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Kalimantan Selatan

2009-04-16T12:00:00.000-07:00

Custom House

Kalimantan Selatan - KalSel - is the smallest of the four provinces in Kalimantan. This was different in the past. Until far in the 1950's the nowadays Kalimantan Tengah - Central Kalimantan - belonged to KalSel. With small guerrilla-like actions and support from Jakarta the Dayak managed to break off their own territory from the mostly islamic KalSel.

In geographical way, KalSel is dominated by the Meratus Mountain Range, a long and wide chain which stretches from north to south over the biggest part of the province. The highest peak is Puncak Besar (1892 meter).

Outside the highway between Banjarmasin and Balikpapan, the Barito River and is biggest downstream sideriver , the Martapura, are still very important for trade and communication with the hinterlands. Along the coast the landscape is formed by tidal swamps, which has turned into ricefields by some farmers.

With over 2,5 milion inhabitants on 37.660 sq.km, KalSel is the most densely populated province. The population, for the biggest part Banjarese, is from different origin. Among the ancestors are four Dayak populations - the Ma'anyan, Lawangan, Bukit and Ngaju - and furthermore the Malay from Sumatera, Jawanese, Sundanese, Arabs, Chineze and Buginese. The Banjarese dialect is closely related to Malay.

The hindu-principalty Negara Dipa

The Banjarese think that their roots are to be found in a legendaric old hindu-principalty. The wife of the first raja should have been emerged from a huge cloud of white foam - just like the Greek goddess Aprhodite.

Her birth was seen by a stunned public, among them the ruler Lambung Mangkurat. The ruler survived three generations, while he helped building the new principalty of Negara Dipa. The main street in Banjarmasin and the museum in KalSel are named after him.

The story goed that the ruines od Candi Agung, a hinduist structure in the hinterlands, are the fundaments of the history of KalSel. But there is very little proove of this. There is a second old hinduist temple in the district of Tupin, Candi Laras. Both temples are not worth while visiting.

At the end of the 13th century, the real history of KalSel started. Ampoedjatamaka, son of a trader from India, founded a settlement which would later grow into the city opf Banjarmasin. Three generationa later, the daughter married with the ruler of the Majapahit-prince of Jawa. This made Negara Dipa a supported state of the mighty Majapahit principalty. The name Negara Dipa was changed into Banjar (the later sultanate Banjarmasin) for undisclosed reasons.

The influence of Majapahit could be seen everywhere. Local laws were replaced and Jawanese workers built new palaces. In cultural means the wayang-puppets, gamelan-orchestras, topeng-masks, art- and dance-styles and metal decorations remember of this period. They are still being practiced however Banjar - just like the rest of Indonesia - came under islamic influence not long after.

In 1620 a local battle for power was decided by military support from the Jawanese principalty Demak. In trade the Banjarese converted to islam. De religion had a big influence on every day life and the art. Due to the widespread islamic trade network, contacts emerged between Jawa and the coastal area of Gujarat in India.

To be able to compete with the spice trade, Banjar planted peper bushes. The population spread it's influence over the surrounding areas, wich were forced to pay taxes, or came under political control. In wich is called the Golden Century of Banjar, the people settled rule in the small sultanated along the southern coast, and next in big parts of Kalimantan: Sukadana, Sambas and Ganggau in the west and Pasir, Kutai and Berau in the east.

The Banjarese sultanate was brought down by the Dutch. Weakened by internal problems, the Banjarese had to see that the whites placed a puppet on the throne. In 1860, the Dutch declared the sultanate banned, and Banjarmasin (in special the city of Martapura) became the kolonial headquarters of Dutch Borneo.

Between 1860 and 1864 the Banjarese revolted under Pangeran Antasari (the Banjarmasin War), which lasted until the end of the 19th century in the form of scattered revolts.

A lively capital

With it's many attractions, the capital Banjarmasin is the most interestin urbanized area of Kalimantan. The nearby islands in the Barito River are inhabited by hurds of monkeys. In the hinterlands, buffalo's pull carts over a paved road to the diamond-fields of Cempaka, and to Martapura, where the gemstones are processed.

Banjarmasin has many hotels and good restaurants. Travel agencies offer trips to the Dayak in the Loksa region (especially interesting because of the trip) and the Tanjung Puting Reserve and orang hutan centre.

You can rent free-lance guides, they speak a little English as well.
A paved road connects Banjarmasin with Balikpapan. Over water there are connections with Palangkaraya, capital of Kalteng and with cities along the Barito, from where the hinterlands can be explored. There are also good connections available through the air.

Skilled farmers

Historically, Banjarmasin is known for it's production of black pepper. Nowadays the region lived from the big surplusses of rice and other products wich are grown on the alluvial soils. But besides the fertile soil, the region has not always been used for agriculture.

Banjarese farmers have done a lot of work by drying up the tidal swamps, which were changed into ricefields in a skilled way.

This technology is very handy, becayse Indonesia consists of 25 per cent (43 milion hectares) of mangrove or tidal-swamps (Papua, with the worlds biggest swamp is left out). Almost 50 per cent is located in Kalimantan, and about 20 per cent can in fact be used for agriculture.

But as of now, only a very small part is used. In KalSel, just only over 100,000 hectares of swamps were turned into agricultural area, more than in the other - bigger - provinces of Kalimantan. In 1939, the first subsidised settlement was built in Purwosari. It was meant for transmigrants which wanted to work as a farmer in the fresh agricultural areas.

Most Banjarese are rice farmers, however they also grow grains. Improved spiecies of cattle, developed because of special programs, have improved the financial situation of the farmers. The government helped with the development of different kinds of rice, which have a high yield in the swamps. Due to irrigation programs, there can be two or three harvests every year.

The production has been increased more because of the introduction of two new kinds of rice, which are planted directly in the swamps. Because the waterlevel can sometimes reach two meters, boats are used for the harvest.

With the help of modern methods, new kinds of rice and the irrigation of about 500,000 hectares of soil, the rice production has dramatically increased in the last decade of the 20th century. The surplus is being exported, especially to Central and East-Kalimantan.

A range of export products

As well as elsewhere in Kalimantan, wood is the main export product. In 1987, plywood and lumber wood worth US$332 was exported, especially to the US and Japan. Besides 13 plywood factories there are 43 wood-processing factories, where most of the workers are Jawanese.

The Banjarese mainly choose for agriculture and trade over the hard work in the factory. After wood, rubber is the most important export product (1987: exports worth US$41 milion, mainly to Singapore). It's the most common trade crop in the villages.

Furthermore about US$30 milion in ratten is exported to Japan, and for US$10 milion of frozen river shrimps to Japan and Singapore. Ratten from Central Kalimantan is being processed in KalSel. Amuntai is the ratten-centre, but the big factories, where mostly women and girls work, are located in Banjarmasin.

Other export products are frog-legs, snake- and lizard-skins, treebark for the production of incense and insect repellent, roots for jamu and other traditional medications, and gaharu.

Lumberwood, dried fish and also coal from the region Batu Licin are exported to other parts of Indonesia. Unprocessed oil is pumped from the region Tanjung to the refinery in Balikpapan.
The open waters of KalSel create a job for about 160,000 fishermen, more than elsewhere in Kalimantan.

In contrary there are only 5000 seafishermen, a handfull compared with KalBar (15,000), KalTeng (48,000) and KalTim (19,000). Taiwanese experts have developped commercial fishing ponds in the 1990's.

The pepper harvest, no more than 500 tonnes a year, is not important anymore. Expensife trade crops like cacao are increasingly important and take more soil. Coconuts, grown on small regional plantations, are mainly for local consumption.

Big deposits of iron ore, porcelain soil and limestone are ready to be mined in the Meratus Mountain Range. The diamond fields of Cempaka give labour to a few hundred people, and a few more are looking for gold in the small streams.

River Market

Traditional Dance

Custom Clothing

Kalimantan Tengah

2009-04-16T11:24:00.000-07:00

Custom House

The huge province Kalimantan Tengah is the least visited province of Borneo. The Dayak who live there belong to the most traditional of the island. The officially recognized kaharingan-religion, in which dozens of religious themes are kept, spread to other provinces from KalTeng.

A visit to Central Kalimantan demands courage and the readiness to travel like an inhabitant of Borneo yourselve: with small planes, speedboats, slow boats and canoos.

Kalteng has about 1,5 milion inhabitants and concludes about 153,800 sq.km. swamp and jungle. The province is cut up by a number or almost parallel rivers, flowing from the Schwaner- and Müller Ranges in the north to the Jawa Sea in the south.

Most kabupaten (districts) are located around the bigger rivers and reach from the coastal areas until the first rapids, which mark the change from the lowlands into the highlands. The vast and barely populated northern part of the province is made up from two districts.

The coastal area around the rivermouths is barely populated and consists of swamps, which can reach inland upto 100 km. They are overgrown with nipah-palms and mangrove forests. Exceptions are the towns of Kumai, Pangkalanbun and Sampit.

History

For centuries, big parts of KalTeng were ruled by Banjarmasin. When the Banjarese elite converted to the islam in the early 17th century, soon the principalties along the coast followed, and the Dayak in the region also followed. Around 1830, the colonial rule and the first protestant missionaries slowed down the islamization among the Dayak.

The Dutch geologist and explorer Schwaner mapped KalTeng for the first time. Between 1841 and 1848 he travelled over the big cities (Barito, Kahayan, Kapuas and Katingan), and mapped the villages on the riverbanks.

The mountain range between KalTeng and KalBar was later named after him. Between 1880 and 1890, the Dutch dewatered the southeastern part of KalTeng by digging five canals between the Kaupas, Barito and Kahayan.

After the proclamation of the Indonesian independence in 1949, the area still was under control of Banjarmasin. Conflicts rose between the traditional Dayak and the islamic Banjarese and at the end of the 1950 the Dayak demanded autonomy. A combination of small guerrilla warfare and political support from Jakarta lead to the formation of a separate province, KalTeng was born.

A treasure in resources

The economy of KalTeng is still heavily dependable of Banjarmasin. Im- and export go through the seaport of this city and for transport of products, the rivera and canals between Palangkaraya and Banjarmasin are very important.

But the political couse of the province is now being decided in Jakarta, while air traffic helps making it more independent from Banjarmasin.

The vast tropicsl forests of the area supply wood which is processed in Sampit, Pangkalanbun and Kuala Kapuas. Over a hundred companies are involved in the woodprocessing industry. After wood, ratten is the most important recourse; KalSel is the main supplier of ratten.

Rubber, introduced from the Amazon area at the end of the 19th century, is in third place, fish and schrimp (processed in Kumai) are fourth. The forests also produce a number of other products which bring in money like damar-raisin and kulit gumur a tree bark which is used for cosmetics and insect repellent.

The oil fropm the illipe-nut is also used for cosmetics and as replacement for cacao-butter. While the wood-processing industry was already brought big in the 1970's, gold mining has just started. Geological surveys have disclosed vast amounts of porcelain-soil, quarts, iron, uranium and petroleum, but before they can start mining it will cost a lot of money to improve the infrastructure.

The Dayak of Central Kalimantan

Just as somewhere else in Bornei, separating the Dayak of Central Kalimantan is hard. Most Dayak in KalTeng - the Ngaju, the Lawangan, the Ma'anyan and the Ot Danum - have much in common for what language and culture concerned.

The biggest population (living in South- as well as Central Kalimantan) are called Barito, to the biggest river in the area. The named ethnical groups are the Barito Dayak, as well as the Benuaq and the Tunjung, which live partially along the Middle-Makaham in KalTim. Several Ot Danum, the less known Tebidah and a number of Limbai live in the catchment area of the Melawi, a side-river of the Kapuas, north of the Schwaner Range. Most Barito live in the inland along the rivers which flow to the Jawa Sea.

All Barito Dayak speak closely related languages. They know extended funerals, which are branded by a ritual re-burial. As well as in politics as in number, the Ngaju are the most important Barito Dayak. The vast territory of the less numerous Ot Danum (of which some branches are named Dohoi) is located north of the area of the Ngaju, above the rapids.

However they have a lingual similarity, the Ngaju and Ot Danum cannot understand eachother. The last named mainly produce for their own, while the Ngaju have started commercial agriculture a long time ago. Due to their strong isolation the Ot Danum are more traditional than the Ngaju.

The Ngaju

The Ngaju, the most known Barito Bayak, managed the creation of the province of KalTeng. They speak different dialects of which the Kahayan has become the local dialect. Most Ngaju practice Kaharingan, or are converted to protestantism; only the Bakumpai Ngaju converted to islam over a century ago.

The branding longhouses of the Dayak are hard to find among the Ngaju. Their place is taken by communal rooms, in which meeting and rytes are held. The Ngaju belong to the best artists of Borneo. This reputation is shown in the ceremonial objects for the dead, like the wooden coffins, tombes, and sailboats and big statues.

The Ma'anyan

The Ma'anyan speak a language which is almost the same with that on Madagascar. There is a lot of speculation that their ancestors crossed the sea to Madagascar in the 3rd or 4th century. This would mean that the Ma'anyan lived more close to the coast than they do today.

The different Ma'anyan communities hold contact with eachother and with the cities along the Barito by periodical markets. Their most important product for trade - nice canoos made out of one piece - are loved among the Banjarese.

