Getting Off The Beaten Track in Indonesia
Week five of the Indie Travel Challenge 2012 is about traveling in Asia. If you’ve traveled in Asia, what’s your favorite destination? Share a story of one of your best experiences in Asia, or tell us about a place you love
Being located in one of the main transport hubs in Asia allows for easy trips around the region. In this week’s Indie Travel post, I will share a few of the less common places to visit in Indonesia, one of my favourite countries. Mention Indonesia, and the traveller will think of Bali, but with more than 17 000 islands in the archipelago, Indonesia has a lot more to offer. If you have been to Indonesia before, go there again and try some of these other sights, new destinations you can visit. Ranked 1 to 5 hearts, with 1 being unusual but pretty common and 5 hearts being really way off the beaten track.
1. Dieng Plateau, Java
Going into Java, one of the most exhilarating sights is the temple of Borobudur. The other major UNESCO listed sight are the Prambanan temples. Both are reachable from Yogyakarta. But did you know from Yogyakarta you can go on another side trip to the little known Dieng Plateau, where the oldest stone structures in Indonesia are found. 8 Hindu temples remain from the Sanjaya empire remain, out of 400, built around 750 CE. From there, you can take an ojek ride to catch the sunrise at the 2300m peak above the plateau. Around the volcanic plateau are Kawah Sikidang (Deer crater), a boiling sulphuric pool and Telaga Warna (Coloured Lake) where you can see clear turquoise waters with tiers of farming landscapes in the background.
Off the beaten track rating: ♥♥♥
Getting There: From Yogyakarta, take a bus at the terminal to Magelang. At Magelang, take another bus to Wonosobo. This drops you off at the Wonosobo terminal, just outside of town. Join the crowd taking the bemo to town and you’ll get dropped where the minibuses to Dieng are.
2. Banda Aceh, Sumatra
Once badly affected by the 2004 Tsunami, the city has been rebuilt, its coastline fortified with bunds to protect against future disasters. The Aceh province is somewhat special, under a higher level of autonomy than the rest of Indonesia and with a staunchly Muslim population. Thus when travelling in the city, you will see the locals covered up, but no less friendly. The Baiturrahman Grand Mosque is a magnificent landmark. Banda Aceh is the springboard to Pulau Weh, for some fantastic diving, and also to Bukit Lawang for the orang utans.
Off the beaten track rating: ♥♥
Getting there: Either take a bus from Medan, or fly into Banda Aceh’s airport. Take the international flights from Malaysia or the domestic flights.
3. Gili Islands, Lombok
Tourists wax lyrical about Bali, but Lombok is an up and coming alternative. And the three small islands off the north-west coast of Lombok is a little piece of diving heaven. Gili Trawangan is the party capital, Gili Air with local villages and Gili Meno is the quiet one. Go there soon, before the infrastructure gets too developed, and the tourist population starts to outnumber the locals.
Off the beaten track rating: ♥
Getting there: Flights to Mataram, the capital of Lombok, from Singapore, and domestic flights. From Mataram, arrange for a transfer to Bangsal harbour, and take the public boat across.
4. Waikabubak, Sumba
For eleven months of the calendar year, no tourists will turn up in Sumba. The only time that you will see a smattering of foreign faces will be during the Pasola horse festival. During this event (normally in March), riders atop decorated horses charge and throw wooden spears at each other. The aim will be to draw blood, “returning blood back to the earth”. Other rituals before the festival include boxing, and auguring the nyale, sea worms that get wash ashore during this period. The Sumbanese also practise a syncretism of Christianity and animistic beliefs, reflected in the megalithic tombs that you see all around Waikabubak.
Off the beaten track rating: ♥♥♥♥♥
Getting there: is not easy. Local Merpati flights fly into Waikabubak or Waingapu, the other main town on Sumba island. Merpati though, does not handle online ticketing, so you would have to either arrange through an agency or buy over the counter.
5. Ternate, North Maluku
This is another destination way off the tourist radar. Ternate island however is rich with history, being one of the original sources of nutmegs and cloves. The region is collectively known as the Spice Islands, and this was where back in the 16th century, European explorers shipped back precious spices and trade made the locals kings rich. Wars, treachery and bickering between the neighbouring kingdoms were common, and the Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese and English took advantage of this. Today however, Ternate and its surrounds are little visited but great scenery and the remnants of foreign forts are visible throughout.
