There were quite abit of italian and other cuisine around.

We did abit of driving slightly outside the town hoping to spot some wildlife. And we did see some Elks.

Day 13
Jasper NP (24 June)

Our last day at Jasper. We visited Pyramid Lake, Edith Mount (pix above) and Angel Glacier(pix below), all were nice places to take pictures. Of course the Angel glacier is not as big as the Athasbasca glacier. But it is still pretty in its own way.

Below shows myself with a chip of the Angel Glacier.

Our last night at Jasper B&B.

Day 14 (25 June)
IceField Parkway - Lake Louise
On our way back now. We are heading towards the same hostel we stayed at Lake Louise previously. Along the way, we stopped to take better shots of the Tangle Falls, Bow Lake, etc.

Day 15 (26 June)
Lake Louise (Banff NP)
This day was a relaxing day. Just sleep late. Idle, plan for the next few days.

Then we did a simple trail too- Consolation Lakes. Cost us about 45 min one way. with not much elevation gain. But there is nothing much to it. Would recommend to skip it.

Day 16 (27 June)
Lake Louise (Banff NP)
We set off early to the Morraine Lake, to start on the trail - Valley of the 10 peaks. Its one of the prettier trails. But guess we were not too lucky. We wanted to do this earlier in our trip, but the trail was not open. Now the trail was considered open, part of the trail was still covered with snow. It could lead us to the Eiffel Lake then to the Wenkchemna Pass. We would have preferred reaching the Wenkchemna Pass, however it was not open yet.



But I guess am still glad as we managed to do the trail afterall. And we still get to see the peaks all the way along the trail. It is like a get-close-to-the-mountains trail. (pix above with the Eiffel Lake and the 10 peaks)

The trail to the lake only took about 1.5 hours to 2 hours one way.

Day 17 (28 June)
Yoho NP
We went to the Takakkaw falls. It is quite nice. It is very high but narrow. Different from the other falls. But there were some good view down from the falls (below).

Day 18(29 June)
Yoho NP
We set off early to drive to the place to catch the bus into Yoho National park. Everyday there is only 1 bus into the park. For conservation purposes, and to reduce the crowds in this park, they try to limit the number of people going into the park. If one is willing, he or she may walk in. That was our back up plan, in the event that the bus is full. So being kiasu, we were early, to purchase the tickets and so we were on our way to YOHO by the bus! After alighting the bus, and walking a short way, we reached the Elizabeth Parker Hut. The place is very pretty. There is only 2 place of accomodation here. One is the affordable Elizabeth Parker Hut, basically a dormitory with a kitchen. The other are the beautiful chalets that are dotted around the Lake O'hara. Again there were no Asians in here. There were some young British here, and some 50 year old Canadians to do some hikking. And some others whom we did not get to speak to. Below are 2 pix of the hut. The first is a close-up picture, the 2nd one shows 2 tiny huts right in the centre of the pix.

We kind of washed up at the stream. The water was freezing. And cooked some simple dinner for ourselves at the hut.

Day 19 (30 June)
Yoho NP
We started early for the Opabin Plateau Trail combined with the Lake Oesa. It is a full day of walking again. Before that we stopped by the Le Relais, a log hut, for directions which also sells some beverages, and great tasting carrot cake. It was moist and tasty! At some point in the trail, we get a very good view of Lake O'hara. But I do not really know how to capture that in a picture. But you just feel on the top of the world looking at the lake. :)

Day 20 (1 July)
Yoho NP
We did the Linda Lake to Cathedral Basin today. It is approximately abt 7.4km away. (totally up to about 14.8km for the day for a return trip) Takes about 3 hours to the basin. Thus a return trip will be about at least 6 hours. The elevation gain was about 305m bringing us to a maximum elevation of 2315m. Suppose it is a comfortable trail if we were to do it in a day.

Day 21 (2nd July)
Yoho NP - Vancouver
We did the drive straight back to Vancouver. As there were no vacancies at the hostel, we stayed at the Inn opposite the Hostel.

Day 22 (3rd July)
Good bye Canadian Rockies...

Some other wild animals we see along the trails are marmots, porcupine, bears, elks, rams, etc.