Blogs from Indonesia, Asia - page 527

My next stop was Indonesia, a country constantly ravaged by natural disasters; Earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, typhoons and tsunamis. Having experienced an earthquake first-hand in Peru last August, I was keen to avoid nature's other bad boys. As it turned out, it was only volcanic eruptions that I had to deal with, but that's a story for a later blog entry. I landed in Jakarta and went through the usual baggage collection chore. Bag after bag went past, but my rucksack (in glorious and unmissable purple) was nowhere to be seen. The baggage started to thin out, and then a sign was placed on the carousel saying "Last Bag", to indicate no more were coming out. NOOO!!! My worst nightmare realised. This happened to me in Guatemala ten years ago, when bloody United Airlines decided to ... read more

Mount Bromo (Gunung Bromo, 2,392m) is an active volcano in the Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park of East Java, Indonesia Bromo isn't the highest mountain in Java — that honor goes to nearby Mount Semeru at 3,676m — but it's probably the most famous one. Bromo is in fact only one of many peaks inside the massive Tengger Caldera, but it's easily recognized as the entire top has been blown off and the crater inside constantly belches white sulphurous smoke. The inside of the caldera, aptly dubbed the Laut Pasir (Sea of Sand) is coated with fine volcanic sand and the overall effect is unsettlingly unearthly, especially when compared to the lush green valleys all around the caldera. Mt. Semeru is a stratovolcano in the Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park, in the province of East Java. Semeru is one of ... read more

After another night in Medan after Bukit Lawang, we we're up early to take the bus to Berastagi in the Karo Highlands. We arrived at midday, glad to be in the cooler highlands after the jungle heat and Medan madness. That afternoon we attempted to make our way to the traditional Karo Batak (The Batak people are the original tribes people of Sumatra) village of Lingga. After initially finding it impossible to ascertain which bemo went to the village, we met two nice Indonesian lads, Jan and Fernando, who are learning to become Christian pastors. Jan spoke excellent english and they helped us find the right bemo and then decided to accompany us to the village. This turned out to be a great stroke of luck, as when we arrived Jan acted as interpreter for us ... read more

Indonesia - A Crazy Cookie Country... read more

So... we arrived safely in the city of Medan on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, via our Air Asia flight from KL. Indonesia has immediately struck us as being very different from the other Asian countries we've been to. For instance, although all the people of the various countries we have been to are very friendly, Indonesians are arguably even more friendly than the rest! They don't hesitate in the slightest to come up and chat to you, or even just shout "Hello Mister!" at you in the street. We checked into our hotel and discovered that there are no showers just mandi (a brick basin full of water, with a plastic saucepan thing to pour it over you, back to basics!), we were informed in a friendly manner by the manager that this is ... read more