David Hagerman: The Ferry Boats of Istanbul

Photo © David Hagerman-All Rights Reserved

David Hagerman attended The Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Istanbul and produced an evocative audio slideshow titled The Ferry Boats of Istanbul, which he just published on his blog.

Yes, Istanbul is the city of Sultanahmet Camii, the Aya Sofya, the Kapalı Çarşı, but it's also the Bosphorus ferries that characterize it. These ferries provide vital links between different areas of that magnificent city, connecting the European and the Asian coastline. The first steam ferries appeared on the Bosphorus in 1837, were operated by private sector companies and currently carry approximately 61 million passengers yearly.

It is these that Dave decided to document. The audio slideshow with its glowing images and ambient sound will transport you in such ferries...the sound of the turnstiles, the sirens, the voices of the passengers, and even the clink of the spoon in tea glasses that are served on ferries...all ambient sound intelligently selected to provide a complete visual and aural experience of these Istanbuli fixtures.

David Hagerman is a photographer based in Kuala Lumpur and Penang in Malaysia, whose work has appeared in publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal Asia, Saveur, Budget Travel, Travel & Leisure SEA, The Chicago Tribune, South China Morning Post, Time Out KL, and Lonely Planet guidebooks. His work is also featured on the very popular Eating Asia blog.

POV: Moises Saman And Cairo Undone

Photo © Moises Saman-All Rights Reserved  

How wrong I was! I always dismissed the idea of photographing street life in Cairo by saying that there was nothing to photograph there...not much color, no vibrancy....but that began to change after the January Revolution. Was it a subconscious rejection of the then-prevailing environment? Or simply because I was blase about photographing in my own backyard...albeit one that I left for more than 30 years? Was it both? Perhaps.

That admission being made, I have to clarify that I speak only of street life rather than particular cultural subject matters, such as documenting Sufi rituals such as those I photographed a few years ago.

What changed my mind is the brilliant photo essay in The New York Times titled Cairo Undone by Moises Saman.  The photo essay (it's really a gallery as there's no storyline nor timeline) is of snapshots (I use this term very respectfully) of daily life in Cairo...the gritty, the edgy, the incomprehensible, the political and the anachronisms that dominate this teeming city.

I intended to post this as soon as I saw the photographs, but I was in Siem Reap and just couldn't find the time. I have viewed and re-viewed this work many times, and it revived in me a hunger to document facets of this city. Is it a nostalgic yearning? I doubt it...I don't think that way. It's similar to my documenting the Sufi rituals in various countries...that is nothing more than an intellectual and aesthetic pursuit.

It's the same for Cairo...nothing more nothing less. But time will tell.

Another visit to Babi Guling - Warung Ibu Oka, Ubud - Bali

My second visit to the Warung Ibu Oka for Bali's Babi Guling (Suckling pig). You can view my first visit here. The shop located at the end of Monkey Forest Street of Ubud, please refer to my previous post for GPS Coordinates.

The shop still crowded as usual, we were quite lucky to had a table inside...

Warung Ibu Oka - corwded with tourist and locals...

Outdoor dining area...

Indoor dining area...

There was also a media shooting during our visit. Ya...the Famous Babi Guling at Bali Island!

I ordered the Babi Guling Istimewa (Special) with rice just like before, and I enjoy the meal very much! Especially the gravy...
Some peoples might not like it and some said it's just normal...that will depends on individual preferences.

The Babi Guling from Warung Ibu Oka, Ubud

Anyway, I satisfied with it. But...I might not visit on my next Bali's trip, the reason is I want to try the Babi Guling at some other places at Bali Island...

I like the way she did...Babi Guling with Bintang Beer! :)

Related post :-
*  My Bali trip on June 2011
*  My Bali trip on June 2010

The Location Map of Babi Guling Ibu Oka, Ubud

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Miguel Ángel Sánchez: Portraits Of Egyptians

Photo ©  Miguel Ángel Sánchez-All Rights Reserved

Since elections are going full steam ahead in Egypt, The New York Times' Lens blog has featured Portraits of Egyptians, a series of wonderful photographs by the talented Miguel Ángel Sánchez.

