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'.

Mediocrity at it's best

#poringhotspring

source

When compiling a Top 10 of Southeast Asian hot springs, it's always exciting to see which hot spring comes out on top. 
Well, it's not. 
Every year there's a slight change in how the list is compiled but the result remains the same.

As always, Poring hot spring located in Malaysia's Sabah state leads the pack. Since compiling began in 2009, the (bi-) annual overview has consistently favoured Poring hot spring.
Even though the experience itself is less appealing. Evidenced by for instance these recent reviews on tripadvisor:

• 'This is like a busy swimming pool area, not a relaxing romantic space',
• 'Hot spring area itself is rather mediocre, and unappealing'.
• 'The public bath in Poring hot springs gets overcrowded with locals therefore it is expected theres no privacy and the tubs could get dirty. Its a given - its up for the tourist to take the plunge'.

Just to show that this Top 10 has no value whatsoever!
 

If very much interested in change, one needs to look at what happens beyond the top.

Banjar hot spring on Bali hits the top three very much at the cost of Thailand's Pai hot spring. Otherwise it's the slow rise of Banjaran hot spring at no. 6 and the more spectacular rise of Puning which now sits at no. 7 even though this hot spring was yet to rank in 2014's top 20.

Another loser was Vietnam's Thap Ba hot spring which seems to have a lesser high profile in the many social media which now constitute a bigger ingredient of the list.

The Top 10 of Southeast Asia's highest profiled hot spring as of December 2015:

1. Poring, Sabah, Malaysia (2014:1)
2. Maquinit, Palawan, Philippines (2)
3. Banjar, Bali, Indonesia (6)
4. Ardent, Camiguin, Philippines (4)
5. Pai, Mae Hong Son, Thailand (2)
6. Banjaran, Perak, Malaysia (8)
7. Puning, Luzon, Philippines (-)
8. Thap Ba, Nha Trang, Vietnam (5)
9. Sari Ater, Java, Indonesia (7)
10. Mainit, Luzon , Philippines (12)

Just bubbling under the top 10 are the hot springs of Fang (Thailand, Toya Devasya, Moni (both Indonesia) an Tambun (Malaysia).

The more natural alternative in the top 10, from Pai, Thailand. Source. 

Oh Pai...you have been just beautiful! This was my first time in a natural hot spring. Or how I call it, "natural spring roll" #pai #thailand #asiatrip #asia #gopro #gopro4 #goprophotography #hero #hero4 #hotspring #secrethotspring

Still the same?

 Poring hot spring, Sabah, Malaysia. Instagrammed by krrsabah:

#poringhotspring #ranau #sabah

Change

A few years have passed since the last listing of popular Southeast Asian hot springs. So maybe a new overview is required.

During the past years, some soaks have gained in popularity as tourism in the region booms and shifts. Others soaks have seen a wane in popularity.

But trends in publicizing soaks and putting them on the net have also changed.

So making a list will result in changes and surprises.

Sharing

I have tried to include more current data than in the past, limiting for instance google searches to the past year. Including instagram helps.

But despite all the changes, as you can see below the hot springs of Poring remains top as was the case in 2 and 4 years back. Ergo, it must be very popular. Or so bad that everybody wants to share it!

1.   Poring           (Sabah, Malaysia) 98 pt (positions in 2011-2009: 1st-1st)

2.   Ardent           (Philippines) 80 pt (3-3)

3.   Maquinit        (Philippines) 78 pt (x-6)

4.   Sari Ater        (Java, Indonesia) 64 pt (x-x)

5.   Thap Ba         (Vietnam) 61 pt (7-x)

6.   Banjar           (Bali, Indonesia) 55 pt (4-5)

7.   Sungai Klah   (Malaysia) 50 pt (6-2)

8.   Pai                (Thailand) 43 pt (-)

9.   Puning           (Philippines) 36 (-)

      Binh Chau      (Vietnam) 36 (10-x)

Other noteworthy changes: Fang (Thailand) has disappeared all together despite a high ranking in previous lists, while Asin (Philippines) has also dropped away (from 5th) and would now be 11th. 

Odd is also that while using the same method Sankampaeng was recently ranked no. 1 in Thailand, the no. 2 in that list now ends higher, which is due to comparative ranking.

Pop

Which brings us to bias. The above of course is not free of bias.

For instance, shorter names are favoured over longer names. 

As previously stated in the previous  polls, language plays a large role as nearly all but Filipino citizens publish in their own language (English) so it´s quite natural to see hot springs from the Philippines doing well. Compare with Thap Ba which sees probably more tourists but less references as most of the tourists are Russians. 
There is a better overview of possible bias from the 2009 listing.

But despite this I do believe it is a fair representation. Of internet popularity.

Note though that it only is a list of popular places. Poring for instance despite it´s mentions is not well reviewed. I looked up all the reviews of the above soaks and note that based on quality, Thap Ba and Sankampaeng are ranked with 4.5* in Tripadvisor, while Poring and Puning have 3,5*. Maquinit, Ardent, Sari Ater, Banjar, Pai and Asin all have 4*.

So it´s more a potential list of hot spring areas to visit. Not necessarily a list of hot springs to visit.

Campagnal hot spring, Leyte island, Philippines. Leyte was in the eye on the super typhoon.

Odd caption to the photo (source)with buildings:

'The rugged and exotic beauty of sitio Campagal hot spring in Brgy Robas remains undefiled'.

Sources of comparison:

instagram, google search (past 12 months), google blog search (past 12 moths), bing, flickr, tripadvisor & youtube