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Economy growth is at 5.3% because of the election in the coming month, growth are very unlikely. But politically its very stable now, who ever wins the election wont affect its stability.
That's good to know. How much has tourism to Indonesia increased? Especially Java.
That's good to know. How much has tourism to Indonesia increased? Especially Java.
I think last time i checked its around 8 million, there are very poor promotion campaign and promotion when it comes to tourism in indonesia despite the huge potential in java, sumatra and other island, ranging from volcanoes, beaches, various tribal villages, ancient temples to dutch colonial quarter etc but then tourism could endanger the rainforest of sumatra and borneo, while for java it would do nothing but even more overpopulation... Smaller more isolated islands would probably benefits from it however. It relies massively on bali who counted 3 million of the tourism arrival, i wished that it doesnt :/
Infrastructure of tourism is gorgeaus in bali and yogyakarta area only, others not so much.
I think last time i checked its around 8 million, there are very poor promotion campaign and promotion when it comes to tourism in indonesia despite the huge potential in java, sumatra and other island, ranging from volcanoes, beaches, various tribal villages, ancient temples to dutch colonial quarter etc but then tourism could endanger the rainforest of sumatra and borneo, while for java it would do nothing but even more overpopulation... Smaller more isolated islands would probably benefits from it however. It relies massively on bali who counted 3 million of the tourism arrival, i wished that it doesnt :/
Infrastructure of tourism is gorgeaus in bali and yogyakarta area only, others not so much.
Yeah Bali hogs the limelight. That's the only reason why near a million Australians visit Bali each year. As interesting as Bali is, Indonesia is SO much more.
Well eco-tourism is a mixed blessing. The way I see it, deforestation for palm oil and timber is a bigger threat to the forest in Borneo and Sumatra, so creating a greater awareness/dependency on tourism is preferable. I've been to Kuching, Sarawak, and would like to go to Sabah and other parts of Sarawak. Indonesian Kalimantan is simply less accessible. I've also wanted to go to Gunung Lesuer and Lake Toba in Sumatra as well as Flores and Komodo.
Yeah Bali hogs the limelight. That's the only reason why near a million Australians visit Bali each year. As interesting as Bali is, Indonesia is SO much more.
Well eco-tourism is a mixed blessing. The way I see it, deforestation for palm oil and timber is a bigger threat to the forest in Borneo and Sumatra, so creating a greater awareness/dependency on tourism is preferable. I've been to Kuching, Sarawak, and would like to go to Sabah and other parts of Sarawak. Indonesian Kalimantan is simply less accessible. I've also wanted to go to Gunung Lesuer and Lake Toba in Sumatra as well as Flores and Komodo.
Precisely, Indonesia is definitely much more than Bali and even Java, but it seems there are very little interest of the government to develop tourism over other provinces. Many tourists wouldn't even know that Borobudur exist if they have never been to Indonesia. Lately i've been seeing more attempt on promoting Raja Ampat in Papua, Torajaland, and Komodo island. And yes Indonesian Borneo are very tough to be accessed, but the good side is that there are really raw and rich biodiversity over there and things to be uncovered slowly.
Malaysia on the other hand is very ambitious when it comes to tourism, the government actually supported most of the infrastructure of the tourism in the country. Promotion campaign the "truly Asia" are launched so heavily and even to an extend overdoing it. And in the end they're more successful in attracting more and more tourist to the country while Indonesia remained laggard in the business. 8 million is not a bad figure, but the country could do so much more.
Precisely, Indonesia is definitely much more than Bali and even Java, but it seems there are very little interest of the government to develop tourism over other provinces. Many tourists wouldn't even know that Borobudur exist if they have never been to Indonesia. Lately i've been seeing more attempt on promoting Raja Ampat in Papua, Torajaland, and Komodo island. And yes Indonesian Borneo are very tough to be accessed, but the good side is that there are really raw and rich biodiversity over there and things to be uncovered slowly.
