Reacties

During November 2005, we traveled across the Indonesian islands of Java and Bali, together with our Australian friends Anne and Martin Jones. It was a memorable trip, the more so since we were able to visit, for the first time, the cities and neighbourhoods where Jaap’s parents were born and spent their youth. By traveling largely off the beaten track, we had ample opportunity to experience the realities of daily life in rural areas, small villages, as well as large cities. We also enjoyed the country’s great variety of natural landscapes, ranging from volcanoes, hot springs and endless beaches to tropical forests and remote wildlife reserves.

Given Indonesia’s chaotic rules of the road (by our standards) and our lack of fluency in the national language, Bahasa Indonesia, we were faced with a dilemma: how to see a lot of Java and Bali in a relatively short period of time without renting a car or signing up for an organized tour? Our solution was to try traveling “a la carte” instead. This meant that we planned our itinerary ourselves, chose the cities or towns where we would stay overnight, and then hired a local tour operator to provide transportation, book accommodations, and act as tour guide and interpreter. This proved to be an excellent and affordable arrangement, thanks to the experience and flexibility of B&B TSI, our local touroperatorr[1] and the skills of Uspama, our driver. It allowed us to visit remote villages, take boat rides through canyons, travel by bamboo raft, go for an impromptu swim in the river or the ocean, try out a wide range of local cafes, or have a spontaneous picnic along the way.

After first exploring Jakarta on our own for three days, we spent two weeks crossing Java from west to east[2]. In West Java, we stayed overnight in Bogor, Bandung, Cipanas near Garut, and Pangandaran. In Central Java, we spent one or more nights in Baturaden, Borobudur, and Yogyakarta. Finally, in East Java, we stayed overnight in Sarangan, Malang, Ngadisari (near Mount Bromo) and Kalibaru. We then took the ferry to Bali, where we spent our last week, with overnight stays in Lovina, Bedugul, Ubud, Padangbai, and Sanur. Altogether, we stayed in 17 different places, in less than one month.

During our first week touring West Java, we did not meet any other westerners. Since this was the annual Idul Fitri holiday following Ramadan, we met many Indonesians traveling with their families. This showed us how Indonesians spend their major annual family holiday.

One of the reasons for traveling to Indonesia was our own family history. On Maria’s side, one of her aunts worked on Java before and after the Second World War as the first female minister of the Dutch Reformed Church[3] (During WWII she was interned in a Japanese camp). Two of Maria’s uncles worked in Indonesia, one as a medical doctor and the other as an administrator. On Jaap’s side, both his father and mother were born on Java, in Surabaya and Yogyakarta respectively, where they spent most of their youth – his mother up to age 15, and his father up to age 18, when they returned to Holland with their families[4]. Jaap’s grandparents spent most of their working life on Java, one grandfather as an architect, the other as a businessman. Several of his aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces lived on Java, Sumatra, or Borneo. They all managed to survive internment in Japanese camps during the Second World War.

Thanks to a thorough archival search by Jaap’s brother, we were able to find the house in Jakarta[5] where his mother lived as a child, and the house in Surabaya in which his father grew up. We also found the building in Surabaya’s Jelama Serah historic area in which the main office of the trading company of Jaap’s grandfather used to be located. This building had since been renovated and turned into an attractive Ibis Hotel.

In order to get a sense of what the Indonesian people have had to face over the last two centuries, one has to read some of the Indonesian literature[6]. For more than 150 years – from the early 1800’s until the mid-1900’s – Indonesians had to deal with a succession of colonial and/or military powers: primarily the Dutch, but also the English, and later the Japanese. The Japanese defeat in 1945 and the subsequent decisive fight for independence from the Dutch were soon followed by internal conflict. Indonesia’s communists were eliminated by the military in 1965 and from then on President Sukarno was effectively kept in internal exile. Then followed 32 years of President Suharto’s increasingly corrupt dictatorship. Only since his overthrow in 1998 has Indonesia experienced a period of relative political stability.

Before we left Canada for Indonesia, a second bomb attack took place on Bali. While we were traveling on Java, Indonesia’s anti-terrorism squad was able to corner and kill Azahari bin Husin, the Malaysian mastermind of the various terrorist attacks on Java and Bali. It so happened that we passed through the town of Batu shortly after this event. Since the police assault, the site had been turned into a local ‘attraction’. We found ourselves there as the only non-Indonesians in a crowd of curious onlookers. In speaking with some of the local people, we got a sense of how the national pride of Indonesians has been affected by Islamic fundamentalism and the bomb attacks. In the process, the country’s reputation as a travel destination has been dealt a major blow. We noticed the absence of foreign tourists, except for some Dutch and German tour groups in Bogor and Yogyakarta, and a few individual travellers - Australians, Japanese, and Europeans - on Bali.

