North Sumatra

Arrival in Sumatra
Early morning in Medan, the largest city in Sumatra. Originally founded in the late 15-hundreds the area saw no significant development before the Dutch started to invest heavily in the 1860s as with so many other places in this part of the world – for better or worse. And like most cities its inhabitants are a mix of Muslims, Chinese, Christians and Hindus with a city centre dominated by China men, well known for their hard working business skills and their ability to get a shop going. Foreigners come here for mainly two reasons: Orang-utans or business.

From Medan we went on a four hour drive through immense oil palm plantations and stunningly beautiful scenery to get to Parapat, famous mountain and lake resort on the east shore of the volcanic lake of Tao Toba. This is the land of the Toba Batak people. Learn the word Horas and you know hallo, goodbye, hi, good morning, congratulations, etc. Very useful.

Parapat as a resort was developed by the Dutch (again!) as a weekend getaway from the tropical heat, humidity and insects of the lowlands. The real gem, however, is the sheer natural beauty, Samosir Island and its people in the middle of the lake.

The legend of Lake Toba
Tao Toba lies at 900 m above sea level and was created some 75,000 years ago by one of the most violent volcanic super-eruptions ever. The official legend, however, tells a very long story about the daughter of a god who turned into a fish and against the will of her father married a rice peasant. Her father in return sent a seven day thunderstorm that filled the lake with water. Why she turned into a fish before she had a lake to swim in (or why the farmer wanted to marry a fish) the story doesn't account for – anyway, this seemed to us the least complicated legend on the origins of the lake. Several hotels and restaurants have paintings of Noah's Arc on their walls as the Bataks now adhere to the Christian faith – mixed with their own original heritage, of course.

By the way, the Bataks do not advertise their ”peculiarities” too openly. If you pass a restaurant with the lettering B1 on the door, you may enjoy dog on the menu – B2 means pork.

The Buffalo Stance
Samosir Island – or Island of the Dead – is the result of a later volcanic explosion in the middle of the lake. Here you'll find lots of small villages, museums and sites connected with local folklore and legends.

In the village of Simanindo we watched the traditional folk dances of the Batak people. As always dances and festivities are about the cycle of life with references to fertility and to the buffalo as the most prized of all domesticated animals. At Huta Bolon we got a closer look at the traditional Batak houses, their interior and their intricate carvings. The original Batak houses are not really built any more. The construction is very expensive, and it takes about two years to complete a single house. Not because it's exceedingly difficult but you have to ask the medicine man on which date to chop down trees, when to start digging, when to move in, etc.

Everybody regardless of heritage and religion consults their medicine man about everything – just to be on the safe side. This also makes it a bit difficult to take pictures of people as these may, of course, be used for black magic. Remember to ask first.

Head-hunters of the Past
The gruesome past of these people as head hunters and cannibals is still evident today. Ambarita is one of the villages with an old execution site. Here prisoners were tortured by being cut open with knives and their wounds rubbed with lime. Sometimes the chief would cut out a nice chunk of raw flesh to eat and allowed others to follow suit. And then finally, mercifully, the prisoner's head was chopped off. Only to be shrunk, of course.

Highland Ginger Tea
From Prapat to Brastagi we took to the narrow ring road of Tao Toba. First through dense jungle-like growth but as we ascended fields of corn and coffee appeared. Right in the middle of no-where we encountered the now abandoned headquarters of the Forest Department – shaped like a fish. You figure it out.

At 1,500 m asl we had a good strong cup of ginger tea served with fried bananas at the locally famous Simarjarunjung restaurant. Other highlights were the ancient King’s Palace of Simalungun at Pematang Purba (housed 13 generations of rulers until 1924), and the slender 120 m high Sipiso-piso waterfall.

Flash Flood
We arrived at the village of Bukit Lawang in the afternoon, and both temperature and humidity had gone through the roof. In 2003 Bukit Lawang was hit by a flash flood that killed more than 200 people and almost swept the entire village away. Since the flood many of the village's children had taken it upon themselves to feed their families and they were all very eager to either sell us something or take us jungle-trekking.

We spent some time by the Bohorok River dipping our toes in the cool water. In the evening a hefty thunder storm passed with lightning that brought daylight to the jungle canopy and so much rain that gutters and such sent water in all directions.

