These are some of the glimpse of my journey in Indonesia . I have traveled almost 50 days , from the tip of Indoneasia Sumatra to one of the furthest Timor island and covered more than 10000 km . In this visit I have journey I experienced 48 hour bus journey from Padang to Jakarta , 2 day ship journey from Makassar to kupang , 16 hour train journey from surabaya to Jakarta , 8 hour minibus journey from aimere to Labuan Bajo , 4 hour motorcycle joueney in SOE , 3 hours mountain cycle journey in ubud and public transport like Ankot , city bus , betor and many more . Indonesia is a diverse country with more than 1340 ethnic group and more than 700 languages . Though predominant language spoken in Indonesia is Indonesian which is spoken by 94 % of the people . Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world with over 17000 island so lots of boats are there to connect between the island . People are most genuine and welcoming in Indonesia . One time journey to Indonesia will leave a ever lasting impression on you .
Medan:-
My journey started from the Kualanamu International Airport . I entered Medan city on 13 the of September from Penang , Malaysia by air . Coming here from Malaysia , first you will get a cultural shock . Indonesian people loves to chat where as Malaysian people are very reserved . In Indonesia when people talk they either hold your hand or having a friendly touch to you . This may be disturbing for many people but it makes feel I am among them .
Everywhere you can find loving and friendly people but language is a great problem in Medan . Here people only talk indonesian language . Maimun palace , Tjong fie Mansion , Masjid raya al – masun , medan mall ect are the places to visit in Indonesia . Food are very good and cheap here and mostly similar to indian style and cheap also .
Berastagi:-
This mountainous city is situated just 80 km from Medan City where two volcano mt Sibayak (dormant volcano) and Mt Sinabung is situated . Fortunately I have a chance to climb to Mt Sibayak . You have to trek at least 3-4 km to reach to the crater of this mountain . It is a wonderful journey where I saw smoke was coming out from the crust of the Volcano . Nearby Mount Sinabung is an active volcano with history of recent eruption in 2020 . You can see it from the nearby villages but no climbing .
Another attraction of the Berastagi city is Lake toba . which is almost 100 km from Berastagi city . It is the largest volcanic lake in the whole world and length more than 100 km . It was made by the super volcanic eruption of four giant volcano .
My next stop is Padang city which is more than 700 km from Medan city . I traveled this journey by the ALS bus and it takes more than 24 hours . In the way you can see the farm palm trees and beautiful mountain scenery .
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Padang :-
In the Padang culture , buffalo is very important so every traditional building’s roof were designed as bufallo’s horn and become very sharp in the edges . Food are very cheap here and best in Indonesia . In Padang with the Rice they put different items . Which one you choose you take with rice . Padang restaurant are famous all around the Indonesia .
Masjid Raya sumatra is the largest and beautiful mosque here . For visiting the traditional village you need to visit Bukitingi area . Fortunately in Padang I meet a local people who show me the padang city by motorcycle . People here are most friendly and Loving in Indonesia .
This city is situated in the shore of Indian ocean so you can enjoy the local beaches .
My next stop was Jakarta where I reach by the bus with more than 48 hours of tiring journey by NPM bus . By the way this is my longest and lengthiest bus journey in the whole life .
Jakarta :-
Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia and second largest metropolis in the whole world with population over 30 million . It is also the fastest sinking city in the world so Indonesian government planned to move capital from Jakarta toward Nusantara , east kalimanthan . It is a mix of Malay , Javanese , Chines and Indian culture. You can see lots of high rise building in Jakarta . This buildings were result of planning from their first president Mr Sukarno who was actually a architect . Here you can visit Monas , Istiqlal Mosque , National Museum of Indonesia , Jakarta Cathedral and many more .
Now my next destination is Yogyakarta and I take train from Pasar senen rail station in Jakarta . This time I used Jakarta as a transit and after finishing all Indonesia , finally come back to here to take flight for India .
Yogyakarta :-
Yogyakarta is the heart of Culture , ancient monument and education institute in Indonesia . Two UNESO world heritage site – Hindu Prambanan temple and Buddhist Borobodur temple are the major attraction in this city . Both are some magnificent ancient structure . Other attraction in this city are Sewu Temple , Taman sari , Timang Beach and Palace of Yogyakarta .
Other major attraction in this city are mount merapi and Lava tour . It is the most dangerous active volcano in Indonesia which takes lots of life in this area . There is a view points in Kaliadem from where you can see gunung Merapi clearly in sunny days . For reaching to this place you can come to Pakem area by bus and from there hire a bike to reach Kaliadem . Some local lady help me to find the perfect view point in this place . Unfortunately that day was too much cloudy , so I can not see anything . Here I make some local friend who guided me to reach this view point .
After spending here 5 days finally started journey toward Surabaya by train .
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Surabaya City:-
Surabaya city is the second largest city in indonesia and middle point of all indonesia . It is also the major shipping hub for traveling toward Papua , Sulawesi , denpasar , flores and Timor .
House of sampoerna , Al-Akbar Surabaya National Mosque , Surabaya submarine monument , Monumen tugu pahlawan dan museum are some of the places to visit in Surabaya . Surabaya is the financial hub and major port in Eastern Java .
