Indonesia

Moss and vines at a Hindu temple in Bali

Colorful birds were all over (us!)

We are on spring (really fall) break for a few weeks in Indonesia, venturing far from the comforts of our home in Melbourne.  We planned this trip around the opportunity to see a tiny bit of Asia and to visit our friend, Willie Smits, http://www.ted.com/talks/willie_smits_restores_a_rainforest.html an environmentalist and orangutan advocate who spoke at TED. Willie lives in North Sulawesi where his wife is the queen of the region and he has set up a palm sugar processing factory and several animal sanctuaries. While we were making the journey, we added stops in Bali and Singapore.  This is our first trip to Asia and definitely our first extended vacation in a third world country.  Our summary:  fascinating, exotic, sometimes shocking, and very, very hot.  

Garbage dump in the jungle

Every sight, small and sensation is exotic to us here: the vistas of lush rainforests and orderedly rice paddies are stunning contrasted with ick of relentless heat and pollution. There are spiders the size of our hands, farmers wearing straw conical hats and plowing with oxen, and food that challenges even our experienced taste buds. There are 240 million people in this 17,000 island archipelago along the equator. The country has the world’s largest Muslim population but the islands we visited, Bali and Sulawesi, are Hindu and Christian.  Indonesia's resources, like forests, fishing and minerals, non-stop sunshine, fertile volcanic soil and huge labor force make for abundant economic potential --it was one of the most profitable Dutch colonies for over 300 years.  But today's government is notoriously corrupt (even after the dictator Suharto died) and inefficient and the natural resources are being depleted rapidly.  It has been hard to see so much pollution, poverty and mistrust of the leadership. Yet the people we met were curious and honest (we think) and lived very close to the land.

Indonesian tractors

We started in Bali, which for Aussies is like Americans going to Costa Rica only with more wild monkeys and tropical diseases.  Like Costa Rica, the jungles and beaches are spectacular. On Bali the peaceful Hindu values, meticulous handicrafts and cheap services attract a lot of wealthy expats and tourists.

Food and flowers for the shrine offerings

Colorful daily offerings at the temples

The macaque stayed out the room-

 if you gave it a banana

We spent most of our time near Ubud, the cultural center of the island. The area is dotted with mossy garden temples, convenience stalls selling "safe" bottled water and colorful artisan galleries and studios. Aside from tourism, the main source of income is rice--they grow lots of rice here. All the farming is done by hand or ox. It rains a lot here, which is good for the rice, bad for the athletes foot and mold allergies.  We stayed outside the city in a small eco-lodge owned by former jewelry designer John Hardy and his wife Cynthia. Our huts were made of bamboo and recycled teak, antique Javanese carved shutters and huge four-poster beds covered in mosquito netting.  The outdoor bathrooms were a bit of a shock:  Jill was afraid of slipping on a giant toad or a monkey stealing the precious t.p. It was so hot and muggy (90's day and night) that the outdoor showers seemed redundant.  Eco-friendly, but rustic if you're not acclimated to jungle living.

Our view:  rice paddies and volcanoes 

Live eels

The food in Bali was so interesting: very locally-grown rice with rich coconut milk and stewed gourds and long beans and papaya-50-ways.  One day we took a 6 hour cooking class and learned how to create these savory-sweet flavours:  lots of fine chopping, grinding and greasy frying --absolutely everything is deep fried in coconut oil.  We will try to recreate some of the dishes once we get home--if we can find the live eels,  galangal, fresh kafir lime and ripe jackfruit at Whole Foods. 

No cuisinarts or microwave

Mike made the satay sauce

We took a jewelry class
using local silver and gems

Lots of wood carving in Bali

Women painting wax for batik

We hired a driver to take us around and his car had a/c which was our only escape from the muggy heat.  The driver took us all over Bali--to temples and animal sanctuaries and rice fields and craft workshops and even to his multi-generational family home.   

Our driver and his wife at their home

The bamboo classrooms at the Green School 

We visited a maternity clinic run by an American midwife who is trying to teach mothers basic hygiene and breastfeeding --essential in a part of the world where medicine is scarce and the water supply is so dirty.  The wealthy, worldly expats have brought a fair amount of health and eco-consciousness to Bali. We visited a “green” school that the Hardy's started. The curriculum focuses on environmental-experiential learning. The school is also a showcase of modern bamboo architecture.  
http://www.ted.com/talks/john_hardy_my_green_school_dream.html.   

 Nina and Audrey went to classes for a day which was fun for them but they came back very grateful they go to school with animals on the outside and people on the inside.

Jill needed a massage after this ride

After a few days of culture and crafts we moved to an elephant sanctuary deep in the rainforest. The elephants had been rescued from abuse in Sumatra and brought to live out their 70 year lives in Bali. The girls got to bathe and feed the elephants but they didn't have to scoop, fortunately.  

The girls were keepers for the day

Elephants, like cows, are high up in the Hindu hierarchy of reincarnation.  Everything else that moves or grows is fair game--literally.  As a friend here says: “Bali -- so many dogs, so few recipes." (See NOTE).