Calling the Human of the Forest
Early next morning we left the lodge with our own ranger Anto, a cheerful little man who told stories about every plant and tree that we passed on our way. First we crossed the Bohorok River and after an hour's walk we entered the Gunung Leuser National Park proper. This is primary jungle that stretches almost to the northernmost tip of the Aceh province. Here it's still possible to find the indigenous animals of Sumatra like the tiger, the elephant and the rhino, however, in dwindling numbers. We had chosen not to go to the orang-utan feeding station in the park but to venture out into the jungle in the hope of seeing some real live wild ones. This also meant that success wasn't guaranteed.

Once in the park Anto started to make noises – orang-utan calls – and we didn't wait long before we heard a reply. Chasing the sound we went along barely visible paths but were able to make headway. Then we spotted one. High in a tree. Various calls made it come closer and when Anto offered ramputan fruits it surrendered. It was a beautiful female orang-utan with a baby. It came up to us and took a fruit from Anto's hand while carefully scouting the surroundings. Lene also fed her but she wasn't always quick enough so the female jerked Lene's hat to speed things up.

Close Encounter
Anto kept on calling and soon another female appeared. We also fed her some ramputans, and finally we got a small female with an even cuter baby than the first one. They stayed with us for quite some time and gave us a first rate opportunity to study this human of the forest at close quarters. Real magic.

Food for vegetarians is not easy to find in the rain forest and orang-utans usually cover large areas everyday in search of something to eat. By giving them just of couple of fruits everyday the orang-utans feel that it's worth their while to stick around in the reservation. And this protects them in many more ways.

The cool and fresh air of early morning had now turned into a sweat-dripping experience. We fought our way back to the lodge through wilder-ness and paths that barely existed. At least that's how we felt. No doubt Anto knew exactly where we were and by leading us through a couple of bushes he gave us a feeling of real exploration and adventure. But we loved it.

Jogjakarta – the cultural capital
By way of Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, we ended up in Jogjakarta, the cultural capital – according to themselves anyway. Certainly they drive quite a bit more civilized than in North Sumatra, and Jogjakarta does excel within the arts, crafts and education. There are several universities for Protestants, Catholics, Hindus and Muslims, respectively.

Real palaces
The sultan palaces are more like palaces here, especially the Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat in Kraton – a large complex finished in 1790. It still houses the Sultan and is very yin/yang in design. It has a building for the daughters and one for the sons. As the present Sultan doesn’t have any sons this part of the complex was partially open for visitors. We sat through a couple of musical pieces performed by the Sultan's own jambalan (orchestra) – almost symphonic in nature and very beautiful and pleasing to the ear.

Equally impressive are some of the silver works made here in Jogja. Although most of it would probably look silly on the mantelpiece at home it is very difficult not to admire the attention to detail and the imaginative shapes and sizes of their works. Most of what you may encounter in f.inst. Bali has most likely been designed or produced in Java.

The life and times of Buddha
One of the must-sees around Jogja is no doubt the imposing Buddhist temple complex of Borobudur at Lapangan Banteng. Although it is one of Indonesia's top tourist attractions we didn't find the place crammed at all. The temple has been dated to approx. 830 a.d. and was built using lava stones. The complex contains more than 500 Buddha statues and several thousand well preserved and beautiful bas-reliefs. These reliefs describe the way to the 7th Heaven – Nirvana, and is today a Unesco world heritage site detailing the life and times of Buddha.

We stayed at the site to watch the sun go down and then headed back to Jogja. It seems the power plants don't have the capacity to supply all of Jogja at any one time, so they have come up with a plan to blackout different districts on different nights.

The Great Trinity
On our way East from Jogjakarta to the Tengger Highlands we stopped by another site not to be missed: Prambanan, one of Southeast Asia's largest Hindu shrine temple complexes.

Dedicated to Trimurt or the Great Trinity, i.e. Brahmā the creator, Vishnu the maintainer and Śhiva the destroyer it originally covered a vast expanse with a thousand shrines, large and small. Today the eight shrines in the central compound are most noteworthy with the 47 m tall Śhiva shrine at its centre.

Prambanan took a hit in the 2006 earthquake that also set off the volcano Mt. Merapi. Due to the building technique with each stone being placed loosely on top of the other the shrines were easy targets. Luckily only a small portion of the complex is out of order so to speak and restoration is ongoing.

Java at a glance
Once Java was covered in a luxurious blanket of tropical forest moulded by volcanic eruptions across the island. Although Java only constitutes some seven percent of the total land mass, it holds more than 60 percent of Indonesia’s entire population and it’s the most densely populated island in the world. The tropical forests have given way to rice fields and plantations interspersed by no less than 30 volcanoes – many still very much active.

