It’s a long-haul feast of unique culture, flavours, sights, sounds and experiences. If Indonesia is on your radar for guided travel, here’s what you need to know about the country, the environment, the culture, and the most popular destinations and experiences.
Natural Indonesia – A mega-diverse paradise emittings the most greenhouse gases
Indonesia is mega-diverse, rich in animals you don’t see anywhere else, the highest level of biodiversity in the world. With a population of 264 million, it’s busy and bustling but despite being the fourth most populated country on earth there are quiet spaces and natural havens to lose yourself in.
With more than 17,500 islands, only 6000 of which are inhabited, this place is wonderful for diving, and snorkelling. Then there’s the legendary Komodo dragon, the planet’s biggest lizard with a temper to match, found on Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Montag, and Padar islands. On the downside, this place emits more greenhouse gases than any other country.
The rhinoceros is a big deal here, with the rare Javan rhinoceros only found in Indonesia, officially extinct because there are fewer than 50 of them left, a tragedy for this country that needs to do a lot more to protect its unique environments. If you smell something vile in the jungle it might be Rafflesia arnoldii, the world’s biggest flower, which absolutely stinks. Then there’s Amorphophallus titanium, the tallest flower on earth.
More Indonesian animal oddities… did you know they export more frog’s legs here than anywhere else, another dubious honour. If you run across a tiny nocturnal primate called the tarsier, like an incredibly weeny monkey, you’ll see its eyes so large they can’t turn their heads. Luckily their heads rotate 360°, so all is well.
Ancient Indonesia – A long history of human occupation and volcanic violence
Marco Polo was the first European to reach Indonesia, arriving in the year 1292 to marvel at these islands created by the underlying ‘Ring of Fire’ where great tectonic plates meet and spew up the volcanic rock that developed into the islands over millions of years. There are still over 400 active volcanoes and they get at least three earthquakes every day. But the origins of humans on the islands go back a lot further than the Portuguese explorers. The famous Java Man, later named Homo erectus, was found by a Dutch doctor on Java in the late 1800s, and since then experts have dated human bones going back as long as 1.7 million years.
When Krakatoa exploded it made the biggest noise heard in modern history, as powerful as two thousand Hiroshima bombs and killing at least 36,000 people. If it happened today it would probably kill millions. The 40m high tsunami it caused crossed the sea at 311 mph, completely destroying countless coastal settlements. The bang was heard as far as Sri Lanka and Australia, and the tsunami surged as far as the English Channel. In December 200, the world’s second largest recorded earthquake, a 9.3+ magnitude monster, caused the tsunami that killed more than 300,000 people. The quake was so massive and violent it caused our planet to wobble on its axis.
In 2003, on the island of Flores, scientists found a skeleton the size of a three-year-old child but with the appearance of an adult. Homo floriensis, aka the Hobbit, was an ancient human ancestor who left Africa two million years ago to spread throughout Asia. Some believe that these small people are remembered to this day in fairy stories as goblins, elves, and other ‘little people’ of various kinds.
Imagine living in a place where the people speak more than 700 languages, with one main language called Bahasa Indonesia? This is a diverse place where a multitude of cultures meet. It was invaded by the Japanese in WW2 and occupied by them until the end of the war, events that have left behind their own flavour. The islands of Indonesia: Borneo, Papua New Guinea, and Sumatra are amongst the world’s ten biggest. Borneo, for example, is more than three times the size of the UK, so doesn’t really feel like an island.
Cultural Indonesia – Strange traditions
Indonesia’s Hindus mostly live on Bali, where it’s traditional not to let a baby’s feet touch the ground until they’re six months old. They pass the babies from person to person instead. Then there’s people’s top teeth, which are usually filed down to stop anger, confusion, jealousy, drunkenness, desire and greed getting into the body.
It’s a bit weird being a woman in Indonesia. They say women are prone to ‘latah’. When we’re startled by something we swear like sailors, fall to the ground and have fits. Apparently it’s because our soul leaves the body when we’re shocked, but it doesn’t seem to happen to men. In contrast Indonesia’s men value virility and openly regard philandering males as heroic. On the bright side they accept gender fluidity, with a tradition for men called Banci dressing and behaving like women, given important roles like matchmaking, acting, healing and carrying out rituals.
There are strict rules about what you can and can’t believe here. The government recognises six religions; Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Protestantism, Catholicism, and Confucianism. If you’re a local you must belong to one of them and you can’t legally inter-marry.
Kissing is strange in Indonesia too. Instead they ‘cium’ people, which means sniffing their cheeks in greeting instead of kissing like we do. In some places they rub noses. It just goes to show, the ways we express affection and attraction are not universal! And, talking about attraction, Kalimantan on Borneo offers prostitutes everywhere from hotel spas and massage centres to karaoke bars, night clubs and pubs. Unless you happen to book into a Muslim-run hotel, where you’ll need to present a marriage license before they’ll let you check in.
With more than 87% of people Muslim, it’s polite to be sensitive to their culture. But not to the past! On Borneo some tribes used to hunt heads. A few still do but these days they use coconuts instead of human heads. Which is a relief.
According to the old Java practice of pingit, which means confinement, Indonesian girls from the ages of 12 to 16 are more or less imprisoned, forbidden to leave their home. And the Dani tribe in Papua New Guinea used to amputate one or two joints of a woman’s finger when a close relative died, now forbidden.
It sounds dreadful, but one of Indonesia’s most luxurious exports is Kopi Luwak or Cat Poo Coffee, yours at an eye-wateringly expensive thousand US dollars per pound. What they do is feed small, cat-like animals called civets on coffee berries, which they poop out. The people collect the berries, wash them, grind them into coffee, and then rich people pay a fortune to ‘enjoy’ the brew’s unparalleled richness and smoothness.
If that hasn’t put you off, you’ll enjoy the food. The national dish is called nasi campur, which isn’t actually a recipe it’s just what happens to be available on the day, a blend of many dishes and flavours.
And finally… where should you go on your guided travel adventures? Here are just ten of the best-loved Indonesian attractions.
Ten of the best things about Indonesia
- Soothe your body, mind and spirit at Ubud on Bali, the perfect wellness destination
- Party your nights away at Lombok’s lovely Gili Islands
- Experience the magic of orang-utans at gorgeous Tanjung Puting National Park at Kalimantan on Borneo
- Hike Sumatra’s spectacular Kerinci Valley
- Snorkel and dive at magical Raja Ampat, West Papua
- Visit the vibrant city of Jakarta
- Absorb the culture at Tana Toraja, Sulawesi
- Climb a volcano on Java
- See the extraordinary homes at blissfully pretty and peaceful Tana Toraja
- Wander the other-worldly Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, a barren wonderland of slightly creepy volcanic calderas
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