I absolutely love seeing photographic work of that nature...ethnographic to a large extent, and produced by borrowing the techniques of the Old Masters. Miguel Ángel Sánchez photographed 110 residents of Cairo in his studio; these included musicians, painters, politicians, writers, bloggers, shoeshiners, doormen, and the vendor of flowers above, which is absolutely my favorite amongst all of them. My least favorite is that of Zahi Hawass, the ex-Minister of Antiquities, not because of the image but because of the man himself. I don't know the man, but I developed an antipathy for his brash behavior and loudness in National Geographic television specials (as an example).

You will not find the photograph of the flower vendor on the Lens blog, but rather it's on Miguel Ángel Sánchez website. The flowers she's seen selling are jasmine, which are popular in Egypt for the powerful sweet smell. I believe the jasmine flowers sold on string strands are called "fol", and are popular in Egypt to deodorize one's car or to gift to one's sweetheart while strolling the city's gardens.

But back to the LENS blog...a comment was rather critical of the photographer for choosing to depict the Egyptians in Renaissance settings. I disagree. In choosing the lighting and poses similar to those we have seen so many times in museums and galleries the photographer creates acceptability for his subjects to the Western eye.

Siem Reap Journal: Issue #5

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Well, all good things have to come to an end. The Angkor Photo Festival's closing night included an intriguing photo talk by Roger Ballen, and the results of the 2011 Angkor Photo Workshops.

The award for the best photo story produced during the workshop was given to Carrie Lam*, a Singaporean photographer, for Cure...an ethereal collection of images. Her workshop tutor was Magnum photographer Antoine d'Agata.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention Francoise Callier and Jean-Yves Navel, who overwhelmed me (and many others) with their cordiality, and gracious hospitality during every night of the Festival, as well as the hard work of both Camille Plante and Jessica Lim which made a success of this Festival.

So thank you very much for a great event!

*I didn't find a website for Carrie Lam.

Global Post: Egypt's Women Of Revolution

Photo © Elizabeth D. Herman-All Rights Reserved

While I'm here in Siem Reap, I am following the events in Cairo with mixed feelings...feelings of pride and anxiety. The outcome of the 'rebooted' Egyptian revolution is impossible to predict, but some pundits have describe the current events in Tahrir Square as Egyptians trying to reclaim their January 25 revolution from the military.

There are a number of recent photo essays from Tahrir Square, but I thought I'd feature the work of Global Post's Elizabeth D. Herman titled Egypt: Women of the Revolution.

This is a compelling gallery of 18 photographs along with captions that tell us the back stories of each photograph. Last month, Elizabeth Herman spoke to 13 Egyptian women about the media’s coverage of women’s involvement in the Egyptian revolution. Their roles were varied, as were their experiences and reactions to the revolution, with some having actively joined the movement and others forced to do so by circumstance. All have much to say about how it has affected their lives, and how their experiences are similar to — and different from —those of other Egyptian women.

As is customary whenever readers' comments on the news of the Egyptian revolution appear in The New York Times, Islamophobia and political agendas raise their ugly heads. Comments describing the Egyptian revolutionaries as 'savages', and others hoping that the upheaval would not harm Israel (presumably this being much more important than Egyptians having basic human rights) are sent to the newspaper and published without consideration.

And, of course...we have some of the US press indulging the American proclivity for inward introspection, narcissism, and insularity. Just take a look at TIME's cover for its US edition as compared to the rest of the world's.

Both hilarious and sad at the same time.

Strolling around Monkey Forest Street of Ubud, Bali

Strolling along the Monkey Forest Street (Ubud, Bali) is one of our enjoyment. We decided to walk from the place we stayed to the end of the street, please take note of the colourful flower along the street and don't step on it. :)

There are many shop around the street including...convenience store, tour agency, restaurants and many more...