Malaysia on the other hand is very ambitious when it comes to tourism, the government actually supported most of the infrastructure of the tourism in the country. Promotion campaign the "truly Asia" are launched so heavily and even to an extend overdoing it. And in the end they're more successful in attracting more and more tourist to the country while Indonesia remained laggard in the business. 8 million is not a bad figure, but the country could do so much more.
Yep...I think Air Asia/Tiger/Firefly flights to Indonesia will help, though, especially in the domestic SEA market. I see places like Borobodur, Bandung.etc being promoted. Why are Javanese cities seemingly so lacking in charm, though?
Malaysia has the advantage of being more modern, English speaking, with more of a cultural mix (the Chinese and Indian aspect). But Indonesia has more older architecture/culture, like the Javanese civilisations and of course Bali.
Given it's size, though, Indonesia should be aiming to attract 15 million a year or so.
Yep...I think Air Asia/Tiger/Firefly flights to Indonesia will help, though, especially in the domestic SEA market. I see places like Borobodur, Bandung.etc being promoted. Why are Javanese cities seemingly so lacking in charm, though?
Malaysia has the advantage of being more modern, English speaking, with more of a cultural mix (the Chinese and Indian aspect). But Indonesia has more older architecture/culture, like the Javanese civilisations and of course Bali.
Given it's size, though, Indonesia should be aiming to attract 15 million a year or so.
Whether Javanese cities lacking charm or not that would definitely depend on your preference, but i found Yogyakarta to be certainly attractive charming city for Javanese standard especially due to its abundance of old buildings and its lively street. The city of Tegal, Semarang, Pasuruan, Cirebon, and many other smaller cities in Java are not bad either if you are seeking the "Javanese" charm since these cities are still strong in tradition and unmodernized. But in most of these cities there are no real attraction or activites unless you go to the bigger cities, but in these cities you would easily find traditional craftgoods ranging from keris, batik, carved woodcrafts etc at low prices and festivals (if you are lucky) displaying some Javanese Islam-Hindu-Buddhist blend practices that still deeply roots the Javanese people. Maybe its almost like going to Kuching or Kotabaru in Kelantan probably or going to Denpasar city in Bali, they're just another ordinary cities that mostly only accommodate its local and not so touristy. Perhaps also because majority of its population are Muslims that the nightlife in the smaller cities are non-existence and it didn't help attracting tourist. Most of the tourist area in Java excluding Yogyakarta are also mainly in Indonesian with no English so the information tourist received is probably very little too.
If you are interested in colonial charm, the city of Semarang, Surabaya (Arab quarter is pretty awesome), Malang (ex colonial resort town like Dalat in Vietnam), Cirebon (untouristy version of Yogyakarta), Magelang and Bandung is your destination. Bandung's case however is that the colonial buildings are forced to coexist with ugly commie blocks that damage its old charms. Jakarta have small portion of its old past, but since the city is smelly, polluted and pedestrian unfriendly its not very advisable... In Sumatra i heard that the town of Sawahluno near Bukittingi in West Sumatra is pretty too with blends of old colonial influence and Minangkabau's culture.
If you are looking for strong Javanese culture, cities like Yogyakarta, Solo and Cirebon comes to mind. There are also temple ruins scattered throughout Java, mystical spots and as well Majapahit capital archaeological ruins near Mojokerto. But again the museum in the ruins doesn't provide English language information, there is loads of nice ancient statues there though. Or perhaps you are interested in meeting the ancient Javanese/Sundanese Hindus? there are few bastions of them such as Tenger near Bromo mountain or the Badui people near Tanggerang, their life is pretty much under isolation for overpopulated island such as Java. Chinatowns are there too in big cities, but the Tangerang's Peranakan Cina Benteng is probably most interesting since they're mainly Taoist. Now out of all this you probably haven't heard most haha.
