Lombok’s Kuta beach is a magnificent stretch of white sand and turquoise sea with rugged hills rising around it. Surfers are drawn here by the world-class waves, but the village has a languid charm of its own with some delightful hotels and a succession of dramatic bite-shaped bays nearby.
Kupang is all energy and commerce, a bustling city that’s the capital of East Nusa Tenggara province (NTT), which includes West Timor, Rote, Sabu, the Solor and Alor Archipelagos, Sumba, Flores and Komodo. The city centre is scruffy and noisy, with streets patrolled by squadrons of Indonesia’s most outrageous bemos, each kitted out with a [...]
Clinging to the volcanic cone of dramatic Gamalama, Kota Ternate offers some lovely glimpses of neighbouring islands but is mainly useful as a base for exploring North Maluku. There are a couple of partly restored forts and a palace to visit. For now most other architecture looks rather drab and haphazard, spiced painfully in some [...]
By the region’s dreamy tropical standards, Maluku’s capital is a dusty, throbbing metropolis. But compared to ‘real’ cities elsewhere, Kota Ambon retains a languid charm emphasised by a perfect arc of bay and its lushly mountainous backdrop. Sights are minimal and architecture wins no prizes but the scars of the 1999–2002 civil war are quickly [...]
Komodo and Rinca are hilly and desolate yet beautiful islands, sandwiched between Flores and Sumbawa, that are home to gargantuan reptiles – the legendary Komodo dragon. The world’s largest lizard, known locally as ora, it can reach over 3m in length, weigh up to 100kg and feed on animals as large as deer and buffalo.
Deep, dark and exotic, the very notion of Borneo rouses something in the subconscious. Summoning visions of mythical people and ancient forests, it tugs at the adventurer within. It’s a romantic notion, but the world’s third-largest island has managed to keep some of her secrets and most of them lie in the impenetrable interior of [...]
Of all the 17,000 islands that make up Indonesia, Java is king. It may not have the beaches of Bali, the jungles of Kalimantan, or the remoteness of Papua, but it’s the heart of the country, a heart with more drive and energy than any other island in this vast archipelago. With 120 million people [...]
Whether you love it or hate it, there is no escaping Jakarta, Indonesia’s overweight capital. This ‘Big Durian’ is filled with all the good and bad of Indonesian life.
Gunung Bromo is nature’s Borobudur; it’s a landscape that’s as evocative and resonant as any in Southeast Asia, and is the raw material for countless legends and as many picture postcards.
Most day-visitors come on organised tours and stop at the crater rim at Penelokan for views and lunch; most overnight visitors stay in the villages around the lake. The views both from above and from lake level are truly wonderful – if you hit the area on a clear day.