PATA in Bali

KTD was able to attend the Pacific and Asia Travel Association (PATA) Travel Fair in Bali in September. The fair is a travel trade event, this year attended by over 400 sellers of tourism products and over 300 buyers. The response to the new eco cruise offered by Kalimantan Tourism Destinations (KTD) was enthusiastic. There is a market for new, unique travel destinations, which provide quality accommodation and experiences. KTD, with the completion of its cruise vessel, ready for the first commercial voyages on 1 January 2008, is gearing up for a very busy new year.

Independence Day 17 August

Tujuh belas agustus is Indonesian Independence Day, marked in communities all over the country by wildly competitive games hotly contested by kids from 5 or 6 years up. Have you ever tried to eat a krupuk hanging from a string with hands tied behind , or maneuver a pencil tied around your waist into a soda bottle - backwards? Well, people line up here to try. Our community had non-stop games the morning, hoop rings, 3 legged races, and basketball all morning, and tug of wars, football and karaoke in the afternoon. Drifts of kids turned up, all determined to win a prize. Supervising all were a dedicated team of grown ups, who no doubt remember the fun they had when young!

Selametan

Selametans are part of the Indonesian way of life .. a set menu shared for celebration, commiseration, recognition, appeasement and nourishment. It is communal, bonding, spiritual, purifying and gala. Weddings have the ritual selametan where greeting the newly weds is every bit as important as enjoying the food. Making the first intention to build a house, or to welcome a baby, start a new career auspiciously or celebrate the end of the fasting month, a selametan brings a crowd together to mark the event or intention. Dominated by the yellow rice mountain, a pyramid of rice steamed with spices to the exact consistency to stand up on its own, the table or mat is a festive splash of colour. Centred on a bamboo platter, covered by a freshly cut and woven banana leaf, the rice mountain has an unvaried array of delicacies at its feet - fried chicken niblets, potato cakes or perkadel, fried tempeh with peanuts, and fresh coconut shredded with cassava leaves and green beans. Sometimes a chicken stew or opor ayam, accompanies it, but there is always a fiery fresh chilli paste or sambal and a barrel of plain steamed rice. After prayers the eldest and most distinguished guest is invited to cut or receive the top of the mountain. Once safely seated, the other guests begin to load their plates. Its also a free meal!

Warm welcome in Pegatan

Descending the Sebangau River to the Java Sea was smooth as glass all the way, but crossing the bay to the mouth of the Katingan River was a bit choppy. Reaching the sheltered channel behind Damar Island came after half an hour. Craning to catch glimpses of proboscis monkeys in the mangroves was to no avail. The best time to see them is dawn and dusk, not in early afternoon as we approached the township.
High on stilts at low tide, Pegatan gave us a warm but wet welcome. As soon as we'd checked into the simple and comfortable guest house, rain came in heavy squalls, blotting out the bulky traditional freighters standing just off shore, the nearby mosque and the tightly packed village. We sat on a tiny balcony sipping sweet tea and coffee waiting for it to ease.
Strolling through the car-less village later, we attracted many delighted welcomes from the villagers, as we ate satay and saw swallow 'hotels' for birdnests, piles of cockle shells, fish out to dry, canoes under construction, traditional gardens, boardwalk alleys, freely wandering cows and goats, and mangroves.

Pegatan spin

Travelling on Kalteng's rivers is an exercise in expectation - are we early enough to catch the boat, is there going to be enough space, and will the weather and the boat hold?
Making the trip to Pegatan as a farewell to Indonesia, friends working at the BCU National Plus School at Tangkiling enthusiastically squeezed into the speedboat, which had settled into the tiny harbour at Keringbangkirai, south of Palangka Raya. On board were already passengers and goods, including a motor bike all headed, like us, to Pegatan along the beautiful black water Sebangau River, bordering the Sebangau National Park.
Pegatan perches on the end of the sandy spit which is the mouth of the Katingan River. The easiest access is via the Sebangau River. Otherwise it is a risky open sea speedboat journey from Sampit (not recommended by a green-faced police officer met later in Pegatan), a 7+ hour journey from Kasongan on the Katingan River (expensive charter only), or a seasonal klotok ride by canal from Sampit (2 hours).
We travelled in June, and had strong rain showers, but still enjoyed perfect reflections and watching the vegetation change from forest, to rushes to dense palms at the mouth. Along the river we saw snakes swimming and small bronze freshwater crocodiles, as well waterbirds. Later a passenger talked about the big salt water crocs at the mouth, but we did not see any.