My next stop in this journey is toward the island of Makassar city , Sulewasi . I traveled by the Pelni ship from here . It takes more than 20 hours to reach Makassar city . This is my first time journey in passenger ship . The ship is very big and have 8 deck . My ship name was KM Cirmai. Among the ships I traveled , this the most advanced .
Makassar City:-
Makassar city is the capital of the south Sulewasi province and Largest city in Sulewasi island and long been colonized by Portuguese and Dutch and one of the trading post from 16 th century . Fort Rotterdam , 99 dome mosque , Great mosque of Makassar are some of the tourist spots to explore Makassar . Really speaking Makassar looks very different than cities in Java .
From here I traveled by luxary bus toward Rantepao which is the heart of Toraja Culture and capital of North Toraja . This 320 km journey takes around 8-9 hours . Leg space in this buses are extremely good .
Toraja :-
Toraja is a place in Asia where you can experience mommy culture . Culture of the Toraja is unique in Indonesia and the whole world . After a person died , they kept the deadbody in their house for years and after the festival of rombo solo they finally put this deadbody inside graveyard .Normally , after three year they removed the body from coffin and cleaned it and take photo with the deadbody
In the festival of rombe solo they killed lots of buffalo and pigs . This is a festival of cremation . After a person become old and sick he/she started to save money for their funeral . This process continues after the person died . His /her family member store money for the ceremony . When they have enough money they arranged a festival like this .
After finishing Toraja I come back to Makassar again and make another ship journey toward Kupang , Timor . This is the eastern part in the linear flows of island like sumatra , java , bali , flores and finally Timor .
Kupang City:-
Timor is one of the remotest places in Indonesia . It is more near to Australia than Indonesian mainland . Eastern Part of the Timor island is Timor Leste which got it’s independence from Indonesia in 2002 .
In my experience , in kupang city you can find some wonderful clean natural beaches , with very less crowd of tourist . In my mind seaside of this area is most beautiful in all indonesia . The color of the water is blue and it is crystal clear . Fishes are most tasty in this area than any parts I traveled in my life . Sunset is amazing here . In the coral beaches you can see lots of sea life .
Near to pelbuhan Bolok there is a crystal clear water cave . If you come to Kupang city , then don’t miss the Pasar Panjing Fish Market . This is something to see .
My next destination is SOE city in Timor .
Soe and Fatumnasi:-
Next I traveled SOE , which is 100 km distant from Kupang city . Fatumnasi is famous for traditional villages which is 30 from SOE City . Last king of timor resides in this Place . I see the traditional village in Fatumnasi where there is king . Boti is the largest traditional village in East Timor and the last king used to live there . You can visit this village . This two traditional villages were situated near to the SOE city
After this I started my journey toward Labuan Bajo by ship . This time my ship was with the ASDP boats and my destination was Aimere . From Aimere I traveled by a minibus toward Labuan Bajo . It takes around 8 hours to reach there .
Labuan Bajo :-
Labuan Bajo , in the Flores Island is famous for the Launching pad for the Komodo National Park . This Park has been included in the World Heritage list in 1991 . Komodo dragon are the last animals exist in the world of Jurassic age .
Here are lots of small boats make tour for the Komodo Island . Cost of the tour is almost 1 million IDR . In this Komodo tour you also visited Padar island and Rinca Island . In this journey you will visit pink beach , some beautiful snorkelling area and also swim with the Manta fish .
Cost of Komodo National Park is 375000 IDR and boat will cost in a group tour around 600000 IDR . You can also hire a boat to reach Lombok with this tour also . I don’t know the price but this journey is costly .
Bali :-
Bali is the tourism capital of Indonesia and most of the inhabitant of this island are predominantly Hindu . Capital of Bali is Denpasar . Bali is most famous for visiting some beautiful beaches , Balines Culture , stone and wood curving , Rice teraces and balines dance of Ramayana and Mahabharata and some charming hospitality .
If you are in Ubud Kechak dance is must visit . There is also other cultural dance program every night .
Maybe 30 years ago when tourism started to grow in Bali then maybe bali have some cleanest beaches but not now . There is lots of Water tourism activity in Bali which you can enjoy .
Bali is too much touristy and walking in the road is difficult in Ubud . I may recommended bali for a tourist but not for a traveler .
My next destination is Jakarta and reached there by Bus and from Denpasar . From here I have taken a flight toward Kolkata which has a lay-over in Kuala lumpur airport .
Summary :-
I traveled from medan in Sumatra to Tomor in Eastern part of Indonesia and covered almost 10000 km . In this journey I make lots of new friends . Indonesian are most friendly and Hospitable people . Indonesian people are very big fan of our Bollywood Movies . In indonesia first time I see volcano , first time board a passenger ship and see some wonderful beaches in the Timor Island . You can see some unique culture in Toraja where dead body is kept with their family members , years after they died . Indonesia is a mix of more than 1340 ethnic group and 700 languages . You can have some wonderful food in the journey of Indonesia . Indonesian food are the mixture of Indian , Chines and Malay food . Finally , you will meet some friendliest people in the World .
