Seeking

ariverseeker at Bukit Lawang, Sumatra, Indonesia.

Slave of the City - King or Queen in the nature..

#waterfall #cityslave #philosophy #king #nature #getaway #life #temporary #heaven not #skinnydip

There's as always precious little to add; whenever waterfalls hit the Southeast Asian newsstands it's for all the wrong reasons. I'll lleave that  for the last section.

So let's start with a couple of photo's from the region.

Brunei

Underbart! 😍

Temburong waterfall by emiliabroni.

Cambodia

eliza.wanderlust 

Chasing waterfalls. #cambodia #mondulkiri #waterfall #wanderlust #travel #naked #gypsy #hippie #love #life #adventure

Travelfish.org has some info on Ratanakiri's waterfalls: 

'Waterfalls are dotted about Ratanakiri province. Here are three of the more accessible ones, all best visited by motodop from Banlung'.

Indonesia 

 Riamhanai waterfall on Kalimantan, source

A little known Bali waterfall highlighted by the Jakarta Post (May 19):

'Gianyar has many natural attractions, but Kanto Lampo waterfall is the regency’s most recent sensation.
Unlike many of Bali’s other waterfalls, which are mostly located in remote, hilly forests, Kanto Lampo is adjacent to the crowded Banjar Kelod Kangin in Beng village, some 30 kilometers north of Denpasar.
...
The villagers consider the waterfall a sacred place from which they can acquire the holy water used in Dewa Yadnya (ceremonies for the living) and Pitra Yadnya (rituals for the dead). There are several shrines around the waterfall where people pray and present religious offerings'.

Then there's the Tegenungan waterfall (Findheroutthere, March 28) from which the photo below comes from:

Malaysia

 

More from emiliabroni, this time from Sabah, probably near Poring hot spring:

 Idag har vi vandrat 7km upp- och nedför i djungeln i bara flipflop! Galet värt när vi fick ett underbart vattenfall för oss själva! 😄💦 #nakenbad #vattenfall #tracking #jungletrip #malaysia

Philippines

zven_sp

 No Clothes? No Problem😎 #CocoNut #coldaf #philippines #skinnydip #lol

Fall in love with these 8 Mindanao waterfalls, rappler.com (Jun. 4). Below no. 4, Tinago Falls.

 

quinnleybown

 Im a unicorn 🌈 #tinago #rainbow #waterfalls #qualitytime #relaxing #unicorn #vscocam #vscodaily #igdaily

Thailand

 

ellybrookejames 

Erawan Waterfall, Thailand #thailand #travel #waterfall #wanderlust

Most news from Thailand concerns the drought which has now passed. The Bangkok Post (Mar.2):

'Pang Sida, a waterfall in the national park of the same name, is a popular tourist destination near the Cambodian border, where early effects of the drought have hit particularly hard. (File photos)

The Pang Sida waterfall, a famous tourist destination in Sa Kaeo, has dried up as the eastern province suffers the country's worst drought in recent memory'.

Vietnam

Somewhere over the Rainbow, Elephant Falls, Vietnam. Self Portrait by Simon Lohmeyer. 

Source

Tragic
And now follows just some of the bad news stories from the region.

The New paper online (Jul. 4):

'Singapore man dies trying to save daughter at Johor [Malaysia] waterfall'. 

Inquirer.net (Apr. 11):

'A company outing turned tragic when an employee fell to his death while taking photographs at the top of a waterfall [Subic, Luzon, Philippines] on Sunday afternoon (April 10), police said'.

Todayonline (Apr. 6):

'The body of a 16-year-old boy has been pulled from a river in the outskirts of Jakarta after he fell in while taking a selfie with friends on Tuesday (April 5)'.

Itv.com (Aug. 5):

'A teenager from Leeds has told how she was lucky to survive after a horrifying fall from a waterfall while on holiday in Thailand'.

Thaivisa.com (Aug. 30):

'A family outing turned to tragedy on Monday when a twelve year old girl fell to her death while taking a selfie at a waterfall in Phetchabun [Thailand]'.

Jakarta Post (May 17):

'A flash flood coupled with a landslide has hit the Dua Warna Waterfall resort in Sibolangit, North Sumatra, on Sunday evening, killing at least 15 vacationers, while another six people remain missing'.