In trying to gain a better understanding of how Indonesia’s domestic political culture affects the daily life of ordinary citizens, we had discussions with our guides as well as with some local residents. Apart from terrorism of Muslim fundamentalists, imported from Malaysia and other places, a recurring theme was corruption. We observed its pervasiveness firsthand[7]. We also heard several stories about the Suharto years when corruption and intimidation were at their peak. It made us realize how Indonesian citizens have had to remain stoic and resilient in the face of chronic homegrown and externally induced corruption and intimidation.

Among the four of us, the Canadian contingent had considerably more difficulty adjusting to the very high humidity and temperature of Indonesia. This was particularly noticeable in the relatively flat, low-lying cities of Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and Surabaya. For example, in Jakarta, we experienced daytime temperatures of more than 40 degrees Celsius and the nights were only slightly cooler. However, despite the fact that we traveled during the rainy season, we hardly noticed any rain on Java.

Jakarta has a daytime population of 12 million people and its nighttime population is estimated at about 9 million. During our stay there, we visited the MONAS (Monumen Nasional) on Merdeka Square with its fascinating dioramas depicting decisive moments in the struggle for independence from the Dutch. The nearby National Museum featured a special exhibition called “Shared Cultural Heritage”, a joint effort with the Dutch Museum of Ethnology (Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde) in Leiden, displaying various artifacts repatriated by the Dutch to Indonesia.

Our visit to Kota, Jakarta’s historic district dating back to Batavia, the former colonial capital of the Dutch East Indies, was a disappointment. The area had obviously suffered from neglect and looked run down. We later found out that this was the direct result of President Suharto’s diversion of UNESCO funds earmarked for Kota’s historic restoration to his own family. We spent half a day exploring the Taman Mini theme park, which features a visual summary of Indonesia’s provinces and archipelago. It gave us an insight into how ‘official Indonesia’ presents the diversity of the country. Its Museum Indonesia had interesting displays of architectural models depicting the building styles of the country’s major islands and regions.

We found Bogor and Bandung, at slightly higher altitudes, much more comfortable. One of the highlights of our stay in Bogor was our visit to the beautiful Botanical Gardens. In Bandung, we took special notice of its many colonial buildings, such as the renovated Savoy Homann hotel, an early example of modernist Dutch architecture, and the Gunung Sate, the former colonial Governor’s palace and current seat of the provincial administration. We enjoyed exploring the buildings and grounds of the Institut Technologi Bandung (ITB, or Bandung Institute of Technology). We were impressed with the beauty of its campus, particularly its traditional and modern buildings, which confirmed its reputation as a showcase of Indonesia’s best architecture[8].

Thanks to its clear urban structure, we found Yogyakarta to be an easy city in which to orient ourselves. It is a lively university town with a dynamic commercial heart along Jalan Malioboro, its main street. ‘Yogya’, as the city is commonly called, is definitely one of the most interesting Javanese cities, thanks largely to its long history as the capital of central Java, its unique governance by successive sultans, and its prominent role during the fight for independence. We visited the Keraton (sultan’s palace), a veritable city-within-a-city, as well as the beautifully restored Taman Sari, the Water Castle. During the battle for independence, Yogya’s sultan decided to open the doors of his palace to provide refuge to independence fighters. As a result, President Sukarno decided to grant Yogyakarta, rather than Solo (Surakarta), the status of an autonomous Javanese province.

One of the volcanoes we managed to see up close was Mount Bromo in east Java. This required a very early start at 4 in the morning, so that we could make it to the top of Gunung (Mount) Penanjakan, at 2,770 m the highest volcano on the site, in time for seeing the sunrise. Due to fog and clouds, this did not quite work out as planned but after the fog lifted we were able to see Mount Semeru, Java’s highest peak (3,676 m) in the distance. At the right moment, this active volcano spewed large plumes of black ash, making for some spectacular snapshots.

We drove along narrow rural roads, visited remote villages and many temples such as Candi Cangkuang, the only Hindu temple in West Java, accessible only by bamboo raft. An intriguing experience was our visit to a traditional Sundanese village along the scenic Preanger route east of Garut, where we descended into Kampung Naga. This well-preserved village does not have electricity. It is composed of sturdy houses with thatched roofs, aligned along narrow streets that prevent the tropical sun from entering. This results in a very effective layout, perfectly suited to the Javanese climate.

