Indonesia...recommendations please!

[Ozymandias]

Hello All! Thought I'd do the unthinkable and post a travel-related question on the board...

I'm in Indonesia for the next 6 weeks. Mainly Jakarta-based, but got a few trips planned too (surfing in Mentawai, chasing orangutans in northern Sumatra and exploring Yogyakarta). Anyone visited or lived in Indonesia before? Care to share any recommendations, both for the capital and also for the wider country?

[Kurt]

Sorry but i just deleted some spam recommending a bakery in Jakarta.
JITW is the person to message but he no longer browses here.

[ReptilianKittenEater]

I have not been but I have wanted to get to the Banda Islands, Rajah Ampit Islands as well as some places in Nussa Tenegra, if you get there please post. The Banda Islands are tricky as there are only a couple of flights from nearby AMbon.

[Ozymandias]

I have not been but I have wanted to get to the Banda Islands, Rajah Ampit Islands as well as some places in Nussa Tenegra, if you get there please post. The Banda Islands are tricky as there are only a couple of flights from nearby AMbon.

Cool. What's the attraction of these islands?

[vagabond]

I'm a month late on this. Hope you've had a good trip so far. Yogya is cool plus Borobodur and Prambanan outside of it. The Wayang Kulit shadow puppets with gambalan music is neat.

I spent time in Sulawesi and did the whole Tana Toraja burial thing. Might not be the season for it now but it's an interesting way of how they bury their dead - have a big party, slaughter animals, etc. Have to fly into Makassar and go up the coast. The island itself had some internecine Christian/Muslim fights a while back plus a bad tsunami roll into Palu. People use Manado as a base for scuba diving.

People I talked to also enjoyed the OG spice islands of Ternate and Tidore. Same for Lombok over Bali.

[ReptilianKittenEater]

Basically Banda Islands along with Ternate and Tidore is what Chris Columbus and a bunch of other explorers were looking for. Banda has Dutch Fort ruins, lots of jungle, a smoking volcano and some diving

[Ozymandias]

I have not been but I have wanted to get to the Banda Islands, Rajah Ampit Islands as well as some places in Nussa Tenegra, if you get there please post. The Banda Islands are tricky as there are only a couple of flights from nearby AMbon.

OK so I made it to East Nusa Tenggara. Specifically, Flores and the islands all around Komodo National Park. Photos below, as requested!

[Ozymandias]

I just got back from a long weekend on the west coast of Lombok. Good surf, beautiful beaches, lots of comfortable accommodation options. I was absolutely shocked at how over-touristed Bali has become since I last visited in 2012, so it was great to visit an island that isn't jam-packed with Aussie tourists! Pictures to follow once I get around to uploading...

[Kurt]

Cool photos.

I think it would have been funny to cover up the lizards face with some kind of emoji too.

[Ozymandias]

Cool photos.

I think it would have been funny to cover up the lizards face with some kind of emoji too.

Ha, I guess I didn't ask the lizard if it was happy having its face plastered all over the BFC forums...assumed he was cool with it when he posed for our picture!

(A local carpenter got eaten by one of these guys a few weeks prior to our arrival on a nearby island. He was busy building a ranger station in the forest and one snuck up behind him. Scary creatures, especially as they're venomous.)

[Kurt]

Cool photos.

I think it would have been funny to cover up the lizards face with some kind of emoji too.

Ha, I guess I didn't ask the lizard if it was happy having its face plastered all over the BFC forums...assumed he was cool with it when he posed for our picture!

(A local carpenter got eaten by one of these guys a few weeks prior to our arrival on a nearby island. He was busy building a ranger station in the forest and one snuck up behind him. Scary creatures, especially as they're venomous.)

I would never mess with one. Apparently they can digest goat horns. Just swallow whole and *boom* you are poop.