During wars the Ma'anyan lived in family houses in pillars, which could be as high as seven meters. Many Ma'anyan practiced the Kaharingan religion. They know complicated rytes in combination with agriculture and funerals, bring sacrifices for spirits and ask a sjaman when someone has fallen ill. On their graveyard, you can see that the Ma'anyan used to be very layered: the bone-houses of the nobility are placed more upstream, followed to the ones of the warriors, the normal population and the slaves, most downstream.

Before a traditional marriage, the comming husband needs to work and live with the family for five years. This period can be shortened by payments to the coming mother-in-law. This is an extra on the bridal treasure, which consists of bronze drums, beads and money.

The Ot Danum

The Ot Danum (the name means upstream area) live in the area around the rivers north of the Ngaju and south of the Schwaner- and Müller Range, as well as the Melawi-beaken of West Kalimantan, which is located north of the Schwaner Range. Their area is a threehundred km wide stretch of land just south of the equator.

The Ngaju see the Ot Danum as their cultural ancestors, but there are remarkable differences between the two groups. The Ot Danum live in longhouses in pillars, two to five meters above the ground. This habit is probably taken from the Kenyah or Kayan.

The same with the headhunting, the mild form of social hierarchy and the images on shields and mandau lemmets. However the religion of the Ot Danum looks like that of the Ngaju (most of them still practice kaharingan), their ritual re-burials are more simple and their woodcarvings are less detailed.

Commercial agriculture

Most Dayak groy rice for own use following the rules of ladang-cultures. The Ngaju of KalTeng started the culture of tradeable crops, which has been followed in other regions. On the ladang, ratten is first grown, and harvested eight to ten years later. After that the ladang is re-used for growing rice again.

Many travelers to Kalimantan agree that Banjarmasin, with its busy waterways, floating market and traditional gem mining, is far and away the most interesting city on the island. For those looking to immerse themselves in the local culture, Banjarmasin also has an interesting riverbank settlement, though at first glance it appears ugly and dirty.

In the morning, riverbank people bathe, wash, excrete and brush their teeth in the wide Barito River. Middle class city folk might flinch at the sight, but the Barito and Martapura rivers play a vital role in the local way of life -- rather than providing a setting for tourists to sit around lamenting unrequited love or their bankrupt businesses.

Eradicate your prejudices and enjoy the sight. Be sympathetic to the cultural rather than embarrassed by it as you are not the ones forced to live without access to clean water. Unlike lonely Kapuas in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, Barito River in Banjarmasin is still an important source of life for Banjarmasin people.

The famous floating market is one indication. Kuin market in Barito is a group of boats, to which farmers and villagers paddle every night to sell fruits, vegetables and other produce to small-scale traders, mostly women, in the capital of South Kalimantan.

When the sun rises, the small-scale traders, women with friendly yet tough faces, paddle toward the crowded city to sell their wares to the housewives who live on the riverbanks.

Traditional dance

Tradional Ceremony

Custom Clothing

Kalimantan Barat

2009-04-16T11:04:00.000-07:00

Custom House

The vast province of West-Kalimantan is mainly shaped by the catchment area of the Kapuas, the longest river of Indonesia. Kalimantan Barat - KalBar - has a surface of 146.807 sq.km and counts only a few milion inhabitants.

Travelling in this area is demanding, and elemental knowledge of the Indonesian language and adaption to local problems and delays. Tourism in this province, almost unknown to the main public, is not encouraged as well.

This was different in the 19th century. Back then the western part of former Dutch Borneo was even more visited than the most popular East-Kalimantan nowadays. The English James Brooke, which was given the current Sarawak by the sultan of Brunei, was seen as a threat of their sovereignty by the Dutch. They reinforced their presence around Pontianak to keep the White Raja at a safe distance.

Diamonds and Gold

Shortly after their arrival in the archipelago the Dutch focussed on the diamond fields in Western Borneo. They created warehouses ('factorijen') in Sambas and Sukadana, but they were soon abandoned when the stream of diamonds decreased and the Dutch refocussed on Jawa and the Moluccan spice islands.

In 1698, the Dutch forces the Malay ruler of Borneo to recognise the rule of the sultan of Batam on Jawa, which was under Dutch control. To settle their position even better, they supported the Arab explorer Abdul Rahman, which founded a trade post in Pontianak and killed the local rulers.

However trade with the regio (and the demand of taxes) went through Pontianak, but profits were not high enough for the Dutch to support troops and offices. In 1917, they retreated, but economical and political developments would return them very soon.

At the end of the 18th century, a true gold rush emerged along Borneo's western coast. Thousands of poor Hakka-farmers from China were attracted by the rich alluvial gold deposits, which eventually produced upto one seventh of the yearly yield in gold, The Dutch, always looking for more opportunities for trade, returned right away.

But against the time that they beat the Chinese - which ruled over the gold - the fields were almost depleted.

Next the Dutch settled in Sintang, far upstream along the Kapuas, which shortly became one of the two most important governmental locations of Dutch Borneo. The governmental jump in the inlands, covered by the army, offered the opportunity for exploration of the vast, still unknown inlands.

Chinese in West-Kalimantan

The province of West Kalimantan has one of the highest concentrations of Chinese people in Indonesia. The estimated half a milion Chinese-Indonesians form more than 10 per cent of the population, descendants from marriages between Chinese and Dayak counted in.

From 1720 the Chinese came to the archipelago in big numbers to work in the tin mines on the island of Bangka. Inspired by this, the Malay ruler of Sambas asked Chinese people to take a job in the goldmines.

Migration started on a small scale in 1750, but got larger around 1790. The envitation was everything accept a deed of humanity. Chinese were prohibited from trading and doing agriculture, so they were forced to buy everything against high prices from the sultan. As soon as they were strong enough, the Chinese got rid of all demands, and they formed unities (kongsi), based on the clans they had in China. Betwen 1790 and 1820, in the good times of gold mining, the kongsi flourished. In 1810 the Chinese community already counted 40,000 people.

Most Chinese settled around the neighboring goldfields of Mandor and Montrado, between Pontianak and Sambas. The kongsi formed two federations; the one controlled the fields of Mandor, the other the fields of Montrado.

Both had a specific task-devision: farmers grew rice and other food for the miners, while other groups took care of the construction of canals. These were used for bringing water to the sluices in which the clay was washed. The fields in Western Kalimantan were rich and the gold was very pure (18 to 21 carat), but the success of the gold mining was mainly due to hard labour and a good usefull exploitation of water.

When the revenues dropped, violence and arguments broke out in the Chinese community. Big fights between the federations separated and devided the Chinese, and faced with a strong Dutch army, Mandor soon capitulated. The Montrado-Chinese were able to defend themselves because of their unity. They kept on trading through Singkawang. The big revolt in Jawa (1825-1830), forced the Dutch to retreat from Borneo. Borneo and the Chinese were left alone until the empire of raja Brooke in Sarawak drew attention.

Renewed Dutch force lead to a governmental reorganisation of Western Borneo and a big military expedition, which broke Chinese stronghold in Montrado. The arguing kongsi were dissolved, but by that time the big gold mining activities were already finished. Most Chinese could not afford a return to China, so they settled in Western Borneo.

West Kalimantan Quickly

Attractions in the provincial capital Pontianak are the provincial museum, the Mesjid Jami or Great Mosque, the old palace of the sultan and the crowded seaport with Buginese schooners. North of the city are several nice beaches.

In the neighborhood of Singkawang are pottery-factories, in which copies of the old Chinese porcelain are produced. In Sambas, weavers produce nice fabrics. Here is also the mosque of the sultan. Between Sambas and Pontianak are several Chinese temples.

The landscape of West-Kalimantan is scattered with high, steep rock formations, which form a true challenge for the mountaineer. They offer a very nice view over the jungle. The most impressive mountain, Gunung Kelam, is located in the forests near Sintang.

The Kapuas River

The Kapuas forms the most important connection with the inlands of KalBar. From four locations along the river, you can visit more remote areas. Sintang, 450 km from Pontianak, is the starting point of journeys by boat on the Kapuas and next the Kayan or Pinoh. Semitau and Selimbau, more upstream along the Kapuas, serve as starting point for a journey to the vast lake district in the north, which is connected to the Kapuas through a sider-river. This unusual ecological zone is the living area of the Iban and other scattered living Dayak-populations.

Putussibau, the last important city along the Kapuas, is located just a little short of 900 km from Pontianak. Here live the Kayan, Maloh and Taman Dayak in traditional longhouses. From Putussibau, you can cross Borneo to the east by following the Kapuas as far as you can and crossing mountainous areas through the Mahakam River.

The Dayak of KalBar

In the 19th century, the name of 'Land-Dayak' was introduced from Sarawak, to distinguish the Dayak living in the inlands from the Dayak which are called 'Sea-Dayak', or Iban, which mainly live in Sarawak.

Populations which are counted in as 'Land-Dayak' are those which live along the middle-stream Kapuas: the Selako, Singgi, Jagoi, Sadung and populations which live along the upperstream Sanggau and Sekayan. Just like th Iban, of which 7,000 of them live in KalBar, these populations speak languages which are related with Malay.

With it's several hundred-thousand inhabitants, governmental buildings and Chinese shops, Sintang dominates most of the Kapuas. The city used to be, and still is the entrance to the inlands of Western Kalimantan, in special the rivers of Melawi, Kayan and Pinoh, which can be reached by longbot from the city.

The Pinoh springs in the Schwaner Range, the natural border between the provinces KalBar and KalTeng. Near Nanga, the Poinoh merges with the Melawi. A little north, the Kayan does the same. Seventy km northwest the Malawi merges with the Sintang, which eventually merges with the biggest river in KalBar, the Kapuas.

Sintang stretches over both banks of the Kapuas river, on the location where the Melawi merges with the river. It's location on the merge of both rivers made the city into a center of the Chinese trade with the hinterland. At the end of the 19th century, Sintang consisted of three separate, but dependant parts.

The Malay kampung was located on the left short, along both sides of the small palace of the sultan. On the other shore was a big Chinese compound. Upstream, just past the Melawai river was a small, Dutch fortress, surrounded by a heavy wooden passilade. The Europeans lived behind the fortress, where nowadays are still the offices and houses of the civil servants.

The main center of the city is the former Chinese quarter; the most important piers, bus stations, cinermas, stoers and trade are managed by Chinese Indonesians. The Dara Juanti Museum, built in 1937 on the location of the former palace, contains heirlooms, state objects and things from the hinduist period. Sintang also has a military museul, the Alambhana.

The Dayak of Sintang

In the district Sintang live some of West-Kalimantans most traditional Dayak-populations. Along the upper stream of the Melawai, Kayan and Pinoh still live animist Dayak. Longhouses are still in use and sometimes a big burial ceremony is held, in which the bones of the deceased are placed in a decorated grave. Several populations know seeding- and planting festivals or gawai (around July), in which many participants wear traditional dressing.

American protestant missionaries have entered as far as several of the most isolated areas. These fundamentalist preachers almost demand abolishment of all traditional habits. The catholics, which have been here longer in the more accessible areas, were more open against their original culture. In the most remote areas many Dayak still practive kaharingan religion, which sometimes frustrates the protestant missionaries.

Traditional

Tatoo

Custom Clothing

Nusa Tenggara

2009-04-16T10:30:00.000-07:00

West Nusa Tenggara Custom House

The chain of islands east of Bali is named Nusa Tenggara in modern Indonesia: the Southeastern Islands. Among geographers the archipelago is known as the Lesser Sunda Islands, as a separation from the Big Sunda Islands; Sumatera, Jawa and Borneo.

For what tourist places concerned, there is nothing 'small' about Nusa Tenggara. In contrary: a region of this size with a rich cultural and natural diversity can't be found elsewhere in the world.
From Lombok in the west to Timor in the east the group of islands is blessed with white sand beaches, clear water and beautifull coral reefs. The three crater lakes of Keli Mutu on Flores, which have different colors because of vulcanic minerals, offer an almost surreal view. On the small island of Komodo, you can find the rarest spiecies of reptile.

In cultural way the islands are about as important. In the eastern part of the archipelago, women produce the most beautiful ikats of Indonesia. On Sumba, jockeys endanger themselves in the very old and dangerous Pasola-ritual. The fishermen on Lembata catch sperm whales by jumping on them from their small boats.

Far from mass tourism

The Lesser Sunda Islands are located between 8 and 11 degrees Southern lattitude. They stretch over a distance of 1300 km and form a central chain in the 5600 km long Indonesian archipelago. Nusa Tenggara has no less than 566 islands; 320 of them are so small, they even don't have a name.

On the map, five of the 42 inhabited islands are clear: Lombok, Sumbawa, Sumba, Flores and Timor. Besides these 'giants' there are a number of smaller islands, which are worth while visiting as well.

With exeption of Flores, the bigger islands are good to travel on the entire year. The best time for a visit is the dry season: from April until the end of October or November. In the period April until June, the islands are very green; towards September they are dull and brown.

Mass tourism hasn't yet reached Nusa Tenggara. The provisions on the islands are decent. The travelling, especially to the more remote islands, demands initiative, an open travel scheme and a common sense of humor to compete with the unavoidable problems.

But there are also other reasons to keep your travel scheme flexible; you never know what you will see: a whip-fight on Flores, a boat to the hardly known Ndao, a circumstantion on Bima.

