Indonesia

Southeast Asia a-arrival cards – how do they work? We’d say the new system of Southeast Asia a-arrival cards is probably, all things considered, a good initiative, but it does take a bit of getting used to and has occasionally caused a certain amount of confusion. We can’t remember which immigration department first came up with the idea – maybe…

Southeast Asia Travel Warnings Some guests, and prospective guests, are occasionally bemused as to which areas of Southeast Asia we can take you too and which we can’t and why. Well, frequently so are we. Firstly, as a UK-licensed tour operator, we’re obliged to follow British Foreign Office travel advice, so, it depends upon whatever Southeast Asia travel warnings the…

Southeast Asian countries and peoples When we say ‘we’, the post is, of course, written from the point of view of a native English speaker and we’re not going into the various, for example, French, German or Spanish names used to refer to Southeast Asian countries and their peoples. We’re comparing names currently in use today in the English language,…

Tips on visiting some of Southeast Asia’s busier destinations and which ones are possibly best avoided altogether

Solo City The official name for this central Javanese town is Surakarta, although you will commonly hear both residents and visitors using its colloquial name, Solo or Solo City. Apparently, while the original settlement was named Sala – after the Sala River, which borders the city to the east – the Dutch colonists, for reasons we can’t fathom, had problems…

Hotels and accommodation A brief rundown on the hotels and accommodation choices on our tours; our preferences, favoured style and criteria for selection. As you’ll no doubt notice in much of our website ‘blurb’, our small group tours to Southeast Asia aim to combine the well-known destinations with more off-the-beaten-track ones. For obvious logistical reasons though, most tours will begin…

Bukit Lawang The small town of Bukit Lawang is the main jumping-off point for nearby Gunung Leuser National Park. Located in north, central Sumatra, the park, along with  Kerinci Seblat and Bukit Barisan Selatan National Parks – forms part of the UNESCO World Heritage designated Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra.,  The former alone covers an area of 8,000 square kilometres…

Lake Toba Situated in the north-central region of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, Lake Toba was formed as the result of a super-eruption some 70-75,000 years ago which, (according to Wiki), is considered to have been the greatest volcanic eruption to have occurred in the last 25 million years! At some 30 kilometres at its widest point and 100 kilometres…

Prambanan Temple The spectacular, World Heritage-listed Prambanan Temple is situated in central Java’s Yogyakarta District, a short distance northeast of the eponymous provincial capital. The sanctuary originally dates to the mid-9th century, slightly later than the nearby Buddhist temple Borobudur and the adjacent Candi Sewu. It was dedicated to the god Shiva and, as far as Southeast Asian Hindu temples…

Rail travel in Southeast Asia Where possible, rail travel is our preferred means of transport on our various Southeast Asia small group tours – especially for longer journeys. It’s certainly more environmentally friendly than hiring private buses, it avoids traffic, passengers can walk around – visit the buffet car, chat to other voyagers etc – views are often better than…

Sunrise at Mount Bromo We may well be faced with a few open jaws when our guide announces the meeting time for the sunrise at Mount Bromo trip but – we can certainly say we’ve never had any moans afterwards! You may have got up pre-dawn for sunrise at Angkor Wat or Bagan or shivered on a mountain top near…

Indonesia World Heritage Sites The vast Indonesian Archipelago is a continent-sized nation in its own right so we’re going to limit this post to areas at present covered in our scheduled tours, namely the islands of Sumatra. Java and Bali. Despite the country’s huge area, UNESCO’s Indonesia World Heritage sites list currently stands at a meagre 5 cultural and 4…