CAUTION: Before proceeding - must have Strength of Spirit and Sense of Adventure

          Indonesia stretches across the sea in hiccups and yawns. Zooming in on the island Lombok Indonesia, breathless exploration awaits travelers. Rinjani National Park is resident there with the second highest volcano in Indonesia (TripAdviser) perched impressively; Mt Rinjani.

 

Rijani National Park

         The pictures are astounding. It really truly is an amazing sight. There it sits; a fortified castle among the water encircling it like a moat, then a towering wall of mountains acting as the sentinel walls. The rest of the island stands guard, acting as provinces to the fiery ruler, cultivating people and goods who live their lives either remembering the looming presence, or shrugging it off effectively to live with a freedom all their own. Around the island, the ocean laps at the edges, an army beating against it, but unable to summon the roar to consume. 

         

Rinjani National Park

          The island is probably in more danger from the lording Mt Rinjani though. Simmering with his lofty head, he is an active volcano. 

Rinjani National Park

      His dominion was rather remote, and so he went uncharted until eighteen forty-seven with his first recorded eruption. In nineteen ninety-four and ninety-five, he built himself up stealthily. In two thousand nine he stirred from his slumber and the paths were closed off as he was deemed unsafe. In two thousand ten, smoke plumes, and ash plumes, were sighted seething from his cap; a four kilometer berth was given for him to blow off his steam. Ash affected crops, and lava pooled into a lake, while smoke slunk away. (RinjaniNationalPark)

Rijani National Park

         All the while, there he sits; still breathtakingly gorgeous, drawing travelers in with deadly ease. 

Rinjani National Park

         The experience must be one to remember. Different travel sites stress the importance to have a waterproof windbreaker, dry clothes are also mentioned along with sturdy hiking shoes, that ideally should keep the hiker from slipping on the potentially slick paths. They also note that there are many different options depending on how long one wants to spend on the trip, and how rigorous the hiker is willing to expend him/herself.

Rijani National Park

     The official Rinjani National Park park website relates some of the things to expect when hiking Mt Rinjani… and not all of what is said is delivered in a particularly comfortable way. 

           “It is very climbable by visitors with a high level of physical fitness. Critical is to understand and respect this great mountain: sadly, visitors have died here through failing to follow sensible procedures and make all necessary preparations.” 

Rijani National Park

     With sweet character they also say, “To make the extra 1,000 m ascent to the very top requires a considerably higher level of fitness, not to mention strength of spirit and sense of adventure.” Then, a touch of disdain for hired guides leeks through as they say with contempt, “Serious accidents including fatalities do occur on Rinjani treks when led by these accredited guides.” 

         Truly, though, it must mean something special to some people, otherwise they’d just remain silent and sell tourists to guides galore. Sometimes though, they seem to be saying, fewer with respect, and  “strength of spirit and sense of adventure” is more valuable than all the fat wallets. Perhaps Rinjani will not toss his head so spitefully if daring feet continue to pay homage in his shadow with their sturdiness of foot, and determined heart. 

Rijani National Park

Resources:

"What You Might See in Rinjani National Park – Lombok Island – Indonesia." Rinjani National Park. Web. 31 Oct. 2015.

"Lombok: Mount Rinjani." - TripAdvisor. Web. 31 Oct. 2015<http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g297733-d386938/Lombok:Indonesia:Mount.Rinjani.html>.

Wind of Fancy

          This was my Informative Essay for ENGL 1010 (the class I'm maintaining this blog for). It basically recaps everything I've posted about on this blog, and reiterates what it is about.  If you're just joining in on reading this blog, hopefully it catches your interest in such a way that you want to go read the full posts (which is not just paraphrased in these paragraphs, really, I wish I couldn've ;)) or just start researching the place yourself. 

A soft breeze tugs at hair, whispering secrets in people’s ears. Most people just huff up their jacket and hunch over before scurrying and moving on. The smallest handful stop and look around, drinking in the sight of beauty the wind so desperately sought to share. Yesss, the air tickles, there is much wonder yet to see. Come with me. The dreamer traipses on, carried on the wind of fancy; eyes and ears open to see all the wonders mother Earth has to offer.