On several places you can rent English speaking guides, but little knowledge of Bahasa Indonesia is very handy. Concervative dressing also makes the journey more enjoyable. Don't forget that tourism is something new and that the islanders are not all used to almost naked foreigners.

The traveller should be prepared to be in the center of attention. Every time you should answer the same questions: Where areyou from? How old are you? Are you married? Where are you going? Which religion do you have?

You also have to take into account that eating, bathing ans sleaping outside the big cities takes place under the most elemental conditions and that the beaches - when there are no toilets - also serve as public restroom. Who can live with this is rewarded with a meeting with one of the richest areas in the world for what culture concerned.

Travellers which visit Nusa Tenggara should not expect that they will find an exotic world of animals like in Borneo, Sulawesi and Papua. The relatively dry and rocky Lesser Sunda's are not home to impressive rainforests or a big diversity in strange local animals. In fact these islands are kind of low populated with big animals.

Areas which are covered in shrubs are the habitat of deer, wild pigs, bats, snakes, dragons and other lizards. There are only a few local mammals: one kind op wild pig, one kind of mice and the couscous. Heer, monkeys, rats and several pets have recently been introduced by man. The small cacatoo, singing birds, and other birds can also be found on the islands. Statistics report 56 local spiecies, but their numbers are always small.

Underwater Wonderland

It's a totally different view in the underwater world. The coral reefs belong to the richest ecosystems in the world. Nowhere else you can find a more diverse variety of aquatic spiecies. One single big reef in Nusa Tenggara can contain about 1000 spiecies of fish, more than in all seas in Europe combined.

The underwater world is very colorfull. Brave anemone-fish defend their living house against the teasing hand of the diver. Groups of coral butterflies float between the reef walls, and other fish cross the reef in couples. The area houses big sea mammals like the sperm whale and the Indian seacow, which looks like a walrus without teeth. Along the border of the reefs you can find big pelagic fish: giant sharks, reef sharks and mantha's, relatives of the shark and the ray.

The Komodo Dragon

The most impressive animal of Nusa Tenggara is the Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis), the biggest living lizard in the world, which belongs on Komodo, Rinca and in Western Flores. This robust animal can reach 3 meters in length, and weights upto 150 kg.

The heavyweight was only known in the Western world by the start of the 20th century, mainly because Komodo was inhabited. After the island had become the place for the banned, stories about dangerous, seven meter long crocodiles started to emerge. The stories were somewhat exaggerated, however these lizards can scare people. The giant lizard has a fisique which looks like a snake: his jaws can move independently from eachother, so it can swallow an entire prey which can even be larger than it's mouth; it's forked tongue is used for smelling as well as tasting.

Flora Live

Besides several small areas in the west, the vegetation is kind of scarce; it consists of flora which can stand drought very well, like several eucalypus-spiecies. The wide sandel-wood once was the main export product of Timor.

Now, the Santalum alba only grows in a few remote areas, however the government has tried to replant the trees. The fire- and drought-resistant lontar-palm (Borassus sundaicus), one of the most important usefull plants in the area is an important source of food.

The official statistics show an easy view of the religious landscape of Indonesia: 88 per cent of the population is islamic, 5.8 per cent protestant, 2.9 per cent catholic, 2 per cent hinduist and 0.9 per cent buddhist. A very small group is indicated as 'those which don't have yet a religion'. These categories are separated into unequal parts over the islands of the archipelagio, but there is a clear tendency: the further you go to the east, the more christians and 'others' are found.

Lombok and Sumbawa, in the west of Nusa Tenggara are mainly islamic. On Flores, Roti and Timor, there is a christian majority. Sumba, which was the last island of the Lesser Sunda's to get a colonial rule, as well as the island Savu know a bright traditional religious culture.
When you travel through the area, you will see a totally different religious reality, which looks totally different than the official numbers. Under the layer of big universal religions you can find the traditional religious culture wich are rich and varied. This is probably the most clear in christian areas, however you can also find islamic sects, like the Wetu Telu on Lombok.
In the first place, people are impressed with the colorfull diversity of characteristic local cultures. But there is a foundation of a similar pattern, which offers a key for a better understanding of the religious culture of the region.

Guided by a Dream

Imagine a group of colonists which enter a new area in Nusa Tenggara. The migrants do certainly have several holy objects with them: a sword, a holy drum, or maybe soil and water from the place of origin. It's these objects which form the foundation of a yet to create village and the place of origin.

After the migrants, guided by a dream, the call of a bird or something else, have found their place to settle down and then they have to reach an agreement with the other population and spiritual owners of the island: the gods of the mountain, forest and water. These powers are seen as wild and dangerous. They make the area 'hot' and unusable for humans to live in. But by founding an althat from 'rock and tree', a treaty is granted.

The still untamed forces of the local landscape are envited or even forced to 'take a seat' in the stone of the althar; on which was they become the protectors of the new community. The leader of the group, in his turn, promises in name of the human part of the participants, to do all obliged rites. By this procedure, which is repeated in a smaller scale when the fields are first used, the area is 'cooled down' so it can be used by humans.

The religious ties between the humans and the landscape is enlargened when the founders of the village and the first agriculturers have died and are honoured like ancestors. Their remains rest in the megalith gravetombes around the village square with the 'rock and tree' altar, while their godlike spirits are honoured like ancestors in the highest point of the adat houses. From this place they negotiate between the living descendants and the powers of nature and they watch the strict fullfillment of the foundation-rulers. In the first place they are mainly negotiators, but after a while their cult starts to merge with that of the gods of the village.

The oldest living male descendant of the founder is called Tuan Tanah in Indonesian, 'Lord of the Land'. He devides the communal fields, starts the agricultural activities and lead big fertility-ceremonies. In his house, the holy heirlooms of the village are kept and near his veranda you can find the most important altars of the village. He is the heir of the 'first agreement' with the powers of nature and functions as the spiritual leader of the village.

Duality

The higher gods and ancestors can't be spoken to in a direct way. Some kind of negotiation is demanded. Ritual readers, which act as representatives for a relational group or village, can only get in contact with the highest gods through a long chaing of spiritual messengers, village gods and ancestors.

A ceremonial styled language is uses, the 'language of the ancestors', which consists of couplets of grouped centences. The used things are directly related from the real workd, like for example 'mountain' or 'river', but they are meant to call a more abstract reality, which is not named at all: in this case the 'landscape' or the 'domain'.

The principal of complementary duality can be found in all aspects of thinking and doing: the relations of marriage and agricultural activies and even the political structure. It forms the most important method to organise the visible and non-visible reality.

The most important of these compementary opposites are those between 'inside' and 'outside' and between 'female' and 'male'. Besides that the contrast between 'mountain' and 'sea' as well as 'up' and 'down' important for the orientation, while 'cool' and 'hot' has a function in the ritual context and 'older' and 'younger' is used in social contacts.

All these opposites are located in the vision on reality: the cyclic movements of cosmic dimensions, in which things are created from and return to another unity, their ;source' or 'origin'. The human has a special responsibility to maintain this circular flow of life. Some are more responsible than others.

The Tuan Tanah is seen as the first born, the 'oldest brother', which has as task to stay home to guard the rock and the tree of their cosmic parents. His younger brother, with which he shares power and which often belongs to a different familygroups, has to face towards the outside to guard the borders of the holy domain.

Traditional Dance

Custom Clothing

Bali

2009-04-16T10:14:00.000-07:00

Bali Custom House

The island of Bali is part of the Republic of Indonesia and is located 8 to 9 degrees south of the equator between Java in the West and Lombok and the rest of the Lesser Sunda Islands (Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba and Timor) in the East. Flying time to Jakarta is about 1.5 hours, to Singapore and Perth (Australia) 2.5 and 3 hours, and to Hong Kong about 4 hours.

Geography

The island of Bali has an area of only 5,632 square kilometers (2,175 square miles) and measures just 55 miles (90 kilometers) along the north-south axis and less than about 90 miles (140 kilometers) from East to West. Because of this it's no problem to explore the island on day tours. You can go wherever you want on the island and return to your hotel or villa in the evening.

Located only two kilometers east of Jawa, Bali's climate, flora and fauna are quite similar to its much larger neighbor. The island is famous for its beautiful landscape. A chain of six volcanoes, between 1,350 meters and 3,014 meters high, stretches from west to east. There are lush tropical forests, pristine crater lakes, fast flowing rivers and deep ravines, picturesque rice terraces, and fertile vegetable and fruit gardens. The beaches in the South consist of white sand, beaches in other parts of the island are covered with grey or black volcanic sand.

Flora

The wide variety of tropical plants is surprising. You'll see huge banyan trees in villages and temple grounds, tamarind trees in the North, clove trees in the highlands, acacia trees, flame trees, and mangroves in the South. In Bali grow a dozen species of coconut palms, and even more varieties of bamboo.

And there are flowers, flowers everywhere. You'll see (and smell the fragrance of) hibiscus, bougainvilleas, jasmine, and water lilies. Magnolia, frangipani, and a variety of orchids are found in many front yards and gardens, along roads, and in temple grounds. Flowers are also used as decorations in temples, on statues, as offerings for the gods, and during prayers. Dancers wear blossoms in their crowns, and even the flower behind the ear of your waitress seems natural in Bali.

Fauna

Elephants and tigers don't exist any more in Bali since early this century. Wildlife, however, includes various species of monkeys, civets, barking deer and mouse deer, and 300 species of birds including wild fowl, dollar birds, blue kingfishers, sea eagles, sandpipers, white herons and egrets, cuckoos, wood swallows, sparrows, and starlings. You can watch schools of dolphins near Lovina, Candi Dasa, and Padangbai. Divers will see many colorful coral fish and small reef fish, moray eels, and plankton eating whale sharks as well as crustaceans, sponges, and colorful coral along the east coast and around Menjangan island near Gilimanuk.

Climate

You can expect pleasant day temperatures between 20 to 33 degrees Celsius or 68 to 93 degrees Fahrenheit year-round. From December to March, the west monsoon can bring heavy showers and high humidity, but usually days are sunny and the rains start during the night and pass quickly.

From June to September the humidity is low, and it is pleasantly cool in the evenings. During this time of the year, you'll have hardly any rain in the coastal areas. However, in Ubud and the mountains you must expect cloudy skies and showers throughout the year (this is why the international weather reports for Bali mention showers and rain storms year-round). In higher regions such as in Bedugul or Kintamani you'll also need either a sweater or jacket after the sun sets.

Population

Bali's population has grown to over 3 million people the overwhelming majority of which are Hindus. However, the number of Muslims is steadily increasing through immigration of people from Java, Lombok and other areas of Indonesia who seek work in Bali.

Most people live in the coastal areas in the South, and the island's largest town and administrative center is fast growing Denpasar with a population of now over 370,000. The villages between the town of Ubud and Denpasar, Kuta (including Jimbaran, Tuban, and Legian, Seminyak, Basangkasa, etc), Sanur, and Nusa Dua are spreading rapidly in all directions, and before long the whole area from Ubud in the North to Sanur in the East, Berawa and Canggu in the West, and Nusa Dua in the South will be urbanized.

Economy

This southern part of Bali is where most jobs are to be found, either in the hotel and tourist industry, the textile and garment industry, and in many small scale and home industries producing handicrafts and souvenirs. Textiles, garments, and handicrafts have become the backbone of Bali's economy providing 300,000 jobs, and exports have been increasing by around 15% per year to US$400 million in 1998. Textiles and garments contribute about 45%, and wood products including statues, furniture and other handicrafts 22% to the province's total income from exports. Silver work is ranked third (4.65%) with 5,000 workers employed. Main buyers are the US and Europe with 38% each, and Japan with 9%.

Important agricultural products besides rice are tea, coffee, tobacco, cacao, copra, vanilla, soy beans, chilies, fruit, and vegetable (there are now even vineyards near the northwest coast). Bali's fishing industry and seaweed farming provide other products which are important exports.

The new free-trade regulations will create some problems for Bali's exporters as they do not allow to employ children. Most children here work for their parents, and this is part of the process of acquiring professional skills and kind of an informal education which has been very important in the Balinese society for centuries.

As a pearl of Bali, Kuta is one of the best beaches in Asia, with the only waves, which breaks over sand instead of a coral. This most popular tourist destination has succeeded in combining the need of local people and visitors. The original Kuta villagers have involved in the tourism industry for years.Kuta and surrounding offers various kind of accommodation, from simple and cheap accommodation provided by the locals to luxurious accommodation managed by international hotel chain.Kuta’s seas are ideally best for surfing.

Everyday both Balinese and foreigners are found along the golden sands of Kuta beach. Kuta area is also completed with various tourist facilities such as restaurants, pubs, bars, souvenir shops, tattoo parlors and travel offices.Along the north of Kuta, Legian street offers a number of high quality boutiques, excellent restaurants, cafes and bars influenced by western style. Exclusive hotels can be easily found in Seminyak, further north of Kuta, while antiques wooden furniture shops in Jalan Raya Kerobokan.

Jimbaran

Jimbaran is another resort near Kuta, which the tourist are quite fond of. It’s a drowsy bay where flotillas of fishing boats blush the panorama.Jogging is widely practiced sport in Jimbaran beach and is especially tempting in the covered glow of sunset. It’s also an admired spot for windsurfing and sailing small craft, which are obtainable for rent.The quietness of Jimbaran is a perfect attraction to spend sometime while feeling the sensation of sea breeze and facing the sunset.
If you are interested in bali's beaches and temples, we have a special tour for you to visit the beaches of Bali and do all the things you want in these beaches, such as water sports, diving, surfing or if you have other ideas we can design the tour activity specially for you.

