Indonesia Travel

Made up of tens of thousands of islands, Indonesia is the largest Archipielago in the world, and with over 90% of its population practicing Islam, Indonesia is the most populous Muslim nation in the world. To Westerners, the Bali terrorist attack that killed nearly 200 Australians in 2006 leaves a deep scar for the country in regards to travel, but I personally see this as a rogue attack similar to the tube bombings in London or train attacks in Madrid; a threat that exists in all parts of the world and not just Indonesia. I felt quite safe while traveling in Indonesia and had no fear of being robbed or threatened, and my experience here was nothing but positive.


Indonesia Links
	I never really got to understand downtown Jakarta, the enormous city seemed to have high rise and commercial buildings going in all directions. I do know the Monas tower on the right is a major landmark in downtown Jakarta. The building on the upper left was another high rise structure I saw in Jakarta. You definitely don't feel like you're in a third world country while you are visiting this part of Indonesia.
	Downtown Jakarta seemed to be filled with endless shopping malls and nice restaurants. Despite the western influence here, I didn't see very many foreigners in Jakarta. A place I was recommended to visit was Central Park, which turned out to be just a big shopping district. The photo above is from another mall I randomly came across while exploring the city. The two photos below are of restaurants and shopping areas of Central Park.


Also in Jakarta is the cathedral seen above, and immediately across the street from that is the Istiqlal Mosque, the largest in southeast Asia. I didn't go inside the cathedral, but I did go inside the mosque and took the two photos below. A security guard who worked at the mosque gave us a tour explaining that there were only two larger mosques in the world, one located in Mecca, and the other in Medina Saudi Arabia. So this would make the Istiqlal Mosque the largest in the world outside of Saudi. Despite it's massive size, I found other mosques like the King's Mosque in Yemen to be much more beautiful once inside.


In between all the high rise buildings and shopping malls, you'll still find plenty of the more traditional shopping areas of southeast Asia. On the left is a large market where I bought some headphones that worked for a single use. The guy on the right is a local of Jakarta who insisted on talking to me and taking pictures.

Famous in Jakarta is the antique market, where items from the early 20th century and souvenirs are sold. Above are two photos of some of the shops and antique items they sell, below are some masks and a statue that would make some great souvenirs, just difficult to carry around your backpack and ship home.


Being from the United States, almost everyone I talked to in Indonesia seemed to ask me about Barack Obama when they found out I was American since he was president at the time of my visit. Since Barack Obama spent some years in Indonesia during his childhood, I felt I should visit his school where a small statue had recently been dedicated to him. As you can see above, he attended the school in Meteng for two years.

From Jakarta, the next stop in Indonesia was the island of Lombok. Located almost center of all of Indonesia, Lombok is a tourist destination but less crowded than the main tourist island of Bali. Most places here are reasonably priced, like the simple Bungalow I stayed seen above.

Although taxis are still the main source of travel in Lombok, unlike Jakarta there are plenty of 'horse cars' here. Also, you'll find more restaurants and fancy hotels. One higher end hotel let us eat dinner on the beach and served some strong alcoholic drinks.

In Lombok, there are several villages where they make their own goods such as pottery, or in this case weavings. The weaving village looks like for the most part it hasn't changed much in the past few hundred years or so. All weaving here is done by hand, and I was told it takes well over a month to make a single scarf. I'm not sure if any of this is exported or if it's all kept here in Lombok.

Another cool place to visit in Lombok is Monkey forest on the west coast. You're guaranteed to see lots of monkeys, and if you get out the car you're also guaranteed to be approached and expected to have food. Most of the monkeys will respect you, but some can be almost as bad as the art vendors in the main areas of Lombok. I'm not sure what the monkey on the left was doing, the mother on the right is taking care of her baby during a rain storm which I imagine might feel cold to them.

Most agree that the highlight in Lombok is a visit to the three islands often called the Gili islands. There are three developed islands here which is where you'll find all the tourists and attractions. People visit for the beaches and diving here no doubt about it, and since the island is only accessible by boat it makes it a visit a more unique experience. Above is a photo of a boat we took from gili to the mainland and the upper right shows a man unloading beer to the island to help satisfy the needs of thirsty tourists. The Lombok dive boat on the lower left is actually what I used to go diving with, and finally on the lower right is just one of the many beautiful beaches on the Gili islands.


The diving in Lombok was very rewarding, with lots of wildlife and some beautiful coral. I did a boat dive as I mentioned earlier, but I could see the gentle slope of the beach coming into the ocean and then changing from sand to coral stones. Eventually there was a steep drop which is where I spent most of my time. These two photos above were closer to the surface so you can see the beautiful colors that the coral here offers.

These two guys above were some of the strangest things I've seen while diving. I mistook the leaf like creature on the upper left for an octopus from a distance because of the way it was swimming, but when I got closer I thought maybe it was a plant that had fallen into the ocean. The dive master I was with gave it a nudge and it swam away, so it is some strange type of animal. On the upper right is a new species of fish I saw.

