Reflections on Indonesia
We visited Bali, Indonesia from April 21 - May 9, 2024 (and again July 17 - September 14, 2024) and Java, Indonesia from May 9 - 20, 2024. It’s a great time of year south of the Equator to enjoy Asia! This is our second visit to Bali, and a first time visit to Java, including the ancient and mysterious megalithic site near Jakarta of Gunung Padang. Several of the spots on Bali were clothing optional. All on Java were historical or spiritual. We started in Denpasar and exited from Jakarta on the first visit. On the second visit in 2024 we stayed on Bali, returning to some of our favorites and adding a few more destinations as we explored further. Affordable paradise!
Indonesia is vast, populous and teeming with diversity and unending surprises for the adventurous traveler. The archipelago country has more than 17,000 islands and 280 million total people. A whopping 152 million are on the island of Java in a landmass about the size of of the US State of Georgia or the combined European landmasses of Ireland & Scotland for comparison. And 740,000 people live on the island of Bali a landmass that is just a little smaller than the US State of Rhode Island.
Across all of Indonesia, 87% of the people identify as Muslim, 11% Christian, less than 2% Hindu and less than 1% Buddhist. On Java island, 96% are Muslim; on Bali island, 87% are Hindu. Traveling Bali and Java was an invigorating mix of demographics, cultures, traditions and histories. But universally, the people are warm and welcoming lending to a really delightful month!
Below find the Indonesian hotels where we stayed, in reverse chronological order. In each location find a carousel of hotel pics and a carousel of activities pics.
We were here two nights May 18-20, 2024. It wasn’t our favorite hotel in Java but it was more than adequate and within walking distance to the informative Jakarta History Museum and the historic Cafe Batavia where we had an excellent dinner on our final night in Indonesia.
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