Tuban

Located between Kuta and the airport, Tuban is a nice place to stay. Around Tuban is completed with various type of hotels and many supporting tourist facilities. Tuban beaches are safe for swimming and it is such a perfect place to unwind.

Uluwatu, Padang Padang & Bingin

These beaches are popular among surfers. Lack of supporting facilities is not an obstacle for tourist with adventure spirit to conquer the waves.Now, a number of infrastructure developments have been started to establish in these area. This means as an effort to provide a good accessibility for anyone who come there.

Sanur

The main attraction of Sanur beach are the beaches with their very white sand and the beauty of constantly calm water. Sanur area has all level of accommodation and solid network of infrastructure.Sanur is also the place where the few remaining of Brahman Kuasa villages found. Some of the charming ritual procession such as Bali’s only all-female keris dance is held in this area.The Prasasti Blanjong, an emblazoned pillar here dated AD 913, is Bali’s earliest behind the times relic and is now kept in a temple in Blanjong village, southern part of Sanur.

Nusa Dua

Nusa Dua is a lovely commune devoted to tourism. The objective of the establishment was to meet all demands of tourism. The most exclusive and well-known remedy in Bali offers the best in terms of tourists structures and services, well-built and efficient hotel complexes with inclusive facilities, golf course with international standards where worldwide competition are also held, luxurious shops and exclusive beaches for tourists only.The village of Bualu, in Nusa Dua area has a picturesque site as well as for its relative isolation from densely populated areas. Most of hotel in Nusa Dua is landmark of the new Balinese architecture.

Nusa Lembongan

Located in the eastern part of Bali, Nusa Lembongan is a popular place for diving and snorkeling. It has a professional dive centers and is an ideal relaxation stop for sailing trips from the mainland. Many small crafts offers day trip to the island.With the backdrop of Mount Agung, the immaculate island has spectacular scenery and offers unforgettable adventure. Nusa Lembongan’s neighboring island, Nusa Penida is less popular and tourism does not play an important role there.

Amed & Tulamben

Eastern part of Bali offers alternative destinations, which are Amed and Tulamben. Amed is a resort town that will bring back the old memory of Kuta. Completed with simple tourist supporting facilities such as Losmen, small hotels and amateur entertainment, Amed is a popular site for snorkeling.With the panorama changing drastically to dry hills covered with scrub, Tulamben is quieter and even more popular for diving. As one of the most renowned diving site in Indonesia, Tulamben offers diverse marine life and magnificent under water world.

Padang Bai

A flawlessly shaped bay cradled by the hills, Padang Bai is a perfect escape in the east of Bali. As a transit harbor to Bali neighboring islands such as Nusa Penida and Lombok, passenger and cargo vessel departing everyday.There are a few losmen provided in Padang Bai. An intimate white sandy beach and lovely harbor scenery will make the holiday in Bali even more romantic.

Candi Dasa

As a recognized resort area for over topical decades, Candi Dasa is an entryway to East Bali. Compared to the resorts in southern part of Bali, Candi Dasa is much simpler.Offering low budget accommodation and few upscale hotels, the main attraction of Candi Dasa is a dazzling landscape of the beach. Blighted by jetties protruding into the water, intended to stop the erosion caused by coral blasting for years.

Lovina Beach

In the western part of Singaraja, long stretch of black sand beach encompasses Anturan, Tukad Mungga, Kalibukbuk, Kaliasem and Temukus villages collectively called Lovina. Lining up of busy losmen and hotels with the depleted shady sea makes Lovina one of the most stirring beaches in Bali.Tranquility, incredible under water world and dolphins are the magnetism of Lovina. From Lovina, visiting Pulau Menjangan, which is a part of West Bali National Park will be interesting for diving lover.

Tanah Lot

Located in Tabanan, just across the boundary of Badung regency, Tanah Lot is the most well-known and photographed temple.A truly remarkable and feature temple, Tanah Lot is built on a stony narrow piece of terrain, which the high tides transform into an island, making right of entry from the land impossible.It is particularly reminiscent at sunset when the illumination, at times a slender thread and others, a dazzling spark, springs back the waves. The beach around Tanah Lot is less comfortable for swimming but great for horse riding and watching spectacular sunset. Although surfing can be done in this area but it’s recommended not for beginner.

Bali Traditional Ceremony

Custom Clothing

East Java

2009-04-15T01:06:00.000-07:00

The main point of East Jawa is located at the northern coast, in Surabaya: a rising industrial and commercial centre, and the second largest city in Indonesia. With it's three milion residents this factory-, and seaport city has developed into the economical capital of entire Eastern Indonesia.

The seaport ( Tanjung Perak'e.g. Cape Silver ) is a crossing of trade between the eastern islands of the archipelago and the seaports in the west, a role which Surabaya filled for centuries already.

Partly as a result of softening rules the industry as well as the service sector grew tremendously. The famous poor sight of the city is disappearing more rapidly, and is being replaced by that of a metropolis. It even looks like if it will get back it's important status of most important centre of trade and industry in the entire archipelago; a position it lost to Jakarta after the Second World War.

In contrary to Jakarta, with it's mixture of cultures, Surabaya is an real Jawanese city. Other than In Solo and Yogyakarta, the Jawanese in Surabaya mainly originate from the pasisir ( the coast, the bordr area ) and they belong on the whole to the santri, a more orthodox stream in the Islam.

Original inhabitants are called Arèk Suroboyo in Jawanese. They are free, proud and sometimes a little simpleminded. The city has a faster pace and a more cosmopolitan look on life than the hinterland, cultivated by centuries of contacts with traders from overseas.

People have little interest in the fuss and etiquette of the royal cities; Surabays is a commecial centere and it's society reasonable egalitarian. Surabaya has little to offer to tourists, but lovers of the sparkling and busy nightlife can enjoyt this city, especially when they look beneath the surface.

Who really wants to enjoy the city has just to copy the middle class; a small walk to the evening market of the shopping mall. Public happenins are an extremely good moment to meet, at watch, other people.

The story of the shark and the crocodile

The name Surabaya originates from a stoey about a fight between sura ( a shark ) and a baya ( a crocodile ). In that fight they united and formed the character S, which can be found at the back of the Monument of the Heroes, on the city arms.

Another explaination is saya ing baya, a Jawanese proverb; 'brave in the face of fear'. With this the ajèk Suroboyo are meant, which offered strong resistance against the fierce attack of sultan Agung. But just as well this proverb can be used fo the people who fought in the later revolution.
It's not exactly known when Surabaya was founded, but in the seventies the city council declared 31 May 1293 as the big dag.

Historically this was the dat at which the Chinese-Mongolian troops were conquerred by Raden Wijaya and he founded the empire of Majapahit. The harbour developped from a small village at the banks of a brackish side-rivers of the Brantas. Maybe this is a declaration of it's Chinese name, Sishui, which means 'muddy water'. Chinese sources report that the city was 'the gate to the mighty Brantas, the main route which leads to the inlands of Jawa'.

During the good period of Majapahid in the 14th century Surabaya had a lower position compared with the near seaports of Tuban and Gresik. Until the first half of the 19th century, the seaport of Pasuran even was bigger.

The city got more fame when it held strong against the aggresion of Mataram, Madura and the VOC threathened to invade Surabaya, in the 17th and 18th century. Leaders of resistance like Trunojoyo ( a disloyal prince from Madura ), Sawunggaling ( a local hero ) and Untung Surapati ( a rebelling Baltic slave ) brought huge losses to the Dutch and Mataram.

Eventually the city was lost to the VOC, except of the quarters near the harbour where European, Chinese and other Asian traders lived, it was no more than a Jawanese kampung until the turn of the century, houses of wood and bamboo.

As many other cities on Jawa Surabaya got it’s colonial looks only after 1900; big stone buildings besides green and wide lanes, most of the times close to the kampungs, when they didn’t have to dissappear. Even now people speak about ‘the people from the wide lanes’ and from ‘the people from the small alleys’.

City centre

Just like Jakarta, Surabaya developed around the harbour, and gradulately grew southwards. A visit to the city normally starts in the new commercial and governmental centre around Jalan Tunjungan and Jalan Pemuda, a fast developing, smaller version of Jalan Thamrin - Sudirman - Gatot Subroto, the main archer in Jakarta.

Point of recognition dfor Jalan Tunjungan is Hotel Majapahit, the former ‘Oranje Hotel’. At this place the flag-incident took place in September 1945, the spark in the revolutionair barrel of gunpowder of the city. With just across Hotel Sarkies, at Jalan Embong Malang, the corner forms the lost colonial history, with at the eastern side the former private club Deutsche Verein at Jalan Gentengkali, now known as Balai Sahabat.

This place offers a good Chinese restaurant, also accessible for non-members. At this street is also the cultural centre, Taman Budaya for expositions and shows. In the morning students practice classical dances. The complex was used for the bupati ( regent ) until the seventies.

At Jalan Dolog is a statue of king Kertanagara in his incarnation of the Bhuddha Asokbhya. The from Malang originating statue was taken to Surabaya earlier. The feet carried the date 1289. Jawanese still honour the statue, that is locally know as ‘Joko Dolog’ ( fat boy ).

More to the east, at Jalan Pemuda, is Grahadi, the official residence of the governor of East Jawa, once the stately residence house. From the road the back of the building can just be seen; at the front if a small canal. In this quarter transport over water was very common. The statue of Soerju, the first governot of East Jawa, dresses up the park across Grahadi.

Reog Ponorogo

Custom Clothing

Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta

2009-04-14T23:45:00.000-07:00

Keraton Yogyakarta

Yogyakarta, or short Yogya is one of the two still excisting traditional royal cities of Central Jawa; the other is Solo. The city is in the centre of a wide belt of fertile ricefields, which are dominated in the north by the smouldering Gunung Merapi, and in the south is limited because of the rough Indian Ocean.

The 3,169 sq.km. province of Yogyakarta counts 3,2 milion residents, on average more than one thousand per square kilometre. Yogya is among the most densely populated and most productive traditional agricultural areas in the world. The fact that low housing dominates, and most people still live in relatively small, selfsufficient village communities, this is even more remarkable. In the city itself live less than 500,000 people.

Old principality

The area around Yogya, earlier known as Mataram, is being inhabited for at least 2000 years. The oldest kingdom is reported on a stone linga dating from the year 732, found near Canggal, north of the current city. On this king Sanjaya is named, probably an honest, friendly royal Siwaitic royal ruler, which descendants rules into the 10th century.

At the same time in the area ruled the Sailendra-dynasty ( 'mountain lords' ), which supported the Mahayana-bhuddhism. Both families left important stone monuments, under which the world famous Borobudur and Prambanan.

At the end of the 16th century the empire of Mataram was blown alive politically by the arrival of a mighty Islamic empire. Panembahan Senopati, son of the Majapahit prince from East Jawa founded a simple village near Kota Gede in 1575, which attracted traders and artists and became a centre of trade. Senopati founded the bathing place of Umbul pecetokan near a big source southwest of the village of Beringan, the place we now know as Yogyakarta.

In 1614 Senopati's grandson - sultan Agung - replaced the capital to Kerta in the south. Sultan Agung became Matarams most important leader. During his long reign ( appr. 1613 until 1646 ) he added big parts of Eastern-, and Central Jawa to his kingdom. After his death, the capital was placed to the east several times, first to Plered and next to Kartasura.

The grandson of sultan Agung, Amangkurat II, started the construction of a fortification near Beringan, but died during construction. His brother, the later Paku Buwono I, completed the structure and named it Ngayogya, a 'Jawanisation' of Ayodya, the idylic kingdom of Prince Rama from Ramayana. The current name Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat connects this Indian poem of heroes with the wanted peace ( yogya ) and prosperity ( karta ).

A long, unrecognisable number of revolts and wars after eachother lead to a truce - forced by the Dutch - between Paku Buwono III and his uncle Mangkubumi in the mid 18th century. The nine-year-long conflict got an totally unexpected end. The kingdom was devided into two seperate royal houses. Mangkubumi got half and seated as sultan Hamengku Buwono I in the new capital of Yogyakarta.

A new city

Hamengku Buwono I was a dynamic and creative rules. With care he choose the location for his new palace: at the southern side of the Merapi, close to the monuments of the old Mataram and the former places of Senopato and sultan Agung. The klaton which he built in Yogya, became the symbol of his new empire.

Along the southen entrance fruit trees were planted as a feature of the growth of the humen embryo from the fertilisation until birth. The road of procession, which lead to the north from the kraton ( the current Jalan A. yani - Malioboro - Mangkubumi ), was compared to a ritual path, which every person had to walk in it's mind to clear the thoughts. Only after that you could unite with the creator, symbolised by a stone needle or Tugu, at the northern end of the road.

Hemengku Buwono I was not only a successfull constructor, he also was an successfull military leader and a professional ruler. After his death in 1792 a restless time dawned. Conflicts between his sons and grandsons became arguments in which the Dutch and English colonial powers also got strangled. In an effort to stabilise the region, the English gave prince Notokusomo, a half-brother of Hamengku Buwono I, an independend principality and the title Sri Paduka Paku Alam I in 1813.

