Celita already told you that we
have entered Indonesia. We are now on the eastern portion of Borneo in
Kalimantan Timur (East Kalimantan).
We really wanted to pass by because
we heard a lot of good things about the magnificent sites of Kalimatan.
First we have the Derawan
Islands.
The Derawan Islands are
situated in the province of East Kalimantan. They include Derawan,
Sangalaki, Kakaban, Maratua, Panjang, and Samama Island and
submerged reefs and islets.
They are located in the Sulawesi
Sea, on the coastal shelf of East Kalimantan and feature 872
species of reef fishes, 507 species of coral, and invertebrates. Not
to forget a bunch of them are protected species to!!
Some of the islands harbor the
heavily exploited turtle eggs and yet the largest green
turtle nesting site in Indonesia.
There are 3 dive resorts on Derawan
Islands. That's why our main activity is diving.
It is one of the best things i ever
did! It's really amazing!
.
East Kalimantan has a unique
natural site, Labuan Cermin Lake at Biduk-biduk district which features fresh
water on top with about 2 meters thickness and sea water underneath it. Both
fresh water fish and sea water fish live in the lake inhabiting their respective
habitat layer.
("Cermin" means mirror in
Indonesian language and the lake was named so due to the clarity of the water)
Thanks again for following us! We
hope you enjoy it!
As you have read we are in Indonesia in the city Kalimantan
Timur.
If you like
culture than is Indonesia a very interesting country to visit. I'll tell
you something more about the culture here.
First of all you
need to know that the culture of Indonesia has been shaped by long interaction
between original indigenous customs and multiple foreign influences. Indonesia
is situated along ancient trading routes between the Far East and the Middle
East. Because of this many cultural practices has been strongly influenced by a
multitude of religions. These includes Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Islam
and Christianity. This has as result that there is a very complex cultural
mixture here in Indonesia which is very different from the original indigenous
cultures.
Not everything
has been influenced, there are still some Indonesian regions which still
preserver uniquely the indigenous culture. The indigenous ethnic groups
Mentawai, Asmat, Dani Davak, Toraja and many others are still practicing their
ethnic rituals, customs and they are still wearing traditional clothes.
There isso muchculture to experiencethat I don’t know where to start. I’ll
start with the traditional performing arts, these consist out of music, dance,
drama and theatre.
MUSIC
Indonesia
knows many different styles of music. The music from the islands of Java,
Sumatra and Bali are frequently being recorded. The traditional music of
central and East Java and Bali is called gamelan. Before the 70’s it was
forbidden to play Western-style music. Koes Plus which was a leading pop group
in the 1960’s was imprisoned in Glodik because they had played Western-style
music.
DANCE
You can see
that there are different cultures here in Indonesia the way they dance. You can
find Austronesian roots, Melanesian tribal dance forms and influences from
neighboring Asian countries in the dance.
Each ethnic
group has their own danced but you still can divide the dances into three eras:
the Prehistoric Era, the Hindu/Buddhist Era and the Era of Islam. You can also
divide the dances into two genres: court dance and folk dance.
DRAMA AND
THEATRE
Wayang is
very popular here in Indonesia. It’s a shadow puppet theatre shows and it shows
several mythological legends. There are also other forms of drama here in
Indonesia you have: Javanese Ludruk and Ketoprak, Sundanese Sandiwara and
Betawi Lenong. The shows includes humor and jest and they often ask the
audience to play in the show.
Now I will
briefly tell you what we have discovered about the traditional visual arts from
Indonesia.
PAINTING
Here in
Indonesia they have different kinds of art. There is the Kenyah decorative art,
this art is based on endemic natural motifs such as ferns and hornbills. You
can find them on the walls of Kenyah long houses. Another traditional art is
the geometric Toraja wood carvings and Balinese painting are narrative images
that shows us scenes of Balinese legends and religious scripts. The Lontar
manuscripts and the ceilings of temples pavilion are decorated by the classical
Balinese paintings.
Kenyah decorative art- Mural painting
Geometric Toraja wood carvings
Balinese painting
Classical Balinese painting
SCULPTURE
If you love
sculpture then Indonesia is the place to be. There are so many different kinds
of sculptures here in Indonesia. There are the megalithic sculptures and these
can be found in numerous archaeological sites in Sumatra, Java to Sulawesi.
Then we have the native Indonesians tribes who have their own distinct tribal
sculpture styles, they are usually created to depict ancestors, deities and
animals. The sculptures that you definitely have to see when you’re visiting
Indonesia are these of Asmat wooden sculpture of Papua, the Dayak wooden mask
and sculpture, the ancestral wooden statue of Toraja and last but definitely
not least the totem-like sculpture of Batak and Nias tribe. Another sculpture
that you definitely have to visit is the sculpture of the classical
Hindu-Buddhist era of Indonesia which exist out of hundreds of meters of relief
and hundreds of stone buddhas at the temple of Borobudur in central Java. This
sculpture tells the story of the life of Buddha and illustrate his teachings.
Megalithic sculptures Sumatra
Native Indonesians tribes sculpture
Asmat wooden sculpture of Papua
Borobudur temple
CUISINE
Now my
favorite part the Indonesian cuisine.
