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Bat Island

My first trip to the islands around Komodo was in 2009, not long after I got my Advanced Open Water certificate as a diver. To be honest, scuba diving this area is not really a good idea for an inexperienced diver, but there were only five divers on the boat and the dive master was forgiving of my inexperience.

Pulau Weh

Among the places I've been scuba diving, Pulau Weh is perhaps one of the most off-the-radar destinations. The island sits just off the coast of Banda Aceh on the northern tip of Sumatra, the very center of the 2004 tsunami that devastated a large area of Southeast Asia.

Abandoned Olympic Pool Complex

Given my penchant for ancient ruins, it's no surprise that I'm also fascinated by more modern abandoned places. Near the top of the hill that separates Machico from the airport, in the town of Agua de Pena, there's an abandoned swimming pool complex with an Olympic sized pool complete with diving towers.

Torajan Rice Silo

Tana Toraja, in the center of Sulawesi island, has one of the most distinctive cultures you'll run across in all of Southeast Asia. The Torajans are fiercely proud of their heritage and continue most of the traditions they bought with them thousands of years ago.

Banteay Kdei

I think this is the last Cambodia memory for now. Banteay Kdei is a small template in the giant complex of main temples. It isn't restored yet, but unlike other unrestored temples like Ta Prohm, it's not over-run with tourists.

Kep Fishermen

Back when I visited Kep in 2007 it was sitll a bit of a sleepy backwater just beginning to be rediscovered as a tourist destination. Since then there was talk of a massive casino development on the little island off the beach here.

Proteas

I'm back in Madeira again and staying in Machico, a town I discovered last time and fell in love with. On Saturdays they have a small farmers market in the plaza near the beach. One stall had buckets full of these flowers that I later found out were proteas.

Shwedagon Pagoda

I've been a bit remiss in updating this site lately. It's mostly because I've been distracted moving and updating my old travel sites under the AsiaForVisitors.com umbrella. That project is now complete. It brought back a lot of memories of my travels through Southeast Asia, which I thought I'd share here.