The 2006 earthquake did a lot of damage. When we came closer to the highlands in the Southeast some bare open spaces told the tale of a village having been levelled by mudslides and many roads had been destroyed – the remaining ones were filled to the brim with traffic.

All that glitters
Some of the villages we passed through were decidedly Muslim but migrants from the island of Madura north of Surabaya just looooves all that glitters and put their happy mark on village life. We were told that the Maduras would happily spend their last rupiah on a tattoo or a golden earring instead of food for the family.

The last of our drive ended in hairpin bends and steep climbs 2,000 m asl at the Bromo Cottage 13 hours after leaving Jogjakarta. After a small meal we hit the sack to get as much sleep as possible before our next adventure.

Bright and early
Well, perhaps not so bright as early: Up at zero-three-hundred – temperature a measly 17^oC but no winds. We were allocated a Jeep with a local driver and headed up to Pandujakan: A sunrise viewpoint on the rim of the enormous caldera of the Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park.

Suddenly the place was crammed with tourist from the entire area – all with the same purpose, and most of them better prepared for the ordeal than we were. It seemed that everybody but us had thick jackets, hats, gloves and scarves. But of course it was possible to rent jackets and blankets and buy tea and noodle soup and offerings for the volcanoes at stalls set up by locals.

With the sun slowly rising we got a magnificent view of the caldera, of the constant oozing of Mt. Bromo and of Mt. Mahameru (3,677 m asl) in the distance now and again coughing quite a decent puff of smoke into the atmosphere. This is indeed the land of fire – a great experience.

Horses galore
Afterwards we drove down to the bottom of the crater – down to the sand sea. Why we had to go in 4x4 Jeeps became quite clear: Crazy inclines everywhere though the narrow roads were paved with decent asphalt. Nothing grows here but there is a fine powdery layer of lava sand that easily swirls up. You could either walk the distance to the foot of Mt. Bromo or – like we and many others did – rent a horse.

Mine was small, light and cute but Lene chose a bigger one for herself. The owner walked alongside holding the reigns. Apparently Lene’s horse handler thought she looked confident enough so he gave her the reigns. Lene believed this meant that she was free to take off, and after a slow trot she quickly coerced her horse into a gallop. The owner kept up with them formidably but had to let go in the end. My horsie found the behind of another horse and together we slowly but surely found the foot of the volcano.

At the top of Mt. Bromo
254 steps with appropriately dispersed resting places had been made to facilitate the climb but the thin air at 2,400 m asl quickly made us gasp. When we finally reached the top we found that we could walk along the rim of the crater and look right down into the belly of the beast. Here big steam clouds constantly oozed out.

Although Mt. Mahameru (also known as Semeru) looked as though it lay just over the next top it was actually more than 15 km away which was a great relief as it is still one of the most active volcanoes on Java. But what a view.

On our way back across the sand sea Lene again took off in a gallop. For a brief shocking instance my horse started trotting but fortunately the owner could remote control his horse by whistling and smacking his lips. Great fun. Safely back at Bromo Cottage we had a hearty breakfast and soon left for Surabaya.

To the Land of the Heavenly Kings
It took us most of the day to get from Makassar, the provincial capital of South Sulawesi, to Rantepao in the Land of the Heavenly Kings, Tana Toraja, in the highlands. The trip had been very picturesque, though. Through beautiful but flat landscapes with rice fields and fish ponds with a view to the Makassar Strait on one side and rugged limestone mountains on the right. Then inland from Parepare across the peninsular and through some amazing mountainous scenery.

Along the way we were treated to an intricate royal rice dance performed by young boys accompanied by an electrified flute player on acid – or so it seemed. And we had our coffee at Bamba Puang overlooking Gonung Nona, literally Girl Mountain, but that's not jazzy enough to lure tourists to the region so we know it as Erotic Mountain.

Finally, at 6 pm we reached the Marante Highland Resort, which turned out to be a really classy place with swimming pool, a welcome massage and a large and tasty grill buffet. And loads of loudly quacking frogs and noisy cicadas but we were too tired to take any note of that.

The old religion
The origins of the Torajans are rooted in the regions of present-day Laos/Vietnam/China. The same origins as the Dayaks of East Kalimantan and the Bataks of North Sumatra. Another common denominator is that Christianity is the main religion of choice though mixed with a healthy dose of more or less animistic beliefs – or Aluk todolo, old religion, as they call it. Nowhere is this more evident than in Tana Toraja, although nowadays only about five percent are still believed to be true animists.