Some kind of tour agency at the street

Many Souvenir shops...

Restaurants and pubs...

Some of it has a small temple on their rooftop, you can recognize it easily by the Balinese design...just like shop below...

I also noticed some of the shop under renovation and they make use of the Lava stones for decoration. They also make use of it for all the small statue, you can noticed the colour along the way...

Beside all these unique buildings, the area also has many plants that make it looks Green!

The Ubud area is fill with tourists during day time, there are many shopping area including the famous Ubud market the end of the street. If you haven't walk along the street, do try it! I like it very much! :)

Related post :-
*  My Bali trip on June 2011
*  My Bali trip on June 2010

Siem Reap Journal:Issue #4

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

The Angkor Photo Festival is continuing its momentum, with today's penultimate night including a slideshow of the 5 finalists and the result of the inaugural Reminders Project Asian Photographers Grant. One of my favorite photographers, Shiho Fukada, is one of these five.

Since it's Friday, I dropped by the Siem Reap solitary mosque to explore whether there's anything worthwhile to document. Each Muslim community in Cambodia has a hakem who leads the community and the mosque, an imam who leads the prayers, and a bilal (as in Bilal, the Prophet Muhammad's muezzin) who calls the faithful to the daily prayers.

I met a few of the community members, one of whom spoke a reasonably fluent Arabic. While some of the Cham go to study the Qur'an at Kelantan in Malaysia, he learned it in Phnom Penh.

The two children were running around in the mosque, and the boy in particular was a bundle of energy.

Siem Reap Journal: Issue #3

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

I've got a few things to talk about in this post, so here goes:

The opening of the Angkor Photo Festival was covered in yesterday's The Phnom Post which marveled that the front lawn of the Foreign Correspondent Club was packed with photographers, photojournalists and guests.

I was happy that Rahman Roslan, a photojournalist from Malaysia, who told the story of Nur, a young Indonesian woman returning home after suffering five years of abuse as a domestic worker in Malaysia, was quoted to say that Angkor workshops hadn’t just improved his style, but had changed his entire life.

I was also thrilled that Francoise Callier, the festival program director and curator, was quoted as saying “I wanted to focus on young photographers for this show, although there are some more established shooters in there too, like Tewfic El-Sawy."


I have also used my new iPhone to snap (and snap is the exact word for it) pictures of whatever takes my visual fancy, and I must say I find this to be very gratifying and entertaining, especially when using Instagram and Hipstamatic filters. That being said, I found it very useful when photographing people here. I can show these images to whoever I snapped, and it's an instant icebreaker. The iPhone is not threatening....everybody recognizes it's a phone, and the young and old take delight in choosing which filter to apply to their portrait, and in flipping from one image to the other.  At that point, they are ready to be photographed and photographed and re-photographed!

I'll be writing about this when I have more time.

Siem Reap Journal: Issue #2

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

I recently switched over from Blackberry to the iPhone 4s just for it's camera capabilities, and where else to put it through its paces than in Siem Reap?

Here are a few of photographs made on the iPhone using Instagram and Hipstamatic filters of young monks at the old temples of Roluos, Preah Ko and Lolei.

And one of Angkor Wat itself and the reflecting pond.

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Siem Reap Journal

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

It was a good move to arrive early at the opening of the Angkor Photo Festival last night. Held at the Foreign Correspondents Club (known locally by its acronym FCC), it quickly filled up with almost 400 people to watch the projected slideshows of some 21 photographers. The slideshows included The Mercy Project/Inochi by James Whitlow Delano, Nishant Ratnakar's Fistful of Dreams, Nur by Rahman Roslan, Kauser Haider's A Hall Full of Cinema and my own The Possessed of Hazrat Mira Datar.