Intrigues and revolt followed eachother in fast pace. Arguments about rights on land became more fierce and reached their highs in the dramatic Jawa War ( 1825-1830 ). The religious accented on economy based revold spread all over central Jawa under command of the charismatic Yogyan prince Diponegoro. Besides the approximately 15,000 deaths, famine and epidemics also caused 200,000 deaths, about 10 per cent of the total population of the island at that time.

In 1830 Diponegoro was trapped, enprisoned and banned from the island. After that the royal family lead an quiet existance. People worked on arts and ritual appearance of status, and helped the Dutch sugar companies. The rural population multipied by eight, causing the living conditions to change dramatically.

In the beginning of the 20th century a few important social movements were formed in Yogya. In 1908 a group of young idealists with Dutch education founded the Boedi Oetomo , followed up four years later by the Muhammadiyah-movement of K.H.A. Dahlan.

This movement propagated modern islamic education and healthcare. In 1922 Ki Hadjar Dewantoro founded the Taman Siswa schools in Yogya, and in 1928 the first Indonesian congress for women was held, in which representatives of 30 departments participated.

Revolutionary mind

In 1940 the 27-year-old prince became sultan Hamengku Buwono IX. This happening would have big influences all over Indonesia. The young sultan studied at the Univesity in Leiden, and had an western education, but he was also aware about his Jawanese roots. He developed himself into a reformed, which gave real support to the independence movement in the dark days of the revolution.

Directly after the declaration of independence at 17 August 1945 sultan Hameng Buwono IX as well as Paku Alam VIII decided to support the newly formed Indonesian republic. Early 1946m, the capital was quietly replaced to Yogyakarta, in that time the sultan gave the new government some funds.

The Dutch didn't dare to overthrow the sultan. During the six month long occupation in 1949 they tried, with no success, to get the leadership of a new pan-Jawanese state. During this entire period the sultan had personal contact with the republican guerrilla troops, which operated from the surrounding villages.

Because he openly supported the revolution, his empire got the status of special province, Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta, with the sultan as governor and Paku Alam VIII as vice-governor, named for life and directly responsible for the central government, and not to the governor of Central Jawa.

City of education and culture

Yogya is a city with many faces. Proud at it's century-old Jawanese heir it attracts numerous painters, dancers and writers from all over the planet. The city where the Taman Siswa-schools and the Islamic Muhammadiyah-schools were founded, nowadays is a real student city.

Besides the Gajad Mada University, which originates from the time of the revolution and is one of the most important Universities of the country, Yogya counts over fourty academies and institutes for higher education.

Besides a traditional Jawanese city, Yogya is also a place of refreshing ideas. On just a few paces from the serene kraton is the market where batik painters show their designs, influenced by foreigners. In the main streets computer stores pop up everywhere while satellite dishes and trendy residencial quarters dominate the city.

During a celebration of Independence day, no one look if after a traditional golek-dance a group of trendy pop-dancers appear on the stage. In the tolerant cultural climate in Yogya traditions and modern things go hand in hand.

The over two kilometre long main road which runs from the kraton to the north, was part of the original design of the palace and was the lifely archery at which Yogyakarta grew.
Too bad, the nowadays Jalan Malioboro has little similarity with the mystical lane which Hamengku Buwono I had in mind for his royal procession. His 'ritual path' became an overcrowded, densely populated race circuit, and the spiritual symbolics were changed for exhaustion gasses.
The special meaning which the street had ever since the early times, brought successive city councils to the idea to give it a face-lift. Remarkable is the fact that the street is made into a one-way street, just against the way of the original kraton processions, from the north to the south.

Marlborough or Mergelberg

About the origin of the name 'Malioboro', very different explainations are to be found. For sure is that the name only got there after 1945, is from abroad, because Jawanese tradition only names quarters. Naming streets in Indonesia is just a very recent appearance.

The long time that the most populair explaination that the street was named after the duke of Marlborough (after the English occupation of Jawa), is nowadays considdered the least probable one. The explaination that tells the name originates from Sanscrite, malaya bhara (decorated with strings of flowers), is hard to proove, since this term is not found in old Jawanese texts.

The third explaination is that Malioboro is a degeneration from Mergelberg (the equivalent of Marlborough), which meand as much as 'fortress of limestone', and points to the walls of the benteng.

Jalan Ahmad Yani

The most southern part of Jalan Malioboro, between the post office and the first big crossing, officially is named Jalan Ahman Yani, to one of the torturers from the revolution. It is dominated by gold shops, batikshops and snackbars.

Arriving from the alun-alun you first pass a gate (pangurakan), which marks the border of the kraton area. Next is a crossing with some colonial buildings: the main post office (built in 1910), the Bank Negara Indonesia 1946 (built in 1923 at the Javasche Bank/Nillmij) and the former society (built in 1912, but partially bombarded in 1946), which nowadays serves as a theathre and gallery (Gedung Senisono); on Saturdays open-air concerts are given here.

Benteng Vredeburg

Yogya Custom Clothing

Central Java

2009-03-22T10:17:00.000-07:00

Custom House

Central Java Province, as one of the Indonesia tourist destination areas, offers various kinds of tourist attractions whether natural, cultural, or man made features. Central Java is located exactly in the middle of Java Island.

It borders with West Java Province in the western part, while in the eastern part borders with East Java Province. On the part of the southern side lies also the province of Yogyakarta Special Region. Central Java is the island's cultural, geographic, and historic heartland.

Universities, dance schools, pottery, handicrafts, textiles and carving, give to the region a rich culture and interesting shopping. This is also the place of the famous Javanese temples of Borobudur.

Borobudur Temple

But it is not the only ones to be noted; Dieng plateau and Sukuh temple are worth a visit. Performing arts is still widely practiced, and traditional dance dramas (Wayang Orang) or shadow puppets (Wayang Kulit) performances are easy to find.

Mountains cross the entire central portion of the province. The cool slopes contain numerous hill resorts (Tawangmangu, Kaliurang, Sarangan).

The very first Moslem kingdom on the island was founded in 1511 at Demak, about 40 km from Semarang. Today Demak is a sleepy little town, however, its glory of the past is still visible from one of the major relics, which is still well preserved.

The Grand Mosque, a quaint blend of Hindu and Islamic architecture, still honored and worshipped by Javanese pilgrims.Surakarta, better known as Solo, is the cradle of Javanese culture in the province.

TV courts of Solo embody the noble value that the Javanese attach to grace and refinement, with majestic ceremonies and royal festivals still held with great pomp and circumstance. Although no longer the seat of power it once was, descendants of the royal houses of Solo are regarded as leaders of, Javanese culture and traditions, upholding standards of sophistication and conduct.

The rich and fertile plains of the region support an enormous population of over 30 million people. The low land plains are found alongside the northern beaches.

The high land plains are found in the Center of Central Java with mountains stretching lengthwise from the west to the east with a line of mountains, such as Mount Slamet (3,428 m), Mount Perahu (2,585 m), Mount Sindoro (3,135 m) Mount Sumbing (3,321 m), Mount Merapi (3,142 m), Mount Ungaran (2,050 m).

Near the border with East Java Province is Mount Lawu (3,265 m), while on the northern side there is Mount Muria (1,602 m). At the feet of these mountains will find pleasant and cool highland plains with beautiful panoramas such as Baturaden, the Dieng Plateau, Bandungan, Kopeng, Tawangmangu, Solo, etc.

Apart from these mountains there are some small mountains and lime mountains. The Biggest Rivers found in the Central Java are Serayu River, with its source from the Dieng Plateau and "Bengawan Solo" River.

The people of Central Java will welcome all of the tourists with hospitable and friendly. The population is about 30.7 million (based on census in 2002) or about 896 persons per square kilometer with living as farmer, trader, and official government.

Besides original tribe, some foreign tribes stay here such as Arabic, Chinese, Indian and Pakistani. "Kebaya" is representing traditional clothes wearied by woman.

Kebaya Clothing

custom clothing

West Java

2009-03-22T09:41:00.000-07:00

Custom House West Java

West Java Province is located at part of western Java Island. The enchanting of Sunda land stretches from Sunda Strait in the west to the borders of Central Java in the east. The locals' people know West Java Province as the Land of Sunda.

The region is primarily mountainous, with rich green valleys hugging lofty volcanic peaks, many of which surround the capital of West Java province. The history of West Java is a story of trade, spices, and the rise and fall of powerful kingdoms.

In the late 1500's the region was ruled from mighty Cirebon, which still survives as a sultanate today, although a shadow of its former glory. West Java was of the first contact points in Indonesia for Indian traders and their cultural influences, and it was here that the Dutch and British first set foot in the archipelago.

This province has its own unique culture and language, both called Sundanese that is also used to call its people. The ancient kingdoms of Tarumanegara, Pajajaran, Banten and Cirebon would make interesting studies for the student of archaeology.

Cirebon is located on the border between West and Central Java, having a mixed culture originating from the ancient Cirebon and Banten kingdoms, resulting in similar customs and dialects of the two people, although Banten is located at the extreme western part of the province.

West Java province its self, is formed based on the Constitution number 11/1950 on the establishment of West Java. With the issuance of Constitution number 23/2000 on Banten Province, West Java Governor Assisting Territory I Banten was inaugurated as Banten Province with its territories comprising Serang Regency, Pandeglang Regency, Lebak Regency, Tangerang Regency and Mayoralty, and Cilegon Mayoralty.

After the change, at present West Java consists of 18 regencies, nine mayoralties, 584 districts, 5,201 villages and 609 sub districts.The capital city of West Java province is Bandung city. Bandung is situated 180 km southeast of Jakarta.

The city gamed fame in 1955 as the venue for the first Afro-Asian Conference, which brought together the leaders of 29 Asian, and African nations with the aim to promote economic and cultural relations and take a common stand against colonialism.

The road from Jakarta to Bandung passes through a beautiful panorama of mountains, paddy fields and small holiday resorts. An expressway connects the crowded capital city with Bogor and the mountain areas, and onward to Bandung.

It has a number of sea resorts on its western and southern coasts, which have modern hotels and are popular during the weekends. The Sundanese people are soft-spoken. The women of the Bandung region are known for their beauty. A lighthearted people who have a love for bright colors, their mournful "kecapi" music is memory of beautiful legends.

custom clothing

Special Capital Region [Jakarta]

2009-03-22T08:52:00.000-07:00

custom house Betawi

Jakarta, the capital, is the largest city. It is located on the north-western coast of the island of Java on Jakarta Bay, at the mouth of the Ciliwung River. Jakarta is also the centre of activities for the whole of Indonesia.

There are more than 300 ethnic groups in Indonesia with over 200 languages being spoken. Half the total population are Javanese with the balance being made up largely of Sundanese in West Java, Javanese in Central and East Java, Madurese in East Java and Madura, Balinese, the Coastal Malays, Buginese, Makassarese, and Bataks.

Being a big city, Jakarta's population is a composite of many racial strains, including Arab, Indian, Papuan, Dutch and Chinese. But the majority are of Malay origin.The city of Jakarta, founded on the former location of the pepper-seaport Sunda Kelapa at the mouth of the river Ciliwung, has always been a blooming centre of trade, which attrackted visitors from all over the archipelago.

The nowadays Jakarta is longsince not a pepper-seaport anymore. The 'Big Durian' is the fastest growing capital of the fifth biggest populous country of the world; a crowded metropolis with about ten milion people, a dynamic economy and a fast way of life.

In the 15th centuty Sunda Kelapa was an important outpost of the inland Hinduist kingdom Pajajaran. The city was embraced by a heavy battle for its part of the regional spice trade with other seaports along the Malaca Street and the Sunda Strait.

In 1527 the seaport was occupied by troops of islamc sultanates of Banten and Demak, under the authority of the North-Sumatran Malay Fatahillah Khan, which married an princes from Banten.

He hated the Portuguese, which conquerred North-Sumatra in 1521, and made a trade deal over pepperdelivery with Pajajaran in 1522. Sunda Kelapa became a part of Banten soon, and since then it was called jayakarta (City of the victory).

The Portuguese were followed up by the Dutch at the end of the 16th century. The Dutch monopolized the spice trade completely, and scared away their concurrents with their good ships and well organized V.O.C.

In the beginning they worked from Banten, but in November 1610 they signed a trading-treaty with prince Wijayakrama of Pajajaran, which let the Dutch built a warehouse in Jayakarta. This little fortress, founded in 1611 east of the city, was moved to the bank of the Ciliwung in 1618, and was called Jacatra since then.

In the first place Wijayakrama let the Dutch for what they were. This all changed when in 1618 a certain Jan Pieeterszoon Coen promovated: from general-bookkeeping and head of the VOC offices in Banten en jayakarta to governor-general.

Image A canal in Jakarta

When Coen wanted to replace all trade to Jayakarta, Wijayakrama called in the English from Banten to drive away the Dutch. A long siege followed, in which the few Dutch were overwhelmed by an enourmous power.

The distrust against the three armies gave Coen the opportunity to hold his positions until the reinforcements from the Moluccas arrived. In March 1618 he broke the siege and totally demolished Jayakarta and the palace of the prince.

After that he reinfoces the old fortress into a big new fortress, "Het Kasteel" (the castle) During the siege the old fortress was renamed to Batavia, from the Bataviers which settled in Holland in the early ages.

