I was outraged to see my favourite beach — Rathtrevor on Vancouver Island, — ranked only #3 in the FAKE NEWS posted by Spin Casino / TripAdvisor. 😀
Check my video. It’s OBVIOUS that Rathtrevor is #1.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
I just travelled Indonesia for a month. Most of the popular attractions.
It’s not a good fit for this old backpacker.
Aside from major city train / bus service, tourists end up taking a lot of personal vehicles. Bad for the environment. Terrible for traffic jams.
Ride sharing apps like Grab and GoJek are essential as there are no alternatives in much of the nation.
Indonesia is ideal for young invincible backpackers who love to ride scooters through dangerous traffic. While chain smoking. Adrenaline junkies.
Instead of touring, I’d recommend picking one spot you like. Rent a place for a month. Concentrate on a few things: scuba, snorkelling, health & fitness, yoga, surfing, writing, reading, partying, …. Whatever you’ve always want more time for.
Don’t travel very far.
I’d like a month in the Gili Islands, for example.
The culture tourists face is (mostly) men, (mostly) chain smoking.
Every young guy in Indonesia dreams of getting a scooter. And then enough money for fuel and cigarettes.
While it’s easy and quick to move between Bali, Lombok and the Gilis, island-hopping elsewhere often involves a flight, bad bus, or lengthy boat journey.
To be fair, there ARE a number of island chains where you can jump between islands on a short speedboat or long-tail-boat ride. The Banda Islands and Kei Islands in southern Maluku are compact and a breeze to travel among, while it’s also easy to move around the Karimunjawa Islands off Java, the Togean Islands off Sulawesi, the Banyak Islands off Sumatra and Raja Ampat off Papua.
That said — I’ll be returning to Jakarta soon for the World Gymnastics Championships.
Jesse Q. Sutanto is the Chinese-Indonesian author of Four Aunties and a Wedding (2022).
She currently lives in Jakarta with her husband, who is English, and their two daughters.
In 2021, Sutanto published her hit novel, Dial A for Aunties. I enjoyed it.
Wedding is the 2nd book in the series.
Quit somewhere in the middle where nothing actually seems to be happening. This book didn’t work for me.
It’s supposed to be a cozy murder mystery — but I’d call it more of a light comedy.
Our heroine, Meddy Chan, is getting married.
… she can’t wait to marry her college sweetheart, Nathan. Instead of having Ma and the aunts cater to her wedding, Meddy wants them to enjoy the day as guests.
As a compromise, they find the perfect wedding vendors: a Chinese-Indonesian family-run company just like theirs. …
… family aren’t just like her own, they are The Family—actual mafia, and they’re using Meddy’s wedding as a chance to conduct shady business.
Her aunties and mother won’t let Meddy’s wedding ceremony become a murder scene—over their dead bodies—and will do whatever it takes to save her special day, even if it means taking on the mafia.
It makes no sense.
Oddly, the wedding is in Oxford, England.
Kopi Dulu (2022) is an amazing account by Mark Eveleigh over many trips, many years.
He’s an adventure travel badass.
15,000 kilometers – by rail, road, on foot and under sail – through 50 Indonesian islands.
From tracking tigers (and the mythical ‘short man’) in the Sumatra jungle to the mystical Dayak tribe that lives near the geographical center of Borneo, this book touches on some of Indonesia’s most intriguing secrets.
The author meets Tana Toraja’s ‘living dead’, the Bugis people (once known as the Bogeymen) who build and sail the spectacular Sulawesi schooners and the villagers who are literally besieged by dragons in the Komodo archipelago.
He surfs the legendary reefs of G-Land, Nias and Occy’s Left (and pioneers a previously un-surfed wave in the remote Alor Archipelago).
He road-trips across Sulawesi and Flores and sails in the wake of Alfred Russel Wallace around Spice Islands that have remained largely unchanged for centuries.
“. . . a soldier of fortune or Legionnaire of the travel writing business!”—Korean Airlines magazine
Overshadowed by the more famous, nearby Buddhist temple, Borobudur, as a tourist, I enjoyed the Hindu Prambanan temple complex just as much.
