History of Bintan
Due to it’s strategic location and size Bintan has a rich history. Riau has for centuries been the home of Malay and the Orang Laut people (sea nomads). Later migrants came from south China and Indochina, today people from a large region of Asia has settled here. Bintan was located aside the China-India maritime trading [...]
Goa Gajah – The Elephant Cave
The mysterious Goa Gajah (elephant cave) is one of the oldest relics on Bali. The exact time of origin is uncertain, but archeologists estimate the cave to have been built around year 1022 AD. This was long before Majapahit entered the island, and also hundreds of years before the first Europeans set foot here. The [...]
Growing of Rice
Few things, if any, have had a larger influence on the development of Asia and Indonesia than the knowledge of how to grow and cultivate rice. Rice is intimately involved in the culture as well as the food ways and economy of many societies. Folklore tells us that when the Kachins of northern Myanmar (Burma) [...]
Tana Toraja Traditional Settlement
Tana Toraja is located in the Northern part of the South Sulawesi Province. Situated between Latimojong Mountain range and Mount Reute Kambola. The arible Toraja consists of three groups. The Eastern around lake Poso, Western Toraja living around the Palu river and Kalawi in Centre Sulawesi. The Specific architecture of Torajan house has its own [...]
Surabaya, city of heroes
Surabaya is East Java’s largest and Indonesia’s second largest city with a population somewhere between 2 and 3 million. Traditionally the city is one of the most important commercial port and trading centers in South East Asia. The harbor is Indonesia’s second largest after Tanjung Priok in Jakarta, protected by the Madura island just east [...]
Banyuwangi and the eastern tip of Java
On the easternmost part of Java there are three volcanoes that all are nature reserves; Bromo-Tengger, the Yang plateau and the Ijen plateau with Gunung Raung to the extreme east. There are also three additional reserves in this area, all located by the coast; Baluran animal reserve at the north east part, the most easily [...]
Singaraja, center of Northern Bali
Singaraja was once the center of trade on Bali, as well as the capital of the island. Traders from all over Asia have arrived here since the 10th century, trading goods like weapons and opium in change of fresh water, food, cattle and slaves. Singaraja means “lion king”, while there are no lions here, the [...]
Ujung Kulon National Park
Ujung Kulon National Park is located on a peninsula at the extreme west part of Java, it was Indonesia’s first national park and by many still considered as the finest. Gunung Honje (620 m) is the highest point, at the center of the park there is a plateau called Telanca with an altitude of about [...]
Gunung Kawi
Gunung Kawi is the largest and maybe also the most impressive of the old monuments on Bali. Like Goa Gajah this site is around 1.000 years old, probably built at the end of the 11th century. Gunung Kawi was first discovered by Europeans in 1920, even if the local population had knowledge of it a [...]
Through the Puncak Pass
If you travel from Jakarta to Bandung you can pass through the scenic Puncak pass, about 90 minutes by car from the capital. The Puncak area is a very popular escape from the hot and hectic city, and along the road there is an abundance of bungalows, cottages, hotels, villas, restaurants and recreation places. The [...]
The Siberut experience
The first thing I saw was green. Green grass, green leaves, green trees, there was earth everywhere. Between short scraggly grasses and luxuriant ferns, palm trees rose from the ground, uniformly arched; their leaves languidly reaching to the sky in perfect circles. Enhanced by the pale steamy sky, the smell of rain and grass emanated [...]
Gorontalo
Gorontalo is the newest province on Sulawesi. Recently separated from North Sulawesi, it covers a mere 12,000 sq. km. with a population of 840,000. The area is composed of extensive coastlines, rugged mountains, and a large central valley almost entirely surrounded by steep slopes. At its center is beautiful Lake Limboto. Because of its narrowness, [...]
Central Lombok
The fertile area south of the mighty Rinjani mountain has several interesting villages, beautiful landscapes and green rice fields. Most of the villages here are populated by Sasak, one often visited village is Tetebatu at the foot of Gunung Rinjani, from here the view to this mountain and the southern part of the island is [...]
Sangihe and Talaud islands
Sangihe and Talaud are a chain of islands stretching north from Sulawesi in the direction of the Philippines. There are many active volcanoes here and a very fertile soil. Much of the products are sent by boat to Manado, like coconuts, rattan, nutmeg and ebony. The total land area is 813 sq. km, population about [...]
The Shipwreck Of Panaitan
It is Friday at noon; the team has already arrived in Sumur, a sleepy fishermen town on the West coast of Banten. KM Samudra and her crew are ready to receive the group on board. A small motorized skiff shuttles between the shore and the boat loaded with logistics, equipments, and people. A team consisting [...]
Tirta Empul
This important temple one km north of the Tampaksiring village was founded as early as 962 AD. It is not as spectacular as Gunung Kawi a few km’s away, but absolutely worth a visit. Even if this is one of the oldest sites on Bali much of the structures are relatively new, it was completely [...]
The North Sumatra Triangle
The North Sumatra Triangle — a paradise for budget tourists. “Unity in Diversity” is the national motto of Indonesia. There are over 300 tribal-ethnic groups living on 6,000 islands. The remaining 11,000 islands are uninhabited. The larger islands are Java, Sumatra, Irian Jaya and Kalimantan. Kalimantan comprises two-thirds of the island of Borneo, the other [...]
Bogor, city of rain
Bogor was by the Dutch during the colonial era called Buitenzorg (means “without a care”). Governor General van Imhoff built his country estate by the same name here as early as 1745, and it became a favorite place of retreat for later governors as well. Sir Stamford Raffles made Bogor his country home during the [...]
Lombok
Lombok is known for it’s natural beauty and a large variety of landscapes, from tropical beaches to high mountains, dry plains and deep forests. The island is considered to be more “unspoiled” than Bali, tourism is still limited to just a few areas. The size of the island is 5.435 square km, which is relatively [...]
Ubud
Ubud has become the favorite place for many visitors to Bali. The name Ubud is probably derived from “ubad” which means medicine (“obat” in Indonesian), and to come here may be medicine for people who look for a relaxed way of life and beautiful surroundings. Ubud is built on the slopes of the central mountains. [...]
Batam
Batam is one of the largest islands in the Riau archipelago, and not long ago it was just another poor island with coastal villages and unspoiled nature. The declaration of the Batam free trade zone in 1989 has turned the island upside down, after just a few years of rapid construction it now has a [...]
Tara Bandu in East Timor
The environment of East Timor is highly diverse; in terms of geology, topography, climate, as well as terrestrial and aquatic flora and fauna. Obviously man has affected the East Timor environment, but it is equally true that most resource uses are curtailed by and adapted to the island’s natural conditions. The differences in practises and [...]
Manado
Manado is the provincial capital of north Sulawesi, and has a population of about 250.000. The city is located in the Minahasa region at the northern tip of a long and narrow peninsula, and is a trade center for northern Sulawesi. It’s harbor is exposed to the open sea, and Manado’s commercial port is therefore [...]
Lake Toba
Lake Toba (or Danau Toba in Indonesian) is a lake and former supervolcano, 100 kilometres long and 30 kilometres wide, and 505 metres at its deepest point. Toba is located in the middle of the northern part of Sumatra with a surface elevation of about 900 metres. It is the largest volcanic lake in the [...]