In many of the towns and villages through which we passed, we heard the music of the local gamelan orchestra. We visited a workshop where wayang kodek puppets were carved, painted, and dressed by the whole family, a true cottage industry. Later, we attended a wayang gulit performance in Yogya’s Sonobudoyo museum, involving an elaborate shadow play accompanied by a gamelan orchestra. Since this performance lasted for several hours, some of the gamelan players had sufficient time to smoke a few kretek cigarettes while the puppets were doing battle.

Religion played an important role during our trip. We saw and visited numerous mosques, Buddhist and Hindu temples and witnessed a number of religious ceremonies. Among the various Islamic buildings, the Mesjid Istiqlal, Jakarta’s main mosque designed by a Christian architect, was certainly the most prominent. It can accommodate 10,000 Muslim worshippers on its main floor, and some 200,000 in the building as a whole. It is the largest mosque in Asia, and the third largest in the world, after Mecca and Jerusalem. This stands to reason, given that Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim country. Interestingly, this large mosque is located next door to Indonesia’s largest cathedral.

The most prominent Buddhist building we visited was the Borobudur temple near Magelang in central Java. It is a World Heritage Site, and deservedly so. Visiting this major shrine proved to be one of our most memorable experiences. We were fortunate to be able to stay overnight on the grounds of the temple in the Manohara hotel. This made for a very special experience since we were able to visit the temple both in the late afternoon and early the next morning, to view it under totally different lighting conditions. We also visited Bali’s only Buddhist monastery, Braham Asrama Vihara, located along the road from Lovina to Munduk. It occupies a spectacular site on a plateau in the mountains overlooking rice fields, with the Bali Sea visible in the distance.

The Prambanan temple complex along the road from Yogyakarta to Solo gave us an excellent impression of the ornate nature of Java’s Hindu temples. We were equally impressed with the Hindu temples on Central Java’s Dieng Plateau (at 2,100 m) and the smaller Maya-like Sukuh temple, beautifully located on a mountain slope between Solo and Sarangan. Bali’s Hindu temples deserve special mention, largely because of their large number, elaborate carvings and spectacular settings. We enjoyed visiting the Pura Pulaki temple along the north coast and, particularly, the Pura Ulun Danau temple on Lake Beratan at Bedugul. However, Pura Besakih, the ‘Mother Temple’, located on the slopes of the sacred Mount Agung, did not quite meet our high expectations, perhaps in part because of the limitations of our local tour guide[9].

Because of the climate, the fertility of the soil, and the hard work of the local farmers, Java is self-sufficient in its food supply. Food plays an important part in the traveler’s experience. Like religion, it is omnipresent. Street vendors, markets, warungs (food stalls) present themselves in all shapes and sizes to provide a wide choice of fruits, vegetables, fish, and meat. The food is plentiful, tasty, inexpensive, and easy to digest. During our travels, we came to realize that ‘an obese Indonesian’ is an oxymoron. One is unlikely to go hungry in this country, and that seems to apply to poor people as well.

In the belief that food is not only a means of survival but also a form of cultural expression, we discovered many local dishes. Apart from our regular consumption of sate (ayam, babi, sapi, kambing), we ate fish (ikan gurame, Balinese steam fish, udang) and once ordered rijsttafel[10], but quickly realized that there are many interpretations of this concept. We became acquainted with both the taste and the production processes for various soya-based dishes (e.g. tahu, tempe), sweets (such as dodol), and peanut products (e.g. kacang telor).

We had a regular diet of nasi campur and gado-gado, inexpensive and tasty food, available anywhere and at any time of the day. Since we traveled during the fruit season, we took advantage of the abundance of rambutan, mangga, pisang, nenas, papaya, avocado, and even durian, which is definitely an acquired taste. We ate other tropical fruits that we had never heard of, let alone tasted, such as salak, resembling a hairy chestnut on the outside and tasting more like a sweet apple. In Ubud, we drank pineapple beer, but concluded that we preferred the more common Bintang, Anker, or Bali Hai beers. In an unguarded moment, we tried Balinese wine and concluded that it was quite drinkable as long as it was of the dry, white variety and very cold.

Bram and local guides explained to us the great variety of agricultural products. We explored plantations producing tea, coffee, rubber, cocoa, vanilla, nutmeg, cloves, and sugar cane, went into factories that processed these products, and stayed overnight at an agro-resort near Kalibaru. By visiting a number of nature reserves, we came to appreciate the riches of Java’s and Bali’s flora and fauna. We admired the colourful kembang sepatuh, as well as hibiscus, orchids, heliconia, bougainvillea, frangipani, flamboyant and lotus flowers. We saw monkeys, deer, toucans, and a green mamba snake, lazily stretched out on a branch right above our heads.

