Balifornian Tours announces amazing new tours
Exciting new tours announced from Balifornian Tours- Go to http://www.balifornian.com/destinations/ for more information.
The new tours include...
Kalimantan and Borneo- Including the Orangutans! Discover Central Kalimantan, visit the Orangutan National Park / Tanjung Puting National Park. See the Orang Utan ( Pongo pygmeus ) and other wildlife; agile gibbons, black handed gibbons (hylobates agilis), gray gibbons, proboscis monkeys, crab-eating macagues, larges dragonflies, a several large birds such as hornbilis, eagles & kingfishers Tana Toraja - Experience increadible culture and mindblowing rituals. This unique tour to one of Indonesia most mysterious places can also be combined with any Bali tour. Bright green rice terraces, tall limestone outcrops and bamboo graves are set against a backdrop of blue misty mountains. Traditional Tongkonan houses stand proudly in this setting. These intricately decorated houses with upward-sloping roofs are the center of all Aluktodolo ( Torajan religion before the coming of missionaries; the ancestors belief ) rites; from storing the harvest in the carved rice barns, "alang", to slaughtering sacred water buffaloes at a week or more-funeral ceremonies. Tana Toraja's beauty is also reflected in its people. Although they are devoutly Christian ( there are small number of Moslems especially in the southern area), they combine this religious belief with magic and mysticism. Secure in their ethnic identity, they welcome visitors to witness their ceremonies. The land of the Toraja people, many notionally Christian but most in practice animist, is above all famed for their spectacular (and rather gruesome) burial rites. After a person's death, the body is kept — often for several years — while money is saved to pay for the actual funeral ceremony, known as tomate. During the festival, which may last up to a week, ritual dances and buffalo fights are held, and buffaloes and pigs are slaughtered to ferry the soul of the deceased to the afterlife (puya). The deceased is then finally buried either in a small cave, often with a tau-tau effigy placed in front, inside a hollow tree or even left exposed to the elements in a bamboo frame hanging from a cliff. Tana Toraja has unique culture set in stunning scenery. Globalisation and tourism may have impact, but if you venture away from the tarmac roads you will find soon a way of life that has not changed much in the last 100 years.(Wiki) Yogyakarta is one of the last intact Javanese Empires in all of Indonesia, with the Sultanate still holds jurisdiction. The Sultan's Palace is the hub of Yogyakarta's traditional life and, despite the advance of modernity, still emanates the spirit of refinement, which has been the hallmark of Yogya's culture for centuries. Yogya is center of Javanese arts and culture, as well as a historically rich and important city. Yogyakarta is the gateway to reach the world famous "Borobudur" Buddhist temple, which is considered as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Borobudur was built by Sanmaratungga in the 8th century, and was revealed by Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles in 1814. The temple was found in ruined condition and was buried. After the independent (1945), the Indonesian Government gave the restoration of Borobudur high priority, invited archaeological mission and in 1955 requested UNESCO's assistance. Papua New Guinea (formely Irian Jaya) Papua New Guinea or Irian Jaya is one of the world's most remote regions and contains some of the most interesting and protected cultures one can find. Balifornian Tours unique access to this region will make your trip infinitely easier and more rewarding. West Papua Package Tours (Formerly Irian Jaya) The cultures of the Papua tribes are fascinating. The island's terrain is rough, mountainous, and covered by rain forest. Communications between villages are by narrow foot paths. Nowadays Irian Jaya is divided into 2 Provinces: Papua Barat and Papua Timur. Sorong is the capital city of Papua Barat, while Jayapura, the capital of East Papua province, is five hours by plane from Bali. Daily flights connect these two cities via Ujungpandang or Biak. From Jayapura or Sentani, a tour to the hinterland is possible. A police permit is required in order to visit Irian Jaya. We can arrange this for you in Jayapura. Other tours include Sulawesi, Lombok, Sumatra and many other exotic locations.
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