We’ve
already tasted a lot of the Indonesian cuisine. This cuisine has been
influenced by Chinese and Indian culture but also by Western culture.
The
national dishes of Indonesia are Soto, Satay and Nasi goreng. Rendang is one
of the most delicious dishes in Indonesia, rendang is a spicy meat dish. Indonesians mostly eat rice as main
with a wide range of vegetables and meat as side dishes but in Irian Jaya and
Ambon they mostly eat sago and sweet potato.
Soto- Indonesian soup
Satay
Nasi goreng
Rendang
Indonesian
cuisine is usually spicy because they
use a wide range of chili peppers and spices. They also use spicy peanut
sauceand pungent shrimp paste. The most
popular dishes includes nasi goring, Satay, Nasi Padang and soy-based dishes
such as tofu and tempe.
A local friend of us eating Nasi Padang in the restaurant
Tempa
Now I have
to stop writing because we go out for dinner and they are waiting for me. I
think I will have the Soto.
Well here it is warm and
almost constantly raining, but that is normal for this time of the year. We are
now in the wet season, from December to April, with average temperatures
between 29°–35°C.
If you are interested
in visiting East Timor, the best time of the year is from July to
November. In the mountain region it’s
cooler and more humid.
We have to wear lightweights
with rainwear. Warmer clothes are needed for cool evenings and mountain areas.
We are now in East Timor and I have to admit that we have had some troubles with adapting to the way of living here in East Timor. It’s totally different than our
luxurious life that we are used to in Belgium. There is nothing luxurious to
the way that people have to live here. Contrary there is a lot of poverty here
in East Timor.
Half the population of East Timor live in extreme poverty, and this is part due to the fact that the country
continuous to suffer the after effects of a decades-long independence struggle
against Indonesia, which damaged infrastructure and displaced thousands of
civilians.
EastTimoristhereforeone of thepoorestcountries in the world and you can
see that when you’re visiting East Timor. Half of thepopulation isilliterate, 20% have no joband only 36%of the householdshaveelectricity.
80% of the active population works in the agricultural sector. Here in East Timor there are a lot of markets where the farmers sells their products.
The government Palace is situated in Dili and the head
of state of East Timor is the President of East Timor. He is elected by vote
for a five-year term. The unicameral East Timorese parliament is the National
Parliamant en the members are elected by popular vote to a five-year term.
The east Timorese constitution is modeled on that of
Portugal.There are also soldiers here
in East Timor. They are called the Timor Leste Defence Force and they are
responsible for the defence of East Timor.
East Timor is divided into thirteen administrative districts. The districts
are subdivided into 65 subdistricts, 442 sucos (villages) and 2,225 aldeias
(hamlets).
So that was it for today.
Talk to you soon
Mieke x
P.S. Did you know that Starbucks is a major purchaser of East Timorese
coffee?
We made our first stop in
East Timor. East Timor is a country in Southeast Asia. I was very interested in
their culture so I did some research and asked some locals to tell me more
about the culture in their country.
Culture
The culture of East Timor reflects numerous influences, including Portuguese,
Roman Catholic, and Indonesian, on the indigenous Austronesian
and Melanesian cultures of Timor. Legend tells
that a giant crocodile was transformed into the island of Timor, or Crocodile
Island, as it is often called. There is also a strong tradition of poetry in
the country. As for architecture, some Portuguese-style buildings can be found,
along with the traditional totem houses of the eastern region. These are known
asuma lulikin Tetum, andlee teinuin Fataluku.
Craftsmanship is also widespread, as is the weaving of traditional scarves or
tais.
Literature
Easily the most famous East
Timorese author is Xanana Gusmão, the leader of the Timorese resistance
organization Fretilin, and now the president of independent East Timor. He
wrote two books during the struggle for independence. Also a poet and painter, he
produced works describing the culture, values, and skills of the Timorese
people.
Music
East Timor's music reflects
its history under the control of both Portugal and Indonesia, who have imported
music like gamelan and fado. The most widespread form of native folk music was
the likurai dance, performed to by women to welcome home men after war. They
used a small drum and sometimes carried enemy heads in processions through
villages; a modern version of the dance is used by women in courtship.
We are looking forward to
visit our next destination and share our experiences with you!
We finally
arrived at our hotel Pousada de Baucau in Baucau. It’s been a very long
journey.
Yesterdaywe
tookthe train at7:27 a.m.
in Gent-Sint-Pieters andan hourlater wearrived inBrusselsSouth. In Brussels South we tookthe thalys at 8:52 a.m. to Schipholwhere wehad to takethe plane.
At 10:24 a.m. we arrived in Schiphol where we had to check in. After
checking in we’ve visited some shops and ate something small.
At 2:40 p.m. we took the plane for a flight of 35h35min. During this flight
we had to change 2 times. We landed at 7:15 a.m. at the airport of Dili in
East-Timor where took a cab to our hotel.
As you can read it was a long journey and we are all tired so we will first
take a little nap and then we will unpack our luggage and go sightseeing.