I introduced myself to Francoise Callier, the indefatigable energy behind the festival and its curator. I also met Jean-Yves Navel, the co-founder and director of the festival, as well as Camille Plante and Jessica Lin, both indispensable to the success of the festival for a number of years. The photo slideshows were all highly impressive, and the large audience was held in rapt attention.

Tonight saw the second installment of the slideshow program of about 13 photographers which included Whale Hunting In Lamalera by Ardiles Rante, Wendy Marijnissen's Dr Musarat, and ended with the lengthy Exodus by Sebastiao Salgado.

The photograph above is of one of the caretakers at Wat Bo, and has nothing to do with Angkor Photo Festival...but I thought it would be appropriate to feature it for a post on Siem Reap.

Another bit of information: I have yet to use my Canon 5D2. All I carried and used since my arrival in Siem Reap is the M9 and a couple of lenses.

In Focus: Bhutan

Photo © Paula Bronstein-All Rights Reserved

In Focus, the photo blog of The Atlantic, is always a must-see for me. This week, it features the photographs of Adrees Latif, Paula Bronstein, Singye Wangchuk, Kevin Frayer and others of the Kingdom of Bhutan.

As most know, Bhutan is a small Himalayan country east of Nepal, nestled between China and India, with an estimated population of 700,000. It's one of my favored destination for my photo-expeditions, and for many good reasons. It's a gorgeous country, with incredible religious and cultural traditions that are both mesmerizing and extremely photogenic. Its people are some of the most gracious and hospitable I've ever met, and I've never been disappointed in the image inventory I return with from my trips there.

If viewing the photographs on the In Focus photo-blog whets your appetite from more imagery of Bhutan, you can visit some of my own galleries and audio slideshow.

These are The Dancing Monks of Bhutan, Buddha's Apprentices and Cham!...but be warned, you might well decide to book your flights to Bhutan soon afterward.

Simple breakfast at Sri Bungalows Ubud, Bali.

A simple breakfast was provided by Sri Bungalows Ubud in the 2nd day in the morning where you can choose from the breakfast menu. We had a banana pancake, toasted bread, egg, some fruits and the Bali coffee.

Breakfast at Sri Bungalows Ubud.

We like the Banana pancake very much! It was delicious!

Banana Pancake from Sri Bungalows Ubud

The toasted bread and the holf boiled egg were just normal...

The toasted bread and half boiled egg...

It was a relax morning for us, we took our time to enjoy the simple breakfast at the cafe area...we planed not to visit anywhere in the morning and have some street walk and shopping along Ubud. So all of us strolling lazily after our breakfast around the Monkey Forest street of Ubud, Bali.

Unique cup of Bali's Coffee

Related post :-
*  My Bali trip on June 2011
*  My Bali trip on June 2010

Location Mapof Monkey Forest Street at Ubud, Bali

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Siem Reap For The Angkor Photo Festival

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy- All Rights Reserved

I'm thrilled to be in Siem Reap to attend the 7th Angkor Photo Festival. Posters of the event can be seen in many places of the town, as this one in Pub Street. I duly bought kramas (the traditional Cambodian scarf) and already have a tuk-tuk driver who claims he's the 'best' in Siem Reap. We'll see about that in due course.

More news on the festival will be posted soon. Its opening night is tomorrow evening, when my own work will be shown.

Ron Mayhew: Durga Puja

Ron Mayhew is one of the participants in my Kolkata's Cult of Durga Photo Expedition/Workshop, and also produced a wonderful documentary of the Durga Puja festival. Ron managed to complete his audio slideshow the quickest amongst the other group members...not that it was a race by any means, but it highlights his commitment.

He also uploaded the audio slideshow on his own blog. I recommend you watch it here as it's better quality/higher resolution than on Vimeo.

In his own words: "Durga Puja, the Hindu festival honoring the Goddess Durga in Calcutta, India, is a kaleidoscopic series of events spread over many days that tends to overwhelm ones senses with its sights and sounds. Thousands of idols of Durga and her entourage are created, worshiped, and ultimately immersed in the Ganges River. Millions of people celebrate what has been compared to Mardi Gas in New Orleans or Carnival in Rio."

