Sights in Indonesia
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Mandala Wisata Wanara Wana
This cool and dense swath of jungle, officially called Mandala Wisata Wanara Wana, houses three holy temples. The sanctuary is inhabited by a band of grey-haired and greedy long-tailed Balinese macaques that are nothing like the innocent-looking doe-eyed monkeys on the brochures.
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Taman Impian Jaya Ancol
Along the bay front, between Kota and Tanjung Priok, the people’s ‘Dreamland’ is built on land reclaimed in 1962. This 300-hectare, landscaped recreation park, providing non-stop entertainment, has hotels, theatres and a variety of sporting and leisure facilities including bowling. It’s easily the city’s best entertainment for kids in the city.
Taman Impian Jaya Ancol’s prime attractions include Pasar Seni (Art Market), and Seaworld (Tel: 641 0080; www.seaworldindonesia.com; Mon-Fri 30,000Rp, Sat & Sun 40,000Rp; 9am-6pm), with its ‘sharkquarium’, dugongs and turtles. At the Gelanggang Samudra (Tel: 640 6677; Mon-Fri 40,000Rp, Sat & Sun 50,000Rp; 11am-6pm…
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Taman Fatahillah
The old town of Batavia, now known as Kota, was once the hub of Dutch colonial Indonesia. Much of the one-time grandeur has now rotted, crumbled or been bulldozed away, but Taman Fatahillah, Kota's central cobblestone square, is still reminiscent of the area's heyday.
To reach Taman Fatahillah, you can either take the Korridor I bus from Blok M or Jl Thamrin to Kota train station and walk, or take a city train from Gondangdia, near Jl Jaksa, to the train station. A taxi will cost around 15,R from Jl Thamrin.
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Museum Nasional
On the western side of Merdeka Sq, the Museum Nasional, built in 1862, is the best of its kind in Indonesia and one of the finest in Southeast Asia. It has an enormous collection of cultural objects of the various ethnic groups around the country - costumes, musical instruments, model houses and so on - and numerous fine bronzes from the Hindu-Javanese period, as well as many interesting stone pieces salvaged from the Central Javanese and other temples.
There's also a superb display of Chinese ceramics dating back to the Han dynasty (300 BC to AD 220), which was almost entirely amassed in Indonesia.
Just outside the museum is a bronze elephant that was presented by the…
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Bali Safari and Marine Park
Kids love Bali Safari and Marine Park and their parents are happy they love someplace. This big-ticket animal theme park is filled with critters whose species never set foot in Bali until their cage door opened. Displays are large and naturalistic. A huge menu of extra-cost options includes camel and elephant rides. The park is north of Lebih Beach; free shuttles run to tourist centres across south Bali.
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Sunda Kelapa
A kilometre north of Taman Fatahillah, the old port of Sunda Kelapa is full of magnificent Makassar schooners (pinisi). The dock scene here has barely changed for centuries, and porters unload cargo from these sailing ships by hand and trolley. Sadly, the port itself is rundown and its waters grotesquely polluted these days.
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Benteng Vredeburg
On the opposite side of Jl A Yani, is the Benteng Vredeburg, a Dutch-era fort that’s been converted into a museum. It houses dioramas showing the history of the independence movement in Yogyakarta. The architecture is worth a look, but the dioramas are designed for Indonesian patriots.
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Museum Le Mayeur
The Belgian artist Adrien Jean Le Mayeur de Merpes (1880-1958) arrived in Bali in 1932. Three years later he met and married the beautiful Legong dancer Ni Polok when she was 15. They lived in this compound from 1935 when Sanur was still a quiet fishing village. The house is an interesting example of Balinese-style architecture.
Almost 90 Le Mayeur paintings are displayed inside the museum, with information in Indonesian and English. A free guidebook in English is available and is filled with useful information and beautiful colour photos.