Hornbill home

Native to many parts of the Indonesian archipelago, the species common to Central Kalimantan is known as the burung tingang or tingang hornbill. It is a magnificent bird with striking white feathers in the mostly black plumage, and crowned by its glossy yellow horned bill and jaunty red crest. I heard a story recently which relates that, once the eggs are laid in a cosy hole in a tree, the male bird then closes it with twigs and mud, apart from a small feeding space it uses to bring food to the broody female. Whether true or not, we often catch glimpses of hornbills (or they of us?) swooping across the rivers. Since the forest on nearby land has been left to regenerate, and all birds protected, many species of hornbill have been spotted by keen birdwatchers. The feathers were greatly prized by locals, and some can still be seen adorning the headgear of traditional dancers. This carving was made to decorate a sandung, or traditional bone house.

Pagatan by speed

A group of friends here are talking about taking a taxi speed boat to Pegatan on the Java Sea to see proboscis monkeys. From Palangka Raya it takes about 4 hours by speedboat down the black water Sebangau River. Winding through uninteresting country initally, land that has been logged and burned, the boat reaches the mangroves, standing in the quiet, still black waters which are fed by many streams and canals draining from the peat domes in the Sebangau National Park. Leaving the dark river behind, the speedboat bursts onto the Java Sea for a 30 minute bumpy ride to pass on the sheltered side of Damar Island before reaching Pagatan. This port town sits on the tip of the sandy promontory at the mouth of the Katingan River. A town on stilts, with tidal waters creating large differences in river levels, Pagatan lives from trading and fishing. They also want to initiate a tourism enterprise on Damar Island, where they say a white ocean beach is the main attraction. I hope the proboscis monkeys are still as numerous as they were during my last visit in 2003, when the attached photo was taken from our boat. We'll let you know!

Speedboat trips

Trips by speedboat are one of the perks of living in Central Kalimantan. Speedboat taxis regularly service routes to regional centres that are usually inaccessible by car, especially during the wet season, when roads are turned into mud baths. The boat trips can be as short as an hour, for a cruise on the Rungan River, or as long as 4 hours, to Tumbang Malahoi and Pegatan, on the Java sea, or even 6 hours if travelling upriver to Tumbang Hiran. These journeys are exciting and comfortable in the big boats, designed to carry 20 or more passengers under a tarpaulin. You can sit back and enjoy the passing river scenery through a cool curtain of spray. Just as some roads can be impassable in the wet season, so the levels of many rivers go down in the dry, hot season to reveal rocky rapids, sandbanks and fallen trees, and often closing the rivers altogether.

Borneo Beat Newsletter, June 2007

The longhouse at Tumbang Malahoi

Longhouses, or betang, are traditionally built up the rivers by extended Dayak family groups seeking protection. A 3 hour trip by speedboat up the Rungan River to the village of Tumbang Jutuh, and then a short but rough road trip to the tiny village of Tumbang Malahoi, brings you to an area outstanding for its old longhouse and traditional carvings. This betang, lived in by 23 successive generations of the same family, also houses in front of it, the sandung, or ritual burial structure holding the bones of past family members. Flanked by tall totems representing some of those buried or guardian figures, the whole stands opposite ascention poles, said to be needed for each soul to reach heaven, on the back of one of the hornbills at the pinnacle. This betang stands on magnificent ironwood poles soaring 7 metres overhead and is clad in bark. Clambering up to the dim interior on niched poles, worn smooth by countless feet, is an entry to a bygone time. Before having to return to the speedboat, a walk through the village yields many other fine examples of sandungs and their guardian poles.

Isen Mulang Festival

The Isen Mulang Festival is an annual event in Palangka Raya which brings together dancing groups from all the regions in Kalteng. Dressed in stunning costumes, and providing a magnificent splash of colour for the Governor's VIP guests before they enjoyed their meal in the traditional longhouse, these dancers were competeing for the winning laurels throughout the 5 day festival. Other hotly contested events included fireball, wood chopping, blowpipe and forwards/backwards test of strength paddling orbesei kambe! Why not arrange your holidays here next year? This festival brings the city out to the stadium and onto the streets to create a lively, almost riotous event. Capped by a public concert with both contemporary and traditional music and dance forms, this is a true festival of the people and of their living culture.

