Wandering and Wondering

Wikitravel suggest blue dragon pool of Lijiang as China's finest view and it goes on to add Tiger Leaping Gorge as China's finest trek. It was hard to imagine what could be so great about a gorge! guess its time to experience.  A 2 days walk marked with villages with Yulong mountain always in front and Yantze river continuously deepening the gorge deep below.  "Be like water, making its way through crack" Yulong mountain in Back drop A guest house on the way, but way to early to stop Numbers have always fascinated me and here is another one. The owner of one guest house told me that almost 50 trekker visit the tiger leaping gorge everyday but the lower reaches of gorge accessible by bus is visited by 5000 people. These numbers speak volume about the tourism industry these days.  I continued the trek with the help on some sign boards but the path is normally well marked.  And I wish i could know what they want me to The above sign bo...

Rinjani had been lingering in our minds since quite a while, ever since we came back from Merbabu in Java. We booked the trip three months in advance and we put honest effort in training for this trip. (Running 5 km, 3 times a week and 100 km cycling on Saturdays ).    Situated in the center of Lombok in Indonesia, Gunung Rinjani is an active volcano. It is considered as one of the challenging treks in South East Asia. A 3 day 2 night trek is quite popular and gives just enough time to explore the crater rim and summit. A relatively comfortable trek would be 4 day 3 night one.  For the ones interested in summit attempt, Sembalun route is the way to go. We found Sembalun route as more comfortable and scenic also. Sembalun itself is 2 and half hour from Lombok Airport.  The other route starts at Semaru (3.5 hrs from airport) but it ends at crater rim. One will have to do an additional day trek to reach Sembalu...

Mount Merbabu, standing tall at 3142 meter, is a dormant stratovolcano and the perfect place to view skyline of east java filled with volcanos. Mount Merapi, only few hundred meters from here, stands out among those. This mesmerizing view from the top of Mount Merbabu is perhaps only a stroll away for the fits trekkers but for a lazy occasional walker, this was some effort but a worthy one.

Ijen Crater is actually a sulphur mines and one of the dangerous places to work on earth. The greenish water that shines on morning sun of sunrise is actually sulphuric acid. The water from this lake will take just minutes to melt metals. The sulphur is continuously fuming from the vents, where the miners have put pipes to extract it. The mining is toxic as continuous exposure to fumes pose threat to respiratory system. If this all is not enough, the miners endure a treacherous trek up to crater rim and down to weighing center.   Yet, the crater rim beauty is so mesmerising and the blue flames of sulphur is so magical that it attractants tourists from all over the world. The tourism has also severed as delight for the miners as they can make a living as tourist guide or earn extra money from selling souvenirs made from sulphur.  The moment to adore, to wonder, to understand