Ron Mayhew has been a professional wood sculptor for over twenty years, and it’s this artistic background which has helped him achieve recognition regionally and internationally in photo competitions. He received Best of Show in the 2010 and 2011 Photo Expo sponsored by the Photo Arts Group of Charlotte County, Florida, recognized in a British Worldwide Photography contest for portrait & people, received a gold award for his image of African Eyes, a photo taken in a Tanzanian school, and was awarded a first place in the Art League of Fort Myers Art of Photography Show. He is a member of the NAPP, National Association of Photoshop Professionals and NPPA, National Press Photographers Association.

Book: Eric de Vries: STREET

By the time this post is published, I should be flying to Siem Reap (via Abu Dhabi then Bangkok) arriving on the 17th November around midday. So it appears timely to introduce a photo book on Cambodia by Dutch photographer Eric de Vries. Perhaps he'll be attending the Angkor Photo Festival as well.

STREET is all about street photography. All pictures were taken during Eric's courses, private tours and workshops in 2011. The photographs are mostly in black and white except for the complete series 'Darkness of the White Building'. This is Eric's fifth book (220 pages, landscape) and is part one of the trilogy THE WORKS OF ERIC DE VRIES.

Eric de Vries lives and works in Cambodia, the country he’s been travelling to since 2000. He is currently working on two long-term projects called ‘Still Life in Khmer Style’ that covers landscapes, temple scenes and buddha statues and ‘Hello Darling’, which is about the girlbars in the towns of Cambodia.

Interestingly, Eric's website lists Hanuman Tourism Cambodia, which is affiliated to the hotel I am staying at in Siem Reap. It also organized some of my photo shoots when I led a photo expedition to Siem Reap in February 2006.

Kishor K. Sharma: The Rautes of Nepal

Photos © Kishor K. Sharma - All Rights Reserved

Seeing this on my Facebook page made me break my traveling 'omerta'...it's a gallery titled Living In The Mist: The Last Nomads of Nepal by photographer Kishor Sharma.

According to an entry in Wikipedia, the Raute people are a nomadic ethnic group of Nepal. They are known especially for their hunting of langur and macaque monkeys for subsistence, and gather wild forest tubers, fruits, and greens on a regular basis, but do no farming. For grain, they trade handmade wooden bowls and boxes to local farmers. It's estimated that the Raute nomads do not exceed 200.

The Rautes emphasize that they wish to remain full-time foragers and have no wish to assimilate into the surrounding farming population.

Kishor K. Sharma, is a self-taught photographer/photojournalist based in Kathmandu. He completed his studies in Business, and joined the College of Journalism and Mass Communication in Kathmandu to pursue Master’s degree in Mass Communication and Journalism. He was invited to attend the 2010 Angkor Photography Workshop and took workshops with Antoine d'Ágata, Philip Blenkinshop and Munem Wasif, among others.

Foundry Photojournalism Workshop 2012: Thailand!

Eric Beecroft, the co-founder of the Foundry Photojournalism Workshops, has just announced that it was ready to accept early registrations ($100 deposit, non refundable, and deducted from the total tuition amount) until January 15, 2012. Early registration guarantees a spot and precedence in the choice of instructor.

The 2012 Foundry Photojournalism Workshop will be held in North Thailand from July 29- August 4, 2012.

For regional students (South Asia-- India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Tibet and South East Asia-Thailand, Burma, Vietnam, Phillippines, Laos, Cambodia,Indonesia, Malaysia) the tuition is $475. For all others it is $975 US dollars. Payment is via Paypal.

So spread the word via social network sites, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

On The Way To The 7th Angkor Photo Festival

I'll be traveling tomorrow to London for a brief stopover before flying off to Siem Reap via Abu Dhabi and Bangkok. I chose to fly Etihad, the Abu Dhabi airline, from London to Bangkok after hearing it offered an impressive flying experience in terms of comfort and service.

