Last year I traveled more than ever before as I traversed Asia, headed into Australia and New Zealand notching up the passport stamps and clocking up the kilometers as I went. By far one of my favorite places that I visited among the 25 countries that I hit was Indonesia, a land of mixture as I see it, a land where so many cultures have been smashed together that the result is a beautifully worked tapestry of food, lifestyle and design that can only be seen in this collection of varying islands called Indonesia. There are so many places that stand out when I think of my time there and I want to share with you my top 3 Indonesian destinations, and why you should visit them.
Malang
Some places in Indonesia surprised me and Malang was one of them, an East Javan city with a mild climate in a highland location that is filled with natural beauty and that offers remnants of colonial design throughout. This was a last minute trip, after searching online I discovered that the Hotel Santika Premiere Malang best rate offered me an opportunity to stay in this cool city at a fantastic price thanks to a last minute search on http://www.traveloka.com – Traveloka were an absolute Godsend to me travelling in Indonesia and I highly recommend you bookmark them for if you ever decide to visit this wonderful country!
Points of interest here are the amazing Mount Semeru volcano and the surrounding National Park, great for hiking climbing and a whole host of adventures, the nearby Sempu Island with glorious beaches and tranquil lagoon and the beautiful rainbow waterfall. Malang is a great city to spend a few nights and has some awesome places to visit.
Lombok
I love to surf and when I heard about Lombok, a small island just off the coast of Bali, I decided to head over there to check it out. I had a great time here, the surf was fantastic, waves that weren’t too crazy but more than sufficient. The island itself is beautiful, beaches that appear untouched, sprawling coral around the coast and the level of tourism is pretty low so you feel like you almost have the place to yourself. Make time to head up to Mount Rinjani, Indonesia’s second largest volcano and you can have a great day out climbing it, also check out the monkey forest in Bangsal, those little guys are crazy!
Komodo
As you may have guessed, Komodo is the home of the famous Komodo dragon, it is an island in the Sunda chain and the whole island is classed as a national park. Komodo has some of the best natural landscape that I witnessed in Indonesia, red, volcanic hills, lush forest, open savannah and all around the island are coral reefs and wetlands that made for perfect diving locations. If you like to dive then look no further than Komodo, thousands of species of marine life and the landscape underwater is just as pretty as the landscape above. Add to all of this the opportunity to see some of the 4,000 plus Komodo dragons that call this place home and you have a perfect adventure just waiting for you on Komodo Island, put it on your itinerary now!