Indonesia is located between the Pacific and the Indian Oceans and consists of many amazing islands. Every island feels like being in a different country.
You can enjoy jungle treks and adventures in Sumatra, visit the ancient temples or climb the volcanos in Java and finally go to Bali and find out why the hell people love Bali.
This tiny island in the middle of the ocean, with great beaches, super kind people and thousands of magnificent hindu temples. There is so much to see in Indonesia that you could spend here months. Here you have a list of things you can manage to see in 3-4 weeks.
Do you want to know the prices in Indonesia? Check out our Indonesia budget guide.
Places from the photo journey on the map
Orangutans are reason nr.1 why you should visit Sumatra. Bukit Lawang is a village in the Gunung Leuser National Park, listed in UNESCO. If you book a trek, you will see also many other specias of monkeys and other animals.
Sumatran Orangutans are critically endangered and it is really an awesome moment to see them for the first time in the jungle. They are quite funny as they are really similar to humans. You can watch them playing and swinging in the trees, eating fruits.
The jungle trek is really fun experience.
You can arange a jeep to get you from Bukit Lawang to Tang Kahan, a small village in the middle of the jungle.
Tourists come here because of the jungle and elephant trekking. The elephants protect the national park from illegal logging.
Step nr.1: You wash the elephants.
Step nr.2: The elephants wash you.
Step nr.3: When they are clean, they take you on a short trip.
It can turn into an adventure during the heavy rains.
A small dirty town where you take a boat to Lake Toba.
If you wanna get the only tip for Parapat: Don't stay in Charlie's Inn. It is one of the worst guesthouses ever. The rooms are really dirty and smells like piss. It seemed like nobody cleaned them for many years.
Lake Toba is the largest volcanic lake in the world. You should be heading to Samosir island where the local people called Bataks live in their special houses. Pre-colonial Batak people were known for cannibalism.
You can visit the Batak museum where you can see the traditional dances and costumes.
Prambanan is the largest Hindu temple in Indonesia, built in the 9th century and listed in UNESCO.
You can hire a guide there who will take you through the complex, explaining you all the statues. Prambanan is located 17 km from Yogyakarta and the visit can be combined together with Borobudur temple.
Borobudur is the largest Buddhist temple in the world. As well as Prambanan it is built in the 9th century and listed in UNESCO.
It is created by nine platforms and decorated with thousands of statue panels and 504 Buddha statues.
These little friends are civets. They like to eat coffee beans and when they poop them, people collect them and make a coffee from them. And it is the most expensive coffee in the world called Kopi Luwak or Civet coffee.
The civets improve the process of selecting, because they pick only the best berries, digest them with their enzyms, so the coffee becomes very mild and popular. This is bad news for the civets, because people went from difficult collecting the poop in the wild to keep these cute animals captive, feeding them only with coffee beans.
The volcano Mt. Bromo (2,329 metres) is located in the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park and it is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Java, because of these incredible views. If you buy a trip, you will first wait with many others to see the sunrise.
After the sunrise, you will be transported further, where you'll walk through the volcano landscape towards the volcano.
In the end you will climb the stairs that will take you to the summit. There are quite many tourists there, but it is worth the trip.
Local people sell here the traditional chicken satay with rice dumpling. This one was amazing, made on a homemade grill on a motorbike!
Kawah Ijen is another volcano you shouldn't miss in Java. Ijen volcano has a turquoise, but toxic crater lake where you can find a famous sulfur mine.
When you book a trip to Ijen volcano, you will start the climb at 2 am, walking in the dark to get there before the sunrise to see the blue light. You will walk first uphill then downhill, while coughing because of the sulphur or using the gas mask. Bring a wet scarf or make sure that the gas masks will be provided.
You will try just a little bit how it feels to walk like that every day for the sulfur mine workers. They climb back next to you in flip flops, with no gas mask, carrying heavy loads of sulfur in the baskets.
The baskets can weight as much as 90 kg! It was almost impossible for a strong European only to hold them for few seconds. We don't understand how the small indonesian guys can carry this all the way.
The Menjangan island lies in protected marine reserve of the Bali Barat National Park. It offers definitely the best snorkeling in Bali and maybe the ever best we have been to! Just rent a boat with a driver and enjoy!
A buddhist temple, monastery and also a meditation centre. Peaceful and spiritual place in wonderfull settings.
This monkey forest is a sanctuary of macaques, but also a sacred place as you can find here a temple from the 17th century.
Macaques are fun to watch, but beware of your things. Sunglasses, cameras, bags full of food. They can steal everything.
One of the most attractive temples in Bali.
This tiny pilgrimage temple sits on a large rock in the ocean. You can receive a hindu blessing here if you dare to come to the small cave in the sea just right next to the temple.
A yummy meal in a restaurant near the complex of Pura Tanah Lot.
A former water palace full of fountains, statues, pools with a beautiful garden around. Worth visiting!
It is the the largest and most important temple in Bali. The complex is really huge, built on six levels and consisting of 23 temples. Unfortunately it is also known for many tourists scams. They can try refusing you to enter even with the ticket until you give them a donation that could reach up to $50. Tips: take a sarong, long sleeves and don't give up. If you really want to get rid off them fast, give them a small amount and they will leave.
Getting ready for the boat from Sanur to Nusa Lembongan.
Nusa Lembongan is a great place where you can stay for many days. You can rent a motorbike and explore different beaches and lagoons on both islands that are connected by a bridge.
You can visit here for example Dream Beach, Secret Beach, Devil's Tear or the Blue Lagoon on the picture.
Gili Islands are three tiny paradise islands next to Lombok. Gili Trawangan is about partying. Restaurants, drunk backpackers and different loud music in every bar. Gili Trawangan is fun if you wanna party. If you prefer the opposite, don't even stop there and go directly to Gili Meno or Gili Air. This picture from Gili Trawangan is quite misleading :)
An oposite of Gili Trawangan. Small, empty and calm. You can find a real paradise here.
Lombok is not that famous as Bali, but if you prefer untouched nature and villages with no tourists, you should visit this island next to Gili islands.
This trip is not that much about the waterfall, but about the way to it. You walk through villages in the middle of the jungles where everybody is greeting you. You will see the real indonesian life here.
Here you can have a huge beach only for yourself. There are not that many tourists around like in Bali.
When traveling to south of Lombok, visit the traditional village of Sasak, native people of Lombok. They marry their cousins and are famous for the weaving.
Places from the photo journey on the map
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