The festival itself is to take place in Siem Reap from November 19 to November 26, 2011. This well established event is the first photography festival held in Southeast Asia and for 2011, will exhibit the work of 110 photographers, out of whom 60 are from Asia.

The 2011 list of exhibiting photographers includes Andrew Biraj, Pep Bonet, Paula Bronstein, Marco Di Lauro, Tewfic El-Sawy, Siddharth Jain, Yuri Koryzev, Liz Loh-Taylor, Wendy Marijnissen, Erica McDonald, Palani Mohan, and many more.



On the subject of Cambodia and Siem Reap, I thought I'd re-mention To Cambodia With Love, a book published by Things Asian, illustrated with my photographs of Siem Reap.

It's described as "With its unique insights into dining, shopping, sightseeing, and culture, To Cambodia With Love is a one-of-a-kind guide for the passionate traveler."

It can be purchased from various online bookstores, and I believe the Siem Reap bookstores have it in stock.

I expect my posts might be irregular whilst traveling, but I'll try my best to update my readers with my gallivanting during the Angkor Photo Festival.

Kolkata Masala!

I apologize.

I know I've overdone it with all these recent posts (my work and those of others) on Kolkata, but having returned with a few thousand images from my Kolkata's Cult of Durga Photo~Expedition & Workshop™, I was bound to produce a number of slideshows...audio slideshows and still galleries. And since I'll be on my way in a few days to Siem Reap to attend the Angkor Photo Festival, I want to upload as many of my Kolkata work as possible before I travel. Of course, I still haven't rejigged my Durga Puja audio slideshow, but it will have to wait my return. So there's still that one for you to contend with.

The Kolkata Masala audio slideshow (this link is better quality than its Vimeo iteration) is a collection of color stills accompanied by the musical talent of a Baul singer. It's just a collection of pure and colorful travel photographs...so there's no linear sequencing or storytelling timeline.

There's no question that my favorite photograph is of the mendicants in front of a Jain temple, with one of them gesturing me to stop photographing. This, despite me having given her some biscuits that another charitable gentleman had given me for her. She wanted money, and only money.

Alice Smeets: Voodoo

I thought I'd continue my posts on photographic essays that deal with religious syncretism and feature the compelling work by Alice Smeets on Haitian voodoo.

Every year, thousands of Haitian pilgrims converge into the basin of Saut D'Eau's sacred waterfall to pray. They throw their clothes into the cascading waterfall where the faithful believe the Virgin Mary (known as Erzulie in Haitian Voodoo), appeared in the 1800s.

Haitian Voodoo was created by African slaves who merged their ancestral religious traditions with Roman Catholic practices, allowing them to continue observing their ancient beliefs under the scrutiny of the French colonialists. Today, many move freely between the two beliefs...the very essence of syncretism.

Alice Smeets is a photographer based in Belgium. She's interested in documenting social and cultural issues, with a special focus on Haiti and modern witchcraft.

Her clients include Geo, The New York Times, Sunday Times magazine, Le Monde, Internazionale, Days Japan, PBS, De Morgen, Glamour Magazine, ZDF. She has worked for charities like the Kindermissionswerk and UNICEF.

via Erica McDonald's DevelopTube

Ruben Salvadori: Tales Of A Ritual

Warning: Some Brief Scenes Are Graphic.

A village in the Southern Italian region of the Calabria region is the backdrop for an ancient ritual that is claimed to represent a people’s identity; an identity that struggles to keep its tradition unaltered through time.

"Tradition is the pump that pushes the blood of identity".

During the Holy Week prior the Easter celebrations, the village experiences an intense spiritual and practical preparation for a weekend ritual. The statue of the Virgin Mary is taken out from its shrine to take part in the ritual of Vattienti. These are flagellants who beat their legs with two pieces of cork, one of which has 13 fragments of glass in it,  and represent the sufferings of Jesus, and who must endure the pain of religious mortification in the name of spiritual cleansing.