            Many people are sucked into the idea that our earth is boring, or at least only interesting for outdoor fanatics who can find pleasure in any activity regardless of the difficulty and overall uncomfortableness of the situation. However, Earth has much to offer the rest of the world as far as pleasure and fascination go. She is filled with living beauty, stagnant images, and manmade structures, all amazing to behold. Her call is wide and varied, and much more abundant than many might have supposed.

           Appeal is strong with the dreamers, who love to imagine fanciful explanations for these seemingly unexplainable places. The call is loud and raucous for the adventurers, who want to go places just to feel that crazy zing and know that they’ve done what most people only imagine. For the practical workers the places tug at the part of their heart that wishes they could just take a deep breath and see some scenery so different they can’t doubt the experience of relief. The storytellers and musicians feel a tug to dance along and court the possibilities which spill from the sights.

           The list is nigh endless, because Earth is bursting with secrets she’s willing to share with all those who take a moment to stop and look. The places are practically endless too. Hints and proclamations of wonders are present all around the world in countless different forms and venues.    

In Waitomo, New Zealand, Glowworm Caves offer their unique dreamy prize to tourists. This mesmerizing location is populated with a unique creature scientifically known as, Arachnocampa luminosa, or as it is more commonly known; the glowworm. Glowworms lure their prey with spidery webs. Their glow attracts flying insects to route their direction. They then fly obliviously into the cleverly laid trap; a hanging web suspended from the glowworm. The glowworm then pulls the captured bug up to be devoured and sustain its glowing existence. (Merritt & Sakiko, 2008) The cave lights up with their blue glow, captivating tourists to their sight.

Across the Indian ocean, the Stone Forest of Madagascar bares itself proudly, shards of massive rock threatening to spear the sky. The expansive limestone edifice was supposedly a complex of tunnels and caves which were gradually eroded and expanded by water until collapsing in on itself to leave the impressive tsingy behind. (NationalGeographic) This striking location calls to the more daring spirits, whom the wind intoxicates with confidence and a disregard of limitations. Carefully, one can tiptoe among the sharp tops to have an experience like none other.

Still, in a calm Canada, Spotted Lake speckles the landscape with gentle hues of greens, blues, and yellow waters. The sun wafts excess water away with its constant rays of light, leaving behind minerals to color the pools of water. Historians lean forward eagerly to hear the Indian folklore of the lake, believed to have healing properties and considered sacred. Fenced off from disruption, people stop their cars on the side of the highway to dare a glimpse at the serene site, taking a deep breath to still their busy life. (Okanagan Valley Guide)

Dreamers, adventurers, and average people have been touched by these few special places. Each location is distinctive, embracing their individuality, and still speaking a language many people can understand. It is the language of that something special, that the world is diverse and distinct, and ultimately bigger than a mere individual and the trivialities of life, which people seem to subconsciously yearn for even in their most practical of minds.

Whisked away to India, an impressive stepwell walks down into the earth culminating around a rectangle of water. The water is green and murky, but at one time it function as an actual serviceable well. It also acted as a kind of hub for larger gatherings, as well as providing opportunity for a few degrees escape from the unrelenting Indian heat in its stoney depths. Structurally, the sight itself is architecturally phenomenal, creating symmetry on a massive and tantalizing scale. Bricks and paths travel smoothly, rigorously inviting visitors to step along. (AmusingPlanet)

A mystery creeps into awareness for those who find the Crooked Forest in Poland. Theories surround the forest, as thick as the trees themselves, some as crooked for that matter. The speculation is almost half the excitement for the place; a small section of forest with trees bent in a curve before growing straight. (IFL Science) Theorizing minds are riveted by the possibilities, and poetical souls are awed by the sheer majesty of the wizened trees.  

Contrasting the enclosed forest, travelers are tugged to find the Lençóis Maranhenses Desert in Brazil. Sand dunes stretch for miles, undisturbed by little but the crooning wind and barefeet. Pools of freshwater sit between the dunes, inviting those who travel the desert to bathe in their blue waters. (Terra Brazil) Warmth tucks around people in the pleasantest of ways; slipping sand between toes, and gliding in smooth water under a constant sun. Music and stories hum across the seemingly endless land, casting attractive mirages flickering for visionary minds.