The village of Lemo lies on a plain of rice fields surrounded by steep cliffs. Here they used to bury their dead by cutting out burial chambers in the rock and putting up effigies of the dead on carved balconies. In Tampangalo they placed their wooden coffins in open caverns and grottos.

The child in the tree
Still in use by people of Aluk todolo are the trees of the dead children. When a baby or a small child dies a hole is carved in a special tree, the tiny body is placed inside and the hole is sealed with a wooden plate. As the tree grows the child becomes one with the tree, and it is hoped that the next child born will be as strong as the tree.

Hanging graves
Ke'te Kesu is the oldest village in Tana Toraja from about 6th century. Of course, nothing is left of the original houses but the houses today are about 80-90 years old and maintained on a regular basis. There are strong similarities to the shapes and building techniques of the Batak people of Sumatra. Ket'e Kesu also holds a good deal of so-called hanging graves where the coffin is placed on two girders sticking out from the cliff.

In time the girders will give way and the coffin will fall crashing to the ground. When this happens the bones of the deceased will be scattered all over the place but usually left there for good. Removing the bones requires yet another burial ceremony and that is too costly for most people to undertake.

The last breath
When someone dies family members start to collect and save money for the burial ceremony. The more high-up, the more expensive the ceremony is expected to be. It is not uncommon to spend a couple of years saving up for a funeral. During this time the deceased stays in his house as usual. His family sees to it that he gets up in the morning, gets dressed, neighbours come by for a cup of coffee and a chat. For he is not seen as dead – merely ill.

The body is wrapped in special leaves from the forest to prevent smell and to facilitate mummification though nowadays a shot of formaldehyde usually does the trick. To have a dead person in the house would bring bad luck.

Rambu solo
A burial ceremony typically lasts 4-5 days and we were lucky to catch the rambu solo, the second day of the ceremony for a local dignitary at the village of Sangalla. Make no mistake. A burial is a celebration and a feast to pay respects to the deceased. Long queues of relatives, friends and officials from near and afar waited patiently to present gifts in the form of palm wine, rice and other foods as well as live pigs carried in not too comfortable bamboo contraptions. This is not for kids and animal lovers.

We witnessed a fascinating display of different dances, songs and musical entertainment by women and men in colourful dresses. And a flow of food and palm wine that seemed unstoppable.

A funeral may easily amount to 400 million Rupiah (about 28,000 Euro) in the form of buffalos to slaughter, temporary bamboo housing for the guests, undertaker, butcher, entertainment, burial site, etc. etc. etc. which is a lot of money in this part of the world. A specific number of buffalos is to be slaughtered depending on one’s status in the community.

At this funeral an estimated 10 buffalos at 20 million Rupiah and an unaccountable number of pigs were led to the slaughter to ensure that everybody had enough to eat. A thrilling day but, oh, the quacking of the frogs…

Back in Makassar
Back in Makassar we stayed in China Town in the wonderful gardens of the Hotel Pantai Gapura down by the harbour. Stops along the way included quite a large local market in Suda to get some salek a.k.a. snake skin fruit and the ever looming Girl Mountain.

Sir Stamford Raffles lived six years in Makassar and tried very hard to convince the local authorities to make the city the centre of all trade in Southeast Asia. But in the end the Dutch threw him out and he moved to the southern most tip of the Malaya Peninsula.

It started off so well...
This was supposed to be a regular dive liveaboard trip to the legendary dive sites of the Komodo National Park but apart from the fact that we did get picked up at the airport at Lebuan Bajo on Flores – after some waiting – this part of the trip didn’t quite pan out as expected.

We spent almost an hour on the pier waiting for the dingy – with no shade inside, and when we finally got onboard there was no-one to greet us. Our dive guide turned out to be a Javanese Rastafarian called Sangut, a nice guy and a passionate diver with a good knowledge of the area and life below the surface. And with strong views on his home country that fuelled some nice evening talks.

Our ship, the M/S Felicia, was a so-called pinisi, which is a local boat with lots of space for everybody. Originally built as a merchant’s vessel by the Bugis people north of Tana Toraja, it is a big heavy boat basically only meant to flow with the trade winds from island to island and back again six months later. Top speed was about two knots which meant that when we sometimes got caught in the frenzied currents of Komodo, we were hardly moving at all. But fortunately, both the crew and the other guests were very nice people, and that goes a long way.

Check Dive
Our dive buddies were two Korean math professors and a German, two of whom were Open Water divers with not that many logged dives. We did our check dive at Sebayur Besar – a typical check dive site: Sandy bottom with coral pinnacles and not really that interesting but that didn’t matter. It was just so nice to be in the water again.

