WHERE: 26 miles/42 km northwest of Yogyakarta. AMANJIWO: Tel 62/293-788-333; in the U.S., 800-477-9180; www.amanresorts.com. Cost: from $750. MANOHRA: Tel 62/293788-680; www.manohraborobudur.com. Cost: from $75. BEST TIMES: Apr–Oct for the dry season; during the full moon in May for Waisak festival, celebrating the Buddha’s birthday; May–Oct for performances at Prambanan.
Keeper of Javanese Heritage
YOGYAKARTA
Java, Indonesia
In the lush central region of Java, under the smoldering glare of the Mount Merapi volcano, lies the flourishing art center and university city of Yogyakarta. Known to Indonesians simply as Yogya, this cultural hub and the nearby city of Solo are still ruled by sultans, whose sprawling kratons (palaces) are fascinating windows into 18th-century Islamic court life. Visits to the kratons often include performances of gamelan music, which has been described as “the sound of moonlight.” Mesmerizing gamelan orchestras sometimes feature up to 80 performers on xylophones, gongs, and bamboo flutes. Exquisite classical dance productions, which originated in these very palaces, are still attended by members of the royal family and their batik-uniformed court retainers.
Royal patronage also helps keep alive Javanese decorative arts, and workshops are everywhere: Intricate silverware, leather wayang shadow puppets, and colorful batiks make shopping the city’s many pasar (bazaars) a challenge for those with limited suitcase space. What doesn’t tempt your eye will tantalize your palate—Yogya’s street eats are ubiquitous and renowned. Flag down one of the passing warungs, the mobile street vendors who sizzle up noodles, satays, curries, and sweets. Try a hot lumpia ayam (chicken spring roll) and some fresh kelepons (sweet rice-flour rolls in shredded coconut).
The wandering traveler in Yogya is guaranteed to stumble upon poetry recitals, folk music, underground art galleries, and even ballet troupes in backstreet taverns. Just take a jalan-jalan (walk) around the old quarter and wind up at the Colonial-style Phoenix Hotel. The Raffles of Yogya, it was built in 1918 and is now a restored and relaxing haven from the busy streets. Or stay at Yogya’s most intimate accommodation, Villa Hanis, a traditional wooden Javanese two-bedroom house with a private garden and small swimming pool. The well-known bakery and restaurant next door serves European-style breads and salads. Located about 3 miles from busy downtown, it’s an ideal base for visiting Borobudur and Prambanan (see previous page).
WHERE: 370 miles/595 km southeast of Jakarta. THE PHOENIX HOTEL: Tel 62/274566-617; www.mgallery.com. Cost: from $105. VILLA HANIS: Tel 62/274-867-567; www.villahanis.com. Cost: $110. BEST TIMES: Apr–Oct for the dry season; Jul for Gamelan Festival.
Into the Dragons’ Den
KOMODO NATIONAL PARK
Komodo, Indonesia
Komodo Island, a mere 150 square miles and with a population of just 2,000, is the nearest thing to a 21st-century Jurassic Park. It was established as a national park in 1980 to protect Varanus komodoensis, better known as the Komodo dragon, the largest lizard in the world, which grows to between 6 and 10 feet long and weighs in at around 150 pounds.
The islands of the Komodo archipelago are among the most arid in Indonesia and are home to an extraordinary mix of Asian and Austronesian wildlife. (The nearby Wallace Line marks the maritime division between the two continents.) Besides the dragons, the park is home to Timor deer (the main prey of the dragons), wild horses, wild boar, long-tailed macaques, palm civets, and giant fruit bats. The latter, which have a wingspan of around 4 feet, make an unforgettable sight as they leave their roosts at twilight to feed. Komodo also has one of the world’s richest marine environments, with dolphins, whales, dugongs, sea turtles, more than 1,000 species of fish, and 250 types of coral—and, not surprisingly, spectacular diving and snorkeling.
It is both obligatory and sensible to visit the park as part of a guided tour—Komodo dragons are very dangerous, as are the island’s hooded cobras and Russell’s pit vipers. The professional guides know the park intimately, and, armed with a sturdy forked staff, provide protection from them all.
Komodo dragons are also found on nearby Rinca, a smaller and less visited island, better known for its diving and snorkeling. If you’re inclined to strap on a mask, head straight to the safe and clear waters off Pantai Merah, or Pink Beach.