Ruben Salvadori is an Italian photographer, whose biography tells us that he's to graduate with dual majors for a BA in International Relations and Anthropology/Sociology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He uses photography as an academic aid for his anthropological research, and mixes his academic background with a visual documentary-style approach to gain in-depth, empirical research results through his images.

Further information on the Vattienti:

This sacred popular custom centres around two figures; the “Ecce Homo” and the “Vattiente”, barefoot and tied to one another with a rope about two and a half metres long. The first wraps a cloth around his hips and holds a cross made of wooden slats covered in red bandages, as a symbol of blood and martyrdom; the other wears a black shirt with black shorts and a crown of barbed thorns on his head. Once they are dressed, the “Vattienti” rub and slap their calves and thighs with the “rosa”, a cork disk soaked in a warm rosemary infusion, in order to make the blood rise to their capillaries. They then use the “cardo”, another cork disk with 13 glass shards embedded in it, to beat the reddened parts of their skin. Rivulets of blood run down their legs, while red wine is poured onto their wounds to disinfect them and prevent fast clotting. Once they have marked the door of their house and those of their friends and relatives, as a token of good luck, each Vattiente goes to meet the Madonna Addolorata. This is the final climax of the rite when the flagellation reaches its height and becomes even more agitated and dramatic. (From Tour Calabria).

Sri Bungalows Ubud at Ubud, Bali.

The Sri Bungalows Ubud (S8.51334 E115.26092) is located along the Monkey Forest street of Ubud town, Bali. (booking online through hotel.com)
After about 1 hour 20 mins journey from Kuta, we reached the Sri Bungalows Ubud almost 10pm (local time), and the reception counter said we had been upgraded to the Super Deluxe room due to the deluxe room was fully booked! It was a surprised for us! :)

But the distance from the lobby to our bungalows was about 400 meters! My goodness! But we were satisfy once we saw the room setting...

The entrance to our bungalow unit

The King size bed

The spacious bathroom with bath tub

The room had a another upper level where the two queen size beds located. The view was very nice from the windows!

The staircase to the upper level...

The 2 queen size beds...

There was no air-condition on the upper level, only equipped with one ceiling fan. But it was cooling enough...

View from upper level...

Beside the main balcony at the entrance, there was another small balcony (with one fridge) at the other side of the room...where I had my Bintang beer every night! :)

The second balcony of our room...

We like the setting of the room very much! Esspecially the Balinese style furniture...
I took some photos of the room again in the next morning that you can see more clearer than night time...

The view of the upper level...

When we stepped out the room, the view in the morning was Marvelous! We like it very much!

The main balcony of our room...

The paddy field view from the balcony...(the security tower on the left)

Our room at Sri Bungalows Ubud

Along the way from the room to the lobby, we were really surprised with the Nice landscaping! Green environment!

Nice and Green environment...

We walked pass some nice Traditional Balinese Architecture type of bungalows which categorize for standard room....and the pool...

The standard room at Sri Bungalows Ubud.

The Clean swimming pool...

We reached the narrow lane at the end, and it was the lobby...

The small cafe area beside the lobby...

The common Balinese deco...

The main entrance to Sri Bungalows Ubud

We were satisfied with the bungalows and the services provided (free Wifi to the room). I did noticed the security guard patroling the bungalows area every hour in night time till morning, that made us feel safety! Great!
There are many bungalows around the Ubud area, we will try to stay at some others bungalows in our next visit!

Don't fool by the outlook of the main entrance, the beautiful scenery is behind it!

Related post :-
*  My Bali trip on June 2011
*  My Bali trip on June 2010

Sri Bungalows Ubud
Monkey Forest Street, Ubud, Bali 80571, Indonesia
Website : www.sribungalows.com
Email : info@baligotours.net

Location map od Sri Bungalows Ubud at Ubud town, Bali Island.

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