Partners Lorna Dowson-Collins and Gaye Thavisin

Ecotourism in 'Lord Jim' country

Jakarta Post Features - May 20, 2007

Duncan Graham, Contributor, Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan

There's a lot of curiosity and much activity among the mud and mangroves at a Kahayan River inlet in Palangkaraya, the capital of Central Kalimantan.

Six carpenters are building cabins atop a stripped-down, 20-meter former cargo boat bought by two foreigners with a dream. They want to introduce serious ecotourism to the huge but almost empty province -- and by doing so save the forests and the Dayak who depend on them.

The inlet, with two primitive hand-cranked steel cable winches, is a local bush version of a dry dock though heavy rains have flooded the site.

That hasn't deterred the workers who are racing to get the craft looking presentable for the May 23 celebrations of Central Kalimantan's 50th anniversary (see sidebar).

When the cheering has faded and the bunting been pulled down the engine will be installed, heaved in by muscle power, for this open-air boatyard has few facilities. Then the fittings will be finessed to ensure they're of a standard to meet the needs of international clients.

The Dayak Hope will be a floating boutique hotel with five double cabins. It will be capable of sailing into the upper reaches of the province (known locally as Kalteng), giving ecotourists the chance to see distant Dayak villages, wild (not rehabilitated) orangutans scrambling through the treetops and tropical flora and fauna.

For businesswomen Lorna Dowson-Collins and Gaye Thavisin this is a major undertaking. They plan to put the Indonesian part of Borneo on the world map of discerning tourists looking for experiences they can't get in Amsterdam or Adelaide.

The couple have already sunk more than US$60,000 (Rp 550 million) of their own money into the plan, which includes development of a river port in Palangkaraya, more floating hotels and extensive marketing overseas.

"Gaye and I have gone beyond just ooh-ing and aah-ing and thinking how great it would be to open up the Kalimantan environment to others," Lorna said.

"We're now up to our necks in a venture that's driven by our vision to protect Kalteng's unique forests and create new sources of income for the local jungle-dwelling communities."

Up to their necks? An outside observer might think this a defective metaphor. Add the crocodiles of business envy, the leaches of bureaucratic interference, the everyday hazards of remote-area life made doubly difficult in the tropics, and the fickleness of the tourist industry -- and you can see that on the Richter risk scale this show is quaking.

Lose one visitor into the swirling brown crocodilian waters or have a hard encounter with a hornbill and the word will move at warp-speed through the Internet.

Fun in frontierland? Sure -- but only if it comes with air-conditioning and cell phone access.

Boat-based tourism

This is "Lord Jim" country, the land made famous in Joseph Conrad's classic. In the story, a disgraced young seaman shrinks from society to live with the Dayak. He helps better their lives but is killed after making a second error of judgment. (Read the book if you want to know the first.)

Fortunately, neither Lorna nor Gaye are dewy-eyed business maidens. Both have sweated long enough in Indonesia to know that foreigners giving birth to a new idea won't have an easy labor, whatever soothing sounds are made by politicians who say overseas money's welcome, but won't ease the traumas of investment.

Lorna grew up in Jakarta where her father was a doctor at the British Embassy until he was kicked out of the country. Before that happened the family went sailing most weekends through the Thousand Islands just offshore from the capital -- an experience that helped develop Lorna's love of adventure.

She went on to study anthropology and work in the UK on international development programs, but was soon back in the archipelago.

In Indonesia she's been a consultant with the Australian aid agency AusAID in Aceh, and with a non-government organization (NGO) in Kalimantan on training projects and developing business enterprises.

Gaye is an Australian who formerly managed the Kalimantan Meeting Center (KMC), a three-star hotel and restaurant at Rungun Sari, about 36 kilometers northwest of Palangkaraya. She now runs a foreign investment company, PT Kalimantan Tourism Development.

Both are members of the Subud community, a spiritual movement started in Java early last century. They live at Rungun Sari where a magnificent meeting hall has been built and is available to all faiths.

"My river journeys whilst working for the NGO took me to the heart of the local people's lives and their rapidly depleting forests," Lorna said.

