While recently visiting Asia to shoot panoramic images for Panoramic Earth.com I found myself coming face to face with the Macaque monkeys of Uluwatu Temple.
Uluwatu Temple is on the southern end of Bali, situated on high cliffs and, as it turned out, inundated with monkeys. These are considered sacred and honoured residents of the temple and as such roam freely around the compound.
Being very used to humans, naturally inquisitive and totally un-shy, They also have a habit of knicking anything that is not tied down, be it a water bottle, hat or pair of glasses. Shortly after this picture was taken, a scream from an assaulted tourist confirmed the fact as she was relieved of her straw hat. The monkeys at Uluwatu are considered sacred, and therefore allowed to roam the site and hassle the tourists freely. Of course, it is possible to buy some food from a number of vendors to entice the monkeys close. Not, it seems, that the food is needed for this purpose, but it may placate the animals and afford some temporary protection.
The panoramic images taken form Uluwatu Temple and other places in Bali will shortly be available on the new version of Panoramic Earth, to be launched in the near future.
Over the last year a new version of Panoramic Earth has been developed. This is now nearing completion. The basic concept of linking panoramic images from around the world to interactive maps remains, but there are also some very significant differences.
The Old:
The New:
As you can see there is quite a bit of change – in fact the whole thing looks brand new. Here are some of the improvements we have been working on.
- We wave goodbye to the Java applet for most of the tours, and say hello to Google Maps. As Google maps continue to cover more of the earth it is now possible to link the images to this, which will result in faster load times and more flexibility.
- We will be able to differentiate the different types of locations using different pins, so you will know what you are looking at.
- Each individual location covered, be it a museum, beach, church temple or volcano (yes we have some!) will come with it’s own individual description.
- You will be able to search for different types of locations using a new search function.
- New Panoramic Earth will be open to all. Anyone will be able to submit panoramic images to the website. Anyone will be able to add comments to each of the locations.
This will be coming to a browser near you in a very short time. In the meantime please add your thoughts or express your interest in being kept up to date or involved here! Peter Watts
Panoramic Earth.