Earth reminds everyone of her dissimilarity as the breeze wafts into her belly; a series of shadows underground New Mexico, known as Carlsbad Caverns. Contained by rock, the air is damp and chill. Dark permeates all of the caverns, slinking into the corners of observers eyes with unsettling ease. Stalagmites and stalactites, point up and down, a process made of time. Rocks form bulbous stringy shapes, falling over each other, and building underneath. Together, it all demonstrates the patience of mother nature, meticulously forming strange rock formations and collapsing and opening caverns, never knowing whether the otherworldly experience would be found.

Perhaps this is what sets the true wonders apart; the fact that they are crafted even before knowing whether admiration will come their way. They build up slowly over years, decades, even centuries, to create an intricate tableau of breathtaking beauty. Nature and human hands work for the joy of creation, ready to share it with the fewest eyes if they are the only who care to stop and look.

           She presents her wonders with a flourish to the imaginative mind. Still, it is a small sample of all that she has to offer. There is still more to explore; abandoned castles, burning pits, and natural ice sculptures, dancing on the horizon, offering a sight just as amazing to behold.

          Sunset drops the warmth of day and adventure over the end of sight, beckoning the lulling moon with her glow. She casts a blue light over the earth, transforming everything to appear as something new. What adventure…

          It croones over the whole earth, carried in flight with the wind of change, whether in day or night it prances along, cavorting across the stars and clouds. Arms stretch wide with a welcoming song. The sights are calling names to visit their splendor, and take a piece home in their soul. Yes, Earth has much left to offer. Her wonders abound. They are truly amazing works of art, just waiting with baited breath to seen.

Resources:

Merritt, David J., and Sakiko Aotani. "Circadian Regulation Of Bioluminescence In The Prey-Luring Glowworm, Arachnocampa Flava." Journal Of Biological Rhythms 23.4 (2008): 319. Publisher Provided Full Text Searching File. Web. 4 Oct. 2015.

"Stone Forest." — National Geographic Magazine. Web. 10 Oct. 2015. <http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/11/stone-forest/shea-text/1>.

"Spotted Lake near Osoyoos BC Canada." Okanagan Valley Guide. Web. 10 Oct. 2015. <http://www.okanagan-valley-guide.com/spotted-lake.html>.

"Chand Baori Step Well in Rajasthan, India." Chand Baori Step Well in Rajasthan, India. Web. 17 Oct. 2015. <http://www.amusingplanet.com/2012/10/chand-baori-step-well-in-rajasthan-india.html>.

"What Could Have Caused Poland's Crooked Forest?" IFLScience. 1 July 2014. Web. 17 Oct. 2015. <http://www.iflscience.com/environment/what-could-have-caused-polands-crooked-forest>.

"Lençois Maranhenses, a Desert of Dunes in Northern Brazil: Tourism with Terra Brazil." Terra Brazil. Web. 24 Oct. 2015. <http://www.terra-brazil.com/north-brazil/lencois-maranhenses.php>.

Belly of a Beast

         

          Two years ago my family and I took a road trip to Texas. We stopped at one of the strangest places I have ever seen; Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico. 

         To imagine a place like this is insane. It is illogical and mysterious. The place is… bewitching. That’s the word. It tugs at your fancy in such a way to make you feel elated, insane, yet oppressed and chilled all at once.

         Descending below the surface of the earth, stepping from the elevator, the air hits with a damp chill. There is a tourist shop with postcards, but the paper feels wet and warped. Everything is closed in, though the ceiling looks so high, and still we haven’t really begun.

         Wandering the cavern is a treasure trove of imagination. The rock formations tell stories. A goblin valley stares at me daring me to stay until night, though all is dark here already, teasing my mind with the Night at the Museum idea that everything comes alive at night. The rock valley is called something with fairies, but I don’t feel fooled. They look too strange and contorted, and what fairies would live underground? 

         

           

          The guide leads us through the smaller cavern areas. Stalactites drip from the ceiling, threatening and serene all at once. Stalagmites push up from the ground, creating daring peeks never to be breached by tiny human feet. Images play throughout my mind of daring adventurers small and nimble, lost among the formations, daring the impossible. 