This name, the city would carry from 1622 until the end of theDutch rule in 1942.Coen made Batavia into the military and governmental capital of a mighty traving imperium, which stretched from Cape Hope to India, and from the Indonesian archipelago towards Formosa (Taiwan) and Japan.

In 1628 and 1629 attachs of sultan Agung and the powerfull mid-Javanese kingdom of Mataram were foiled, at a cost of great destruction. During the second siege, Coen died of cholera.His successor, governor-general Jacques Specx (1629 - 1632), rebuilt and reinforced the city from Coen's plans. In contrary to his predecessor, he gave the Chinese the right to demand taxes for services done by the Chinese.

Batavia fourished and its economical power got the city it's nickname "Queen of the East".In the next two centuries the faith of Batavia was the same as that of the VOC. The entire 17th century the economy of the city flourished on a profitable monopoly on spices, but in the 18th century the company had to deal with tremendous fluctuations in prices.

Corruption and high military costs endangered the position of the VOC more and more.The descending prosperity was also noticable in the city. The nice channels that Coen had designed to make batavia an eastern version of Amsterdam, seemed not suitable for tropical regions. They slowly suffocated, became polluted, and became breeding places of vermin.

In good, but badly ventilated Dutch buildings there were rats too much. The plaster was rotten because of the heat. Malaria-, dysenteria-, cholera- and typhoid-epidemics decimated the population. Fear of a revolt of the Chinese lead to the Massacre of the Chinese in 1740.

Batavia became economically dead and slowly but steadily the city started to become ramshackle. Year of bad management, costly wars and treason lead to the bankruptcy of the VOC, at the end of the 18th century it's territory was lost to the Dutch government.

Rise of a new city

Governor-general Deandels (1808-1810) ordered to tear down The Castle and the fortress walls. A new city centre was built in the less unhealthy south. Wide, three-lane boulevards and beautify government-buildings were constructed in neo-classical style, and formed the base of the modern day Jakarta.In 1811 British troops under Thomas Stamford Raffles entered Jawa and drove away the Dutch office. During his short period of leadership (in 1816 the Dutch got the office over the islands again) he introduced many new things and propagated the study of science and culture. The climax of his carreer was the founding of Singapore, a seaport that was to overshadow Batavia very soon.

Years of crisis and the New Order

The after-war Sukarno period left an inerasable impression on the modern Jakarta. Sukarno had the heavy task to lead a country that was torn apart by battle in the parties, and was robbed by the colonial aparatus.

Big parks, wide boulevards and heroistic monuments gave shape to his dream, but overshadowed the problems of the city. In the hope of a better living in the big city thousands of migrants flooded Jakarta.

The slum areas, poorness and desparation of the early sixties represent a negative time in the city's history. The succession of Sukarno by Suharto meant the dawn of an new era for Jakarta. Under the "New Order" plans to revive the city's economy and to modernise it were launched. The very simplified city council took care of hygene, education and supervision on burocracy, which were real hot items.

Still Jakarta is being embraced by problems that are similar to other fast growing cities in Third World countries. Investments aimed on a quick gain are being prevalated above the development of a primary infratructure with supporting systems.

For the visitor Jakarta is most of all a busy, colorfull metropolis, which houses aspects from all over the archipelago. For the milions that see Jakarta as their home, it's the true 'Ibu Kota', de Mother city of Indonesia.

custom wedding dress

Banten

2009-03-05T07:19:00.000-08:00

custom house

Banten in the fifth century was part of Tarumanagara kingdom. A stone inscription, called Prasasti Cidanghiang, coming from Tarumanagara era can be found at Lebak area at the bank of Cidanghiang river, in Pandeglang Regency, Banten.

The Prasasti Cidanghiang, found in 1947, contains 2 lines of poetic sentences in Sanskrit written in Pallava characters. The inscription proclaims Purnawarman as the standard for rulers around the world.

After Tarumanagara power declined, probably due to series of invasions from Srivijaya kingdom, all Tarumanagara territory, including Banten, was controlled by Kingdom of Sunda. Based on travel records of Prince Bujangga Manik, a Hindu Sundanese monk who visited all of the holy Hindu sites in Java Island and Bali Island at the beginning of the sixteenth century AD, in his lontar manuscripts, which are saved in Bodleian Library of Oxford University of England since the 16th century, Banten was part of Kingdom of Sunda.

In this era of the Kingdom of Sunda, Banten became one of very important ports of the kingdom. Portuguese historical record tells that Kingdom of Sunda with great city of Dayo Pakuan Pajajaran (currently Bogor city), the town and lands and port of Banten, the port of Pontang, the port of Cigede, the port of Tangaram (Tangerang), the port of Sunda Kalapa, and the port of Cimanuk are justly governed.

In 1524/1525, Sunan Gunung Jati from Cirebon Sultanate (former vasal Kingdom of Sunda) together with Demak Sultanate armies seized port of Banten from the control of Kingdom of Sunda, and established Banten Sultanate affilialting to Demak Sultanate. Islam preachers have penetrated and introduced people the peaceful way of life of Islam and as result many people in the region embraced Islam as their belief.During 1552-1570, Maulana Hasanudin ruled as the first Sultan of Banten.

Banten then become a part of West Java province in 1925 when Dutch Colonial established West Java province, the first province in Indonesia, referring to a statement from Staatblad number 378.In the present day, the area of Sultanate of Banten is a province.

The province was established on 17 October 2000 through the Law Number 23/2000, but the peak of celebration to the establishment happened on 4 October 2000 when tens of thousands of citizen of Banten came to the People's Representative Council (DPR) building at South Jakarta, at the same time as the plenary meeting of the parliament to authenticate the law of forming the Province of Banten.

debus from banten

Traditional dance

Lampung

2009-03-02T08:29:00.000-08:00

Lampung province is located at the extreme of south of Sumatra is overlooked, over flown by most tourists. In the past it was well known for its marvelous 'tapi' fabrics, some using real gold thread, and for its pepper.

But today, it is the location from ambitious transmigration projects, resettling farmers from over-populated Java. It boasts volcanoes, wildlife reserve, megalithic remain and a superb coastline of deep-cut bays and wonderful beaches.

Its capital is Bandar Lampung, is made up of twin cities that is Teluk Betung and Tanjung Karang. Way Kambas Nature Reserve is a 130,000 ha area of swamp and lowland forest with wild elephant, tapir and many other animals.

The name of Lampung province was taken from origin Lampungnese. Before Indonesia became independent country, a resident led Lampung region and the status was as residency area (Residentie lampungche districten) with many afdeling (afdeling Teloek betoeng, afdeling metroand afdeling kotabumi).

The villages/old town with traditional living characteristic could be found like sukadana, menggala, kenali, liwa, blambangan umpu etc.

Way Kambas

In the east part of Central Lampung there is a nature reserve named “Way Kambas“ which covers 130.000 hectares areas.

To achieve Way Kambas, an asphalted road is built. It takes 2 hours drive from Bandar Lampung. In nature reserve, there is the first elephant-training centre in Indonesia to train wild elephants which are capture from outside the area because they have disturbed the people's fields.

It is estimated there are about 500 elephants in Lampung, 250 of them are in Way Kambas. In this nature reserve, we can also find other wild animal such as Sumateran tigers, bears, tapirs and other animals such as deer, wild pigs and 286 bird species.

If we visit Way kambas, we can see the process of training wild elephants in the elephants training centre, an attraction of elephants are playing football, elephant safari, elephants are swimming and on certain occasions, we can also join catching the wild elephants and watch the elephants which are in the sexual mood which is very rarely found in the world.

custom clothing from Lampung

Bangka Belitung

2009-03-02T07:49:00.000-08:00

Custom House of Bangka

Bangka-Belitung is one of Indonesia provinces. It includes two large islands, Bangka and Belitung, and several smaller ones, which lie east of Sumatra, northeast of South Sumatra province.

Bangka Belitung (BABEL) Islands province is the 31st Province in Indonesia, one of the newest provinces. Bangka Belitung get it’s approved as a new province in 2001 separated with south Sumatra. That acknowledgement is because of the people struggle.

The region that was a great tin mines, now already to reach the new phase in its life. It provisioned with the beautiful of nature, and the uniquely of culture, Bangka Belitung step to the better future. Supported by the “Serumpun Sebalai” spirit and abundant natural resources, it has been expecting a greater role to speed up the island region's development, namely Bangka regency, Belitung regency and Pangkal Pinang city through cooperation development. That potency of culture and tourism is also supported by its strategic location that can connect with other interesting area.

The sea transportation that become the most accessibility in Bangka Belitung Island, is support its economics activities among the Islands. The richness of Bangka Belitung Island of nature and tin mines until its maritime rich, make Bangka Belitung a magnet for the new comers to get a better life. A Balinese countryside is found in this Island named Giri Jati village, complete with all of Bali culture that remembering us to Bali Island.

Beside Bali tribe, we also can found Bugis tribe that adds the various cultures in Bangka Balitung Island. This Bugis tribe can be found in the fishermen village at Tanjung Binga. Otherwise, the original tribe, Melayu culture has strong influence in the traditional ceremony and religious ceremony.

One of the ceremonies is Rebo Kasan Ceremony that done by Air Anyer village people. It is believed that one day of a year, the God give His 320,000 angels in the world. The people must together to pray. This ceremony was held in the beach, but now on, it held in the mosque then continued to the beach. Formerly, this ceremony become the people party with its star party is ‘Dambus’ art.

Custom house of Belitung

The Beach

Matras Beach

It is located in Sinar baru village, Sungailiat district in eastern of Bangka Island. It about 9 Km from Sungailiat, it's considered as the best in Bangka Island. The beach is about 3 kilometers long and its width is almost 30 meters.

It is unspoiled white sandy beach with coconut trees around the beach area, the tropical breeze and sunshine. Enjoy the warm and clear waters of the blue sea or just have a cooling swim in the river entering the sea.

This beach commonly called as the Heaven Beach because it surrounded with coconut trees and visited by a lot of visitor. An easily accessible beach can be found in the northeast of Bangka, 48 km from Pangkal Pinang and 12 km from Sungai Liat.

Romodong Beach

Romodong beach is located at Bukit Ketok village, Belinyu district, Bangka regency. This beach is about 77 km of Sungailiat town. In this beach, the tourists can watch the sunset, because this beach is faced to west side.

The length of this beach is about 4 km; it is slope, white sandy and soft. Its water is very clear like a crystal. Enjoy the beautiful of Romodong. When it low tide, you can walk in the water until in the middle of clear sea. If we see around, we just find the boulders and white sand that spread in the beach. The winds that make the leaves wobbled greet the tourists who looking for an inspiration.

Custom clothing from bangka

South Sumatra

2009-03-02T04:59:00.000-08:00

As fine veins the vast network of rivers in southern Sumatera cross an area as big as Ireland ( 104,000 sq.km. ). Five mighty rivers, a dozen important side rivers and a thousand small streams connect the scattered settlements in this vast and low populated province.

Near Palembang, most big rivers come together in the slow flowing Musi River, the biggest and widest of all. The Musi springs at the western side of the province as a small and twinkling stream, far away in the forest-covered Bukit Barisan, near the high peaks of Gunung Dempo ( 3159 metres ) and Gunung Patah ( 2817 metres ).

After she has left the cool highlands, the river falls and streams between the hills, along coffee plantationa and corn-, and ricefields. When reaching the flat lowlands, the river slows down, and crawls over the gradually descending plains towards the damping swamps along the coast.

A thousand years ago, Palembang was the capital of the powerfull maritime principalty of Srivijaya which had a vast trade network with Thailand, the Malay peninsula and the coastal areas of Jawa. The name comes from from limbang ( washing of gold ore ) and the early wealth of Palembang most likely originated from the gold from the river.

Old travel reports tell that the palace of the ruler contained a bassin wich was connected to the Musi River by a channel, which was a very big course of wealth for the king. Every day, the king threw one bar of gold into the bassin, which was shining like a goldfish. Above the river there was a refined smell of incense from the convents of Palembang, where more than one thousand monks lived and studied on buddhist writings.

Nowadays the river is dominated by the famous Ampera Bridge of Palembang. A little further upstream the Musi comes together with two main siderivers, the Ogan and the Komering, and widens towards a few hundred metres; ships until about 10,000 tonnes regularly make the hundred-kilometre trip from the coast to Boom Baru, a riverport of Palembang.

Along the shores of the Musi are piledwellings; some are a high as five metres above the waterlevel when it's low tide.Sumatera Selatan is the living area of the Malay and the centre of the Malay language and culture.

Malay is closely related with the Minangkabau language, and it's probable that Sumatera Selatan was populated by colonists from the Minangkabau region in the first centuries after Christ, which came to the coast to trade. Through the centuries their language changed from the one in the highlands. In the province, more than fifteen related Malay dialects are sporen currently.

On a small hill west of the city, Bukit Seguntang, the first king of Srivijaya and the ancestor of all Malay rulers descended. A second, and probably older, Bukit Seguntang is located near the village of Pariangan in the Minangkabau highlands.

For over three hundred years, Palembang was the most important centre of trade in Southeastern Asia, from the end of the 7th to the start of the 11th century. In that time, the city consisted of, just like nowadays, many kilometres of the Musi shorts.

