East Timor 2011

SIT-11 - Singapore, Indonesia and Timor Leste trip Date of travel: June 30 - July 27, 2011 ITINERARY: On June 30 morning I drove a rented car from Vista to the Los Angeles airport. From there I flew via Tokyo to SINGAPORE, where early in the morning July 2. Then 4 days until July 5 using a local travel office I did sightseeing of the Singapore Island seeing its modern parts, Chinatown and Indiantown, visiting museums and the Botanical Gardens, I had a drink in the Raffles Hotel and took a boat ride on the Singapore River. On July 6 I am taking a plane to city of Medan in the northern part of Sumatra Island in INDONESIA. With a local guide, a 4WD SUV and a driver we go to Lake Toba. It is a gigantic water filled caldera of a volcano that exploded some 75 thousand years ago. By a ferry on the lake to the large Samosir Island, where I settle in a hotel. The following day we visit 3 villages of Batak tribesmen. They live in wooden houses of the local traditional architecture. In one village we see Batak dances and hear Batak music. There are no cemeteries and elaborate tombs are around each family house. Next day on a ship to the ferry. Back to Medan we take another road. In one town along the way I see an interesting museum. We also stop at a plantation of oil palms and in other place at a rubber plantation. There is a sightseeing of Medan visiting the Maimoon Palace, where the sultan and his family live still today. From outside we admire the Grand Mosque. Some city streets keep their Dutch architecture (but no windmills). At night a flight from Medan to Jakarta On July 9 I am in Jakarta on the Island of Java with a new guide, driver and a car. In the morning we drive to the city of Bogor 50 km south of Jakarta. There is the famous Botanical Garden founded 1817. In the 19th century it together with the Kew Gardens in London made from many tropical plants industrial products. Some 400 species of palms are grown in this garden. Next to it is the Summer Palace of the president originally built in the 19th century for the Dutch governor. In the afternoon we visit the “Mekursur Amaising Turism Park.” It is a park of tropical fruit which one can taste and also buy there. The following day is sightseeing of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. In the morning a visit to “Taman Mini Indonesia Indah.” It shows all the provinces of Indonesia with their full-scale traditional houses, regional handicrafts and even a mini-scale Buddhist Borobudur and Hindu Prambanan. Museums, theatres and restaurants are scattered throughout the 100 ha areal. Then we drive to the oldest part of the city called Kota. It was the place, under the name Batavia, from where the Dutch ruled for over 400 years this gigantic archipelago known as Indonesia now. From here to the Chinatown. Last is the city center with a Catholic cathedral, a mosque, government buildings and a National Monument on the Merdeka Square. Later in the afternoon I fly from Jakarta do Yogyakarta also on Java. Morning on July 11 a trip outside of Yogyakarta to the most important Buddhist Temple, Borobudur. It was built some 1300 years ago. The temple has 5 storey and its walls are covered with scenes from Buddha’s life. On the way back to Yogyakarta I see additional 2 smaller temples. In the city there is sightseeing of the Kraton Castle of the local sultan. In the afternoon is a visit of Taman Sari (water castle), which looks like a city inside a city. Next day another trip from Yogyakarta this time to the biggest Hindu Temple on Java, Prambanan. It is mainly Shiva temple, but it has also temples of Brahma and Vishnu forming the triumvirate in the Hindu religion. In front of their temples are temples of their corresponding animals. From the Prambanan Temple we drive to the town Solo to view another palace of a sultan. Before independence the Muslem Java was covered with sultanates and there were many sultans. Current sultans do not have any political power. In the afternoon a trip into the mountains to Sukuh Temple. On our drive back we see number of destroyed villages due to recent volcanic activity. Very early on July 13 flight from Yogyakarta via Surabaya (both on Java) to the city of Makassar on the Island of Sulawesi (Celebes). As everywhere I have a new guide, driver and car. We have 338 km from Makassar to Tana Toraja in the mountains. The following day we drive to a place where is a funeral of an important man. He died 2 years ago, but only now they collected enough money for a dignified funeral during which they kill some 30 buffalos. In the afternoon I see tombs chiseled from the living rocks several hundred years ago. Then some tasting of palm wine. Later a beautiful village with traditional houses. Next day more tombs in the rocky mountains with tau-taus which are a wooden effigies of the departed. Then another village with the traditional houses. Day after is the return back to Massakar to see a fortress from 1667 there. Then to the airport. A couple hours after midnight, already on July 17, I fly from Makassar on Sulawesi via Biak Island and Jayapura to Wamena all three in an Indonesian province Papua (formerly Irian Jaya) on the Island of New Guinea. Still that afternoon drive through Wamena and a visit of a market. Besides my guide there are two local practically naked men with us as my additional guides. Their cloth is only a penis sheath. They are Melanesians as all the original inhabitants of New Guinea. However, in Papua things are run by people from other Indonesian islands which are of other races. Next day is a visit of several Melanesian villages outside Wamena. There are only the almost nacked men and children in the villages, while women work in the fields. The third day in Wamena more sightseeing of the area around the town. Morning on July 20 flight from Wamena to Jayapura (Dutch called it Hollandia). After landing there is a sightseeing of the city including a boat ride on Lake Sentani. In the morning on July 21 flight from Jayapura via Timika in south Papua to Denpasar on the Island of Bali where early in the afternoon. Still that day a trip to a Hindu Temple outside the city and then a little sightseeing of the city itself. On July 22 I start a 3 day trip by air from Bali to Island of Flores to see Komodo Dragons. In the town Labuanbajo on Flores I get my new trio, a guide, a driver and a car and do some driving around. The following morning a boat ride, where I am the only passenger, to a small island with the Komodo Dragons. With a local guide I walk through the jungle looking for these monitor lizards. Most of them are near the park headquarters. The third day I return by plane back to Bali. Before noon on July 25 I fly from Bali to Dili, the capital of TIMOR LESTE, the newest independent country of the world. Here I have a guide who also drives a car. In the afternoon we make a trip about 50 km along the coast to a fort. My guide expains me the sad history of 24 years of Indonesian occupation of the originally Portuguese colony in eastern part of the Island of Timor. During return we stop at a gigantic statue of John Paul II. commemorating his visit in 1998. Next morning is a sightseeing tour of the capital Dili and its vicinity. First we go to view the gigantic statue of Christ above the bay. Back in the city we see Indonesian, Catholic and Chinese cemeteries. From a “Castaway Bar” there is a beautiful view of the coast and the sea. From a mountainous highway we see the Presidential Palace. In mid afternoon I leave Timor Leste and fly to Singapore where I stay in an airport hotel. Very early on July 27 I leave Singapore for Tokyo and from there I continue to Los Angeles. Due to the 180th meridian I reach LAX in mid afternoon the same day. I rent a car from Budget Rent a Car and drive home to Vista where in the evening. What a journey! Travel office: Indonesia Explorers arranged my Indonesia trip, while Singapore and Timor Leste I prepared myself over the Internet. Who took part: I traveled alone with a guide, a driver and a car in each place in Indonesia and Timor.