Tag: Photos

Highlights of Western Indonesia

After beloved Banyuwangi, from the east coast of Java we continued our travels through Western Indonesia. Of course Kalimantan is one of our highlights of Western Indonesia, and there are others! We stopped in cool anchorages and met some amazing people.

Go was in Indonesia for over 5 months, and between our fun visa runs we spent almost 4 months travelling the country. Despite the heat and heavy rains, lack of wind, and pollution, we liked Indonesia. Every person we encountered was friendly and kind, from east to west. In fact, one of our favorite places was also the friendliest.

Highlights of Western Indonesia: Bawean

An isolated island between Java and Kalimantan, Bawean was an oasis of calm and fun. Bawean is 150km north of Surabaya, Java. There is a ferry that sometimes goes between the two and takes about 4 hours. Bawean is a natural stopping off point for sailors heading from Java to Kalimantan, so we followed our nature and anchored there for a couple of nights.

Bawean waterfall, Western Indonesia
The small waterfall near the crater lake in Bawean
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Cats of Indonesia

We saw a lot of exotic animals in our travels around Indonesia. The giant mantas, gibbons and orangutans and Komodo dragons were incredible to see in person. But, did you know that Indonesia is one of the most cat friendly countries on Earth? More people have cats as pets in Indonesia than anywhere else in Southeast Asia. We learned this while meeting many cute cats of Indonesia. In between petting them and enjoying their company, I took lots of photos. So strap in, cat lovers, this one is for you!

Where We Saw Cats of Indonesia

From the day we landed in Kupang, Timor, to our last stop before checking out near Singapore, we saw cats and kittens. They were on the streets, in the marinas, and at shops, hotels, and restaurants.

cat at a resort, Labuan Bajo, Indonesia
A cat at the resort in Sylvia, Labuan Bajo, Indonesia

And, I can happily report, the cats of Indonesia were healthy, friendly, and cute, and mostly amenable to being photographed. Cats are called kucings in Indonesia, pronounced coo-ching. It’s fun to say.

white cat relaxing
A relaxed cat in Lombok
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One Night in Jakarta

The world’s biggest city, Jakarta, Indonesia is home to over 41 million people. When we had a layover there on both ends of our Vietnam trip from Lombok, we really wanted to explore. While we didn’t have much time, we did get to see a little and incite our desire to see more. Here’s how we spent our one night in Jakarta.

About Jakarta

We obviously would have liked a longer layover than one night in Jakarta, because there’s a lot to do.

Jakarta is Indonesia’s capital, and is located in the northwest of the island of Java, west of Bali. It was founded as a city in the 1600s and was occupied in turns by the Portuguese, Sudanese, the Dutch, British, and Japanese before Indonesian independence in 1945.

Jakarta is smaller than New York City, covering 664 square kilometers. But with so many people, it’s overwhelming, and it takes a long time to get anywhere. Trips from the airport to downtown, a distance of 20 kilometers, average 90 minutes, but can often take more than 2 hours due to traffic. They are working on mass transit, and there is a train from the airport that is an option.

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