"Rivers are still the main transport system linking remote villages, a fascinating but uncomfortable affair. This led me to think: What could be better than a boat hotel with comfortable cabins and a restaurant viewing deck to enjoy the passing, peaceful days of village and jungle life?"

Indeed. Great idea but nothing stands in isolation. The current investment buzzword is "infrastructure" meaning roads, ports, airports, hotels and other public facilities have to be fixed first.

Sustainability

There aren't too many roads in Kalteng -- the biggest province in Borneo at 154,000 square kilometers. However, by Indonesian standards the main links are in reasonable condition.

Borneo isn't jam-packed Java: There are only 10 million in the whole Indonesian section of the island, with maybe less than 250,000 in Palangkaraya.

The locust swarms of Hondas and Yamahas have yet to plague the highways and the air is breathable outside the smoke season when farmers set fire to the forests in defiance of edicts from Jakarta.

There's no international airport so connections -- frequently late -- have to be made through Jakarta or Surabaya. Foreigners remain a rarity -- only 2,000 visited last year -- and not all Palangkaraya hotels are either comfortable or welcoming to outsiders.

The plan is to run Dayak Hope from the river close to the KMC hotel while port facilities in Palangkaraya are upgraded. Then, if all goes well, boats two and three will be built. These will probably be custom-built rather than converted.

The original budget of Rp 280 million for the boat alone has already doubled. Other investors have come to the rescue so the project is still afloat and heading for commercial operation in September -- with a plan to break even by the second year.

Mike Johnson, a marine environmental anthropologist from East Java, has been hired to advise on the work, though the design came from a French marine architect.

Johnson reckons the cost of building a floating hotel from the keel up will be little more than buying and reshaping an old boat -- and a lot easier.

The proposed tariff is Rp 4.3 million per person for a three-day, all-found river trip. The partners reckon this will attract a market between backpackers who'll rough it anywhere, and the top-end tourists who want five star toilets.

Lorna put together a business plan entered it in an international competition and won a useful Rp 74 million for her proposal. Through this she met Dutch travel agents interested in supplying management skills, clients and maybe investment.

"Our first planned tours will be along the Katingan River into the newly established Sebangau National Park, one of the last surviving peat swamp forests in Kalimantan and home to the largest known remaining orangutan populations in the world," she said.

"Unfortunately, illegal logging and forest fires continue to threaten the survival of the park.

"Our overall aim is to promote ecotourism in Kalteng as a viable way of protecting the forest and promoting the welfare of local communities through creating an effective strategy for economic growth.

"We'll provide 25 per cent of our boat tour profits to finance village ecotourism and conservation programs using microfinance loans to establish home-stays and train guides.

"The communities depend on the natural resources for their livelihoods. When use is sustainable the balance in the ecosystem is maintained. But where income is low the local people are forced to exploit.

"Poverty is a large threat to biodiversity. To conserve nature it's important to deal with poverty alleviation.

"We believe that our boat will be the vehicle to develop a social enterprise that can make a real difference."

Rahai'i Pangun

Our cruise boat has a name! On 22 May 2007, as part of the 50th Anniversary Celebrations of Central Kalimantan, at a traditional adat ceremony, local Kaharingan spiritual leaders gave the name Rahai'i Pangun to our cruise boat. Called after a mythical boat which widely traded up the rivers of Kalimantan and throughout Asia, it was famous for its ability to travel cross treacherous seas. Still under construction, the boat will be ready for its first tourists in September.

Mixing waters

The image of black water coming off the peat swamps and drifting into the muddy Kahayan River water looks like an odd painting, where the undercoat has still to be glazed by the final murky brown or conversely by the translucent black. But this scene is normal from the vantage point of the bridge over the Kahayan. A nearby creek which has run over the peat deposits on which Palangka Raya sits, sends its brackish water off to a swirling battle, where these days the muddy water will win. Once, they say, all the rivers of Kalimantan were black.

Rains

The rivers are overflowing and changing colour from the muddy brown of the lower levels to the black, clear brackish water flooding from the peaty soils in the forests. Floating houses, or rumah trapung, along the rivers rise with the tide and strain on the ropes anchoring them to the riverbanks. The stilt houses along the rivers are like islands with their canoes bobbing at the front door, and rickety bridges zigzagging to the nearest dry land. Forests flood and we can float through them to surprise birds and proboscis monkeys. As the rains culminate, and the dry season begins, the clouds scatter and the sun shines on this watery world, reflecting perfectly in the black water. Rains upriver still keep the levels high, as high as 15 feet or more above the dry season lows. With an easing of the rains, the river levels go down quickly and the floods rush away to the Java Sea or are absorbed into the sandy base of Kalimantan, once said to be the bottom of the ocean.

