Indonesia

Sumatra's northernmost province, Aceh is both a fiercely proud and prosperous region. It's blessed with rainforests that feature incredible biodiversity, as well as pristine islands popular with beachgoers, divers and surfers alike. However, over the years, this western tip of the Indonesian archipelago has grabbed headlines for all the wrong reasons. Earthquakes, tsunamis, civil war and sharia law are the main associations people have with Sumatra’s northernmost state. With the reconstruction from the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami long completed, post-tsunami Aceh is slowly healing the social wounds incurred by the natural disaster and the previous civil war. Still, while the guns have been laid down and a degree of autonomy has been granted to the province, there are occasional blips on the road to peace, and a prevailing belief in the rest of Sumatra that the people of Aceh are keen to spread their conservative Islamic ways across the whole country.

Aceh

The mere mention of Bali evokes thoughts of a paradise. It's more than a place; it's a mood, an aspiration, a tropical state of mind.

Island of the Gods

The rich and diverse culture of Bali plays out at all levels of life, from the exquisite flower-petal offerings placed everywhere, to the processions of joyfully garbed locals shutting down major roads as they march to one of the myriad temple ceremonies, to the otherworldly traditional music and dance performed island-wide. Almost everything has spiritual meaning. The middle of Bali is dominated by the dramatic volcanoes of the central mountains and hillside temples such as Pura Luhur Batukau (one of the island's estimated 10,000 temples), while the tallest peak, Gunung Agung, is the island's spiritual centre.

One Island, Many Destinations

On Bali you can lose yourself in the chaos of Kuta or sybaritic pleasures of Seminyak and Kerobokan, surf wild beaches in the south or just hang out on Nusa Lembongan. You can go family-friendly in Sanur or savour a lavish getaway on the Bukit Peninsula. Ubud is the heart of Bali, a place where the culture of the island is most accessible, and it shares the island's most beautiful rice fields and ancient monuments with east and west Bali. North and west Bali are thinly populated but have the kind of diving and surfing that make any journey worthwhile.

Bali's Essence

Yes, Bali has beaches, surfing, diving and resorts great and small, but it's the essence of Bali – and the Balinese – that makes it so much more than just a fun-in-the-sun retreat. It is possible to take the cliché of the smiling Balinese too far, but in reality, the inhabitants of this small island are indeed a generous, genuinely warm people. There's also a fun, sly sense of humour. Upon seeing a bald tourist, many locals exclaim ' bung ujan', which means today's rain is cancelled – it's their way of saying that the hairless head is like a clear sky.

Bali's Fun

At the end of the day (which is the start of the day for some visitors), Bali's rich culture and many amazing sights are what takes Bali's sheer delight to another level. Because Bali is fun, no matter what you want or who you are. Seminyak has shops and designers, Kerobokan has luxe beachside resorts and superb eating, Kuta and Legian have the nightlife, and Canggu wraps it all into one irresistible package. Plunge deep into Bali's spirit while renewing your own in Ubud or catching the perfect wave in Bingin. You name it, it's here.

Bali

The legendary Baliem Valley is the most popular and most accessible destination in Papua’s interior. The Dani people who live here were still dependent on tools of stone, bone and wood when a natural-history expedition led by American Richard Archbold chanced upon the valley in 1938. Dani life has since changed enormously with stone axes being replaced by mobile phones and age-old belief systems with Christianity, but even so the changes are often skin-deep and the valley and surrounding highlands remain one of the world’s last fascinatingly traditional areas. Visiting the Baliem Valley and trekking through high mountain scenery, past neat and orderly Dani villages, takes you to a world far removed from Jakarta and is an honour and an experience to be savoured. For most people it is the highlight of Papua.

Baliem Valley

Although not as populous as the capital Samarinda, Balikpapan is Kalimantan's only truly cosmopolitan metropolis thanks to a long history of oil money. It's still seen largely as a stepping stone to Samarinda, Derawan or Banjarmasin, but a night in Balikpapan's club scene will give you a whole new perspective on Borneo.

For the most part the city is vibrant, with several enormous shopping plazas and some decent beaches. Midrange to high-end hotels with reasonable rates abound, and a social scene exists in the form of restaurants, hotel bars, live-music venues and the odd nightclub.

Overall the city makes a fine weekend break and a great place to begin or end more adventurous travels.

Balikpapan

Banda Aceh is a relaxed and charming provincial capital that more than deserves a day or two en route to Pulau Weh.

Given that Banda Aceh bore the brunt of the 2004 tsunami, with 61,000 killed here, and that much of the city had to be rebuilt, it’s little wonder that it looks well maintained and affluent, with broad streets, pavements and parks. The magnificent central mosque – Indonesia's best – still stands as the city's crowning glory, along with the poignant Tsunami Museum.

Banda Aceh is still a fiercely religious city and its ornate mosques are at the centre of daily life. Respectfully dressed visitors (shoulders and knees covered) will find find the Acehnese to be friendly and extremely hospitable.