Another UNESCO World Heritage Site, Prambanan is the largest Hindu temple site in Indonesia and the second-largest in Southeast Asia after Angkor Wat.
With the main prasada tower soaring up to 47 metres high, a vast walled temple complex consists of 240 structures is today mostly in ruins. Only a few of those have been restored.
One big difference from Borobudur is that you can enter some of the temples here.
Very few tourists leave the main temple area. The rest I had almost to myself.
Somehow the jumble of original stone suits the confusing Hindu storylines of this vast site.
The temples were mysteriously abandoned near the half of the 10th century.
In 1918, the Dutch colonial government began the reconstruction of the compound; however, proper restoration only commenced in 1930.
I’m quite certain it will never be completely restored.
For 30 years I’ve been trying to get to Indonesia to see impressive Borobudur, the largest Buddhist temple in the world.
I’d rank Borobudur alongside the Pyramids of Egypt, Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu, Angkor Wat, Bagan in Myanmar, Petra, and the Pyramids of Mexico & Central America.
Running out of time on my 30 day visa to the nation, I splurged on a 13 hour private guided tour which included this highlight.
My guide got me #1 in line to visit Borobudur! I finally finished 1st in something! 😀
If alone, I could have rushed up to the top like a winner.
HOWEVER, everyone is guided in groups here. My guide was excellent.
Everyone must wear gifted sandals. They seriously do not work for people with bunions.
The site has been vastly improved in recent years. There’s some lovely landscaping, including many lotus flowers, a symbol in Buddhism.
There are 2 kinds of tickets: structure and ground. The ground tickets only allow wandering outside the Temple. Structure ticket holders get to climb the temple. Numbers are limited each day.
Of course everyone is keen to get the tour over with so they can scramble for photos. Me included. 😀
Though much of the stone had been vandalized and looted over the decades, there are still many impressive carved stories.
Borobudur lay hidden for centuries under layers of volcanic ash and jungle growth.
British Governor-general in the early 1800s was Stamford Raffles. He sent Hermann Cornelius, a Dutch engineer, to investigate a rumoured huge temple.
Today Borobudur is the single most visited tourist attraction in Indonesia.
I got to Komodo Island as part of a 4 day, 3 night boat trip from Lombok island to Labuan Bajo, Flores island.
There’s no easier way to make that distance, other than flying.
I paid about CAD$289 for that trip — after some negotiation. Travelling alone, I convinced them that an old man shouldn’t have to share a 2 person room. I got my own.
The boat and trip are minimal, at best. But even the brokest backpackers sign up, all sleeping together in one communal room on floor mattresses.
It’s become one of the classic low budget Indonesian adventures.
In fact, if you were to try to design a ship to be as awkward and difficult as possible for humans over 5 feet tall, I doubt you could make transportation any more troublesome. 😀 HOW MANY TIMES did I hit my head on the poop deck?
No air conditioning on our boat. My fan didn’t work — so I borrowed another from an empty room.
Surprisingly, everyone I spoke with liked the trip. Myself included.
It was fun. Definitely a memorable experience. AND we were all happy we made it in 4 days. At one point the motor stopped working for a few hours. Water in the diesel, we were told.
There is a more expensive luxury alternative. A number of people told me it was not worth the extra. That boat is filled with older, richer complainers, needless to say.
The company arranges transport to Kayangan Harbour in Lombok.
Just an hour after boarding you take a small boat over to tiny Kenawa island for sunset.
This was the only place I could legally fly my drone.
Sunrise and sunsets are a big deal on the boat. We had a full moon, as well.
In fact, my favourite moments on the boat were at dawn.
I’d get up at 5am. Drink coffee until the sunrise at about 6am. The moon would set about the same time.
First thing next morning the highlight is swimming with Whale Sharks in Saleh Bay.
Click PLAY or watch my friend Tim on Instagram.
I nearly drowned on first attempt, unable to get my snorkel set-up in open seas with choppy water. I doggy paddled back to the boat — confirming to the kids that this old man probably shouldn’t be on the tour.