Getting ready for the festival

Palangka Raya is full steam ahead on preparations for the Isen Mulang Festival and 50th Anniversary celebrations. Practises for the mass marching and bands go on every night as buildings and thoroughfares everywhere are getting a spruce up. We visited the ceremonial longhouse to check on preparations for the formal dinner and dance spectacular to find renovations almost completed. The Museum is humming with activity as exhibits are prepared for a display of decorative features and tools from 39 provinces. Being part of it all lends excitement and a sense of shared responsibilty. Wish us all luck!

VIP Eco cruise boat preview

On 22 May, as part of the Isen Mulang Festival and 50th Anniversary of Central Kalimantan, we will preview our eco cruise boat, currently under renovation, to a group of VIP's from Jakarta, guests of the Governor.

The first to be operating on the rivers of Central Kalimantan, this boat is a major step forward for tourism. Taking guests in to the heart of the jungle to see unique wildlife, traditional lifestyles and stunning scenery, this boat will be equipped with 5 cabins, 3 bathrooms, dining area, covered viewing decks, and air conditioning. From its comfort, the guest can enter areas not before seen by tourists and later, take adventurous treks through the national park to seek the iconic orangutan in its native habitat.

VIP's will be treated the the traditional Dayak boat naming ceremony on 22 May, whereby a Dukun will bless and give the most propotitious name to the boat. Work will be finished by August, and we hope to be taking our first guests in September.

Museum Balanga

The rainy season is still with us, and while it is my favourite season as it makes the rivers high and the temperature pleasantly fresh, constant rain can make sightseeing a bit of a drag. But, on the other hand, it is a good day for the Museum!

The Palangka Raya Museum Balanga is laid out in such a way that the visitor moves one by one from the artifacts and customs of birth, childhood, and marriage to death. There are carved birthing stools and inclined benches, slings and hammocks for babies and the delicatedly sequined backdrops and clothing for weddings. An intriguing miniature collection of sandung or bonehouses flanked by their attendant carved guardians is next to the rows of gongs and musical instruments that always accompany traditional rituals. A stunning series of tall, weathered carvings stand together in a group around a Kaharingan altar, an integral part of the faith of the indigenous Dayaks. Collections of masks, mandau or swords and highly prized traded procelain pots and vessels make this small collection a fascinating insight to the unique local culture.

Isen Mulang Festival 19-24 May 2007

Blowpipe, fireball, enchanted boats, canoe paddling, dances, chopping, cooking, singing and other popular local games and sports are open for fierce competition between the regencies (regions) of Central Kalimantan. Heats are already on in the regencies for the best groups to compete.

This year is also the 50^th Anniversary of Central Kalimantan, so there’s more happening. Kalteng Expo 2007 showcases what’s going on across the board in the province. The Museum, as well as its collection of Dayak cultural objects, will also have a special exhibition of Indonesian decorative features. Restaurants (warungs) mushroom at night along the streets and the city lights up. Literally too, when fireworks will flash into the Anniversary night sky.

Kalimantan Tourism is doing special Isen Mulang Tours which you can buy through recognized Indonesian Travel Agents, including Indonesia Ecoventure www.indonesiaecoventure.com and Bayu Buana www.bayubuanatravel.com

Here is an abbreviated program :

CENTRAL KALIMANTAN TASTER TOURS
18-20 May 2007 Long Weekend Isen Mulang Tours
3 days/2nights

Day 1 Arrival in Plk, traditional lunch on riverbank, speedboat ride to see orangutans and check in hotels. Enjoy a dip. Evening meal and traditional dance watching sunset over Tangkiling hills.

Day 2 EITHER (included in tour package)

Isen Mulang City Tour – Start your tour at Bukit Batu, or boulder hill, a place renowned for spiritual power, where the Founder and first Governor of Central Kalimantan meditated. Return for early lunch to hotels. Afternoon visit the Museum and special exhibitions and then enjoy some shopping in the traditional handicraft market. Join in the opening ceremony of Isen Mulang and later stroll along the boardwalks of the old town at sunset. Dinner and later watch the night fireball competitions and Dayak songs. Return to hotels.

