Why?

Since a young age I have been blessed and lucky enough to live around the world and have travelled to numerous places. So... Why have I decided to devote a blog solely on my travels in Indonesia besides the fact that I called this country home for nearly 20 years? Simple, this is my attempt to create some awareness of what Indonesia has to offer besides the "go-to" typical holiday destinations that come to mind- like Bali or Jogjakarta (Borobudur). Don't get me wrong, these destinations are worth the visit. But for all you travellers out there not afraid of roughing it out in crappy hotel rooms, village share homes and tents. Those looking for a little more adventure, something a little different, something off the beaten track, the people who enjoy getting lost- Indonesia is the place to go. The point of this blog is to be more informative, rather than being a travel dairy of my day-to-day experiences traveling. I see it as an opportunity to share what knowledge I know being an expat which an insider view of this amazing country to help holiday-makers make more informed decisions.

A life time wouldn't be enough to travel, see and learn everything about Indonesia. Let me put it in simple quantifiable facts. Indonesia is seen as one country, but in essence and in spirit it’s actually hundreds blended into one. Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world, made up of more than 17,000 Islands of which 8,000 are inhabited. It is also the world’s 4th most populous country with 230 million people inhabiting those previously mentioned 8,000 islands. It needs to be understood that each of these islands have their own unique cultural heritage and traditions. Although Bahasa Indonesia is the national language, we are talking about a country where 750 languages and dialects are still spoken to this day. This is then all interwoven with the influences of being the centre of the world spice trade for centuries. A trade so valuable it attracted the European powers of which eventually lead to over 350 years of Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish and British colonization. This is all built on a foundation of ancient cultures and empires dating back to the 4th century. The history and cultural heritage of just one of these islands wouldn't fit into the average school text book, let alone the nation as a whole. This is putting Indonesia's cultural heritage in a nutshell- a particularly small nutshell. 

Not to mention the 9,000 uninhabited islands...