At the risk of oversimplification, we highlight here some of our overall, and highly personal, impressions of Indonesia, particularly the people of Java and Bali and their lifestyles, as follows:

Java’s unique roadscape: when viewed from the road, Java comes across as one continuous, linear village, occasionally interrupted by steep mountains, active volcanoes, rice paddies, and crowded cities. Every inch of arable land seems to be cultivated. Agriculture is one of Java’s and Bali’s major economic activities, largely carried out manually or with the help of water buffalos rather than machines.

Attitude towards foreigners: the Javanese people were uniformly friendly and welcoming towards foreigners and curious about other countries that they would never be able to visit in their own lifetime. Although television seemed to be available everywhere, most people are only exposed to local channels and not to the English language. As a result, students and their teachers frequently approached us with the request to practice speaking English with them. This led to a number of enjoyable exchanges with young Indonesians.

Increasing visibility of Islam: we heard from some of our fellow travellers that Indonesian society has changed in several ways over the last decade. Particularly, Muslim religious life is more in evidence than it used to be, as can be seen by the number of women and girls wearing head-scarves, and the number of mosques. In addition to the daily call to prayer starting at 4 in the morning, we also noticed the ever-present mushollahs, small spaces set aside for prayer in public spaces, such as shopping centres, gas stations, restaurants, and hotels. Along the roads, we often noticed local people collecting money from motorists for the construction of their local mosque.

A kinder, gentler mentality?: whereas bicycles used to be omnipresent on Javanese roads, they seemed to have been replaced in recent years by motorbikes. Apparently, driving on Java nowadays is even more challenging than it used to be. Navigating crowded local roads requires a special temperament. We were impressed with the absence of aggressive behaviour or any form of road rage such as one sees occasionally in Europe or, to a lesser extent, in North America. We wondered whether the Muslim mentality might have something to do with this more relaxed behaviour on the road.

A strong cultural identity: after traveling for three weeks across Java, we felt that its society is quite remarkable. Despite, or perhaps because of, the diversity of its people (Sundanese, Java-nese, Madurese, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu), we left Java with the sense of having visited an island with a strong cultural personality and sense of history. This in itself may be seen as quite an achievement for an island that has a population of over 120 million people and a density equal to that of Bangladesh, or twice that of Holland, Europe’s most crowded country[11].

Bali’s unique personality: this ‘island of the gods’ struck us as a very different part of Indonesia. Because of the overwhelming presence of the Hindu religion with its multitude of temples and rituals, and the artistry of its people, we felt that we had really entered a different world. We found its relatively un-crowded nature totally different from Java. Perhaps because we avoided Denpasar and Kuta, the busiest parts of the island, and spent most of our time inland and along the north coast, our short stay of only one week left us with very clear impressions: elegant artists and craftsmen or women, bright colours, quiet rural roads, and a sophisticated cultural life.

Finally, we conclude here with a strictly anecdotal summary of the highlights of our trip. They represent some of the most vivid personal memories we retain from our travels on Java and Bali.

Upon our arrival in Bogor, we met our guide Bram, of B & B Touring Service Indonesia, who promptly took us on an impromptu walking tour of the town involving crossing the Ciliwung River, which had swollen as a result of the previous day’s tropical downpour. We did this by using a small covered raft that served as a ferry shuttling people back and forth. Our walk culminated in an unexpected visit to Bram’s house where we were received warmly by his wife, Bianca, who offered us pisang goreng and other delicious afternoon snacks on the patio, and where we also met their daughter, Nina, who is fluently bilingual in Bahasa Indonesia and Dutch.

One of the musical highlights of our trip was a visit to a music school in Bandung. Here we attended a performance of young musicians playing angklung instruments, made of bamboo, that produce a sound somewhat similar to a xylophone. After being given a few basic instructions and following a short practice, we and other members of the audience, largely foreign tourists, were able to play some basic tunes together with the young local people.

One of the most scenic and spectacular stretches of our road trip through Bali involved, initially, driving up a steep road to the Besakih temple with stops along the way to take a look at Lake Batur from above, and, subsequently, a steep descent along the slopes of Mount Agung to Padangbai, a small fishing village on a beautiful bay, along the south coast of Bali. This descent afforded us breathtaking views of the coastal landscape, the local vegetation, and nearby villages.

We spent one day exploring Bogor’s environs and went up nearby Mount Salak. We hiked to a large waterfall, swam in a river, and ended our day trip with a picnic meal on the porch of a cabin built of bamboo. This meal, provided by the local warung, was one of the best we had during our entire trip. It started with a tasty soup and pineapple slices, and was then followed by gado-gado, spicy tempe, lots of kerupuk, crisp ayam, potato dumplings, and a wide variety of cooked vegetables. While we ate, a tropical rainstorm caused a major downpour, which added to the overall ambiance.