We had a go at the small neighbouring island, Sebayur Kecil, on the night dive where we had the pleasure of a.o. an octopus, a Fine speckled moray and the biggest Spanish dancer ever. When we got back to the Felicia we discovered that we had a blind passenger onboard the dingy: A Two-banded sea snake! We had all put our hands right next to it when entering the dingy after the dive. Thank goodness they’re so docile and non-aggressive.

The Mother of Currents
After a very nice breakfast with pancakes and all we set out the next morning for the first dive of the day at Tatawa Island. Right before the dive we all sat in the dingy and looked in awe at the turbulent water surface. Were we really going to dive there? It looked more like a washing machine.

But in we went. We were treated to the finest of slopes with myriads of soft corals in a plenitude of colours, large schools of fusiliers, four hawksbills and some very large triggers. There must have been so much more to see at this site but the current was too strong to even hold on to anything. We flew like small jets along the slope and enjoyed every second.

At the end the current subsided and gave us time to nose about a bit. Sangut didn’t reveal to us the name of the site until we were back in the dingy – with good reason, too. It was at Tatawa Island that five divers had disappear some months earlier only to be found 36 hours later on a small rock trying to fight off Komodo dragons and sucking starfish for fluids!

Our second dive was at Pengeh Kecil at slack tide. The quintessence of diving Indonesia: Beautiful walls and slopes with a diversity of life that seemed endless. At the end the tide started to turn, and we had to be on our toes as currents started flowing from what seemed like every direction.

Dragons at Large
No trip to this area without an encounter with the famous Komodo dragons. This is the largest living species of lizard, growing to an average length of 2 to 3 meters. The Komodo Dragons live naturally only on Rinca and Komodo and in some secluded bays on West Flores. To keep them alive buffalos, horses, wild hogs and deer are set out. Analyses of dragon saliva have shown as much as 57 different strains of bacteria growing in its mouth and all a dragon has to do is bite its prey. In time the prey will die from blood poisoning. Locally the dragon is also known as buaya darat meaning land crocodile, and it’s actually capable of diving down to some 4-5 meters!

The chances of meeting one are bigger on Rinca than on Komodo as the landscape is far less passable on the latter. That being said you have very little chance of missing one. Many tour operators even offer a reward if you don’t see a dragon on your visit, which went well in hand with our distinct impression that the rangers kept a couple of smaller ones by the ranger station by feeding them. Dragons guaranteed indeed.

Well-fed and Docile
Our ranger-led tour lasted about three hours in the scorching sun through a hilly, bone-dry and hostile environment. We came upon some buffalo carcasses where a couple of smaller dragons had finished eating. Taken into consideration that a dragon may eat up to 80 percent of its body weight in one meal it was no wonder that it seemed they could hardly lift their stomachs from the ground. Altogether we saw six or seven dragons and came quite close to some of them. Fortunately, when you know that all it takes is a scratch, they all seemed well-fed and not interested in second helpings.

Flying Foxes at Sunset
Not far from the dragon ranger station at Loh Buaya on Rinca we cast anchor at a small island called Kalong to watch the sun go down and to prepare for delicious beach barbeque. As the sun came closer to the horizon things started to happen on the island. At first we saw three or four flying foxes – the largest bat in the world – leave their resting places and head for the feeding grounds on Rinca. Then came some more and soon the sky came alive with big bats flying just above our heads – all with the beautiful setting sun as a backdrop.

Unfortunately, soon after we were told that the engineer onboard the Felicia had been taken ill and we had to return to Lebuan Bajo at once.

Compensation and Nudis
Back in Lebuan Bajo we found ourselves with an extra day on our hands and nothing to do. So we talked Sangut into exploring some of the nearby rocky islands and made him promise that the dives ended only when we reached 50 bar. So we did two 90+ minute dives at Pempeh which left poor Sangut with blue lips and no circulation in his arms and legs. Visibility was about 6-10 meters and there was not much in the way of corals but lots of sponges, small sea cucumbers and a great variety in nudibranchs and other slugs. Great fun. One of the math professors, Mr. Song, accompanied us on the first dive but he gave up after one hour. He was out of air, and he hadn't seen anything at all.

We didn’t get the Komodo dive trip that we had looked so much forward to but we did catch a glimpse of why this place is on the want list of so many divers.

Lombok Escape
Throughout our journey we had encountered many different religious beliefs but it seemed that Lombok was the only place in which they actually interacted in official ceremonies.