While the ruler lived on the shore, his subjects built houses on the river itself. They populated a big fleet which formed the base of Srivijaja's rule over the sealane. Little remained from those times, but 24 archeological spots have been located, including the old palace, and the future promisses more interesting discoveries.

The bridge that spread above Musi River is becomes the main characteristic of Palembang city. It was built on 1962 - 1965. Ampera Bridge has 78m high of tower.

However, the special feature of this bridge that it can be opened and closed, the mechanism is no longer working, whereas is fact, it is the only bridge in Indonesia with the open-and-closed mechanism. Now it is only history.

The bridge has to be lifted up of the middle shares each time there every king sized ship, with height above nine meters, will pass by quickly. Both for going to downstream and also which going to the upstream.

Dempo Mountain

Mount Dempo is one of the natural tourism objects in Pagaralam. It is the highest peak in South Sumatra and might be reached directly from Palembang by car, after spending 6 hours more or less for about 295 kilometers. Grown in northern Sumatra (Indonesia) Highlands.

The liquor tends to be light with a hint of body and meatiness. Dempo Volcano is located at Lahat Regency, South Sumatra Province while little part belongs to Muna Regency of Bengkulu Province. Geographically, it lies at 04° 02'' SL and 103° 08'' EL.

The volcano has two peaks called Dempo and Merapi. The highest peak names Merapi with 3173 m high above sea level, while Dempo is about 3049 m. Dempo is a prominent 3173-m-high strata volcano that rises above the Pasumah Plain of SE Sumatra.

Bengkulu

2009-03-02T02:21:00.000-08:00

Bengkulu is the smallest and lowest populated province of Sumatera - less than one million people on a surface of 21,168 square kilometers. The province covers an area of 500 km long stretch of unspoiled beaches, protected by a stretch of mountains which soon flow into the mighty Bukit Barisan.

Tigers and elephants wander through the remains of the original rainforest, where exotic rafflesia's and orchids grow.Bengkulu used to be the only British colony in Southeast Asia for over 140 years. It was founded as an alternative source for pepper, after the Dutch got rule over Banten in the 17th century.

This small British outpost along a low populated shore however has never been of much value: the importance of pepper on the world market was rapidly descending and Bengkulu was too far away from the main trade routes to mean anything. From 1685 to 1825 the books of the British East Indian Company reports very bad trade, boredom and early death because of malaria.

Fortress York, the first British base, was founded in 1685, followed by the construction of Fortress Marlborough two kilometers ahead in 1715. The British thought that the local population was 'indolent' and it was usual to punish their leaders.

When William Dampier was in Bengkulu in 1690, he found two of those leaders chained because 'they didn't bring in the demanded amount of pepper to the Fortress'. Outside protests of the British government, this form of punishment was common into the beginning of the 19th century.

Bengkulu was awakened from apathy during Raffles reign (1818 - 1824), but in 1825 the colony was transferred to the Dutch, in trade for the acknowledgement of the British influence on the Malaysian peninsula and Singapore. During his stay in Singapore, Raffles started to explore the sea, what eventually ended in the foundation of Singapore.

His enjoyment over the booming economy of his new colony was overshadowed by the sad fact that three of his four children died in Bengkulu. The British influence was kept limited to the small coastal planes. The mountainous hinterlands were annexed by the Dutch in the 19th century after a number of military expeditions.

Shortly before the turn to the 20th century the Dutch discovered that the mountains near Bengkulu contained tremendous gold deposits and the province soon became the biggest gold-producing province of the Dutch Indies.The population of Bengkulu consists of four main groups. The Rejang are the mountain people and form the majority.

They are divided into two groups: the highland Rejang and the coastal Rejang which have moved to the western lowlands. In the south live the Serawai, which are related with the Pasemah in the highlands around Pageralam en Gunung Dempo.

In the capital there are many Malay people. The province of Bengkulu has been inhabited ever since the pre-historic times, which is proved in the findings of stone tools in the northern area, and the discovery of megalith constructions and old drums from the Dongson type in the south.

The isolated island Enggano just of the southern beach is the living habitat of another group. For a long time the Engganese were protected by influences from outside, because of there remoteness, but eventually they were struck by pocks and other diseases which were brought to the island by Western expeditions at the end of the 19th century.

Around the end of the 19th century it is tried to bring fresh blood into the group, but that didn't succeed as well. During the reign of Soekarno, the island has temporarily been a prison island as well.

Fortress Marlborough

The colonial city of Bengkulu was founded by the British in 1685 (the called it 'Bencoolen'). 150 years later, in 1825, the Dutch took power until the Japanese invasion in 1942. Bengkulu still looks like the earlier descriptions: quiet and clean.

The remembrances of Bengkulu from the colonial past can best be seen when walking. Start early in the morning, because the mid-day heat will be tremendous.Start the trip along the west side of Jl. Jend. A. Yani, near the domed monument for Thomas Parr, the unpopular governor of Bengkulu; he was stabbed to death and decapitated in 1807, probably by Buginese people.

Parr, educated in Bengalen, was used to unending loyalty of a subjected and obeying population. Once in Bengkulu he tried to lower the power of the Buginese Corps. These were recruited to fill up the empty places in the British East India Company.

After the murder on Parr, several suspect leaders were executed and several villages were burned. The relations between the British and Indonesians wasn't always that bad, and the big Indo-European population brought a British critic to call Bengkulu 'a real Batavian colony', in which he meant to say that there was to much mixture between races.

The titan arum

The titan arum or Amorphophallus titanum is a flowering plant with the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world. The largest single flower is borne by theRaflesia arnoldiii; the largest branched inflorescence in the plant kingdom belongs to thetalipot palm (Corypha umbraculifera).

The titan arum was originally discovered by an Italian botanist,Ordoardo Beccari, in Sumatra in 1878. It thrives at the edges of rainforests near open grasslands. Though found in many botanic gardens around the world it is still indigenous only to the tropical forests of Sumatra.

Due to its fragrance, which is reminiscent of the smell of a decomposing mammal, the titan arum is also known as a carrion flower, the "Corpse flower", or "Corpse plant" (in Indonesian, "bunga bangkai" – bunga means flower, while bangkai means corpse or cadaver; for the same reason, the same title is also attributed to Rafflesia which, like the titan arum, also grows in the rainforest of Sumatra).

Custom clothing from Bengkulu

Source: Wikipedia

Jambi

2009-02-18T10:49:00.001-08:00

Before what is now Indonesia was colonized by the Dutch East India Company, Jambi was the site of a well-established, powerful Srivijayan kingdom[citation needed] that engaged in trade throughout the Strait of Malacca and beyond.

It succeeded Palembang to the south, which was a frequent military and economic rival, as the later capital of the ancient kingdom. The move to Jambi was partly induced by the historic 1025 raid by pirates from the Chola region of southern India that destroyed much of Palembang.

In the early decades of the Dutch presence in the region, when the future colonizers were just one of several groups of traders competing with the British, Chinese, Arabs, and Malays, the Jambi sultanate profitably traded pepper with the Dutch.

This relationship declined by about 1770, and the sultanate had little contact with the Dutch for about sixty years.In 1833, minor conflicts with the Dutch, who were well established in Palembang, meant the Dutch increasingly felt the need to control the actions of Jambi. They coerced Sultan Facharudin to agree to greater Dutch presence in the region and control over trade, although the sultanate remained nominally independent.

In 1858 the Dutch, apparently concerned over the risk of competition for control from other foreign powers, invaded Jambi with a force from Batavia. They met little resistance, and Sultan Taha fled to the upriver, inland regions of Jambi. The Dutch installed a puppet ruler, Nazarudin, in the lower region, which included the capital city.

Kerinci Mountain

Exciting climax of a journey through Jambi is a visit to the magnificent, isolated Kerinci Valley along the western side of the island. The most nice part of the valley belongs to Kerinci-Seblat, with a total area of 15,000 sq.km, it's the biggest national park of Sumatera.

It consists of a 345 kilometre long stretch of the highlands of Bukit Barisan and it's located on the area of four provinces: Sumatera Barat, Jambi, Bengkulu and Sumatera Selatan. The administrative centre of the park is the small city of Sungai Penuh, which belongs to Jambi.

The Sumateran rhino is on the verge of extinction. On the entire world there are only 800 left, 700 of them on Sumatera itselt. For centuries the animal is the centre of hunt for it's ivory horns and other body parts which are very expensife because it's seen as a good medicine in Asia.

In his History of Sumatera, Marsden explained that 'the horn is seen as a poison and an antidote, and it's formed into mugs for that reason'. Nowadays the horn is used for fever lowering medication in China. The 'bad' habit of rhino's to follow the same trace every time makes them very vulnerable.

Source: Wikipedia Indonesia

Riau Islands

2009-02-18T09:00:00.000-08:00

The Malay-related Orang Laut tribes inhabited the islands and formed the backbone of most Malay kingdoms from Srivijaya to the Sultanate of Johor for the control of trade routes going through the straits.After the fall of Melaka in 1511, the Riau islands became the center of political power of the mighty Sultanate of Johor or Johor-Riau, based on Bintan island, and were for long considered the center of Malay culture.

But history changed the fate of Riau as a political, cultural or economic center when European powers struggled to control the regional trade routes and took advantage of political weaknesses within the sultanate. Singapore island, that had been for centuries part of the same greater Malay kingdoms and sultanates, and under direct control of the Sultan of Johor, came under control of the British.

The creation of a European-controlled territory in the heart of the Johor-Riau natural boundaries broke the sultanate into two parts, destroying the cultural and political unity that had existed for centuries. Some level of unity returned in the Riau region for the first time after 150 years with the creation of the Sijori Growth Triangle in 1989.

Today the name of Riau merely refers to this administrative region of Indonesia, a free trade zone heavily supported by Indonesian, Singaporean and international investments.

Batam is one of the 3,000 islands, which make up the Riau Archipelago and is closest to Singapore, which is only 20 km away or twenty minutes by air-conditioned ferry. In 1971 a presidential decree designated it as an industrial area and in 1975 the Batam Authority was formed. In 1978 Batam was established as a bonded area.

In addition to the oil support industries of Batu Ampar and a fast growing electronics industry, Batam now attracts increasing numbers of tourists. Many come from Singapore for a short holiday with friends and family, duty-free shopping and great seafood. The visitors to Singapore hope over for a day or weekend trip. International standard hotels and numerous economy establishments cater to the expanding demand for accommodation.

Batam enjoys a unique status under the Batam Island Development Authority (BIDA). The island is duty-free. The holiday market, this means duty free shopping in town, hotel shops and the ferry terminal. For the businessmen it means wide-ranging opportunities for investments.

Fishing villages supply delicious fresh seafood to visitors. White sand beaches are fringed with palms and kampung life carries on almost undisturbed. Batam makes a great break.

Bintan is the largest island in the Riau province, with its area is 1.140 sq. km width, with a coastline of about 105 km. The island has a population of about 200.000, and like the rest of Riau this is a true mix of cultures like Malay, Bugis, Chinese and the Orang Laut.

Bintan is very close to the equator and have a tropical climate throughout the year, with temperatures ranging from 21° to 32°, with an average of 26° Celsius. Bintan and Batam saw before the economic crisis huge investments and development, including industrial parks and large tourist resorts.

Bintan has since become a popular tourist destination due to its close vicinity to Singapore. Here we can get accommodation of all standards, and it is still possible to find a peaceful spot on Bintan far from other tourists. Most of the tourism is concentrated on the north coast around Lagoi, while the east coast is still unspoiled and worth a visit.

In a not so distant past Bintan was completely covered with tropical rain forest. This is now all gone, except a small forest that covers the highest mountain on the island, Bintan Besar. The mountain is the remains of an old volcano, and has an elevation of 376 m, the highest point on the Riau islands.

In Bintan, diving promises to be comfortably civilized, with all underwater needs catered to Mana Mana Beach Club - Bintan Resort's professional water sports center. Out of the water, Bintan will be the place with something for everyone.

Natuna Besar (or Ranai) is the largest and northernmost of the islands and also one of the northernmost points in Indonesia. Here we can find lovely corral reefs and a large variety of fish.

The population is relatively small, but some people have been moved here by the government from other islands in Indonesia and grow products like peanuts and peas. Mount Ranai, the highest mountain in Natuna archipelago at 1.035 m, is located on this island.

There are some great areas for diving here, the waters of the South China Sea around the island can offer an unique underwater world, the coral is normally found within five to ten meters below sea level and 50 to 750 meters from the shore.

Smaller islands like Senoa to the northeast can also offer white beaches and coral reefs, Panjang to the northwest is known for the protected green turtle, and can be reached by boat from Natuna Besar in 30 minutes. Totally there are about 20 small islands surrounding Natuna Besar.

Custom clothing from Riau Island

Source: Wikipedia Indonesia

Riau Province

2009-02-18T00:21:00.000-08:00

Riau is a province of Indonesia, located in the center of Sumatra island along the Strait of Malacca. The provincial capital and largest city is Pekanbaru. Other major cities includes Dumai, Bangkinang and Siak Sri Indrapura. Indonesian was based on the Riau version of Malay.

Riau is one of the richest provinces in Indonesia. This province is rich with natural resources, particularly petroleum and natural gas, rubber, and palm oil.The province was once heavily forested lowlands, but with palm oil plantations and logging being major industries it is losing around 2.000 square km of forest per year.

