Soothing

eazytraveler 

DAY 18 of #eazy30daysinindonesia | Two gushing streams merge — one cold and the other steaming hot from the heart of Inerie volcano — at Malanage Hot Spring. It's the wonderfully soothing way to end a full-day exploring tribal villages and a volcanic crater in #Bajawa, central Flores. 🛀

Time for some update, however ther's precoius little to focus on. It looks like the timespan of internetters is decreasing by the day, so we end up with just a couple of views here and there. Still, let's give it a try.

Starting in Malaysia, Thinkgeoenergy (Aug. 5) has some info on geothermal development:

'The Apas Kiri in the Sabah east coast district in Malaysia is expected to be operational by June 2018, as reported locally.

The project is set to have an installed capacity of 30 MW and will be feeding its electricity into the grid of Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd. under a feed-in-tariff scheme.

It will be Malaysia’s first geothermal power plant'.

Eco
Staying on-subject. Indonesia has much geothermal potential that it makes sense to exclude national parks for geothermal extraction. Mongabay (Sep. 12):

'The Indonesian environment ministry has denied the Aceh provincial government’s proposal to rezone part of Mount Leuser National Park for geothermal development, reacting to opposition from conservationists who argued the project would threaten key orangutan and rhino populations'.

The article was cited by ThinkGeoEnergy (Sep. 13) which failed to copy the part in which doubts were raised to meeting the local needs (there were none) nor on the extent of the rezoning (nearly 8,000 ha instead of the 100 ha required). Better usage below.

hillymontague 

I'm not much of a selfie taker, but when taking a bath in natural hot springs, exceptions have to be made! #swimming #travel #adventure #camping #trekking #hiking #ketambe #leuserecosystem #hotsprings #bathtime #indonesia #aceh #sumatra #forest #travellife #gopro #selfie #hillyfromtheotherside

Meanwhile the same source (ThinkGeoEnergy, Sep. 13) highlights the geothermal setup on Bali by translating an article from CNN Indonesia as it concludes

'There is though hope, as a lot of the opposition is likely rooted not in religious issues, but about who will be effected by development with regards to the division of land and compensation'.

Cover
Sometimes the hot springs can get too hot, figuratively speaking. TTR Weekly (Sept. 29) duplicates an AFP report on the most recent rumblings atop the Indonesian island of Lombok. A smaller vent situated in the crater of Rinjani has begun to erupt:

'Around 1,000 tourists, including about 600 foreigners, were believed to be in the area when Mount Barujari sent columns of ash and smoke shooting high into the sky over Lombok island, Tuesday, according to the official disaster agency'.

One of the highlights of a multiday trek over the volcano cone is a possibility to enjoy natural picturesque hot springs, as below.

david_jacowbski

 Indonesia last year. #hotsprings #rinjani #mountain #nature #beautifuldestinations #thevisualcollective #createexplore #earthfocus #visualsoflife #instagood #stanyandwander #igmasters #streetdreamsmag #agameoftones #illgrammers #urbanromantix #citybestviews

There's a list of famous hot springs in Vietnam (source).

Stranger soaking news from Indonesia. Coconuts Jakarta (Sep. 20):

'The warden of Soppeng State Prison in South Sulawesi, Irpan, was recently arrested by police in the tourist area of Lejja, Soppeng - famous for its hot springs.

Irpan was not on a family trip to the the hot springs. According to police, Irpan and three of the guards from his prison were on holiday, along with 17 prisoners'.

On fire

More hot news, this time from China's Yunnan state. Gokunming reports (Sep. 23):

'Fuxian (抚仙湖) is reputedly the cleanest lake in China, and also the deepest, containing an estimated ten percent of all the lake water in China.

...

The group was photographed bathing near a hot spring that feeds the lake by another unrelated traveler on September 12. While swimming is allowed in the lake, one of the trio was caught on camera washing her hair with shampoo. Once the image was published on Chinese social media the firestorm began, and continues unabated nearly two weeks later.

...

In addition to countless posts and discussions on social media, press outlets across the country seized on the misdeed to highlight the growing sense of environmental awareness amongst China's citizenry. One can only hope that such concern over Fuxian — the shores of which are ever more crowded with resorts and tourists — will prompt people around the country to think twice before littering'.

Quick internet searches reveal that the custom is quite prevalent. Even cars are seen washed in the pristine (?) waters ...

South China Morning Post (Sep. 17) adds:

'The administration said it had hired 200 inspectors to stop “uncivilised behaviour” and one in charge of the hot spring section had been punished.

Mania

A couple of pictures, first from the Philippines, then a rustic springs northern Laos and finally a peculiar picture from Burma:

One of a series of pictures on Mainit hot springs, on Cebu island. From tumblr

 

Muang La Lodge Hot Spring

antoine.fievet at Dhang Kuang

#Myanmar #Birmanie #burma #inlelake #monks #hotsprings #buddhism #swimmingpool #travel #instatravel 

Expansion

Off to Thailand where ther is news from the Yunomori chain of onsen reports. Thailand tattler (Oct. 6)

'After the success of its Bangkok and Singapore branches, the unique concept of Yunomori Japanese Onsen and Spa has expanded to Pattaya. The Thai inspired onsen and spa combines Thailand’s natural hot spring waters with traditional Thai massage techniques and allows guests to restore their mind, body and spirit'.

Note it's unclear what is understood with natural hot spring waters, it certainly is trucked in at the least. 

boycalledric 

Hot Springs Crew Dem #pai #hotsprings #friends #hostellife #vscocam #thailand #travel

Star TV (Aug. 25) has a vdo of Southeast Asia's first geothermal plant in Fang, Thailand, which is still the only geothermal plant in the Kingdom. 

Finally sad news from Malaysia. Free Malaysia today (Aug. 5):

'A five-year-old boy drowned while bathing in a pool at the Ulu Legong Hot Spring Recreational Centre near here last night'.