Most of the inhabitants are of the Muslim Sasak persuasion, which is a special Lombok brand of Islam with a heavy touch of local heritage. Since most of the population originally came from especially Bali and Java, however, there's a strong Hindu society here as well.

H & M united
A for instance is Pura Lingsar from 1714 a bit outside Mataram. This is a temple combining Muslim Sasak and Hindu traditions, and here both parties meet every April just before the rainy season for branke katupat, i.e. to throw rice at each other in the name of fertility.

Another example is the Mayura Garden and Water Palace from ca. 1744 and part of the Royal Court of the now extinct Balinese Kingdom. The king was Hindu and the queen Muslim but they both stuck to their original beliefs after their marriage. So this is one place where you can see both Muslim and Hindu statues and bas-reliefs side by side.

Our headquarters the next couple of days was the secluded Senggigi Beach Resort on the tip of a narrow sandy cape with an excellent beach and some great snorkelling – lots of nudis, squids and blennies.

Off to the Gilis
The road from Senggigi to the harbour at Bangsal is brand new and goes through a beautiful, hilly landscape along the Lombok Strait. Partly because lots of estate has been sold off to private corporations for resort development, and partly because lots of people are lured into a trip to the Gili Islands on the West coast of Lombok. And we were no different – perhaps most of all as we had the notion of the Gilis being a backpacker's retreat.

The boat trip from Bangsal to the largest island, Gili Trawangan, took about 50 minutes. I suppose, we'll never know what the island was really like.

We took an immediate dislike to it: We found it too crowded. And the shops, b&b's and cafés along the sea side too shabby and worn down. We had a go at snorkelling. The current whisked us away over broken and dead hard corals and landed us several hundred metres further down the beach, then we walked back and did it again. But we couldn't really see the point.

Better to suit up
Our plan had been to spend the day hopping to Gili Trawangan, then to Gili Meno and finally to the smallest island, Gili Air, closest to the mainland. But we decided to skip Meno, go straight to Air and arrange some diving. After all, it was Lene's birthday.

We found Gili Air quite different from Trawangan: Nice, easy and laid back. We went to Dream Divers, signed up, suited up and went away on a banka with 12 other divers for a dip at Gili Slope/Gili Wall. Nice drift but not very many corals, a good deal of turtles, though, and a tiny cuttlefish that seemed almost tame. But it beats snorkelling any time.

Brats on the Beach
When we came back to Bangsal we were meet by some really annoying brats on the beach who tried at all costs to rinse our feet with freshwater despite our repeated refusals – and to get paid for doing it. One of them even tried to fake a good cry as we slammed the car door in their ugly little faces.

Down the Meninting River
This is a most-do if you're in the neighbourhood. Go to the Sesela village and step aboard one of the local gondolas, a bamboo contraption mostly used as a cargo raft, sit back and relax and let the current take you gently down the Meninting River.

For a small tip the boats-men will serve fresh coconut while you're in for an exotic view into the life of everybody's backyard and local wildlife like birds and iguanas. It takes about an hour or so but it's time well spent.

Pottery and Weavers
On Lombok there are about four villages where everybody is involved in pottery some way or other. In the village of Banyumulek we met a lot of happy people – especially the children were very enthusiastic. We went from house to house to see the different kinds of pottery each one was making and ended at the site of the large common oven just as they were getting a fire going. Lots of smoke and laughter.

Sukarara is another specialized village, namely as weavers. Although it's yet another case of what would suit your home there's no denying that some of their stuff was really impressive.

A Peak into Old Sasak Tradition
A couple of villages on Lombok functions as open air museums with old Sasak houses and crafts being held alive by the people who live there. Your contribution is a donation of some 20,000 Rupiah in exchange for a guided tour.

Their houses are very interesting though. Typically is has two rooms: One inside for the wife and one outside, which is actually only a lean-to, for the husband. They're only together when they are in the mood to make children.

There are no windows and the floor is made from cow dung and mud and raised above the ground to keep daddy from floating away in the rain. As soon as a baby boy is old enough he'll move outside to his father but the baby girl stays inside.

Where did all the Men go?
The local guide became a little unpleasant at the end of our visit. Just like the girl at the weaver's village, this one went on about how poor and hungry they all were and demanded that we bought loads of souvenirs as we could afford it.

True, many a man from the South of Lombok goes abroad for three to five years to save up for himself and his family. But just before he leaves, he marries and gets his wife pregnant. So the women are forced to make a living for themselves and their offspring.

