Indonesia
Exploring the tropical islands of Indonesia
Summary
Indonesia is a country that consists of over 17,000 tropical islands and is the world’s largest island country. It is a tropical paradise and is extremely humid and hot for most of the year, even in its monsoon season that runs from November to March. I travelled to the country in April 2015 so the monsoon season had just passed. This was my first big trip and the longest I have ever flown. It was a 29-hour journey in total including stops etc, luckily, I was able to sleep so that made a difference. I arrived in Surabaya in the evening so I could get a full night’s sleep and not be too jet-lagged the next day.
Surabaya is the second-largest city in Java before Jakarta which is the largest. On arrival I met up with someone I knew that had been living there a while, which made it a lot easier to get around as they knew the area and could speak the language. (Bahasa). The humidity really hit me, it’s like being in an oven and took a couple of days to get used to it. The plan was to spend a couple of days in Surabaya, Lombok, Gili Trewangan, Bali, Sumatra and then finish the trip back in Surabaya.
Places Visited
Surabaya
Arriving in Surabaya was quite a shock as it was very busy. Motorbikes everywhere not following the flow of traffic, people going where they please, on pavements, cutting others up, anywhere to get where they need to be. It was a bit mad! Because Surabaya isn’t frequently visited the locals aren’t used to seeing white people, especially a white English man so I had a lot of people staring at me. The city is a vibrant metropolis, it has skyscrapers, canals, rural and none rural areas, shopping malls and a lot of diversity. It is also a Muslim country so there are quite a lot of Mosques and daily praying. I also probably had the best Sushi I have ever had in the city. It was a nice place to base myself before exploring the rest of country as it gave me a taste of what Indonesia is like in the cities.
Lombok
Only a short flight away, Lombok is east of Surabaya is known for its beaches and surfing destinations. Flying over the island it looked to be very green and mountainous. Where we stayed on the south part of the island which was very quiet, we were able to drive around on a hired motorbike. Stopping by rice paddies, lush mountains, and turquoise blue seas. You can also climb Mount Rinjani, but time wasn’t on our side so we couldn’t hike the volcano. However, I did experience my first Monsoon and almost was kidnapped by a local! The rains had hit the island quite hard and we were stuck on the top of a mountain pass sheltering from the storm under some trees when a local passed shouting something in Indonesian. Apparently, he was asking for us to follow him as the Mafia was coming. Luckily my friend understood him and knew if we followed the local it wouldn’t lead to anywhere. Not sure what would have happened if I was on my own.
Gili Trewangan
To get to the Gili’s you can catch a short boat ride on the north side of Lombok where the islands are situated. The Gili Islands are a cluster of three small islands just off the northwest of Lombok. Trewangan being the busiest and a party island, the other two which are Meno and Air are a lot quieter. I only visited Trewangan which I found to still be an amazing Island with its clear white powder beaches, crystal clear waters, breath-taking Sunsets, Yoga retreats, food markets, snorkeling, etc. It has a lot to offer for such a small island. I’ve probably never seen a sunset quite as magical as the one on Gili T either. We hired bikes so that we could cycle around the island in around 40 minutes. It’s quite a scary thought to think you are on this tiny Island. Because the islands are known for their coral reefs, lots of sea life gathers at these points. I was lucky enough to swim with wild Sea turtles too at a place called Turtle point where they gather. It was a very magical Island.
Bali
Bali is very close to the Gili’s so another boat was caught to Kuta which is at the bottom of the Island. Bali is the most well-known island and is very touristy, so Kuta is extremely busy and it’s an area for partying. We caught a taxi up to Ubud where we visited Monkey Forest. It is the natural habitat of the Balinese long-tailed Monkey where they are roaming around the forest. I was attached by one money so you have to be careful. The island is full of temples and buddhas as it is well known for yoga retreats, but we didn’t go to any as we were too busy exploring and going to the coffee plantations where you can sample the Luwak coffee looking out over the plantation. Indonesia is home to gamelan music that is the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussion instruments. It was good to see Indonesian culture.
Sumatra
Time to head to the jungle! Sumatra is one of the larger islands on the West side of Java. It is well known for its rugged mountains, wildlife, and volcanoes. We were picked up from Medan where we were driven to a place called Bukit Lawang in the heart of the Jungle! It took us almost 3 hours to drive to the destination as the traffic was really bad in the center of Medan, also the roads were very rocky so we had to drive very carefully, through small villages deeper into the Jungle. Bukit Lawang is a popular destination and is known for its jungle tours where we saw wild orangutans moving gracefully in the forest, washed some elephants and we got to witness a wild monitor lizard slither out of the river. Sleeping in the jungle was a unique experience; as you lay there you hear all sorts of noises. Especially wild gibbons.
From where we stayed overnight the Indonesians organised some rubber dinghies that were attached to each other so that we would float down the river back to Bukit Lawang. It was a good end to the trip.
Lonely planet - Indonesia