Off the beaten track rating: ♥♥♥♥
Getting there: Flights from Jakarta. From Ternate, boats go to the neighbouring islands. The smaller islands have less frequent public boats and you may need to spend the night there.
6. Tangkuban Perahu, Bandung.
From Jakarta, the locals take a weekend drive to nearby Bandung, cool and a shopping paradise, with many factory clothing outlets. Just a little way out of Bandung however, is the crater peak known as Tangkuban Perahu, which literally means ‘upturned-boat’, after a local legend where a man kicks the boat he was building in anger. From Bandung, that is what the peak looks like. It is a well visited tourist spot, with locals from the capital regularly dropping by. From the top, you can look down and even walk into the crater. Other activities are checking out (and boiling eggs!) over the boiling hot pools of Kawah Domas.
Off the beaten track rating: ♥
Getting there: From Bandung, it is an easy bus ride to the foot of Tangkuban Perahu. From there, just hire and ojek to take you up to the visitor’s area.
7. Lake Kelimutu, Flores
This is yet another one of those remarkable but rarely visited sights Indonesia has to offer. The Kelimutu lake is actually a group of 3 crater lakes. What is so special about them? All three are of a different colour. And they change colour over time. Today, one is reddish brown, one is green, and one is turquoise. 10 years ago, one was black, one was dirty green and the other some shade of blue. Experts say that it is due to the mineral content of the rocks. Locals more interestingly believe that the three lakes carry the souls of the dead. One each for the old, the young, and the wicked.
Off the beaten track rating: ♥♥♥♥
Getting there: Fly domestic into Flores (most likely Maumere) and make your way to Moni, the little town from which you can arrange transport up to Kelimutu to catch the sunrise.
8. Rinca Island, Flores
Here there be dragons. Komodo dragons! Rinca and Komodo Islands are side by side, off the western coast of Flores. Most people come to Komodo National Park for the spectacular diving, and include a visit to Komodo or Rinca. For me, I took a boat from Labuanbajo, and visited Rinca, the nearer of the two islands. Everyone knows about these Komodo dragons, and to actually see them upclose meters away from you is really something. Try not to poke them though, your guide, even with his big stick won’t be able to help.
Off the beaten track rating: ♥♥♥
9. Tomohon, North Sulawesi
Out of the way: Pulau Bunaken in Manado, one of the most exquisite diving spots. Even more out of the way: Nearby Lembeh Straits, which is where you can do world-class muck diving. Why-in-the-world-would-anyone-want-to-go-there-out-of-the-way: Tomohon, a little hill city nearby overlooking Manado city. Here and the nearby connecting towns are where you can find the heartland of the Minahasa people. Hikes to Gunung Lokon can be made from here, and if you are feeling brave, take a walk down to the local wet market to check out the fresh animal produce.
Off the beaten track rating: ♥♥♥
Getting there: Easy buses from from Manado head towards Tomohon, where labelled bemos go elsewhere in the area.
10. Mt. Kerinci, Sumatra
I did this a while ago, so I don’t have pictures to show for it. Gunung Kerinci is located in Sumatra’s Kerinci Seblat National Park and is the highest volcano in Indonesia. Attempting the peak requires some level of fitness. At the summit though, you would be rewarded with magnificent views of the surroundings as well as a look into the sulphur belching crater. Do not tarry at the peak though, the fumes are poisonous.
Off the beaten track rating: ♥♥♥
Getting There: From Padang, take a bus to the village of Kersik Tuo at the foot. Arrange for a guide and other essentials there.
** Bonus: Bali.
And finally, I mentioned Bali at the beginning of this post. Not exactly off the beaten track. But here is one time when Bali IS off the beaten track. Taken on the main tourist drag in Ubud, 2009, it shows Bali during Nyepi, the Balinese day of silence. Once a year on that day, shops are closed, the airport is closed, no one goes out, electricity is cut. It is a ghost town, enforced to ensure that when the demons overhead look down, and upon seeing no life, they will fly past and ignore Bali for the next one year.
That’s my list of uncommon places to visit in Indonesia. Other destinations on my bucket list (can’t list them on this post, haven’t been there yet) are Tanah Toraja in Sulawesi, Ponorogo in Central Java, the Cenderawasih Bay in Papua and the Banda Islands in Maluku.
What other places in Indonesia do you recommend?
