Indonesia now has a perfect opportunity to catch up with those countries: Golden wild silk, the like of which is found nowhere else, is being seriously cultivated, and Indonesia may well take over from these more established silk producers.

Indonesia's seriousness about cultivating wild silk is evident from the increasing utilization of previously empty land. This can be seen, for example, in Karangtengah village, Yogyakarta. Once dry and barren, the area is now lush and green. Row after row of trees and seedlings have been planted to produce raw silk – cashew, soursop, avocado, mahogany, and other species.

Raw silk cultivation in Karangtengah is being developed by the Yayasan Royal Silk foundation (Yarsilk) to produce gold thread and various handicrafts. In the area, covering dozens of hectares, they are concentrating on breeding two varieties of wild silk moth: Attacks Atlas (brown wild silk moth) and Circular (golden wild silk moth). In fact, Indonesia has over 25 species of wild silk moth, but the primadonna is the golden wild silk moth.

Since it was learned that there are so many varieties of wild silkworms, especially in Yogyakarta–through research and discovery assisted by Professor Hiromu Akai, who has served for 20 years as President of the International Wild Silk Moth Society, in cooperation with Gadjah Mada University, which led him to declare that this type of golden wild silk moth has not been found in any other countries. Enthusiasm for silk moth cultivation has been tremendous. Indonesia was granted the opportunity to attend the Second World Silk Moth Conference in Hotaka, Japan (the first was in China and the third in India), to observe how the world's major silk players such as China, India, Thailand and Japan produce such good silk.

After gaining confidence, Indonesia was then honored to serve as host for the fourth world conference, in Yogyakarta in 2002. At this event, golden wild silk was promoted and attracted enormous attention, particularly from the senior players in the silk industry.

Based on the outcome of this conference, Yogyakarta began to pay greater attention to this tremendous potential; many farmers have started to cultivate wild silk moths, which they had previously regarded merely as harmful agricultural pests. Yarsilk, founded in 1998, has guided farmers to develop their silk moth

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The kingdom's largest island, phuket is thailand's preeminent playground offering everything from frenetic nightlife to white sand beaches; some of southeast Asia's most elite resort and spa are based on this teardropshaped jewel of the andaman Sea.

A most unique home style atmosphere set on a scheduled headland of the legendary Capa Panwa, is one of very few locations which commands panoramic views from the top of the cape and has an exclusive private beach. Sri Panwa offers accomodation of eight two bedroom pool villas of 300 sq. meters each, and three one-bedroom pool villas of 252 sq. meters each, all lavishly appointed with handcrafted furnishings and offering unobstructured stunning beauty of the ocean views.

Nothing incorporates the journey into the fun of a tropical vacation like hopping on a seaplane. with Airline Ticket service tourist can make a plan for their vacation to phuket around, the opportunity of stepping off a plane onto a floating pier in the middle of pristine turquoise waters is within reach.

who says luxury is confined to hotels and resort? just try to looking at Discount Airfare which Offers crewed yacht and catamarans for exciting daytrips headlined by the opulent charatered yacht blue gold, which can accomodate eight to ten live-on board passengers for longer nautical adventures. for more Cheap Flight you can try to Accept lowfare offers for your memorable trip. Anchor aweigh!

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The city of Pagar Alam is a seven-hour drive from Palembang, South Sumatra, by way of Prabumulih, Muara Enim and Lahat Regency to Liku Endikat.

The city's slogan, Besemah (Bersih, Sejuk, Aman dan Ramah, Clean, Cool, Safe and Friendly) resounds in our minds, because it really is accurate. The city of Pagar Alam lies in the Bukit Barisan range, with the iconic Gunung Dempo rising 3,159 meters above sea level; at its foot are luxuriant farms and plantations growing tea, coffee, vegetable, fruit and ornamental plants.

All kinds of recreational activities are available here: rafting, trekking, paragliding, cycling, and much more. But if you don't have much time, it's best to first get your fill of exploring the city, so full of greenery and cool, fresh air, which we so rarely find anywhere these days, let alone in a place called a city.

