Another Retrospective Look Back On A Gem In SE Asia: Indonesia
Before we dive straight into the story I have a few updates for you. First of all, it’s been a while. Sorry about that, but the time got away from me in Ireland and Scotland. Between hanging out with my friends in Ireland, traveling the country by train and then traveling the Scottish highlands with my aunt, I haven’t had a ton of time to draw, work, and update the blog.
That being said, I’m in London now and planning on focusing on all of those things again. I have plenty of stories on the way as well with an art update, Ireland, and Scotland piece on the way.
Also, today marks my third month on the road and the official halfway point of the trip! I’ve done a lot more than I expected in some ways and a lot less in others, but the trip has been a fun ride nonetheless. From here, I’ll be in London for three weeks, Iceland for almost two(with Bethany!), Spain for two, Italy for one to two weeks(seeing the Gorillaz in Verona and seeing the Colosseum), Kenya for one to two weeks, and then finally Thailand for a month with Darren.
I’m looking forward to getting back on here and relaying some of my experiences to you guys. Until then, let’s see what you think of Indonesia.
Indonesia at a glance:
It’s hard for me to look at Indonesia with any perspective other than the I’m-a-hopeless-new-traveler outlook that I had when I got there. While Singapore and Malaysia were technically the first two destinations I set foot in, Indonesia was the first place that I really traveled. It was the first place I had expectations for and the first country that made me feel like I’d stepped off the plane and straight into my own storybook journey. It was, for lack of a better term, magic – the type of magic that makes you feel like you’re at your first day of kindergarten. It’s the type of magic that made me feel infinitely small and the world never ending. It’s a type of magic you only feel when you are so at a loss for what to expect that you find all of your knowledge up to that point moot.
So just be sure to keep that in mind while reading this. Indonesia is the country where my trip truly began, so expect some rose-tinted commentary.
Indonesia, while quite dirty in some places like the frantic city Medan that we started in, will always embody the color green for me. Green mountains, verdant hills, emerald rice paddies that build themselves up in tiers and giant palm leaves that sway to the rhythm of the island country all paint Indonesia a vibrant shade of my favorite color. One image in particular that sticks out to me, which can be found on our Indonesia photo dump, is the picture Darren took of a woman working outside next to a home. While you can see the brown house, the white of her clothes and a brown power line, the rest of the picture is consumed by a mass of green grass which is, in a way, how I see Indonesia. Although Indonesia has big cities and their technology is coming along, all of that is still just swallowed up by the surrounding foliage.
This is even more apparent when you look at places like Bukit Lawang that’s essentially a jungle with some houses built in. It is true that deforestation is a problem in some areas, but in others, like Bukit Lawang, you can see the world for what it is. A river cuts in the middle of the jungle and tall walls made of trees look down on the rushing current. I had the pleasure of seeing a myriad creatures there from a Rhinoceros Hornbill to holding a mother orangutan’s hand while its baby crawled on me – something I’ll never be able to forget.
But then we headed east and visited places like Bali and Jakarta where development is coming on quickly and the duality of the country becomes apparent. I won’t go into that topic too much as I already explored this stark contrast between cities and simple living in my Indonesian portrait, but looking back on it after more than a year out of the country and it really does stick with me. The feel of industry clashing with the surrounding greenery and tasting the change in my throat as I rode a motorbike to and from locations.
At its core, Indonesia, is still very much a peaceful jungle that people sweat all the way through with a few outposts along the way. The sun shines bright, the air is (mostly) fresh and the people are hospitable.
If I had to sum up my trip there in three words, they would be “green,” “evolving” and “breezy.” Although I was tense when I first arrived, Indonesia and its tranquility had me at ease by the end of the first day. It was a complete 180 from the uneasy Americans I knew that would say “You know Indonesia has one of the highest Muslim populations in the world, right?” The pleasant nature of it all set the tone for the rest of my outlook on traveling and cemented my belief that fearing something without experiencing it first hand is rarely based in fact but rather a perceived notion or learned behavior. Sure, things were scary at times, but no more scarier than my first few days of college or my first time having my writing critiqued. And that’s I suppose where the magic came from. If something can scare you through uncertainty, you should cherish that rather than push it away. Because the day nothing scares you, is the day that you’re living a pretty boring life.
And for that I thank Indonesia and all that it had to offer me. It started off my adventure every bit as mysteriously welcoming as I could have hoped for and gave me the drive to stretch this trip as far as I could. For people traveling to Indonesia, my location recommendations are the Gili Islands, Bukit Lawang, Borobudur and Samosir on Lake Toba, but be sure to rent a motorbike and explore surrounding villages because it was watching everyday life that really got me hooked.
Next up on the retrospective list… Myanmar! Be sure to enjoy the small galleries at the end of each of these retrospective posts and be sure to look out for my favorite pictures of the trip as I post them to Instagram.
‘Til Next Time
-Vagrant Flynn
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