Most Indonesian cities however are nightmares for pedestrians, there aren't much going on in the cities' street itself unless you go to markets, not particularly beautiful either (unattractive) and pretty much pedestrian void since everyone ride scooters, while many of its the main commercial area have been transformed from Dutch tropical colonial -Javanese (or other region) charm to modern brutalist ugly "ruko" (ruko is commie shop block), and not to mention huge ugly billboards everywhere. Those could be one reason why it doesn't seem to be particularly interesting.
For food, i would advise that you take a strong precaution before eating at the streets lol, its good though if you can stand the diarrhea.
And yes given its size it should be receiving more than 15 million tourist, but since its a Muslim majority country and have some bad reputation with some terrorist bombing it didn't attract more tourists who are too ignorant.
On the contrary Malaysia have developed and promoted itself waay more in terms of tourism, also the cities are more comfortable, more tolerant on colonial buildings, have certain descent street life and less crowded (and also have nice city plannings which Indonesia completely lacks)
^ Thanks for the very detailed local info. Yes, it seems there are many flights to various destinations in Indonesia. I suppose safety is definitely a concern, but also accessibility and tourist infrastructure, strikes me as less tourist friendly. And yeah, not good for pedestrians/public transport. I'm more into the historic sights/a bit of colonial history.
Ah, nasi padangs don't worry me too much, I've eaten from them with no ill effects - but I should be more careful.
It seems there are a lot of Indonesians in Perth, i had a childhood friend. I remember whenever we went to his house his mother would be frying chicken lol. Indonesians do love their nasi ayam. Of course, Malaysians have an affinity to Indonesians. I feel a familiarity with Malay culture, of course. My parents can speak Malay.
^ Thanks for the very detailed local info. Yes, it seems there are many flights to various destinations in Indonesia. I suppose safety is definitely a concern, but also accessibility and tourist infrastructure, strikes me as less tourist friendly. And yeah, not good for pedestrians/public transport. I'm more into the historic sights/a bit of colonial history.
Ah, nasi padangs don't worry me too much, I've eaten from them with no ill effects - but I should be more careful.
It seems there are a lot of Indonesians in Perth, i had a childhood friend. I remember whenever we went to his house his mother would be frying chicken lol. Indonesians do love their nasi ayam. Of course, Malaysians have an affinity to Indonesians. I feel a familiarity with Malay culture, of course. My parents can speak Malay.
For historical sight there are Javanese sultanate palaces in Yogyakrta, Solo and Cirebon, but out of the 3 Yogyakarta is definitely superior since the city is located in the site of ex older mataram kingdom before they split up. The neigborhood of kotagede in Yogyakarta, the old mosque, and the tombs of javanese kings definitely are worth seeing, and also since yogyakarta wasnt fully under dutch control it preserved many javanese styles architecture with european blends. There is also palace of banten kingdom ruins in banten province and its old mosque, but its not that impressive of a site. Or perhaps dutch awesome fort in banda island (aka:spice island) that was traded from the british with new amsterdam(new york). There is also fort vredeburg in Yogyakarta the ex-dutch headquarter in the city, and there are many other dutch fort scattered.
Colonial history have replaced almost every aspect of indonesia's past and its influence are very obvious in many cities in java mainly, i wouldnt say there is much on other island. In sumatra the colonial quarter are almost all but lost in its cities, while towns might just have retained it. The city of Ambon once are populated with high percentage of dutch indo were bombed and destroyed in ww2, leaving today with almost nothing of its past. Surabaya is most descent with most of its collection of old building preserved i would say, but semarang have the best old town in my opinion (with beautiful train headquarter bulding), if they have renovated and preserved it well. Most of the historical sight in the cities in java and sumatra have been turned into colonial tropical style. Jakarta could have been interesting since it was the capital of nedelands indie and rich of colonial history, but they didnt maintained them properly (but im happy since they did put some attention on it recently), in its old town you could see 17th-20th century building standing next to each other. The city of batavia's governmental and elite district of weltvedrenen (surrounding monas) there are a couple of ex government building, mansions and churches, and even graveyard with tomb of Thomas Raffles' wife. Bandung is famed for its art deco collection and beautiful dutch residential district that named it parijs van java before, there is a hotel that charlie chaplin stayed for a while too, bandung was even designated to be the new capital atleast until batavia protested these. Bogor (formerly: buitenzorg) palace and botanical garden is also nice place to get a glimpse of beautiful colonial palace and raflesia flower, and afterwards not so far from there you can go for safari park.