WHERE: 340 miles/550 km east of Bali. HOW: U.S.-based Asia Transpacific Journeys includes Komodo and Rinca as part of their 17-day “Bali and Beyond” tour. Tel 800-6422742 or 303-443-6789; www.asiatranspacific.com. Cost: $8,395, all-inclusive. Originates in Bali. Bali-based Perama Travel offers 5-day “Hunting Komodo by Camera” boat tours departing from Lombok and visiting other islands en route to Komodo and Rinca. Tel 62/361-750-808; www.peramatour.com. Cost: cabins from $470, inclusive. BEST TIME: Apr–Oct for the dry season.
An Evolving Alternative to Bali
LOMBOK AND THE GILI ISLANDS
Lombok, Indonesia
There is a saying: “You may find Bali in Lombok, but you’ll never find Lombok in Bali.” True, the island may not have Bali’s Hindu temples, processions, and colorful festivals, but its welcome is just as warm, and its unhurried pace, unspoiled beauty, and relative lack of commercial tourism make it a compelling alternative.
Lombok is slightly smaller than Bali and markedly different in character. The local Sasak people are Muslim, and the climate is drier, with sparse vegetation. Just off the northwest coast, the three smaller Gili islands are evolving from being favorites of the beach-loving backpacker set to providing more sophisticated hotel and dining options for discerning travelers. Opportunities for excellent diving and snorkeling also abound. On Gili Trawangan’s quieter and more rugged north coast, the Desa Dunia Beda eco-resort fronts a private beach and features three relocated and restored wooden Javanese bungalows outfitted with colonial-era furniture.
The 3-day trek to the top of volcanic 12,224-foot Mount Rinjani in the north of Lombok is considered one of the best climbs in the area. Less athletic visitors settle for a guided 4-hour hike along pathways that follow the contours of terraced rice paddies through farming villages to 150-foot waterfalls. On the northwest coast, private sailing and motor boat outings can be arranged on Medana Beach. Take a day trip around the island and stop in the coves on the southern coast, where surfers and kite boarders challenge the forces of nature.
Lombok’s finer accommodations can be found in Senggigi Beach. The relatively new Quinci Villas, with their minimalist, modern design and perfect beachfront location, are among the most stylish.
A few more excellent hotels can be found on other parts of the island. The Oberoi Lombok is spread luxuriously across 24 beachside acres on Medana Beach, offering 20 thatch-roofed, Lombok-style villas with huge marble baths and private pools. Consider indulging in the spa’s Mandi Lulur treatment, which combines relaxing steam heat with aromatherapy and the therapeutic effects of mud.
Outrigger canoes set sail from Senggigi Beach.
WHERE: 40 miles/64 km east of Bali. DESA DUNIA BEDA: Tel 62/370-641-575; www.desaduniabeda.com. Cost: from $95 (off-peak), from $130 (peak). QUINCI VILLAS: Tel 62/370-693-800; www.quincivillas.com. Cost: pool villas from $140. OBEROI LOMBOK: Tel 62/370-6138-444; in the U.S., 800-562-3764; www.oberoihotels.com. Cost: from $360. BEST TIMES: Apr–Oct for the dry season; Jul for 1-week Senggigi Festival, showcasing the culture of the local Sasak people.
Bridging Cultures and the Centuries
BALIEM VALLEY
Papua, Indonesia
Papua (formerly Irian Jaya) is Indonesia’s most remote province, and not just in the geographical sense. Adjectives like “tribal,” “primitive,” and “primeval” best describe the “lost world” of the former Dutch West New Guinea. Indonesia’s largest province comprises the western side of the planet’s second largest island, with the independent nation of Papua New Guinea to the east (see p. 693).
In Indonesian West Papua, trading paths link villages to the cool, green highlands and the vast lowland home of the Asmat people, famous for their wooden carvings
and rituals. In the latter, you might happen upon a celebration with feasting and dancing around a roaring fire and meet the indigenous Dani tribesmen, known to the outside world as the “gentle warriors” of the Baliem Valley. In some villages they wear only ornamental headdresses, war paint, pig tusks through their noses, and penis sheaths known as kotckas fashioned from dried-out gourds, though much of this is staged for tourists or during special festivals. These materially poor but culturally rich people, not “discovered” until 1938 by the American explorer Richard Archbold, teeter between the Stone Age and the 21st century. Leave the valley’s main town and commercial center of Wamena, accessible only by air, to strike out on foot for some of the remote Dani villages.
Traveling through the 40-mile-long Baliem Valley is a unique experience, but individual travel in Papua is not for the inexperienced, and a visit is best arranged through a specialist company. Alternatively, tours and treks, from half-day walks or longer, can be arranged right in Wamena.