Once again, I apologize for not having a decent dive camera with a strobe, but until I invest it one these types of pictures are the best I can do. On the upper left is a fish hanging out in some type of coral, on the right is a sea turtle that surprisingly let me get quite close without swimming away. I saw two different sea turtles while diving in Lombok.


	After Lombok, the next island I visited in Indonesia was the world famous Bali. Bali is located directly west of Lombok, and is by far the most popular destination in the entire country. Immediately after my arrival, I could see that the culture and religion here was completely different from the rest of Indonesia. Here in Bali are dozens of Hindu statues and temples, and almost every restaurant and business you see has small dishes of food and flowers on their sidewalks. I was clumsy enough to kick one half way across the street the first day in Bali and had no idea what they were at the time. Knowing it was almost definitely religious, I had no choice but to flee the area. Later I found out these were offerings known as canang sari, and usually are put out several times a day and sprinkled with holy water.
	One day in Bali I saw this huge plumes of smoke coming out from an area in front of a small temple. I at first thought they were burning trash, but there were so many people here it was obviously some type of ceremony. My understanding is that someone passed away and this was a type of funeral service where they were burning something or someone. The next day at the same exact spot I saw these people on the lower right performing another ceremony where they carried some things out into the ocean. They walked pretty deep and the ceremony took almost a hour. I'm unsure if it was a continuation of the fire burning the day before or if it was an entirely different ordeal. On the lower left is a small Buddhist shrine I saw in Bali. My understanding is over 90% of the island is Hindu.


These two large statues were part of a bigger Hindu temple I came across. Most of the religious places I had seen were small shrines built in random locations in between buildings or on someone's property. This temple seemed to be an older building and a place of gathering and worship. Several other Hindu temples exist throughout the island but I didn't have time to visit them.

I assume the less conservative religion of Hindu lead to the development of Bali having a much more liberal atmosphere then the rest of the country. Although there are plenty of places to get alcohol or go out for some night life in the rest of the country, nothing seems to compete with the city of Kuta in Bali. Tons of foreigners walk the street, many of them severely intoxicated both night and day like the two guys on the lower left. The atmosphere to me in Kuta was more of a sin city, with no shortage of exotic shops, people offering some drugs on the street, and plenty of stores selling very offensive t shirts and bumper stickers.

The western development, and large congregations of foreigners made Bali an appealing target for Muslim extremists, and the island was targeted for terrorists attacks several times in the past. The most devastating attack came in 2002 where over 200 people were killed after coordinated suicide bombers who detonated their explosives inside different bars causing people to pour out into the streets. A large car bomb was located immediately outside and this final explosion is what caused the most fatalities. Most of those killed were of course Indonesians, followed by a large number of Australians. The 2002 attacks were followed by other fatal terrorist attacks in 2005 and some minor ones that have left a scar on Bali and caused western governments to discourage travel here. The left photos shows the Bali Ground Zero memorial dedicated at the exact spot of the 2002 attacks. When I visited it had been years since anything significant had occurred, but most people still keep their guard up. President Obama was no exception, and he was actually leaving Bali after I flew to the island for a second visit. Above on the right shows people getting out of their cars to pass the time as the entire airport and surrounding area was shut down until he left.

Back to the nicer parts of Bali, a quite area that I preferred over Kuta was Sanur. This area still has lots of tourists and plenty of activities to enjoy, but it's no where as crazy as Kuta and you'll find a more casual atmosphere instead of the hard core party scene. Above is a statue that was cool enough to be put on my website. On the upper right is an example of one of the hotels here, almost all have a swimming pool.

The boardwalk in Sanur is lined up with beaches, lawn chairs and plenty of restaurants and people offering massages. You can also rent kayaks here and other beach gear. Since I visited in the beginning of the rainy season, it didn't take long for the afternoon storms to roll in.

Walking along the boardwalk in Kuta, we saw these baby sea turtles kept in a small bowl. I had seen warning signs about eating sea turtles in Indonesia posted by the WWF, so my first assumption was that these guys were food. After talking to one of the women who worked at the restaurant, they explained that these sea turtles were born on the beach right in front of their restaurant. They decided to raise them until they were a little bit larger and more likely to survive then release them into the ocean. Maybe the sea turtle I saw while diving was also raised this way and that's why he had no fear of me. On the right is a large star fish I found while swimming around a section of beach covered with weeds.


	A last visit I did in Bali, or attempted I should say was a trip to the Mangrove forest. As a lover of nature and the outdoors, this was something I really wanted to see, and it even got high recommendations from a local who had down played everything else I wanted to do in Bali. When I arrived to the mangrove forest, I was told it was close but wasn't exactly sure on the reason why due to the language issues. I'm pretty sure it was because I came too late in the day, but anyway, I wasn't allowed to go along the boardwalks which are lined with bird watching towers and point out interesting plants and animals you might see. Above is a picture of the forbidden boardwalk on the left, the upper right is part of the mangrove forest that I was able to see. The monitor lizard below was actually a pet of the forest and kept in a cage, but there are plenty of these guys who live in the forests here. The lower right was simply an interesting plant that I have never seen before and have yet to identify it. This is only have of my Indonesia trip, I'll be adding the second part of Indonesia within the next week or so.

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