Indonesia is a country of superlatives in every aspect.
Where to travel in Indonesia?
Everyone’s heard of Bali.
Many think that Indonesia is a part of Bali, but it’s actually the other way around. Bali is one of the 17 thousand islands that make this country the world’s largest archipelago. In terms of land and sea, it is the 7th largest country, with almost 260 million inhabitants. About half of them live on the island of Java, which is also where the capital of Jakarta is. The dominant religion is Islam, making Indonesia the most numerous Muslim country. Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and other religions live in peaceful coexistence with Islam.
When the New World was discovered, this archipelago was taken by the Dutch who ruled over it for more than 350 years. The Netherlands owes most of its wealth to the trade in spice and other goods. Indonesia gained its independence after World War II, although the Dutch tried for a few more years after the war to appropriate goods and cities using weapons and diplomacy. Today, Indonesia is a member of G20, the 16th global and no. 1 South-Asian economy.
Tourists are more familiar with Bali than with Indonesia itself.
The fact is that the majority of travellers to Bali do not visit any other part of the state, which is a pity. Such a diversity of peoples, languages, culture and traditions in a single country is unique. Hundreds of languages and different peoples and tribes present not only a great wealth but also a political obligation of unity. It is not a small country so it’s neither easy nor cheap to travel into different distant regions. They say that if there was a direct flight from Aceh in Sumatra to Irian Jaya in the Papua island, it would last 11 hours. With layovers, it takes much longer. Indonesia is simply huge and creating a transport infrastructure on 17 thousand islands is not an easy thing to do. Nevertheless, there is a large number of airports and the flight connections are very good. Several large national companies such as Garuda, Citilink, Lion and Srivijaya have hundreds of modern aircraft so connections are possible even to the most distant regions.
One of the must-sees is Yogyakarta,
a cultural and student center. The Buddhist temple Borobudur, dating back to the 8th century, is the largest of its kind and the most significant Buddhist shrine. On the other hand, the Hindu Prambanan is also impressive in its beauty and significance. Only 35 km from the downtown is Merapi, a live volcano that wakes up every 4 years and lets out excess lava and poisonous gases that 7 years ago killed several thousand people. Yogya is an autonomous province ruled by the Sultan. His palace is the central attraction of the city.
Jakarta is a modern city of skyscrapers, wide avenues and highways.
This, naturally, translates into enormous traffic jams. According to CNN, it is the most congested city in the world. Jakarta is sometimes compared to durian – a fruit of specific scent. From afar it is lovely, but once you’re closer to it the smell is not always so pleasant, although the fruit is of an enchanting taste. And it really is so, because the selection of restaurants and specially seasoned dishes from all over the country make Jakarta one of the gastronomic capitals of the world, offering everything from street food to luxurious restaurants on roof top terraces of skyscrapers. Alcohol is not served everywhere, except in Bali, and is quite expensive.
Indonesia has huge tourism potential.
Where to travel in Indonesia?
Thousands of paradise islands still unknown to tourists are waiting to be discovered. In the recent years, there has been a lot of talk about the Raj Ampang archipelago. It is situated along the very tip of Papua. There are also the huge and mystical Borneo, Sulawesi, Sumatra, and the other 17 thousand islands. A whole lifetime would not be enough to discover all of the attractions of Indonesia, so it’s time to start exploring.
Where to travel in Indonesia? Everywhere !!!