WHERE: Papua’s provincial capital of Jayapura is a 7-hour flight from Jakarta, with onward flights connecting to Wamena in the heart of the Baliem Valley. HOW: U.S.-based Asia Transpacific offers custom trips in Indonesia. Tel 800-642-2742 or 303-4436789; www.asiatranspacific.com. Cost: averages $350 per person per day. Bali-based Alpes Travel offers 5-day and longer Baliem Valley adventure tours. Tel 62/361-802-6669; www.balialpes.com. Originate in Jayapura. BEST TIMES: May–Nov is the drier season, but Papua can get rain year-round; Aug for local festivals.
A Coral Cornucopia
RAJA AMPAT ARCHIPELAGO
Papua, Indonesia
Raja Ampat is a long way from anywhere, and that is a significant part of the pristine archipelago’s appeal. So is the fact that it is one of the richest coral reef ecosystems on the planet. Located in the warm, shallow waters off the western Bird’s Head Peninsula of Indonesia’s Papua Province, Raja Ampat—or Four Kings—comprises more than 1,500 islands and islets clustered around the three main islands of Waigeo, Salawati, and Misool. The archipelago spans over 15,400 square miles of sea and is home to Cendarawasih Bay, the largest marine national park in the country. In geological terms, the islands form the northernmost tip of the Australian continent, though politically they are Indonesian.
The three largest islands have just a few hundred inhabitants scattered along the coasts, and many smaller islands are mostly uninhabited. But this paucity of humanity is more than made up for by the richness of surrounding marine life: It is believed that Raja Ampat has the greatest diversity of underwater life of anywhere on earth, making it a naturalist’s dream and a diver’s paradise.
Scientists report more than 1,300 species of fish, 700 species of mollusk, and a staggering 537 varieties of coral that are home to vast shoals of multicolored fish, sea turtles, manta rays, sharks, and dolphins. This high marine diversity is thought to be due to Raja Ampat’s location between the Indian and Pacific oceans, where it attracts corals and fish from both. Raja Ampat is also fortunate that its extensive coral reefs are relatively resistant to global warming threats, such as bleaching and disease, which jeopardize so many coral ecosystems around the world.
Bali Diving organizes weekly round-trip cruises from Bali to Raja Ampat, with a side visit to the Komodo National Park (see p. 597), making it possible to take in two of Indonesia’s most remote and spectacular marine national parks at the same time. For divers preferring to stay ashore, the Misool Eco Resort, located on the islet of Batbitim, off the southern island of Misool, is composed of eight beautiful overwater bungalows. They are largely constructed from driftwood and are equipped with solar- and wind-generated electricity.
WHERE: 995 miles/1,600 km northeast of Jakarta. BALI DIVING: Tel 62/361-282-664; www.divingbali.com. Cost: 7-day trips aboard the Raja Ampat Liveaboard $1,820, all-inclusive. Originate in Bali. MISOOL ECO RESORT: www.misoolecoresort.com. Cost: 7-day stay from $2,400, inclusive. Dives extra. When: closed Jul–Sep. BEST TIMES: Drift diving is possible year-round, although seas may be rougher from Jul–Sep; Apr–Sep is the wet season.
Ancient Capital and Spiritual Heart
LUANG PRABANG
Laos
Most places in Laos are apt to take you back in time, but this is especially true in sleepy, temple-filled Luang Prabang (City of the Buddha of Peace), in the mountainous north. This small city sits on a peninsula at a confluence point between the Mekong and Khan rivers, lending it something of a remote, island feel, though in truth its regional airport connects it to many nearby cities.
Luang Prabang is Laos’s second largest city, with a population of around 100,000. A former royal capital, it is today a center of Laotian Buddhism, with more than 600 saffron-clad monks inhabiting its 32 pagoda-like temples. The most exceptional of these is the 16th-century Wat Xieng Thong, the Golden City Temple, built by royalty who held court in Luang Prabang until 1975, when the monarchy was abolished. The temple compound’s many Thai-influenced structures, containing impressive images of the Buddha, escaped an 18th-century invasion by Chinese pirates, making it the oldest in town.
A leisurely stroll takes you from temple to temple, along unpaved backstreets that exude a languid backwater calm, with roosters roaming and children at play. Main streets are lined with well-preserved French-Colonial architecture that melds seamlessly with traditional wooden houses, golden tiled temples, and newer Laotian structures.