In 2005 the forest cover was down to 33% (or 27.000 square km) from 78% (or 64.000 square km) in 1982. [2]Being a shallow province, the coastal regions are rapidly losing land to the ocean.

Tourist Destination

Siak Sri Indrapura

Siak Sri Indrapura was the centre of an Islamite Malayan kingdom, which enjoyed its golden age from the 18th through 20th century. Sultan Abdul Jalil Rakhmad Syah founded the kingdom in 1725. He was the first in a family tree of 12 sultans who would reign until 1945.

In November 1945, the last sultan, Sultan Syarif Kasyim II, sent a cable to the president of Republic of Indonesia stating his loyalty to the republic, and he contributed his properties to the struggle of independence.

The old palace of Siak Sri Indrapura is definitely worth a visit. It is located 125 km northeast from Pekanbaru and can best be reached from Pekanbaru over land. It was built 1889 by Sultan Abdul Jalil Syarifuddin, in the 11th of 12th sultans who ruled Siak from 1725 to 1945 the M Arches and Minarets give the palace a strong Indian Moghui look representative of stills during the colonials times.

Balai Adat

Many of Pekanbaru's buildings, including ones recently constructed, are built in traditional Riau-Malay architectural style. One of these buildings is Balai Adat, or Adat Community House at Diponegoro Street. Decorated with woodcarvings and woven cloth motives, its architecture represents the glory of Riau-Malay culture.

Balai Adat has initially been built to accommodate various activities relating to Resam Malayan Riau custom, but now is also the place for various meeting gatherings.

Riau Cultural Park

South of the city centre, not far from the airport, is Pekanbaru's museum, housing historical remains from the region. The museum is built in traditional Riau-Malay style. Next door to the museum is Taman Budaya Riau, which comprises several traditional houses.

The place is designated as the centre of cultural activities. The museum known by the name of Sang Nila Utama is a Malay traditional architectural model building located at Jenderal Sudirman Street Pekanbaru, not far from Sultan Syarif Kasim II airport.

The museum, which is opened daily, except on Sunday and holidays, is keeping various collection of objects of art, history and culture from Riau area in general. Next to the museum, there is also a building with nearly similar architectural feature, i.e. Riau Cultural Park Building, which is appropriated as the centre of various art and cultural activity.

Muara Takus

Near Muaramahat, some 122 km west of Pekanbaru off the main road to Bukittinggi, are the ruins of Muara Takus, an ancient temple complex close to the bank of the river Kampar Kanan. Standing in a remote area amid Sumatra's tropical forest, the temple is a mysterious entity.

Archeological experts have not yet been able to confirm when the temple has been built. Short inscriptions found among the ruins point to a date in the 11th or 12th century. Other relates the complex to Srivijaya Buddhist Empire, which ruled in Sumatra in the 8th through 10th century. Some opinions go even back to the 4th century.

Custom clothing from Riau

Source: Wikipedia Indonesia

West Sumatra

2009-02-15T00:40:00.000-08:00

The history of West Sumatra is closely related to the history of the Minangkabau people. Archaeological evidence indicates that the area surrounding the Limapuluh Koto regency forms the first area inhabited by the Minangkabau. This interpretation seems to be justified as the area of the Limapuluh Koto regency covers a number of large rivers which meet at the eastern part of the Sumatran coastline.

The rivers were known have provided important sailing transportation from the previous era to the end of the last century. The Minangkabau ancestors were believed to have arrived on this route. They sailed from Asia (Indo-China) via the South China Sea, crossing the Malacca Strait and later settled along the Kampar, Siak and Indragiri (or Kuantan) rivers. A portion of them lived and developed their culture and traits around the Limapuluh Koto regency.

The integration with migrants in the ensuing periods introduced cultural changes and an increase in population. Their settlement area gradually became diminished and eventually they spread to other parts of West Sumatra. A portion of them went to the Agam regency while others went to the now Tanah Datar regency.

From those areas onward, further spread of the population occurred north of the Agam regency, in particular, the Lubuk Sikaping. Rao and Ophir districts. Most of them settled in the western area such as the coastline and some in the southern parts in Solok, Selayo and the surrounding areas of Muara and Sijunjung.

The prime tourist attractions of West Sumatra are the natural environment, and the culture and history of the MinangKabau and mentawai people. Natural attractions of the mainland include the tropical forests, mountains, volcanos, lakes, valleys, rivers & waterfalls in the highlands, the fauna and flora, and the beaches around Padang. Many areas are protected as part of National Parks and Reserves.

The city of Bukit Tinggi is a popular central location in the highlands from which to explore the culture and history of the Minangkabau people, including architecture, crafts, dances, music and food.

There are a number of museums and cultural centers. Pariaman has one of the famous festivals, Tabuik. The Mentawai Island, are a popular destination for surfers and those looking to experience the culture and more primitive lifestyle of the Mentawai people.

Jam Gadang - the Clock Tower in the downtown of Bukittinggi.

Another favourite tourism places are: Panorama - Viewing to Sianok valley, Air Manih beach - The beach that stretch from the north to south of Padang coastal, Padang mountain, Caroline beach, Pagarruyung - The Pagarruyung palace in Batusangkar, Harau valley, Lake Maninjau, Lake Singkarak, Lake Diatas and Lake Dibawah.

Lake Maninjau

Custom clothing from West Sumatra

Source: Wikipedia Indonesia

North Sumatra

2009-02-14T22:58:00.001-08:00

The province of North Sumatra stretches across the island of Sumatra between the Indian Ocean and the Strait Malacca. It borders Aceh province on the northwest and Riau and West Sumatra provinces on the southeast. It has an area of 70787 km².

The province contains a broad, low plain along the Strait of Malacca coast; the provincial capital, Medan, is located here. In the south and west, the land rises to the mountain range that runs the length of Sumatra; the mountains here are dominated by Lake Toba, formed from the caldera of an ancient volcano. Several large islands in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Sumatra are part of North Sumatra, most notably Nias, Tanah Bala, Tanah Masa, and Pini.

Sumatra Mandheling and Sumatra Lintong coffee beans are grown in North Sumatra and largely exported to the U.S. Mandheling is named after the similarly spelt Mandailing people located in North Sumatra, Indonesia. The name is the result of a misunderstanding by the first foreign purchaser of the variety, and no coffee is actually produced in the "Mandailing region". Lintong on the other hand, is named after the Lintong district, also located in North Sumatra.

Lake Toba, the crater lake in the middle of the province, is a popular tourist resort, especially the town of Parapat on its shore. Its cool and dry mountain climate makes it the perfect place to relax.

SamosirSamosir, the giant, dry "Island of the Dead" in the middle of Danau Toba is a grim reminder of a second powerful eruption, about 30,000 years ago. In that time, a secondary peak formed, which split later, and came back down again. The eastern part now forms the peninsula of Prapat and the shores until Porsea, and the western border of Samosir. The island measures 45 by 20 km, and originally was a peninsula.

It only became a peninsula after the Dutch arrived and dug a canal across the small piece of land of 200 metres in 1906. This action seemed to have a lot to do among the local population, because they thought the island would slip away towards the middle of the lake and simply disappear

Fruits in Berastagi

The town of Berastagi, located at the foot of Mount Sibayak, will greet you with its lovely flowers. The smell of fresh vegetables and the colorful and aromatic arrangements of fruit will etch their place in your memory. Try markisah (Passion Fruit)...

NIAS ISLAND

A small island, 130 km long and 45 km wide, Nias lying just 125 km off Sumatra's west coast, administratively belonged to the North Sumatra, province. Like any other western isiand off Sumatra, Nias stands quite apart.

Its rugged terrain, malarial climate and warlike population having served to isolate from the mainstream of Sumatran culture for many centuries. As a result, Nias never experienced the dramatic influx of Indian, Islam and Eur opean cultural influences to the degree these were felt in other areas.

The islands's inhabitants have instead followed their own line of development, building on an earlier Austronesian sub-strata of culture which they hold in common with other Indonesian peoples.

Today they are best known for their spectacular tribal art and architecture, a uniqye style that has fascinated generations of scholars and collectors. Not much is known about the island's prehistory which is a pity, since the inhabitants have been working in durable stone and bronze for a very long time.

Custom clothing from Batak

Source: Wikipedia Indonesia

Aceh

2009-02-13T00:35:00.000-08:00

The mountainous province of Aceh consists of the entire northern tip of Sumatera, and guards the entrance to the most important sea-route of Asia: Malacca Strait. Almost all traffic over sea between West and East passes this sea-lane, and Aceh has been the first land for Arab and Indian merchants for centuries.

Against the end of the 13th century the trading posts and small principalities which were scattered along the coast of Aceh, had developed into the first Islamic states of Indonesia. Marco Polo visited Aceh in 1292. He told about the Islamic principalities of Peurlak and Samudra.During the 'Golden Age' in the early 17th century, under the rule of the strict and tough Sultan Iskandar Muda, Aceh was one of the biggest trading centers of Asia.

In the most important harbor, Kotaraja, (Banda Aceh), over a dozen languages was spoken. Ever since the 17th century, Aceh has the name to be the most strong Islamic place of entire Southeastern Asia. It did survive Asian and European conquerors, and was independent for a long time.After a long, hard battle against the Dutch colonial troops (1873 - 1903), Aceh got under Dutch rule.

The independent spirit of the Acehnese was actually never broken. In 1953, a revolt broke out against the central government in Jakarta, which should last for ten year. The result of that was, that Aceh was named dearah istimewa ('special area'), and got a certain level of autonomy for what concerned religion, rights and education.

Aceh also has reasonable reserved of oil, gold, silver, copper and coal. Since 1980, Aceh contributed between 2 and 3 billion US dollar to the Indonesian government. The BNP per head in Aceh is the highest of the entire country.Unless periods of unrest and the delays in the construction of roads, schools and hospitals, the rural economy still is very flexible.

Aceh's small but fertile coastal plain has seen an overproduction of rice and other market products for centuries. Modern fertilizers have enlarged the rice production and the coastal population is wealthy for Indonesian standards.More than 50 per cent of the population lives in the coastal plains, however big cities are not there.

Even the capital, Banda Aceh, does not have more than 80,000 residents. The largest city after Banda Aceh, Sabang, does only have 25,000 residents, but it's located on the island of Weh. The 600 km long coast between Banda Aceh and Medan is scattered with smaller villages and cities, which are connected with each other by a good main road.

The rough and isolated inland of Aceh forms a big contrast with the coastal plains. Along both sides of the central valley there are giant mountains. This densely forested and low-populated area is the area of the Gayo, a separate ethnical group which admits a form of Islam which has strong pre-Islamic features.Aceh is an ideal place for travelers who want to avoid ridden paths.

Some knowledge of Indonesian is necessary, and an healthy respect for religious feelings of the Acehnese is also very welcome.

Grand Mosque

Acehnese cultures, which are basically colored by Islamic religion. Nevertheless, because of the Hindu and Buddhist cultural impact to Acehnese long before Islam arrived, there is still a little influence of Hindu and Buddhist culture in the Ritual Ceremonies. Acehnese traditional arts contain religious, communal, democratic and heroic identity. Acehnese literature is writtern in Acehnese and Malay (jawi).There are three major ethnic groups in Aceh; Acehnese, Gayo and Alas. The Acehnese are most numerous and inhabit the coastal areas of the region. The Gayo and Alas tribes are numerically minor groups who inhabited the highland of Aceh. The Gayo live in central Aceh while the Alas in southeast Acheh.

Aceh traditional - Kerawang

Saman, a traditional dance from Aceh

Aceh custom clothing

Source: Wikipedia Indonesia

INDONESIA

2009-02-12T00:52:00.000-08:00

The Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Republik Indonesia), is a nation in Southeast Asia. Comprising 17,508 islands, it is the world's largest archipelagic state.

With a population of over 234 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country and the most populous Muslim-majority nation, although officially it is not an Islamic state.

Indonesia is a republic, with an elected parliament and president. The nation's capital city is Jakarta. The country shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Malaysia.

Other neighboring countries include Singapore, the Philippines, Australia, and the Indian territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The Indonesian archipelago has been an important trade region since at least the seventh century, when the Srivijaya Kingdom formed trade links with China.

Indonesian history has been influenced by foreign powers drawn to its natural resources. Under Indian influence, Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms flourished from the early centuries CE.

Muslim traders brought Islam, and European powers fought one another to monopolize trade in the Spice Islands of Maluku during the Age of Exploration.

Following three and a half centuries of Dutch colonialism, Indonesia secured its independence after World War II. Indonesia's history has since been turbulent, with challenges posed by natural disasters, corruption, separatism, a democratization process, and periods of rapid economic change.

Across its many islands, Indonesia consists of distinct ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups.

As a unitary state and a nation, Indonesia has developed a shared identity defined by a national language, a majority Muslim population, and a history of colonialism and rebellion against it. Indonesia's national motto, "Bhinneka tunggal ika" ("Unity in Diversity" lit. "many, yet one"), articulates the diversity that shapes the country.

However, sectarian tensions and separatism have led to violent confrontations that have undermined political and economic stability. Despite its large population and densely populated regions, Indonesia has vast areas of wilderness that support the world's second highest level of biodiversity.

This country is richly endowed with natural resources, yet poverty is a defining feature of contemporary Indonesia.

Source: Wikipedia Indonesia