Indonesia
The Place
Indonesia is one of the very few nations on earth to span such a broad spectrum of world history human civilisation - from its ancient Hindu-Javanese temples to Bali's modern luxury resorts, from the stone-age lifestyle in West Papua (Irian Jaya) to the immense metropolis that is Jakarta.
Indonesia is a huge country, in both population and land area, with significant cultural and geological diversity. The population of around 220 million people is derived from 300 ethnic groups who speak over 250 distinct languages. The country's motto, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, or Unity in Diversity, is no mere slogan. Yet it is often an uneasy combination: many of the ethnic groups have strong separatist sentiments and a desire for greater autonomy, if not outright independence, from the central government in Jakarta.
While Bali is usually the face of Indonesia with which most foreign visitors are familiar, there is a wealth of other worlds to discover in this vast and varied country. Visitors constitute an almost insignificant presence in most parts of the archipelago because of its sheer size, and whether in busy Jakarta or remote Dili, the traveller need not feel like he or she is treading the well-beaten tourist path. Indonesia allows the traveller to feel unique, like a warmly welcomed guest.
