HOPPING TO KELAYANG ISLAND - TO SAVE THE TURTLES

26th OCTOBER 2019 ~ The island hopping trip continued and the next stop was Kelayang Island. There were already boats "parked" along the shore when we arrived at the beach.

What were the activities done at Kelayang Beach? (1) Freeing the baby turtles. Visitors paid a sum of money to buy a baby turtle to be freed into the ocean. We however suspected that the baby turtles that were released would then be caught again and sold to other visitors to the island. At the same time, the turtles seemed to be disoriented when they were they were put on the water and we just hoped they would find their way to freedom.

(2) Hiking up and down a small hill for a short distance. This was done in order to get to Kelayang Cave. It was not really a cave but some sort of an area blocked by huge rocks at one side of the island. We released the turtles here and watched them swim away to the open sea.

(3) Swimming in the (pool) water in Kelayang Cave. It was a pool of seawater without waves and the deepest part was at my chest level. Some parts of the pool had small and sharp stones on its bed so you had to be really careful not to injure yourself. The place was not that big so when too many people went into the water, it would get really crowded.

make friends not enemies :)

(4) Enjoying the beach and the sea. The water was crystal clear with small waves and flat seabed. One of the best places to swim and enjoy nature at its best.

We had had enough of our Vitamin Sea so it was time to call it a day. And there would still be another island hopping expedition the next day.

[MY BELITUNG TRIP MAIN PAGE]

"GUA BATU" IN BANTIMURUNG NATIONAL PARK

15th OCTOBER 2017 ~ At the end of the trek, there was this cave called "Gua Batu" [translate: stone cave]. This would be one cave I wouldn't go into on my own. To get inside, you had to rent a torchlight at the entrance or else you would not be able to see a single thing.

The place was real dark and wet. One would need to walk carefully as the floor was watery and slippery. There would be water dripping on you from the ceiling, and the air was damp which produced a kind of unpleasant smell.

Luckily there was a group of people, local Indonesians, who went at the same time so I simply stood and walked close to them. They were however happily taking photographs with as many poses as possible at different spots of the cave.

There were a lot of stalactite formations as a result of water activities for long, long years.

There would be smaller hole which would lead people to another chamber of the cave but one had to crawl on bend down to pass through it.

There is another cave that could be visited there called "Gua Mimpi" but I did not go. One reason, there was a guide waiting at the entrance expecting for people to pay him for the tour inside the cave.

[MY MAKASSAR TRIP MAIN PAGE]

EXPLORING THE CAVES IN JEJU ISLAND

8th June 2015 ~ On the second day of our stay in Jeju Island, we booked a bus tour with Yeha Bus (because our tour guide was not free that morning). The bus picked us up from the hotel and headed straight to Hallim Park where we went cave-exploring. The names of the two caves are Hyeopjaegul and Ssangyonggul Caves, the spelling is definitely too difficult I had to copy and paste the whole thing.

There were two groups of foreigners on the bus. Our English speaking group consisted of an elderly couple from Brazil, a gentleman from Australia and a lady from Hong Kong. We had our own guide but I could not remember her name anymore (after three months, what do you expect?).

What we did basically was to walk through the dimly-lit and cold caves tunnels and admiring the work of nature. In order to go on this tour, I suggest you better wear your best sports shoes as a lot of walking and climbing were required. The this place was just the beginning of the trip of the day.

[MY JEJU TRIP MAIN PAGE]

[MY SEOUL TRIP MAIN PAGE]