In the Shadow of Mt. Rinjani
Life on Lombok is controlled in a way by the enormous volcano Mt. Rinjani in the North which at 3,726 m is the third tallest in Indonesia. On its slopes primary rain forest still grows though rice paddies do take up a large percentage.

Close to Mt. Rinjani clouds gather every day sending rain down its slopes, and here rice peasants harvest three times a year. In the central part of Lombok it's down to two times a year, and in the South they have to make do with only once a year.

Bali's little Sister?
Lombok is not Bali at all – no matter what you read on the internet or in brochures. True, there are plans and designs to open up greater parts of Lombok to tourism, and Lombok will indeed be very different in ten years time. But there is a great difference in mentality, and Lombok is not at all geared up like Bali is. If you have the chance you should go for the sake of the relaxed atmosphere and the magnificent landscape that has such a great impact on the people who live there.

Bali – eventually
Started off with 1½ days of lazing at our hotel – except for Lene's extensive hunt for designer bags on Jalan Seminyak in the northern part of Kuta. Otherwise we did nothing much except read and relax.

There are basically three main hotel areas in the South of Bali: Kuta with lots of clubs, restaurants and shops and a beach perfect for surfing; Sanur, which is a bit more exclusive with better hotels, some snorkelling and calm waters; and Nusa Dua with its calm atmosphere perfect for relaxing.

Temples galore

Most of Indonesia's Hindus live on Bali. Here some 93% of a population of 3,5 mio. adhere to Balinese Hinduism. Every single one of Bali's 700 villages has at least three temples devoted to Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva – and every family has its own little shrine indoors. It's understandable that Bali is also called Island of the Gods.

Hinduism on Bali is a combination of local beliefs and heritage influenced by mainly India. It even includes references to Buddhism and animism. Everywhere you'll see the Canang – a small, square basket made from the leaves of the coconut palm. Inside is for example a slice of banana or a sugar cane, a couple of rice grains, colourful flowers and some torn leaves on top.

Canang is the most common form of offering and together with incense and holy water it is placed in temples, by shrines or other everyday places like shops to keep angry or evil spirits out and to greet the good ones.

In the Balance
Before we started our tour of Bali we stopped at Badubulan to witness the Barong Kris Dance. The most famous of all Balinese dances about the battle between the good and the bad. As usual no-one wins as the most important lesson is balance. We were treated to an abbreviated tourist-friendly version that lasted only an hour compared to the normal 2½ hours when performed in the temples.

The Justice Court
One of the most interesting sites is the old royal justice court Kertegosa in Klungkung, which functioned as Bali's supreme court. When all else failed the case was brought before three Brahmana priests here who actually had a reputation of being very harsh and unjust in their rulings. 

The ceiling of the court is filled with very graphic descriptions of various forms of punishment. The origins of the palace date back to 17th century but today only the court and the floating pavilion are still standing.

The reign of Klungkung came to an end in 1908 when the Balinese of Klungkung decided to make one last stand against the Dutch in the form of a so-called puputan – a mass ritual suicide that left all dead including women and children.

The Mother Temple
On the slopes of Mt. Agung at about 1,000 m lies Bali's largest and most holy temple complex, Puri Besakih, a total of 17 temples devoted to Brahma, Visnu and Shiva as well as the Hindu caste system. It is necessary to park some distance away and to walk the gauntlet along an alley filled with souvenir shops.

The oldest parts of the complex dates back to the 9th century, and as the preferred building material was limestone many smaller features have withered away. Unfortunately, part of the restoration is made by covering the original limestone bricks with blocks of black lava stones.

Road Work
The drive down the slopes of Mt. Agung was absolutely astonishing: Small, twisted, steep and narrow roads through a beautiful landscape.

We had our lunch (as most tourists, I suspect) at Lereng Agung in Redang with an astonishing view of a valley full of rice paddies and people and buffaloes the size of ants at the bottom.

When we drove through the small village of Budung we had to pull over as the locals were conducting a burial ritual in the middle of the road. But we arrived at our nice little hotel in Candidasa just in time for dinner.

The Eternal Rains of Mt. Agung
Candidasa is a cosy little town on the East coast in the shade of Mt. Agung. It rains like clockwork early every morning, and the lands are extremely fertile.

After breakfast we ventured back on the Southern slopes of the volcano and visited a.o. the Kehen-temple, Bali's second largest and very beautiful. We also stopped at Bas in Seribatu at a ”factory outlet” for nearby spice, coffee and tea plantations.

