Marty Mellway Photography

After a long trip by bus from the Cameron highlands in west Malaysia we stood by the wide brown river that lead into the jungle. Not just any jungle, Taman Negara, one of the oldest jungles on earth.  After gathering our things we climb into a long thin boat with the other travellers heading up the river toward the park headquarters. There were 4 of us travelling together at this point. Jeanette, Chistina, myself and a German girl whose name I cant remember. We were off at once, flying up the river into the unknown. On either side great trees soared, exotic birds called, our eyes were wide searching for movement at the banks. We all know under those dark trees coutless eyes were watching us roar past. Elephants, tigers, bison, snakes, spiders, leeches, monkeys, boars, giant ants. After three hours through the jungle on the boat we arrived at the park head quarters and the small riverside town of Kuala Tembeling. We set up in one of the few hostels and packed it in. We awoke early in

The Cameron Highlands have a unique tropical highland climate. We Spent many days hiking through the cool wet jungles exploring the incredible diversity of flora and fauna. The mountain tops are thick with hanging mosses, mist and a variety of carnivorous plants. Down in the main valley there are large tea plantations. After a week of exploring the lower jungles and tea plantations we decided to climb mount Brinchang. The Trail climbs steeply up the mountain side through dense jungle and is very muddy at some points. While climbing we often got views through the mist of the endless jungle covered mountains to the west.  We reached the top after a few hours of climbing and got great views. The most interesting part though is the forests that grow on the top. Incredible ancient moss covered old growth forests perpetually in the clouds. A true cloud forest. Tea Plantaion

One of the best parts of Bali has to be the amazing traditional arts. They have amazing carvers and painters, a unique orchestra(the Gamelan), and a thriving culture of dances and theatre. Last night we attended a dance and musical performance that was by far the best I have seen yet in Bali. This dance school toured in the west in the 1950's and had a huge impact. The dance style is flawless and the musical theory mystifying. The tuning of the Gamelan orchestra is quite different from music in the west.  The Gamelan  features a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, kendang (drums), gongs, bamboo flutes, and bowed strings. My descriptions of the these dances don't do them any justice so I will let the photos speak for me. Also I took a lot of video of both the orchestra and the dances, so when I have a chance to work on it and make something than you will really see how incredible and unique these art forms are. 

Last week was the annual festival of Galungan. The Balinese believe that Galungan is the time when their ancestral spirits visit the earth. We went to one of the many village temples to see the ceremonies and rituals. Kuningan is the last day of the Galungan Festival which celebrates the victory of good over evil. During the festival we also went to Pura Tirtha Empul, a holy water temple which is of great imprtance during this festival. The temple was built around a fresh water spring in 926 A.D. It is said that Indra, a god, Stabbed the ground to create this spring to cure his army of the poison left by the evil king Mayadenawa. After we left Tirtha Empul we went to Gunung Kawi, A beautiful temple down in a ravine full of terraced rice patties. Gunung Kawi is where the Kacak dance in the film Baraka took place. The complex comprises 10 rock-cut candi (shrines) carved into the cliff face. Gunung Kawi really feels ancient. Something almost primal about the way the rock is car

Our first week back in Bali has been great. It took us only two days to fully adjust to the 12 hour time change. After arriving in Denpasar and staying near the bus station for a couple nights we took a local minibus up into the mountains of central Bali. The minibuses are large vans that take specific routes and will pick people up anywhere along the way. Much cheaper and more fun the the tourist mini buses. We arrived in the town of Candi Kuning after a quick two hour ride which took us first through the flat agricultural region of central Bali and then up into the mountains. From Candi Kuning (pronounced Chandi Kuning) we did a day hike into the Jungle towards a temple on a ridge on the far side of the Volcanic lake(Danau Bratan). The Jungle was pretty dense and the trail got smaller and more grown in the further we went. We saw many different species of tropical birds and insects as well as some kind of squirrel and a few macaks. The macaks in the high mountain regions of Bali

We had a great trip last weekend to the pacific Rim National Park near Tofino. We took the ferry to the Island early Saturday morning and arrived at our campsite near long beach by 11am which gave us the whole day to get out and do some hikes. I was testing out my new film camera which turned out to work great. There are some really incredible landscapes around the park, my favorite would have to be the bog. Ill let the pictures and videos say the rest.