Banda Aceh

Combining natural beauty, a warm local heart, and a palpable and fascinating history, this remote cluster of 10 picturesque islands isn't just Maluku’s choice travel destination, it's one of the best in Indonesia. Particularly impressive undersea drop-offs are vibrantly plastered with multicoloured coral gardens offering superlative snorkelling and diving. The central islands – Pulau Neira and Pulau Banda Besar (the great nutmeg island) – curl in picturesque crescents around a pocket-sized tropical Mt Fuji (Gunung Api, 656m). Outlying Hatta, Ai and Neilaka each have undeveloped picture-postcard beaches. And Run, a gnarled limestone island sprouting with nutmeg and cloves, is one drop-dead gorgeous historical footnote. Getting to the islands takes time but with a fast-boat service from Ambon (in the dry season anyway) and talk of a new airport, Banda is becoming more accessible and seems set to see more visitors in the near future. So get here now, before everyone else does.

Banda Islands

Bandung is a city of punks and prayer, serious religion and serious coffee. Here are teeming markets and good shopping, thriving cafes in reclaimed Dutch colonial buildings, palpable warmth and camaraderie on street corners, and traffic everywhere you look. Almost everything great and terrible about Indonesia can be found in Bandung. You may be troubled by the young teens smoking and systemic poverty, and nod with respect at the city's thriving art, shopping and cafe scene. Yes, Bandung has everything, except nature, and after the bottle-green hills of Cibodas, the sprawling bulk of Bandung is quite the urban reality check. But even if the local mountains are cloaked in smog, the city does make a good base for day trips to the surrounding countryside – high volcanic peaks, hot springs and tea plantations are all within reach.

Bandung

If you’ve ever dreamt about having a tropical island entirely to yourself, complete with palm trees, powdery white beaches and crystal-clear waters, the Banyak Islands is a great place to fulfil your Robinson Crusoe fantasy. A cluster of 99 mostly uninhabited islands, the Banyak (Many) Islands are situated about 30km west of Singkil. Remote they might be, but they are now very much on the radar of paradise-seeking travellers and surfers. As well as having arguably the finest beaches in Sumatra and a handful of quality surf spots, the Banyaks feature Sumatra’s best snorkelling, with beautiful underwater forests of colourful coral (at least where there has been no past dynamite fishing). Only two of the islands are properly inhabited: the town of Balai on Pulau Balai is the main entry point to the islands; low-key Haloban on Pulau Tuangku is the other main village.

Banyak Islands

Together with Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Bagan in Myanmar, Borobudur ranks as one of the great cultural icons of Southeast Asia. Looming above a patchwork of bottle-green paddy fields and slivers of tropical forest, this colossal Buddhist monument has survived volcanic eruptions, terrorist attack and the 2006 earthquake. The last caused considerable damage, but thankfully this most enigmatic of temples has remained undiminished in scale and beauty. Borobudur is at the centre of an attractive assembly of traditional rice-growing kampung (villages), ringed by volcanic peaks. Called the Garden of Java by locals, the region, with its rural homestays and guesthouses, scattered temples and tradition of honey and tofu production, warrants at least an overnight stay. For those who find Borobudur's bucolic charms a delightful antidote to the urban experience of nearby Yogyakarta, there are plenty of reasons to extend a visit, including engaging with the local culture through cooperative tours.

Borobudur

Bukit Lawang, 60 miles (96km) northwest of Medan, is a sprawling tourist village laced along the fast-flowing Sungai Bohorok and bordered by the dense vertical-rising jungle of Gunung Leuser National Park. Its legend is built around the orangutan rehabilitation centre set up here in 1973 and, although the feeding platform has closed, this is still the best place in Sumatra to spot habituated orangutans on a trek.

Trekking aside, it’s a very traveler-friendly place, where you can while away the days lounging in hammocks, splashing or tubing in the river and enjoying some of the best-value jungle resorts in Sumatra.

Bukit Lawang

Hot and arid, the southern peninsula is known as Bukit (meaning 'hill' in Bahasa Indonesia). It's popular with visitors, from the cloistered climes of Nusa Dua to the sybaritic retreats along the south coast. The booming west coast (often generically called Pecatu) with its string-of-pearls beaches is a real hotspot. Accommodation sits precariously on the sand at Balangan Beach, while the cliffs are dotted with idiosyncratic lodges at Bingin and elsewhere. New places sprout daily and most have views of the turbulent waters here, which have world-famous surf breaks all the way south to the important temple of Ulu Watu. The south coast to the east and west of Ungasan is the site of some huge cliff-side resorts, with serene views of the limitless ocean, while Nusa Dua and Tanjung Benoa cater to more traditional package-holidaymakers seeking a homogenised experience.

Bukit Peninsula

Officially known as Segkidu Village but called Candidasa for tourism purposes, this east coast settlement is heavily developed with hotels. The beach here was pretty well destroyed in the 1970s, when its offshore reef was mined for lime to make cement and other construction materials, so those seeking to swim, snorkel or dive in the sea should steer clear. However, the hinterland is attractive, the picturesque lagoon in the centre of town is full of water lillies that bloom in the morning and many of the local hotels have gorgeous beachside infinity pools where guests can laze their days away.