Dreams

Day dreaming about skinny dipping in Indonesia [cloud] craving an adventure [confounded] #Indonesia #Bali #skinnydip #backpack #asia #waterfall #travel #adventure #explore #live #love #life #smile

Source 

Some snippets of news from Southeast Asia. But mostly Thailand. 

First off, the Bangkok Post of Oct. 1 (2015): 

'After first pledging nothing would change under its management, the government says it will now close a Nakhon Nayok waterfall due to a spat with local leaders it took the site from.

The National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department has waged a legal battle with Nakhon Nayok Provincial Administration Organisation (PAO) over the right to oversee the famous attraction'.

With reference to the Nang Rong waterfall, as the picture compares to another article from the same source, same date.  
Apparently the row goes back to the 1950's when the then ruling junta had a private residence built on what should have been public administered land around the waterfall. The residence was eventually given to the province, but the Forest Administration believe that it could never be given to the province as the construction was illegal. 

 

Pasak Ngam Village. When life give you waterfalls, go swim naked in them!

Chiang Mai province, source

Rainbows
An article from the August 23 (2015) by Bangkok Post on chasing waterfalls:

'Slippery slopes: Accompanied by forest wardens, researchers from the Royal Project and the Chulabhorn Research Institute cross a creek in Doi Phu Nang National Park.

The 1,400m trail led to the picturesque Khun Kon Waterfall, but my companions and I did not climb the mountain for the waterfall alone. We had gone there to see what kind of ferns and fern allies it had to offer to medical research'.

Basically the article is a shorter version of this, researching ferns in Thailand's Chiang Rai province, notably the Lam Nam Kok National Park.

| I n R a i n b o w s | getting caught in the present moment of magic, being so grateful for all of natures gifts and offerings. [rainbow] [kissing_closed_eyes] [sparkles] [raised_hands] [hibiscus] [palm_tree]

Somewhere on Bali, source

Lovers
From Khanchanaburi province an outtake on the cave leading to the Tri Tong waterfall (see our visit), surely one of Thailands natural surprises.

Naturism.. #klongchaowaterfall #kohkood #trat #thailand #thailand_allshots #amazingthailand #adayinthailand #tourism #travel #journey #all_shots #capture #canon60d #canon_photos #insta_thailand #forest #fresh #waterfall #nature #naturelovers #outdoors #landscape #landscape_lovers #landscape_captures #swimming #cliff #rocks #photoshoot #naturism #green

source

In Thailand, the El Niño and assorted climate effects are leaving the waterfalls dry. So reports the Bangkok Post (Feb. 17, 2016). Among the affected are also Erawan and Huay Mae Khamin though the drought is nation wide. So coming months may not be the best to visit a waterfall, especially in central and northern Thailand.

Cha Ung waterfall in Banlung. #sunsoutbunsout #getyourassintonature

Banlung, Ratanakiri, Cambodia, source

A primer for the waterfalls of the Bolaven plateau (Laos) by loadsofroads (Dec. 2, 2015).

Downside
As always (alas), waterfalls are more dangerous than they look like. The BBC (Feb. 27, 2016) reports on how three Britons died while clambering on Dalanta waterfall, Vietnam. The falls themselves are a tourist trap with hopefully assorted safety concerns, so it's quite strange how this accident could have happened.
Likewise three waterfall soakers died last September at Sakai waterfall, Ninh Thuan (Vietnamnews, Sep. 28, 2015), here the cause was a flash flood.

From Thailand the news that even on Samui one needs to heed the call of the waterfall. The Bangkok Post (Jan. 7, 2016): 

'... the man plunged the equivalent of eight stories from a viewing area about two-thirds the way up the 39-metre-tall Khun Si waterfall in tambon Mae Nam, Pol Cap Sirachat Kamunee, a duty officer at Koh Samui police station said'. 

Only months before the same had happened (Daily Mail, Sep. 1, 2015), surprisingly at the same location.

Measures to be taken at Sedudo waterfall (East Java) after a cliff fall resulted in three deaths (Jakarta Post, Jul. 23, 2015). The article highlights natural events causing deaths at waterfalls and beaches.

I actually could go on and on but it's an astonishing amount of how recreating with water in general seems to be underestimated as well as cliff faces surrounding waterfalls. Let's just conclude with the call to be safe out there ....