In what is seen as a boost to tourism in Kalimantan, Garuda Indonesia will fly from Jakarta to Pontianak three times a day to cater to rising demand for air services. Currently, Garuda serves the route once per day. Garuda had filed an application to the operator of Supadio Airport in Pontianak for an increase in the number of its flights from Jakarta to Pontianak or vice versa. It is expected that Garuda would be able to compete with other airlines which offered low-cost flights.
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It was cloudy in Bantar Caringin village, Saguling, Rajamandala, West Bandung regency, last Sunday and Citarum River was flowing with greater force due to an early morning downpour. A group of people gathered on the bank of the tributary — which is regularly used for rafting practice — where they discussed the best spot from which to take off. This time, however, they were not going to practice rafting; they would be using boards instead of rubber boats, in a sport known as riverboarding.
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A picture not only tells a thousand words for the people of Lamalera, a village in Lembata, East Nusa Tenggara. It also serves as a tool to preserve their ancestral heritage and the environment from which they earn their living. In the eastern part of Indonesia, where the fruits of national development are rarely seen, culture and environment are all the people have.
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Mention the word ‘snake’, and generally 95% of people run for the hills!. This is probably the worst thing you could do as you will arouse the snake’s attention. As most bushwalkers will tell you, it’s better to stand still and let the reptile get on with his business and go past you. Of course there are those times when you unavoidably step on one and then shit hits the fan, so to speak. It happened to me in Australia one particular year, and although I was lucky not to be bitten, the partner of the snake underfoot was not impressed. The snake in mention was a King Brown, one of the deadliest snakes in the world, and promptly chased me down a dry gully. In Indonesia on my travels I have come across snakes numerous times and just applied common sense in our meetings. Chances are that you will never come across a snake unless you travel in the jungles or open grasslands. A majority of tourists will never see a snake as they never venture off the beaten track.
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Diving in the waters of Indonesia is surreal and as you slip into the depths, a whole new world encircles you, enthralls you and each dive is an experience never forgotten. The waters around the Maluku Islands is no exception and probably provides some of the best diving in the archipelago although some will dispute this. The Maluku islands are a string of islands stretching between Sulawesi and Papua in the eastern part of the Indonesian archipelago. Ambon is a tiny island in the middle of this group of island and consists of two peninsula’s connected together in their eastern tip. Most of the diving and snorkelling in Ambon is done along the southern coast. Ambon has a multitude of dive locations. A cluster of tiny islands in the western tip of Ambon called Nusa Tiga is spectacular and in the bigger island of Seram located in the north is another. Other dive locations can be found in Saparua, Molana and Nusa Laut islands to the east of Ambon, about an hour and a half speedboat ride from Latuhalat. A day trip option is the site at Molana island.
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Buffalo races take place all over Indonesia and their forms vary from place to place. Whereas buffalo races in Bali are done on an oval track, with riders in carts, the buffalo races I witnessed in Sumbawa were quite different. In Sumbawa, the buffalo were more in their natural environment — a muddy field. You see, water buffaloes have little hair. They are practically naked their entire lives, with just a tiny bit of hair sticking out of tough elephant-like gray skin. This is why they are called buffalo — they’re in the buff! Luckily, water buffalo are rather proud of their baldness and have never taken to the barcode look that balding men resort to when they comb all their remaining hair over their bald spot. No, with bald buffalo it’s different. They’re comfortable with their nakedness. And it’s a good thing, because you can just imagine the size a buffalo toupee would have to be.
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The Indonesian consulate general in Sydney and national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia will jointly organize a tourism promotion event called “Discover Indonesia” for Australian tourism operators and mass media. Intended to support the Visit Indonesia 2008 program, the promotional event would be held for two weeks starting late July 2008. Representatives of 20 Australian travel bureaus and a number of newspaper and television reporters would be invited to take part in the program.
They would be given the opportunity to visit and see some of Indonesia`s eco-tourism potentials outside Bali, especially on Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Papua islands. Garuda would among other things fly them to the Bunaken marine park in North Sulawesi, the centre for orangutan protection in Kalimantan, and Toba Lake in North Sumatra.
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Located in the small village of Tembok, situated on the north-east coast of Bali is the truly magnificent Poinciana Resort. Far from the madding crowd of the tourist mecca in the south-west of the island, the resort offers a unique place to chill out and relax. I say that because there are no televisions, radios or the ilk to annoy you in the room you reside in whilst you are there – just pure peace. Delightful!. Having never been there before, I was indeed curious as to what kind of resort it was going to be as we drove down the narrow leading off the main north-east road. The first thing that struck me was the seclusion and the beauty of its natural location right on the beach. Instantly, any reservations I possessed about the place dissipated immediately.
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When I write ‘climbing mountains’, I don’t mean the likes of Everest or Mount Kinabalu, but rather those volcanoes, distinct or otherwise, located across the archipelago. Over the decades I have scaled quite a few. There are several matters you should take into consideration when the desire to do a Sir Edmund Hillary on any climb. First and foremost make sure you let somebody know the day you go out to climb and this applies to any major trek you take on in Indonesia. The simple reason being that if anything did go wrong on your sojourn then it will give the relative authorities an idea where to look for you. This is only common sense. In my opinion it is always advisable to use a local guide as they know the best ways up and down the mountain.
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If I had a dollar for every time someone said to me “I don’t need a First Aid Kit, I’m on holiday. Besides, I’ve got some band-aids in my bag”. Whether it be your first or one-hundredth trip to Indonesia, it is really imperative to carry some kind of first Aid Kit, and, know how to use what is in them. Some people might scoff at this suggestion, but, having a first aid kit with me on all of my journeys has helped me out in many situations. You don’t have to go out and buy the most expensive one on the market. Indeed, you could make your own. Most outdoor stores sell the basic package and then you can fill it with what you think you will need. Red Cross sell an excellent array of first aid kits to suit most activities. Personally, I use the Red Cross Backpack First Aid Kit as I find it convenient to carry as well as being light, and, it stores quite nicely in my backpack.
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