Waterfalls, mountains, and caves for exploring are all within an easy day trip, and boats sail the Mekong for a few hours or a few days (see next page).
Some of the region’s finest resorts are here, led by the exquisite Amantaka, occupying a French-Colonial hospital. It’s wonderfully tranquil despite its location in the center of town. Massive suites, most with their own pools, are understated and elegant. Breakfast on the terrace overlooking the Mekong is one of many treats at the Belle Rive, a 13-room boutique hotel done up in modern Lao style and central to everything. For a touch of the country, La Résidence Phou Vao stands on a hilltop just outside the city center, with 34 airy, minimalist rooms, verandas, plenty of windows, a gemlike spa, and inviting pool that lets guests take in the panorama of the surrounding gardens and mountains. Luang Prabang has grown into a fine destination for eating, with an array of good dining possibilities—don’t miss dinner at Les 3 Nagas, served in a gorgeous modern setting that includes an outdoor garden and is connected to a charming hotel of the same name. It’s not often you’ll see betel-leaf soup on a menu, and the river fish marinated in lemongrass and chilies is just spicy enough.
Ornate Buddhist temples fill the former royal capital.
WHERE: 134 miles/219 km north of Vientiane. AMANTAKA: Tel 856/71-860-333; in the U.S., 800-477-9180; www.amanresorts.com/amantaka. Cost: from $750. BELLE RIVE: Tel 856/71-260-733; www.thebellerive.com. Cost: $130. LA RÉSIDENCE PHOU VAO: Tel 856/71-212-194; in the U.S., 800-237-1236; www.residencephouvao.com. Cost: from $260 (off-peak), from $470 (peak). LES 3 NAGAS: Tel 856/71253-888; www.3-nagas.com. Cost: $110 (off-peak), $240 (peak); dinner $35. BEST TIMES: Nov–Mar for cool, dry weather; Aug for boat racing festival.
Indochina’s Timeless Lifeline
SAILING THE MEKONG
Laos
Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam share a history of war and French colonial influences. But it’s the Mekong River that both links them and, in many places, separates them, running along much of Laos’s western border with Myanmar (Burma) and Thailand, then through Cambodia and Vietnam, where it empties into the South China Sea at the Mekong Delta (see p. 639). The river was once the major artery of the Angkor Empire and remains a symbol and lifeline of Indochina, whose principal sites and cities flourished beside it. Today, glimmering Khmer temples, forgotten villages, and bustling markets line its timeless banks and dot the rich countryside.
Both commuter and tourist boats ply the Mekong as it wends through Laos, traveling various distances and offering passengers a number of levels of comfort. Even working fishing boats will take on intrepid travelers who want to cru
ise along the river for a few miles or a few days. In northern Laos, sail in comfort with the Luang Say, a handsomely restored river barge that travels from Luang Prabang north to Houie Say on an overnight cruise with a night at Pakbeng’s comfortable Luang Say Lodge along the way. Spend 3 days aboard its sister ship, the Vat Phou, and tour the little-visited southern segment of the river, viewable from the vessel’s varnished-wood deck that serves as a wide veranda. Of the various shore excursions—from the roaring waterfalls of Phapheng (the largest in Southeast Asia) to the untamed region of Si Phan Don (4,000 islands that sprinkle the lower Mekong near the Cambodian border)—it is the pre-Angkorian temple Wat Phou that is the journey’s highlight.
Built in stages between the 6th and 14th centuries and thus predating Cambodia’s Angkor Wat (see p. 592) by some 200 years, the hilltop temples of Wat Phou contain some of the best Khmer art in Southeast Asia. Even though centuries of abandonment have left little of the original temples intact, the scale and age of the complex is breathtaking—as is the hike up the massive stairs to the ruins of a 9th-century temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. It’s a fantastic site, set against the majestic mountain Linga Parvata. On a clear day you can see as far as Vietnam, 120 miles away.
WHERE: Pakse is 288 miles/464 km southeast of Vientiane. Luang Prabang is 134 miles/219 km north of Vientiane. MEKONG CRUISES: Tel 856/21-215-958; www.mekong-cruises.com. Cost: 2-day all-inclusive cruises on the Luang Say from Luang Prabang to Houie Say (or reverse) from $270 (off-peak), from $415 (peak); 3-day all-inclusive cruises on the Vat Phou from Pakse to Wat Phou (or reverse) from $505 (off-peak), from $630 (peak). BEST TIME: Nov–Mar for drier and cooler weather.
1,000 Places to See Before You Die Page 95