We happened upon the annual birthday celebration ceremony of the Pura Tirtha Empul temple northeast of Ubud. This involved colourful rituals and dances performed by groups of beautifully dressed young women and men, accompanied by a large gamelan orchestra in bright costumes. The overall effect of this ceremony was truly breathtaking. The temple also features a sacred spring feeding the baths where the inhabitants of nearby Sebatu come to purify themselves.

We have fond memories of our snorkeling adventure along the coast off Lovina Beach on the quiet north coast of Bali. For Maria, this was her first-ever snorkeling experience. We were taken to the local reef in a narrow, outrigger-type boat steered by our guide who also arranged for our equipment. We swam and floated above large, colourful schools of fish and enjoyed the sight of the corals of the reef.

In Kampung Naga, the traditional Sundanese village that we visited along the Preanger route, our local guide invited us into his parental home where we met his 90-year old father and mother. This experience gave us a good insight into the simple living conditions of the villagers, who seem to be able to survive without electricity, having few possessions and a meager income from the sale of herbs and spices, largely to visiting foreigners from western countries.

While visiting Bandung’s ITB university campus, we met a small group of articulate English-speaking students with whom we discussed their university’s longstanding role in instigating political protest movements and major demonstrations, the most recent of which triggered the downfall of President Suharto in 1998. The students took great pride in their special expertise in what they called “event management”.

During the time we spent on Java and Bali, we stayed overnight in some 20 guesthouses and hotels. Perhaps our most memorable stay was in Kampung Sumbur Alam near Cipanas, near Garut, at the foot of the Guntur volcano. This is a beautiful resort where each individual guest cabin and its outdoor porch seem to float on water and where the large community swimming pool as well as the individual cabins are fed directly by the water from hot springs. The resort attracted numerous day visitors from as far away as Bandung.

We had a memorable encounter with a female vendor of Balinese arts and crafts on the stairs leading down to Gunung Kawi, a canyon-like archaeological site containing shrines carved into the steep rock face. After paying for our purchase and leaving her a generous tip, she came running after us to show us the large scar on her throat where she had just been operated to remove her thyroid gland. She thanked us profusely and said that she would now be able to pay for her operation.

These were some of our favourite things. They made our trip unique, interesting and enjoyable, for which we are very grateful.

[1] Our tour operator was B & B Touring Service Indonesia. B & B stands for Bram (Indonesian) and Bianca (Dutch). Together, this couple runs this tour operation as a family business. They own an air-conditioned minibus with room for up to 6 passengers. We booked our trip over the Internet with Bianca, Bram acted as our guide and interpreter for the duration of our trip, and he in turn hired Uspama to drive the minibus.

[2] Java, with a population of 120 million people, is the size of England or New York State. Bali, on the other hand, has a population of 3 million and is about the size of Prince Edward Island.

[3] At the time, it was not possible for a woman to be a minister of the church in Holland. Apparently, the church did not mind having female ministers work in its colony, the Dutch East Indies.

[4] Jaap’s great-grandmother on his father’s side had a Dutch father and an Indonesian mother. Accordingly, he considers himself to be 1/16^th Indonesian.

[5] Finding a street address from Dutch colonial days, in this case 1919-20, in today’s Jakarta proved a bit of a challenge. What used to be Javalaan, later became Jalan Jawa, and then changed to Jalan Cokroaminoto.

[6] For an impression of how these upheavals affected daily life in an Indonesian village, one should read “All That Is Gone”, by Pramoeda Ananta Toer.

[7] While traveling, we witnessed the pressure exerted by local police to give them bribes. We were told that the proceeds from the use of toll roads used to go straight into the pockets of Mrs. Suharto and her family.

[8] One of ITB’s most prominent graduates was former President Sukarno. During his reign, he invited the country’s best architects to design important new buildings for the ITB campus.

[9] He was an exception. Our guides generally did an excellent job in explaining the Hindu triumvirate: Brahma (The Creator), Vishnu (The Protector), and Shiva (The Destroyer), as well as many other matters.

[10] Rijsttafel is a Dutch colonial invention: a large spread of some 20 different dishes eaten during colonial days, often followed by a siesta. Some dishes, such as rendang (a meat dish) take about 6 hours to prepare. As a result, the few Indonesian restaurants that still serve rijsttafel usually request 24 hours’ notice.

[11] Java represents only 7 per cent of Indonesia’s territory but houses 60 per cent of the population.