After the Indonesian jungle, we were ready for a few days of a/c and recognizable food.  We flew to Singapore where we found a jungle of the manmade kind—miles of concrete skyscrapers and underground labyrinths of endless shops and food hawkers. The tiny city-nation is densely populated by Westerners, Chinese and Malaysians with other immigrants of every nationality.  It is a totally first-world island in the middle of the developing third-world.

Dress up in Singapore

Singapore is incredibly multi-cultural and we were fascinated by all the languages, clothing styles and cuisines.  We saw huge hotel and shopping developments and absolutely no sign of the global financial crisis.  It was prosperous, orderly and relatively clean--hallmarks of the Singapore culture.

Our friend Ned Kahn's water sculpture
at a mall in Singapore

After regaining our strength in Singapore and restocking our hand-sanitizer supply, we headed back to Indonesia. We flew to the island of Sulawesi, known for its biodiversity, unspoiled coral reefs and several active volcanoes.  Our first stop was Bunaken, a tiny diving island about an hour boat ride from the airport.  The accommodations were rustic--intermittent electricity and plumbing.  The underwater life was absolutely spectacular though.  

The wet suits for protection from the jelly fish 

We snorkeled and watched the living rainbow below us:  huge coral, hundreds of kinds of rare fish, anemones, massive sponges and sea turtles the size of the boat.  We could hear the parrot fish chewing on the algae in the coral; they then poop out the ground coral which becomes sand. The marine life and reefs are in danger though: one night there was a heavy storm that blew so much garbage from the main town that it took the villagers (at $1 per person) all morning to clear it. What wasn’t burned for cooking fuel was pushed back out to sea.

One day's trash on the beach of the diving island

When we had our fill of fish, we headed back to the mainland of North Sulawesi to visit our friend Willie and his environmental projects. Much of Indonesia is logged by big companies for palm oil (used for cheap fuel, candy bars and age-erasing skin creams). Palm oil is a huge international industry and the corrupt government allows a lot of illegal logging. The stripped forests have destroyed the habitat of wildlife--especially the orangutans who can be as intelligent and emotive as most human toddlers.  The animals are captured for zoos or for exotic pets or food. Willie has invented a way to replant the forests with sugar palms which provide a more sustainable source of fuel and food and a natural habitat for the animals.

Willie and the girls at the palm sugar factory

Palm sugar package--
notice the villager climbing the tree

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/the-guilty-secrets-of-palm-oil-are-you-unwittingly-contributing-to-the-devastation-of-the-rain-forests-1676218.html

The steaming volcano

We toured the palm sugar processing plant that is fueled by geothermal energy from the heat of the nearby volcano. The steam is recycled to flow to the factory and used for all the equipment. We went to the top of an inactive volcano and hiked to the edge of a hot sulphur lake where they farm dragon fly larvae (a culinary delicacy).

The local slaughterhouse/butcher/retail

Huge jackfruit and stinky durian

The villages in Sulawesi are still very traditional--the people speak a local dialect and there are tribal leaders. Willie's wife is his village's queen--a title inherited from many generations. Most trade occurs at the village markets. We walked through a market where we saw every possible tropical fruit including 50 different kinds of bananas and humongous stinky durian.  The “meat” section was very upsetting--they were beating and butchering live dogs.  NOTE: Dog, rat and bats are common source of protein here.  We became pescetarians on the spot.  

The head is a delicacy so they say

After the experience in the village we were very ready for Tasikoki, http://redapes.org/tasikoki the animal sanctuary on the other side of North Sulawesi.  Tasikoki houses about 250 rescued animals and birds, including 2 resident orangutans.  The native animals are hunted for “bush meat” or the exotic pet market.  The sanctuary is staffed mostly by volunteers--gap year kids, visiting veterinarians, and animal lovers from all over the world.  

Bento the red ape (orangutan) was very smart but "randy"

Nina at Tasikoke harvesting grass
for the animals 

On the first night, we were given the following rules:  always wear bug spray (mosquitoes bite through all clothing), run for your life if the macaque monkeys get loose and do not allow the “randy” male orangutan to get his hands on the girls.  Evidently, the orangutans can be sexually aggressive to humans: good to know. From the lodge, we watched the free-roaming babirusa (pig-deer), tarsiers (mini bug-eyed monkeys) and the huge dinosaur-like cassowary.  The sounds of the animals and birds outside our balconey was wild--literally. The girls got up at 5:30 in the morning to feed the bears and birds. By mid- morning it is too hot to work and animals and people take a nap. Late at night we went to the beach to watch one of the 5 species of sea turtles lay eggs on the same shore where they themselves had been hatched.  It was an awesome example of animal instinct. 

A clutch of freshly laid turtle eggs at midnight

Yet we were not the only ones watching the natural cycle of the turtles: illegal poachers were stalking nearby --staff and security guards have been killed over the valuable animals--but our guide scared them away--at least for the night.  


Tomorrow we will leave the jungle and fly back to Singapore and then to Melbourne, where the girls will go back to school and Mike and Jill will their projects and sight-seeing.  The trip to Indonesia has been extremely exciting but we are looking forward to the safety of our air conditioned apartment where toilets flush, beaches are clean, and dogs are pets.

Sunset in Sulawesi