In the early morning, before sunrise, a tea walk is highly recommended. The tea plantations take up a large expanse – 1571 hectares of Pagar Alam's total of 63,336 hectares. Though it's not yet light, you can already feel the bustle of the tea pickers in action. They work for Pagar Alam's only tea factory, PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN) VII, which was founded in 1929 as the Dutch company NV Lanbouw Maatschappij.

You'll probably want a heavy jacket as you walk through the tea plantation – the morning temperatures can be 15 to 20 degrees Celsius, with occasional strong winds – but you'll want to take it off later to enjoy the warmth of the sun as it gradually reveals the lovely, wavy green carpet below you. The tea plantation's location ensures that it always gets plenty of morning sun, and this gives the tea a fine special aroma. Following the tea walk, spare a bit of time for a mini-course on how tea from Pagar Alam has become one of Indonesia's important commodities.

Agus the foremanThe tea pickers at Pagar Alam are always very pleased to see visitors at the plantation. Though it was their busiest time, in the middle of an excellent harvest, they still flashed us smiles and didn't mind taking the time to tell us about their work.

One such was Agus, the foreman of a group of tea pickers. He was working the second shift, from 8 AM to 2 PM. He's responsible for supervising his crew as they pick the tea leaves, some with machines and some with scissors.

"The crews spread out throughout the plantation, and each crew has to pick 650 kg," he told us, wiping the sweat from his dark brow.

Though the tea is not weighed in the field, Agus can estimate the weight when his crew starts to pick the tea leaves to be delivered to PTPN VII. Once the leaves have been weighed and met the target, Agus and his team can take a break and go home. The tea pickers at Pagar Alam, who are mostly immigrants from Java, are not only one of the attractions of Pagar Alam but also the main key to the success of this agribusiness/agroindustry company based in Bandar Lampung.

Immediately after the tea is collected, it is sorted, including through leaf analysis, then taken to a wilting room, where the tea is kept at 28 to 33 degrees Celsius for 16 to 18 hours. The production process at the plant starts every morning at 3; today's production will be processed the next day.

Following the wilting process is the shredding stage, when the tea is oxidized or fermented for 120 to 130 minutes. According to Chairil Nursyiwan, a processing technical supervisor, "The oxidation mustn't be longer than 130 minutes, to preserve the aroma."

Tea is processed in several stages before it is released to the market.

The next step is drying, for 17 to 22 minutes, using oil palm shells as the fuel. Why? "They're the cheapest!" Pak Chairil explains. The dried tea is then sent to the sorting room to be graded by quality based on specific gravity and particle size.

The tea produced by PTPN VII under the "Teh Gunung Dempo" label is semi-orthodox black tea made using a Rotorvane processing system. The production capacity is 45 tons of wet leaves, which is processed into 10 tons of dry tea per day.

The dry tea is then packed and sent to the auction center in Jakarta. The best quality is the black variety, which is marketed nationally and is used as raw material by many of Indonesia's leading brands of tea. Teh Gunung Dempo is also exported to various countries, including Japan, the United States and the Middle East.

Getting to Palembang
Garuda Indonesia flies there 49 times per week.

Getting to Pagar Alam
Seven hours by bus. Buses run from Palembang, Prabumulih, Muara Enim, and Lahat; also from outside the province, such as from Bengkulu, Lampung and even Yogyakarta.
The local government is currently building an airfield to facilitate access.

Accommodation
Many villas, hotels and guest houses are easy to find, as are places to eat.

Tea is processed in several stages before it is released to the market.Activities
Tea walk, climbing Gunung Dempo, rafting on the Lematang Indah river, camping, trekking in the Bamboo Forest or to the many waterfalls (including Cughup Embun and Cughup Tuju Kenangan), and visiting the megaliths in several locations, including statues of prehistoric humans, people with coiling snakes, etc.

Cycling, paragliding, and off-road adventures are the most challenging, but also the most exciting.

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