Jaunted

Volunteer Travel / Indonesia Travel / Eco-Travel / Habitat for Humanity / → All Tags

Help Build Habitat For Humanity's First Eco-Tourism Village

Habitat for Humanity is creating its first international eco-tourism community in Soran, Indonesia and you can be a part of it.

H4H is teaming up with Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) to establish a eco-tourism village made up of more than 420 homes and guest accommodations near Indonesia’s famous Prambana Temple. Does that sound intriguing at all? Because they are, of course, looking for some good help to move the project along.

more ›

Volunteer Travel / Bali Travel / Voluntourism / Surf Travel / → All Tags

Surf and Teach English in Bali with a New Year's Voluntourism Discount

If your New Year's resolution was to take a volunteer vacation, i-to-i Volunteer and Adventure Travel is offering an incentive for you to keep it.

The travel company is offering 12% off any of their volunteer or adventure experiences if you book by January 31, 2011. i-to-i has several different types of trips planned for 2011, including building, teaching, and conservation opportunities to fit any skill set.

more ›

Big Ash Problems / Volcanoes / Weather / Indonesia Travel / Travel News / Cathay Pacific / JAL / → All Tags

Did Air Travel Do Something to Anger the Volcano Gods This Year?

There have been many trends in travel for 2010, such as the rise of location-based social media (ah hem, Foursquare) and the outcry against full-body scanners, but one of the most unexpected trends is that of flight disruption due to volcano eruption. In just this year we've have the explosions of Iceland's illustrious Eyjafjallajokull, Reunion Island's Piton de la Fournaise, Indonesia's Mount Sinabung, Russia's Shiveluch and now, another from Indonesia: Mt. Merapi.

All of them have caused flight delays at the very least, and Mount Merapi impacted flights on Cathay Pacific and JAL to Jakarta last week and over this last weekend. It was even thought the ash could have been responsible for the "uncontained engine failure" of the Singapore-Sydney Qantas A380 on Thursday. Now we know that is not the case.

more ›

Big Ash Problems / Volcanoes / Indonesia Travel / → All Tags

Officials Worry that Indonesian Volcano Eruption Will Delay Travel

Dormant volcano Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra, Indonesia, erupted on Sunday and again today, spurting ash 1.5 miles up into the air. It was worse than the eruption a day earlier, but it hasn't caused any major problems at Polonia International Airport in nearby Medan.

However, officials are worried that if the volcano continues to erupt, the thick ash will cause flight disruptions. Officials also worry that the eruption could cause problems for the estimated millions of people who plan to travel from Jakarta to native villages to mark the September 9 end of Ramadan.

Indonesia sits on the Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines around the Pacific Basin so this volcanic eruption isn't exactly a fluke. However, before Sunday, the volcano had been inactive for the past 400 years. The recent eruptions have caused two deaths and the forced evacuation of more than 21,000 people living in the North Sumatra village.

If you plan on flying anywhere near the area today, play it safe and check with the airport ahead of time.

Related Stories:
· Indonesian volcano erupts again, many evacuated [Reuters]
· 2 die after Indonesian volcano erupts [CNN]
· Volcano warning in Sumatra as Mount Sinabung erupts [AsiaNews.it]

[Photo: AsiaNews.it]

Bali Travel / Travel Health / Disease / → All Tags

Bali Tourists Bitten By Rabies Scare

The Indonesian island paradise of Bali, a major tourist hangout, seems to be having a few glitches lately. As if running out of alcohol wasn't already a pretty big problem, now the rabid dog problem looks like it is getting a bit out of control.

Previously rabies-free, the disease hit Bali last year, but it's only in the last few months that the drama has really hit the press and worried tourists. Ten locals have even died from rabies in the past year, and now tourists who get bitten by suspicious-looking dogs might have nowhere to turn—post-exposure vaccine supplies at Bali hospitals are pretty much non-existent.

more ›

Bali Travel / Drinking Travel / Travel News / → All Tags

BYOB Bali: Tourist Resorts Running Out Of Alcohol

Indonesia's popular beach vacation island of Bali might become a perfect retreat for vacationers wanting to detox, since the government started tightening up the laws on alcohol importation.

It turns out that until recently, some 90% of the beer, wine and spirits being brought into Bali was imported illegally to avoid the 200% duties and taxes. But with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (we'd vote for him just for his cool name) getting in for a second term, he decided to crack down on this practice. As a result, alcohol is starting to get scarce, and what's left in store there is starting to get ridiculously expensive.

Apparently some hotels have even started asking their guests to bring alcohol along and the hotel will reimburse them. So if you're heading to Bali soon with the intention of indulging in plenty of cocktails by the pool, either think again or BYOB.

Related Stories:
· Bali Running Out Of Alcohol [The Age]
· Bali Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: rfaulds]

Indonesia Travel / Cruises / Luxury Travel / Diving / Scuba Dives / Komodo Dragons / → All Tags

A Whole New Type of Safari: Komodo Dragons In Indonesia

Chilling in an Aman Resort in some exotic location is already pretty enticing, but we've just heard that this hotel group has got a luxury cruiser happening too, based out of their Amanwana resort on Moyo Island, Indonesia. And we want to get on it.