Some of Le Mayer's early works are interesting, Impressionist-style paintings from his travels in Africa, India, Italy, France and the…
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Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary
This cool and dense swathe of jungle, officially called Mandala Wisata Wanara Wana, houses three holy temples. The sanctuary is inhabited by a band of grey-haired and greedy long-tailed Balinese macaques who are nothing like the innocent-looking doe-eyed monkeys on the brochures.
They are ever vigilant for passing tourists who just might have peanuts and ripe bananas available for a quick handout. They can put on ferocious displays of temperament if you fail to come through with the goods and have been known to bite if provoked. Don't hand food directly to these creatures.
The interesting Pura Dalem Agung (Temple of the Dead) is in the forest, for this is the inauspicious…
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Gunung Kawi
In the bottom of this lush green valley is one of Bali's oldest and largest ancient monuments. Gunung Kawi consists of 10 rock-cut candi (shrines): memorials cut out of the rock face in imitation of actual statues. They stand in 7m/23ft-high sheltered niches cut into the sheer cliff face.
A solitary candi (memorial) stands about a kilometre further down the valley to the south; this is reached by a trek through the rice paddies on the western side of the river.
Each candi is believed to be a memorial to a member of the 11th-century Balinese royalty, but little is known for certain. Legends relate that the whole group of memorials was carved out of the rock face in one…
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Museum Bahari
Near the entrance to Sunda Kelapa, several old VOC warehouses (dating back to 1652) have been converted into the Museum Bahari. This is a good place to learn about the city’s maritime history, and though the wonderful old buildings (some renovated) are echoingly empty there are some good information panels (in English and Bahasa Indonesia). Under the heavy wooden beams of the vast old storage premises are various random exhibits: a sextant (used for astronomical navigation), various traditional boats from around Indonesia, the shell of a giant clam, plenty of pickled fish and a lighthouse lamp or two. The sentry posts outside are part of the old city wall. Just before the…
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Lore Lindu National Park
This large and remote national park has barely been touched by tourism. It's a wonderful area for trekking, rich in exotic plant and animal life. The butterflies there can be larger than a human hand. It's also home to several indigenous tribes who wear colourful clothing for their traditional ceremonies.
Attractions in the park include ancient megalithic relics, mostly in the Bada, Besoa and Napu Valleys; remote peaks, some more than 2500m (8200ft); bird-watching around Kamarora; and the large lake of Danau Lindu.
The main national park office, rangers station and visitors centre are about a 1km walk from Kamarora village. Here the rangers can show you the start to…
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Kota Gede
Kota Gede has been famed as the hub of Yogya's silver industry since the 1930s. But this quiet old town, which is now a suburb of Yogya, was the first capital of the Mataram kingdom, founded by Panembahan Senopati in 1582. Senopati is buried in the small mossy graveyard of an old mosque to the south of the town's central market. You can visit Kota Gede, but be sure to wear conservative dress; on days when the tomb is closed there is little to see here.
Jl Kemasan, the main street leading into town from the north, is lined with busy silver workshops. Most of the shops have similar stock, including hand-beaten bowls, boxes, fine filigree and modern jewellery .
Kota Gede is…
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Borobudur
Looming out of a patchwork of bottle-green paddies and swaying palm tops, this colossal Buddhist relic is one of southeast Asia's marvels. It has survived Gunung Merapi's ash flows, terrorist bombs and the wear and tear of a million pairs of tourist flipflops to remain as enigmatic and beautiful as it must have been 1200 years ago.
Borobudur is built from two million block stones in the form of a massive symmetrical stupa, literally wrapped around a small hill. It stands solidly on its 118m x 118m (387ft x 387ft) base. Six square terraces are topped by three circular ones, with four stairways leading up through finely carved gateways to the top. The paintwork is long…
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Museum Huta Bolon Simanindo
At the northern tip of the island, in Simanindo, there's a fine old traditional house that has been restored and now functions as a museum. Museum Huta Bolon Simanindo was formerly the home of Rajah Simalungun, a Batak king, and his 14 wives. Originally, the roof was decorated with 10 buffalo horns, which represented the 10 generations of the dynasty. The museum has a small but interesting collection of brass cooking utensils, weapons, Dutch and Chinese crockery, sculptures and Batak carvings.
