Indonesia – Emerald of the Equator

Posted on June 17, 2018

Thinking about Indonesia evokes visions of active volcanoes, deserted beaches, colourful tribes and their festivals, remote villages, ancient ruins, and wildlife in dense jungles facing the rapid destruction of their habitat. Sounds like another country qualified to be promoted under the slogan of “Many Countries in One”. While this slogan may be well founded, this “one country” is surely not surveyed in one single visit, unless you are spending months on end.

Indonesia is vast, and that’s an understatement. Spanning over 1.9 million square kilometres, it is the world’s 14th largest country in terms of land area. Also referred to as the “Indonesian Archipelago”, it consists of over 17,500 officially listed islands, of which 16,056 island names have now been verified by a United Nations working group referred to as the UN Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN). That sure is a lot of named islands to visit, let alone the yet unnamed islands!

Among the larger islands are Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan (part of Borneo Island), Sulawesi, and West Papua. Many of the smaller islands that are popular among travellers are Flores, Bali, Komodo, Lombok, and a few others. When it comes to intrepid travel across Indonesia, the sky is the limit. The adventures are endless and the opportunities to discover the undiscovered are almost uncountable!

For travellers who have never set foot in this vast and diverse country with a population of over 261 million people, it is tough to recommend the ideal starting point.

Let’s start with a few of the highlights, and in the future, we will talk about the islands hardly ever visited by travellers. Welcome to the Indonesian islands of Bali, Lombok, the Gili Islands, the islands of Flores, Komodo, Padar, Rinca, and the central region of Java Island.

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Globerovers Magazine July 2018