The 105-foot cruiser, called Amanikan, looks a bit like a romantic old trading vessel, but is full of all the necessary luxury inside in its three cabins. They are running a trip called the Komodo Expedition which includes five nights of cruising (with days full of diving) and two final nights at the island resort. While you're on the boat you get to visit Komodo dragons and stop by the Komodo and Rinca Islands to see wild horses, deer and monkeys as well, not to mention all the sea life you'll discover while diving and snorkeling.

Exotic luxury doesn't come cheap, of course. It'll cost you upwards of $22,000 for you and a mate for the week, including everything except alcoholic drinks. But getting up close and personal with a dragon and then retreating to exotic luxury might just be worth it.

Related Stories:
· All the Pretty Seahorses [Jaunted]
· Where to Find Komodo Dragons in Their Natural Habitat [Jaunted]
· Indonesia Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: Amre Ghiba]

Airline Safety / Indonesia Travel / Garuda / Dangerous Travel / European Union / → All Tags

Indonesian Airlines Take Action Against Their Bad Reputations

Airlines coming out of Indonesia don't exactly hold the best safety reputations—even the large national airline Garuda gets its bumps and scrapes in the headlines far too often, and you might remember that the European Union, which is a bit fussy about unsafe airlines, banned every single Indonesian airline in the middle of 2007.

Things are looking a little bit better than they have in the past. The EU has just lifted the bans on four of the airlines (including Garuda) and that's inspired the Indonesian government to throw a bit more money and attention at airline safety.

The Indonesian transport minister says his goal is to get all Indonesian airlines off the blacklist by the end of the year, and he's had this smart idea about recruiting more aircraft inspectors and aviation safety managers. Hopefully this means it won't be long until we can get more cheap flights to island paradise Bali and even expect to get there and back safely.

Related Stories:
· Indonesia Aviation to Improve Safety Image [Business Traveller]
· Bali Boosts Its Airport But Skips New Shops [Jaunted]
· EU Blacklists Siem Reap Airways And Others [Jaunted]

[Photo: Tango-Sierra]

Tragedies / Marriott Hotels / Hotels / → All Tags

Terrorists Checked In as Guests at Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott in Jakarta

Two Marriott hotels were attacked yesterday in Jakarta, Indonesia by suicide bombings that killed eight people and left more than 50 injured. It is now believed that the suicide bombers actually checked into the JW Marriott Jakarta and the Ritz-Carlton Jakarta. A third bomb was later found on the 18th floor of the JW Marriott in one of the guestrooms.

Times Online has details from the blast sites:

Bleeding victims, including foreign businessmen who had been in breakfast meetings, crawled and staggered out of the JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels in Jakarta’s Mega Kuningan business district after the explosions struck two minutes apart shortly before 8am.

Footage from a security camera at the Ritz-Carlton showed a suited man wearing a baseball cap, and carrying a backpack and a wheeled suitcase, entering the hotel’s first floor restaurant just before the explosion, which killed two people.

more ›

Worlds-Coolest-Pools / Infinity Pools / Bali Travel / → All Tags

A View Of The Big Pool

Last one in's a rotten egg! We're finding the best places in the world to stick our toes in this summer (or next winter) for our World's Coolest Pools map. Know of any pools we must check out? Let us know.

After seeing our Santa Barbara triple hop last week, a tipster writes in to up the ante. This pool with a view has a five-star resort around it, but that view's worth a million bucks.

The Amankila resort in Bali opened in 1992 to sell that view from its 34 suites (each an individual beach house) to vacationers craving something nice to look at. Acrophobics fret not, the beach below is also owned by the resort privately.

more ›

Dangerous Travel / WTF-Map / Komodo Dragons / Rinca Island / Animals / → All Tags

Where to Find Komodo Dragons in Their Natural Habitat

Welcome to Where To Find, our growing guide to those little-known places that never seem to show up on the travel radar--until now. We're not saying they're undiscovered, but you may need to look 'em up on our WTF Map.

Once again, the the world's animals are not pleased. An Indonesian fisherman was mauled to death by komodo dragons as he was searching for fruit on Rinca Island, a deserted island and UNESCO World Heritage site that serves as a sanctuary for these dangerous lizards.

There are about 3,000 komodo dragons on Rinca and neighboring islands but while there have been some incidents of late, fatal attacks on humans are rare. Indeed, we were surprised to find that visiting Rinca Island to see komodo dragons is somewhate of a well-trekked tourist path. Still want to visit? Here's how.

more ›

Airport WiFi / Airport-WiFi-Map / → All Tags

It's A Small WiFi World After All

In this brave new era of in-flight WiFi, does it still matter whether airports have a wireless network? Absolutely! For one, Internet in the air isn't so widespread as to be ubiquitous; for another, layovers and flight delays can catch up to the best of us. When Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport recently increased its taxes on domestic and international flights, one of the amenities brought up as most in need of improvement was its spotty, slow WiFi -- Changi Airport in nearby Singapore charges just a little more but includes free WiFi.

So which international airports that are better than Jakarta Know about some WiFi we've yet to list, either in the US or elsewhere? Let us know.

Related Stories:
· Bad Marks for WiFi at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport [AtLarge.com]
· Airport WiFi Map [Jaunted]