I was eldest. Another woman of a certain age enjoyed the voyage. The rest were teenagers, I assume. 😀
Second attempt I put on a life jacket and took only the mask. That worked brilliantly in these conditions. I could get as close to one whale shark as I wished. Magical.
About noon the activity was to jump from the boat — and try to get back to the ladder before the current whisked you out to great blue beyond. Needless to say, I skipped that one.
The longest sailing stretch began here. Went all night.
First up ➙ Komodo National Park.
Awesome.
Pink Beach was next. I managed to lose the lifejacket. And get snorkelling for real.
The beach is tinted pink from some nearby pink coral.
I didn’t have any underwater camera, but many others on my trip did. Most just used their phone in a waterproof sleeve.
Though I fear the ocean, I do love snorkelling. It helped that I had a terrific, modern snorkel.
They have rules in Indonesia — but most are universally ignored.
No drones in National Parks is respected, however.
About an hour sailing later we stopped at famed Padar Island. One of the most iconic photo spots in Indonesia. Even more memorable for the pounding rain!
I skipped the last night party top deck. These broke travellers sure spend a lot of money on beer. 😀
The final day.
First we stopped to snorkel at Majarinte island. Looking for sea turtles.
That day we saw no turtles.
Better was the next stop at Kelor Island.
We saw plenty of baby blacktip reef sharks. So majestic, even at a young age.
The trip ends at Labuan Bajo, former fishing village, today a luxury stop for Komodo National Park sailing tours as well as scuba diving. There are 13 five-star hotels here!
Komodo Airport is only 3 km from the centre of town. I flew from here BACK to Java.
In Indonesia, I keep some inexpensive Marie Biscuits handy — as emergency snacks.
It dawned on me that I’ve done that all over the world. They seem to be in every small shop, everywhere.
The biscuit is round and usually has the name embossed. Always 66 mm in diameter.
Since they are quite dry, they have a relatively long shelf life.
They were created by the London bakery Peek Freans in 1874 to commemorate the marriage of the Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia to the Duke of Edinburgh.
This is book #20 in the Roy Grace series.
Roy Grace is a Detective Superintendent with the Sussex Police in Brighton, England.
His wife, Sandy, disappeared under mysterious circumstances, leaving him haunted and driven by the need to discover her fate.
They Thought I Was Dead is a change-up.
Fans finally find out what happened to Sandy. It’s an amazing, compelling story.
But Sandy is an idiot.
Sandy’s a compelling and complex anti-hero: smart and resourceful, yet seeming cursed to make one terrible choice after another.
The Komodo dragon largest extant population lives within the Komodo National Park in Eastern Indonesia. Males grow to a maximum length of 3 m (10 ft), weighing up to 150 kg (330 lb).
I got to Komodo Island as part of a 4 day, 3 night boat trip from Lombok island to Labuan Bajo, Flores island.
There’s no easier way to make that distance, other than flying.
Komodo dragons hunt and ambush prey including invertebrates, birds, and mammals — especially deer.
Here’s everyone from my boat.
Here a Komodo was successful in taking down a wounded deer. It’s pictured wearing a GPS collar used for tracking.
These deer can run about 3 times as fast. A Komodo dragon will lurk without moving near watering holes, trying to ambush a wild pig or deer.
I was surprised to see deer wandering around, seemingly ignoring the giant lizards. They know they can outrun, when healthy.
Komodo can eat 80% of their body mass in one meal — but only eat once or twice a month.
They haven’t been fed by humans for tourists since the early 1990s. Instead, watering holes have been built near to where tourists land to encourage a few to stick around. We saw quite a few in just an hour or so.
Females make many camouflage nests/holes to prevent other dragons from eating their eggs. They guard those eggs for months without eating.
When not in use by a Komodo, the orange-footed scrubfowl will use the nest.
Young Komodo dragons will eat insects, birds and bird’s eggs and small reptiles. Little ones can climb trees to avoid being cannibalized by adults who are too heavy.
A superb tourist stop.
Of course our guide set-up some photos for us. 😀
Rick McCharles 
