Indonesia
Indonesia has got to be one of my all time favourite countries in the world – it’s got an incredibly diverse multicultural, ethnic and religious history – fantastic buildings from the world renowned Borobudur to tremendous tribal houses. The scenery is unrivalled – a skyline marked with silhouettes of smoking volcanoes, terraced rice paddies everywhere and a huge number of pristine white beaches. Mix in a great cuisine and very friendly people and it is an ideal travel destination – OK the place occasionally erupts into mass violence – but that just adds a little spice.
I lived in Indonesia between March 1997 and June 1998. I was fresh off a TEFL course in the UK but arrived at the wrong time – everyone was on holiday after Ramadan, so my first experience was a month long holiday travelling through Sulawesi. I then returned to Java and lived in Bandung where I secured a teaching job. I bought an old Honda and went on a number of trips in Central Java. I also spent a couple of weeks in Sumba. In May 1998 Suharto was about to be toppled from his 30 year dictatorship and I made a final journey through Sumatra before leaving for Singapore. I’m currently updating the Indonesia pages – or rather writing them from scratch – scanning in old photographs and reading my old diaries. Watch this space!
Sulawesi
20 Mar 1997I had arrived in Indonesia on 10th February 1997, fresh off my TEFL course and keen to start my new career as an English teacher. A friend of mine had a contact in a school in Bandung so that’s where I headed. I had spent two months travelling through Indonesia in 1989 so knew the country a bit and liked it. Pre-internet days though and so no chance of organising work in advance so I just had to arrive and…
Bandung
19 May 1997I’d arrived in Indonesia in March 1997 looking for a job at a language school. It was the wrong time as it was at Idul Fitri, and the schools told me to come back in a month. So I headed off to Sulawesi. Returning to Bandung I managed to get some teaching hours first at TBI (The British Institute) and then secured a part-time contract with EEP (Executive English Programs). I was initially staying at the Hotel Sahara which sadly no…
Explorations in West Java
15 Jun 1997I was going to call this page Sunda as Sundanese is a very common adjective for all things around Bandung: Sundanese people, Sundanese food, Sundanese language but the place is never referred to as Sunda. Odd. Anyway, here are a few motorbike and bicycle trips I did while living in Bandung. They were mainly to the East and South of Bandung towards the south coast of Java, the heartland of “Sunda”. I’d arrived in Indonesia in March 1997 looking for…
Sumba
12 Oct 1997I’d been in Bandung for about six months and I’m not sure how it happened (my diary says nothing) but I decided to go to Sumba for three weeks on holiday. Back in 1997 it was way off the beaten track and saw very few tourists. It was apparently famous for slavery, fine ikat cloth and horseback fighting festivals. It was also famous for its megalithic tombs – not just from the past, they were still erecting them and I…
Sumatra
14 Jun 1998My time in Indonesia was coming to an end. The dictatorship of Suharto was also coming to an end. My last few weeks were punctuated by riots and general unrest. I’m not sure why, but I had decided to leave Indonesia by boat but I also had to get to Bukittingghi in Sumatra to get my passport. So on Saturday 16th May 1998, I said my goodbyes to my housemate Jim and me and Lis got on the bus from…
Return!
30 Dec 1998I was settled in Sri Lanka and had a couple of weeks holiday over Christmas and New Year 1999. So what to do? Return to Indonesia of course and see some old friends. It was also a chance to explore someplace new – namely Central Java. I spent a few days over Christmas in Bandung with old friends , then me and Lis took the train to Yogyakarta . We splashed out on “Eksekutif” class and stayed at the Karunia…