Displays of traditional Batak dancing are performed at 10:30 from Monday to Saturday (30,000Rp), if enough tourists show up.
The village of Simanindo is 15km from Tuk Tuk and is…
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Sangiran
Sangiran is an important archaeological excavation site, where some of the best examples of fossil skulls of prehistoric 'Java Man' Pithecanthropus erectus were unearthed by a Dutch professor in 1936. Sangiran has a small museum with a few skulls (one of Homo erectus), various pig and hippopotamus teeth, and fossil exhibits, including huge mammoth tusks.
Souvenir stalls outside sell bones, 'mammoth tusks' carved from stone and other dubious fossil junk.
Guides will also offer to take you to the area where shells and other fossils have been found in the crumbling slopes of the hill.
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Pura Luhur Ulu Watu
Pura Luhur Ulu Watu is one of several important temples to the spirits of the sea along the south coast of Bali. The temple is perched precipitously on the southwestern tip of the peninsula, atop sheer cliffs that drop straight into the pounding surf. You enter through an unusual arched gateway flanked by statues of Ganesha. At sunset, walk around the cliff top to the left (south) of the temple. Watch out for monkeys, who – when not reproducing – like to snatch sunglasses and anything else within reach. The views far out to sea are mesmerizing.
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Pura Batu Bolong
The small pagodas of the modest Balinese temple Pura Batu Bolong cling to a rocky volcanic outcrop that juts into the sea about 2km south of central Senggigi. Crabs scuttle over statues and families come here to snack and cool off at the beach directly below. The temple is orientated towards Gunung Agung, Bali's holiest mountain, and is a favoured spot to watch the sunset. The rock underneath the temple has a natural hole that gives it its name - batu bolong (literally, 'rock with hole').
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Bali Orchid Garden
Given Bali's warm weather and rich volcanic soil, no one should be surprised that orchids thrive in abundance here. At this garden you can see thousands of orchids in a variety of settings. It's 3km north of Sanur along Jl Ngurah Rai, just past the major intersection with the coast road.
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Ragunan Zoo
Jakarta's Ragunan Zoo is 16km south of the city centre in the Pasar Minggu area. As home to 4000 animals, this large zoo has a good collection of Indonesian wildlife including Komodo dragons. It's not world class (some of the enclosures are depressingly small), but this is by far the best zoo in Indonesia, and its new primate enclosure, featuring orang-utans and gorillas, is a highlight. From Jl Thamrin take bus 19.
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Pura Taman Saraswati
Just a bit west of Pura Desa Ubud is the very picturesque Pura Taman Saraswati. Waters from the temple at the rear of the site feed the pond in the front which overflows with pretty lotus blossoms. There are carvings that honour Dewi Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom and the arts, who has clearly given her blessing to Ubud. There are weekly dance performances.
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Museum Wayang
This puppet museum has one of the best collections of wayang puppets in Java and its dusty cabinets are full of a multitude of characters. The collection includes puppets from not only Indonesia but also China, Vietnam, India, Cambodia and Europe, and masks used by dancers. There are free wayang performances here on Sunday at 10am.
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Danau Maninjau
Only a few hours' bus ride from Bukittinggi, Danau Maninjau is a peaceful volcanic lake surrounded by verdant rice fields. Swim in the early morning dawn, watch the storm clouds climb over the crater lip and enjoy the cool climate. The road to get there is demanding - a 44-bend road switchbacks its way to the valley floor but the views are worth every turn.
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Bias Tugal
Walk southwest from the ferry terminal and follow the trail up the hill to idyllic Bias Tugal, also known as Pantai Kecil (Little Beach), on the exposed coast outside the bay. Be careful in the water; as it is subject to strong currents. There are a couple of daytime warung here.
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Taman
The Taman between the ferry crossing and Kartika Hotel showcases river activity.
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