  
           I’m over five feet after all, and still the weight of the rock presses in around me even when in reality the size isn’t always all that grand. Yet somehow knowing that I’m enclosed, and that in other rooms I am dwarfed, and that the caverns are numerous, that there are more than I can hope to adequately explore, makes me feel awed even when looking at the smallest of things.

       

         Rocks form bulbous stringy shapes, falling over each other, and building underneath. It looks like some strange fungus of stone, or an even more peculiar creature of the deep sea. 

         The lights cast eerie shadows. It is a reminder that we are surrounded by dark, and that light is the intruder here. The shadows build faces and bodies, peering with their secrets from their unknowable location. Pale maidens with black hair look at things unseen, the hint of a man in a robe stands tall, and a fearful cyclops seems to have been interrupted reaching for something, averting his one-eyed gaze to stare with a frown. 

         Swifter than a thief at night they flee with a turn of the head, shift of the eye, or a new illumination. Eyes search the area second-guessing themselves, until all that can be done is a shake of the head and the shrug of a shoulder to convince oneself to walk on. It is an uncanny, queer feeling, which follows on silent feet.

          In the murkiness of each room, along every path, people are reminded that they are the strangers here. This inexplicable cavern has been here for years, building and falling, breathing stale air in its great belly, and only now are tourists tiptoeing and tripping through its perplexing habitat. Our deceptive imagination suggests that we traverse through the belly of a beast, exploring its freakish innards as sights of beauty. Ancient, it has survived longer than can be fathomed, and will go on after we die, swallowing thousands of people and spitting them back out again, with minds forever impressed with the sheer power hidden in unfamiliar breathtaking gloom and overpowering rock. 

Photo Credit belongs to myself, Kenzie.

Dream Dessert of Deserts

         The spelling of desert is often mundanely, commonly, and frequently, confused with the spelling of dessert; Contrasting something hot, deadly, and endless, with something sweet, usually fattening, and probably highly addicting. Still, both have a certain allure to them, though they are hardly found together in the same context. Yet, this is one instance where it might be appropriate to say, that the dessert of deserts has been found.

Photo Credit

         Lençóis Maranhenses, Brazil

   

         Even the name sounds like some delectable French dessert. 

Photo Credit

   

         The location itself is a stimulating dream. Sand dunes stretch for miles, undisturbed by little but the wind and barefeet. Pools of freshwater sit between the dunes, inviting those who travel the desert to bathe in their blue waters.

          People walk across the soft sand, feeling it squish between their toes and warm their feet in a delicious way. They are walking through the desert, viewing the world from the crest of a dune, watching it stretch across a vastness hard to imagine coming to an end. It is seclusion hidden in a secret world, yet under a never ending sky, and surrounded by a desert without walls.

Photo Credit

             If the sun grows overbearing, the green and blue pools gleam ready with their siren call, their surfaces pull, with ease, hot bodies within its warm water to melt in relief.

    “...We swam in the lagoons: the water was sweet, clear, and warm and not a soul was around for kilometers. What bliss!”(AirPano).

Photo Credit

         It is the ideal location to believe in a life of simple bliss.

         “The local people call the Lençóis Desert "a white bed sheet": the sand made of shiny white quartz, and the landscape formed from the winds blowing from the Atlantic Ocean can be compared to an unmade bed”(AirPano).

Photo Credit

         What a dream. To walk among the landscape could feel like a never ending muse, safe in bed and yet free to feel and experience, and simply be lost in thought. In a trance; warm sun bronzes skin, scorched sand softens feet, enveloping water soothes tired muscles and dispels stress. Responsibilities float away as one lies their head on the boundless dunes, wrapped in the unkempt bedsheet of dreams.

         

Photo Credit

          The unique pools of water parch themselves during the dry season and remain empty until rainfall begins to fall abundantly once again to replenish their gaping thirst. Still, every year, once the clear water returns, the pools are found swimming with fish. There are enough that people can cast their rod to try, and often succeed, to catch the dreamfish. The whole idea seems like something only our dreams can accomplish, a craft they spin by ignoring common law - but it is a reality.

