A Sunday Escape #4
Indonesia: traversing more than 17,000 islands through art, film and books
Welcome to NE Where, a weekly travel-focussed journal for curious people. This piece is free for everyone, while for less than $1 a week paying subscribers have unlimited access to NE Where’s growing archive, which is packed with inspiration and ideas for an unforgettable trip to Bali, stories about exceptional women, and other tales about interesting people and places. Thank you for joining me on this journey!
Dear NE-One
After eight months away – and covering six countries on various assignments between us – Mark and I are finally back in Indonesia. Stepping off the plane and into the dense tropical air always feels like a sort of homecoming, and every time we land I pause a moment to breathe it in.
As I did this a few days ago I remembered the very first time I landed on Indonesian soil, 23 years ago. It was a three-week trip that had me sleeping under the stars on an old boat in the Komodo Archipelago, and watching the sun set behind volcanoes from Gili Meno, back when the little island held only one warung and a tiny handful of bamboo shacks for travellers.
I knew absolutely nothing about the country back then and even though through the years since I’ve had so many chances to travel Indonesia further, there is still so much for me to learn, and to experience. This is, after all, a country comprised of more than 17,000 islands. It stretches almost 6000km from east to west, is the second-most biodiverse country on the planet and one in 10 of the world’s languages are spoken on these islands.
To give you an idea of how diverse this intriguing country is, I wanted to share a few ways you can explore Indonesia…
…if you have time for a scroll
Ria Ridwana is an Indonesian artist who creates exquisite ink drawings of the archipelago’s rich and varied architectural heritage. Her Instagram account is a glimpse into her sketchbook, which beautifully documents the structure of traditional houses found across Indonesia, from the bamboo-house villages of the Bena people in Flores, to the traditional round houses of the Papuans, the long wood-and-bamboo houses typical of the Banyuwangi Regency in East Java, and the imposing thatched structures typical of the Malukus. Ria’s captions usually go into some detail about the buildings, and her posts often document her drawing process. Prints of her drawings are available here.
…if you have time to watch a film
Back in the early 1970s anthropologist and explorer Dr Lawrence Blair and his late brother Lorne, a filmmaker, set off on a journey across Indonesia. It was to become a 20-year exploration of the archipelago, during which time they would sail with pirates, venture deep into fabled jungles and witness human sacrifices. Ring of Fire: An Indonesian Odyssey is a five-part series that documents this astounding journey across an Indonesia that has been lost to time – and you can watch the trailer here and the full series here.
…if you have time to read a book (or two)
In 1996 travel writer Mark Eveleigh bought himself an Indonesian-English dictionary and, while working as a security guard in London to fund his travels, taught himself to speak Bahasa Indonesia. It was in preparation for what would become a 2000km, three-month expedition through uncharted jungle deep into the heart of Borneo; a journey that would take him up to the headwaters of the mystical Mandai River – the final resting place, the Iban Dayak people believe, of their most revered warriors. Mark tells the story of this expedition in his engaging book Fever Trees of Borneo – and although it was a trip plagued by malaria, leeches and shipwrecks, it sparked what has become a lifelong fascination with Indonesia. In the decades since that journey Mark has traversed the archipelago, tracking tigers in the Sumatra jungle, meeting Tana Toraja’s “living dead”, sailing through the Spice Islands and surfing legendary waves at G-Land and Occy’s Left. Kopi Dulu, which was published by Penguin last year, is Mark’s remarkable tome to Indonesia; it’s an exceptional read that highlights the astounding diversity of the island nation someone once called “the world’s most invisible country”. You can buy Fever Trees of Borneo as paperback here and e-book here, and Kopi Dulu as hardcover here, paperback here and e-book here.
Until next weekend
Narina x
In a reading kinda mood? Put the kettle on…
Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Lives: The woman who walked – solo – across Africa
How to save the world – a practical guide for travellers
Bali – for nature lovers
Author interview: Mark Eveleigh on his novel Driftwood Chandeliers
Dervla Murphy: The solo adventurer considered the greatest female travel writer of all time
The enigmatic sister-queens of Thailand
Packing up and moving on: The one thing that’s changed the way I travel
How the people got their spots: an unusual story about culture, tradition and conservation
Wow! Thank you. I'm very proud to be listed among such company as the super-talented Ria Ridwana and the intrepid Blair brothers!