In the Kintamani highlands we drove along the caldera of Mt. Batur for quite a while and had a magnificent view of the three craters and the lake. The latest eruption occurred in 1990 but in the 1920's quite a violent one vomited so much black lava that it's still being quarried today and used for houses, sculptures and temple restorations.

The Black Sands of Lovina
Through Beji with its baroque rice farmer's temple and onwards to Lovina on the North coast. Lovina is not actually a location but rather a fictional term invented by an American journalist who stayed at the North coast at some point in the early 80's.

Lovina stands for Love Indonesia. He did have a specific location in mind but the term spread quickly so now almost every hotel at a stretch of seven or eight villages is situated ”at Lovina”.

We arrived at the Bali Taman in Singaraja late afternoon – just in time for a look around. The pitch-black lava sand beach was almost deserted, a fleet of bankas lay idly out of the water, and a couple of tourists had a go at snorkelling.

We decided on some refreshments and a quick dip in the pool instead. And got some food for thought in addition.

The Wimp that Sent Us Diving
At the pool a father was trying to learn his kid how to snorkel. But the kid failed at even the most basic stuff – like getting in the water for one thing. But the kid's wimping and the crying and the spineless father made us contemplate whether we really, really wanted to spend the following day here – in their company. I raced down to the reception, found a poster from Baruna Divers, made a call, and immediately felt much better.

The Box
It took about an hour to go from Singaraja to Kelompang Bay on the Westernmost tip of Bali. And another 25 minutes to get to Mejangan Island on board one of the local narrow longboats. Edwin was the name of our guide for the day, and he quickly fell into our pace of things: More than two fin kicks per minute constitute escape.

Our first dive was at The Box: A very nice slope down to some 25 metres filled with colourful sponges, fans and soft corals. Most of the dive we all had our noses to the ground in search of tiny critters and the inconspicuous pygmy seahorse but... alas. Second dive was on the wall at Bat Cave full of nice caverns and holes. Thank you, wimp!

Famous Waterfalls and Monkeys
On our way back across central Bali we passed the Gitgit Waterfall. It is hyped a great deal as being both dramatic and lush but in reality quite disappointing. Its significance wasn't clear until we discovered that at one point two streams become one, which is campuhan in Hindu and very important.

Over the ridge at about 1,400 metres we had a smooth drive down to Pancasari at Tao Buyan. And the pleasurable company of a great many monkeys that didn't have a go at our sunglasses and hats. Very cute.

Bone Back No. 32
We happened to come across yet another burial ceremony in the village of Bedugul. However, this was of quite a different nature than we'd seen before. The main street was crammed with people all dressed up, most of them carrying plates and baskets with food. In the middle of street a big contraption had been erected and people kept carrying small, white bags up a ladder and stacking them next to each other.

We arrived just as the first bag was being placed. It turned out that there was a mass cremation going on of all the people that had passed away in the last two years. The bones of one person in one bag, a total of 52 people according to those we asked. But by bag no. 32 we had no choice but to leave. Next they would drag the contraption down to the cemetery, distribute each bag to its own bonfire and set it alight. Unfortunately, that would last another five to six hours.

The Rock in the Ocean
Trust a devout disciple to build a place of worship in the most impossible place. Like Pura Tanah Lot, the Temple on the Rock in the Ocean. A somewhat alternative location in the sea only accessible at low tide. Some local fishermen hadcaught three two-banded sea snakes, put them in a hole in the rock and demanded 1,000 Rupiah per person to see the holy snakes. What the heck! I actually held a two-banded sea snake between my fingers. Yihaa!!

Bali's Cultural Centre
Ubud is considered to be Bali's cultural centre but, honestly, what we saw in terms of paintings and silver and gold works were no match to what we had seen in Yogjakarta. We took a stroll along the main street Jalan Raya Ubud in the evening, and the next day we visited a gallery on the outskirts of Ubud. Here we were shown various techniques and styles and it was easy to recognize the styles of great European painters like Picasso, Cezanne and Monet – only Bali style.

The Last Night
The last night on our journey was spent at the lovely Grand Mirage in Tanjung Benoa, the northern part of Nusa Dua. Our room wasn't ready when we arrived so we were upgraded to a suite larger than our apartment at home. We had a magnificent view of the bay and plenty of room to repack our luggage amidst sipping ginger beer and Bintang.

We were on the Indonesian roads for a whole month and were treated to exquisite experiences almost every where we went. From standing face to face with orang-utans in the West and with Komodo dragons in the East to everything in between. It had been an amazing journey in an amazing country. And there are still plenty of adventures to be had here.

We'll be back... :-)