         

          What a truly fascinating desert of lagoons. Seemingly inconceivable, an abstract land of pure delight and rest. It would be a fascinating place to be lost in thought, free to leave footprints on the sand, and splash in dreampools with mystery fish. An endless encircling dream...

Photo Credit

References:

"Lencois Maranhenses National Park, Brazil." AirPano. Web. 24 Oct. 2015. <http://www.airpano.com/360Degree-VirtualTour.php?3D=Lencois-Brazil>.

"Lençois Maranhenses, a Desert of Dunes in Northern Brazil: Tourism with Terra Brazil." Terra Brazil. Web. 24 Oct. 2015. <http://www.terra-brazil.com/north-brazil/lencois-maranhenses.php>.

 Photo Credit is linked directly under picture. For more great pictures, this website offers some good ones; http://www.worldwidetrails.com/national-park.php?info=Lencois+Maranhenses#photos.

A Crooked Mystery

         The Crooked Forest of Poland.

Photo Credit

         Theories surround this intriguing forest in an almost tangible whirlpool. They writhe and flicker with a call for attention and acceptance. With the rustling leaves they whisper with a rattle, and fall with a gentle thud. Perhapses and maybes float along and stick to the malformed bark with a firmness that refuses to scrub off. Suspicion crawls through the shadows and imaginations come alive with the possibilities. Everyone has an idea or a shrug, whether mundane or exotic, it creeps through the minds of individuals who have stumbled across the phenomenon. 

Photo Credit

         Perhaps, say those who might have a yearning for science fiction, there is a gravitational pull which bowed these trees. Just this one small area, and for a certain amount of time, gravity defied all our known rules. With their eyes alight they exclaim, Just think! What could this mean!? Those less whimsical scoff and call them crazy. After all, we know gravity. It might have actually been… An army of tanks. If the trees were young enough, the tanks could have plowed right over them and created enough trauma that the saplings never recovered! The idea gets shaking heads again though. Maybe, those who are often termed insane say, It was aliens… The crowd disperses before anyone can say ‘flying saucers’. 

         The theories fall short on explaining why only a small area of the forest is affected, for the rest is filled with tall, straight, normal trees. A general consensus has evolved to support one theory, which is, though most plausible, still fascinating in its own way. Perhaps man purposefully altered the growth of the trees. Heads turn as their ears are tugged to listen. After all, they continue, with bowed wood it could be used for shipbuilding and such. The crowds nod their head, while some of the more fanciful turn away with a shake of theirs. Yes perhaps. World War II could have interrupted the farmers from bending the rest of the trees. The war also forced people from their homes, which would account for why the memory of what happened is lost from the near village. How man bent nature however is a curiosity in and of itself.

         Everyone agrees however on at least one thing. Mystery. It is a mystery.

Photo Credit

         Some of the crooked trees unfurl their trunks toward the sky. They look like elephants. Massive and strong. Towering above the ground. If anything led to a comparison between tree trunks and elephant trunks, this would be it in the purest sense. Together, they point north and bugle their war cry with a thump of silent drumming feet. 

         

          These arching trees stand poised to shoot arrows to the north in a daunting uniformity among the wildness. They are a small army surrounded by a rigid, unmoving, one. It is a contrast of bows and staffs. Perhaps they are at war with each other, or maybe they are really fellow soldiers, keeping an eye on their strange brethren.

Photo Credit

Resources:

"What Could Have Caused Poland's Crooked Forest?" IFLScience. 1 July 2014. Web. 17 Oct. 2015. <http://www.iflscience.com/environment/what-could-have-caused-polands-crooked-forest>.

"The Crooked Forest of Gryfino, Poland." The Crooked Forest of Gryfino, Poland. Web. 17 Oct. 2015. <http://www.amusingplanet.com/2013/06/the-crooked-forest-of-gryfino-poland.html>.

Reporter, Daily. "The Crooked Forest: Fantasy Woodland That Could Have Come Straight from a Fairytale." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers. Web. 17 Oct. 2015. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2047406/The-crooked-forest-Fantasy-woodland-come-straight-fairytale.html>.