INDONESIA
About Indonesia
For sheer size, scale and variety, Indonesia is pretty much unbeatable.
The country is so enormous that nobody is really sure quite how
big it is; there are between 13,000 and 17,000 islands. It's certainly
the largest archipelago in the world, spreading over 5200km between
the Asian mainland and Australia, all of it within the tropics
and with huge areas of ocean separating the landmasses.
Not surprisingly, Indonesia's ethnic, cultural and linguistic
diversity is correspondingly great - the best estimate is of 500
languages and dialects spoken by around 200 million people.
The largely volcanic nature of the islands has created tall cloud-swept
mountains swathed in the green of rice terraces or rainforest,
dropping to blindingly bright beaches and vivid blue seas, the
backdrop for Southeast Asia's biggest wilderness areas and wildlife
sanctuaries. The ethnic mix of Indonesia is overwhelming: this
is the world's largest Muslim country, but with a distinct local
flavour, and there are also substantial populations of Christians,
Hindus and animists, whose forms of worship, customs and lifestyles
have been influencing each other for centuries.
Worryingly, it is this very religious and racial diversity that
in recent years has threatened to unravel the very fabric of Indonesian
society. Riots in many parts of the country have pitched Muslims
against their Christian neighbours, with two of these battles
- in the Maluku Islands and in Poso in Central Sulawesi - developing
into full-scale civil wars. On Java and other islands, deep-rooted
anti-Chinese sentiment surfaced in particularly bloody fashion
in 1998 and continues to smoulder to this day. More localized
ethnic violence has its source in the transmigration policies
of the Indonesian government, whose aim was to settle far-flung
areas such as Kalimantan with migrants from overpopulated regions
including Java and Madura, often without local consultation and
with little heed given to traditional land rights. Unsurprisingly,
resentment and violence have sometimes boiled over. However, with
a new and popular president, Megawati Sukarnoputri, in power,
and the economy finally showing signs of recovery, it is hoped
that - while further bloodshed is perhaps inevitable - the fury
and frequency of these internecine battles may start to subside.
Indonesian has also been badly battered in recent years by the
separatist struggles of a couple of its provinces. Despite wide-ranging
democratic reforms introduced by Megawati and her predecessor,
Gus Dur, two disaffected provinces, Aceh in North Sumatra and
West Papua (formerly Irian Jaya), tired of years of repression
and corruption, unhappy that the new democratic reforms do not
go far enough for their liking, and emboldened by East Timor's
successful secession (the former Indonesian province became the
world's newest country in 2001), began to clamour for their own
autonomy , launching bloody uprisings that continue to this day.
Whether their respective struggles prove successful - and what
will happen to Indonesia if they are - remains to be seen, though
with these two provinces lying at the geographical extremes of
the archipelago, it's tempting to think that any break from Indonesia
will have little adverse effect on the rest of the country.
Because Indonesia encompasses such a diversity of cultures, it
can be very difficult to decide where to go. However, there is
a well-worn overland travellers' route across the archipelago,
which begins by taking a boat from Penang in Malaysia to Medan
on Sumatra's northeast coast. From here the classic itinerary
runs to the orang-utan sanctuary at Bukit Lawang, the nippy little
hill resort of Berastagi, the chilled-out lakeside resorts of
Danau Toba and the surfers' mecca of Pulau Nias . Further south,
the area around Bukittinggi appeals because of its flamboyant
Minangkabau architecture and dances. Many travellers then hurtle
through the southern half of Sumatra in their headlong rush to
Java , probably bypassing the exhaustingly overpopulated capital
Jakarta , but perhaps pausing at the relaxed beach resort of Pangandaran
in West Java. Next stop is always the ancient capital of Yogyakarta
, a cultural centre which hosts daily performances of traditional
dance and music and offers batik courses for curious travellers.
Yogya also makes a good base for exploring the huge Borobodur
(Buddhist) and Prambanan (Hindu) temples. Java's biggest natural
attractions are its volcanoes: the Dieng plateau , with its coloured
lakes and ancient Hindu temples and, most famously, Gunung Bromo
, where most travellers brave a sunrise climb to the summit.
Just across the water from East Java sits Bali , the longtime
jewel in the crown of Indonesian tourism, a tiny island of elegant
temples, verdant landscape and fine surf. The biggest resorts
are the party towns of Kuta and adjacent Legian , with the more
subdued beaches at Lovina and Candi Dasa appealing to travellers
not hell-bent on raging nightlife. Most visitors also spend time
in Bali's cultural centre of Ubud , whose lifeblood continues
to be painting, carving, dancing and music-making. The islands
east of Bali - collectively known as Nusa Tenggara - are now attracting
bigger crowds, particularly neighbouring Lombok , with its beautiful
beaches and temples. East again, the chance of seeing the world's
largest lizards, the Komodo dragons , draws travellers to Komodo
and then it's an easy hop across to Flores which has great surfing,
and the unforgettable coloured crater lakes of Keli Mutu . South
of Flores, Sumba is famous for its intricate fabrics, grand funeral
ceremonies and extraordinary annual ritual war, the pasola .
North of Flores, Sulawesi is renowned for the intriguing culture
of the highland Torajans, whose idiosyncratic architecture and
impressively ghoulish burial rituals are astonishing. West of
Sulawesi, the island of Borneo is divided into the Malaysian districts
of Sabah and Sarawak, the independent kingdom of Brunei, and the
Indonesian state of Kalimantan . For the overland traveller short
on time, there's not much here that can't be experienced more
rewardingly across the border in Sarawak, but Tanjung Puting national
park offers guaranteed close contact with orang-utans, and there
are opportunities for river travel in remote jungle. East of Sulawesi,
West Papua (Irian Jaya) is expensive and time-consuming to reach,
but is worth considering for the remote Baliem Valley , home of
the Dani people, who hunt with arrows and wear penis gourds.
The whole archipelago is tropical, with temperatures at sea level
always between 21°C and 33°C, although cooler in the mountains.
In theory, the year divides into a wet and dry season, though
it's often hard to tell the difference. Very roughly, in much
of the country, November to April are the wet months (January
and February the wettest) and May through to October are dry.
However, in northern Sumatra, this pattern is effectively reversed.
The peak tourist season is between mid-June and mid-September
and again over the Christmas and New Year season.
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