As for ancient temples, there is enough to see in yogyakarta to satisfy you since that is where the best of them are, but yeah if you want there are loads of them scattered around but mainly quiet minor in size. Mystictism are very strong in indonesia and certain area are believed to be sacred loong since the times of sailendra.. Like mount kawi and pelabuhan ratu.
Safety issue is not a big problem, but do watch your things while travelling. Travelling in java i suppose is not bad since it has the best infras out of all of indonesia and most of its places are not hard to reach, in sumatra it might slightly varies however.
The nasi padang in restos are cool to consume, i was refering to street stalls hmm we do like nasi with fried chicken, but its never complete with aa dollop of sambal or tempe ulek as for affinity between the 2 country, i think its mainly in sumatra and parts of borneo only.
I was in Indonesia recently. For independent travelers, there is no contest: it is far more interesting and satisfying than Malaysia, which in my opinion is pretty much first world. On the other hand, you have people who prefer their luxuries, their conveniences - and Singapore or Malaysia would suit them better. Myself, I have my next trip planned to Indonesia and want to stay longer this time, maybe two months. Everyday was different with something crazy, unexpected happening. Even the ladies with the headscarves wanted to have their pictures taken with me. That definitely never happened in Malaysia.
I was in Indonesia recently. For independent travelers, there is no contest: it is far more interesting and satisfying than Malaysia, which in my opinion is pretty much first world. On the other hand, you have people who prefer their luxuries, their conveniences - and Singapore or Malaysia would suit them better. Myself, I have my next trip planned to Indonesia and want to stay longer this time, maybe two months. Everyday was different with something crazy, unexpected happening. Even the ladies with the headscarves wanted to have their pictures taken with me. That definitely never happened in Malaysia.
Pangandaran Beach:
I am vert glad that you enjoyed indonesia indonesia is a big country with diversified culture, it varies from the more ancient civilization of java-sumatra-bali to tribal areas of borneo and east indonesia, visiting each island is almost visiting a different country but with the same smiling people. Some of these tribes still strongly practiced their very ancient rituals of which could blow the mind of any man unfamiliar with tribalism. Two month should be enough for you to cover a lot of parts of indonesia (but not all) maybe grab a ferry trip to lombok and then nusa tenggara islands for some beaches and isolated tribal areas, even visiting the three colored lake and komodo islands too. Then proceed your trip from komodo airport to makassar as starting point for the torajaland and deeper parts of celebes, and even manado's marine park. Or perhaps raja ampat in papua which marine park is definitely among the best of the best.
If party is you thing bali, lombok and jakarta tops it most, the rest not as much.
Those ladies are curious of foreigners since lots of the parts of indonesia are not very touristy you will experience it in the capital too, but not on bali or yogya.
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hmm we do like nasi with fried chicken, but its never complete with aa dollop of sambal or tempe ulek 
as for affinity between the 2 country, i think its mainly in sumatra and parts of borneo only.
indonesia is a big country with diversified culture, it varies from the more ancient civilization of java-sumatra-bali to tribal areas of borneo and east indonesia, visiting each island is almost visiting a different country but with the same smiling people. Some of these tribes still strongly practiced their very ancient rituals of which could blow the mind of any man unfamiliar with tribalism. Two month should be enough for you to cover a lot of parts of indonesia (but not all) maybe grab a ferry trip to lombok and then nusa tenggara islands for some beaches and isolated tribal areas, even visiting the three colored lake and komodo islands too. Then proceed your trip from komodo airport to makassar as starting point for the torajaland and deeper parts of celebes, and even manado's marine park. Or perhaps raja ampat in papua which marine park is definitely among the best of the best.
