I didn’t really know what to expect with Indonesia; it is the world’s largest Islamic-majority country in the world, has a ton of islands, and was once a Dutch colony. To be honest, I’ve never felt entirely at peace in a predominately Muslim country. It’s always been slightly awkward, a bit tense, and I hardly ever speak with women and so I feel like I only get half the story.
That said, Indonesia was nothing like this. The people were friendly, fair, and just generally seemed to know what they were doing. It would take too much space to give specific examples, but just know that this is the most well organized developing country I have been to so far. Everything worked well, it was easy to get help, and it was incredibly cheap.
So, all in all, it is a great place to visit and below I will detail some places I went to and then discuss what I heard about for other parts of the country.
Bali (Spent 4 days here, 6 would have been good)
Some people probably don’t even realize that Bali is even Indonesia. It is a party hotspot for Australians, is predominantly Hindu, and is famous for both scuba and surfing. I’m not much of a surfer or diver, and so if you are you should add a few days for the time I listed above.
Yogyakarta (spent 3 days here, should have spent 4)
While not
Jakarta (Spent 1 day here, and you might want to skip it)
Jakarta is full of traffic, people, and there isn’t much to do or see. There is a pretty neat square and old Dutch hotel that is worth going to if you are there, but if you have a choice between a day here and an extra one in Bali, spend it in Bali.
Country level of difficulty – 5/10
This entry was posted in Southeast Asia