OR

Wild Orangutan Walk (conservation surcharge applicable) - CIMTROP open their 25,000 hectares of conservation peat forest to a special type of eco-tourist interested in experiencing first hand the rainforest habitat and the orangutans that live there. Experience the awe of having a unique encounter with a wild (not the usual rehabilitated) orang-utan as you watch them in the canopy above you. Trek through parts of the, conserved by the care of the CIMTROP Team. Feel the thrill as you first spot orangutans in the canopy or on the ground of their natural habitat. Follow them on foot and keep up as they swing through the tree tops.
Learn about the importance of the peatland forest at CIMTROP’s natural laboratory and the work they have been doing to protect this endangered environment.

Day 3 Early check out to watch traditional canoe races and blow pipe competitions. Depart Palangka Raya 1100 for the airport

Are you coming?

Orchid and jungle trekking eco tourism was on the agenda last night when Upik came to talk about his activities in a small community of the Barito Timur region of Central Kalimantan, adjacent to the Barito River. He is working for the regional government in a community which maintains an 'adat' forest, one that is traditionally managed and utilised. In effect, this gives the forest protection from development or logging or other activities that would destroy it.

The forest is some 60 square klms in size, and contains potential for forest walks, peaceful canoe rides through proboscis monkey habitat, and seeing the famous black orchid of Borneo in situ. The latter flowers in June and July, and this would be a perfect time to visit, between the rainy and dry, hot seasons.

We talked about planning a trip which included some time within the community to learn about what exactly the 'adat' forest is, and how they maintain and control its use. Staying first in a home stay, and then having 2 nights in a jungle camp, would give a real experience of this surviving traditional forest usage. The problems we have are simply getting there. The roads are very poor from Palangka Raya to this region, so we are looking at usage of float planes - an adventure in itself!

Our eco cruise boat, planned to operate on rivers and lakes along the boundary of the Sebangau National Park, is well under construction. Now is the exciting time when the framework goes up, and the cabins and decks begin to appear. The interior of this traditionally built freighter will house 5 cabins and 3 bathrooms. On the quarter deck to the stern of the boat will be food preparation and covered dining areas. Above, on the deck over the cabins, will be a roomy, covered viewing deck. From there, our guests can lay back and enjoy the passing scenery. Glimpsing monkeys, including the larger proboscis monkey, several species of hornbills, the electric blues of kingfishers, swooping swallows, the velvety royal blue of a delicate species of bird of paradise, and the tawney gold of the local pheasant, is all the work they will be asked to do!

Our committment to true eco tourism, where we are working with local craftsmen and upgrading their skills by bringing in experienced internationally trained and recognised designers and builders, is happening at every level. We are already working in villages where the boat will call, and are collaborating with other NGO's already there. This eco tourism venture aims to have direct benefits to the preservation and conservation of the Sebangau Park, native forest habitat of the Bornean orangutan. Joining us on the boat makes a direct contribution to that effort.

Palangka Raya is currently booming, and celebrated the opening of its first mall last week. The well planned city with its wide boulevards was intended by Sukarno to become the capital of Indonesia. It is now the bustling centre of government with an expanded role after decentralisation of power from Jakarta. It is also the centre for natural resources development in plantations, mining, fishing and ecotourism.

Jungle remedies

Visiting the riverside village Sei Gohong yesterday, we sat down at a warung or little shop, we were joined by a dukun, someone who knows traditional remedies. This woman daily collects remedies from the jungle, and had come with a bag full of dried roots, leaves and branches. Throwing it down on the ground, she kept our company enthralled for an hour with her stories and recipes for cures for asthma, cancer, diabetes, malaria and stomach problems. Only problem is most of the cures require steeping the dried plants in boiling water and then drinking the fantastically bitter brew.

Indonesian media visit

Going on the Rungan River in small traditional canoes with film teams and their heavy equipment to watch orangutans, is all in a days work for us at Kalimantan Tourism Development. Arranging the schedules, finding the best Palangkaraya hotel, getting the right permits in advance, and the best transport is only part of the challenge. Central Kalimantan is just opening its doors to tourism, and so each trip is an adventure, like looking at a new world.