Sounds like it could be in a punnet square. Tomorrow I'm leaving Indonesia and heading to Australia. I was supposed to leave today but due to a technical issue my flight was never booked, so I got one for tomorrow. Indonesia is another complex place. I couldn't stand it in the beginning but the country has grown onto me a bit. One of my dreams is to start an organization dealing with the rubbish issue here. Only yesterday did I learn that Indonesia has the world's worst deforestation rate.
As Indonesia is my 33rd country visited, I'm going to now write 33 reasons why I wouldn't want to return and 33 reasons why I would
Why I wouldn't want to return:
1. Merciless taxi drivers
2. Rubbish everywhere!
3. Forest fire pollution
4. Extreme heat and humidity
5. Long and uncomfortable bus rides
6. Money expected for every little thing
7. Sleepless nights on trains, buses, and elsewhere
8. Mosquitoes (though they're everywhere)
9. Police expecting bribes
10. Disgusting toilets
11. Aggressive tour guides in Bali
12. Bus drivers overcharging foreigners just because they're foreigners
13. Locals smoking on buses
14. Having to pay to both enter and exit the country: $35 for a visa to enter and $20 to exit the country
15. Constantly having to pay to use toilets
16. Having my bags searched just to enter a shopping mall
17. Receiving my coffee overloaded with sugar and instant coffee
18. The sad colour of the sun in Sumatra
19. Wine being so damn expensive
20. Lights not being dimmed on a night train
21. No understanding of why money is raised for building of mosques but not for adequate sanitation and rubbish disposal
22. Stench of the vehicle deck on the Sumatra-Java ferry
23. Locals throwing rubbish overboard on ferries
24. Factories and smokestacks belching coal smoke
25. A limit of only about $100 for ATM withdrawals (inconvenient when each withdrawal costs $6)
26. Waking up bleary eyed all the time.
27. Having to wear a mask over my nose.
28. Carrying 50 kg of gear whilst exhausted and sweaty at train stations.
29. Not being able to communicate with the vast majority of locals.
30. An hour on the TransJakarta just to go 5 km
31. The poor safety record of Indonesian flights
32. Being limited to only 30 or 60 days on a visa
33. The potential headache involving Indonesian travel
There are many reasons I would love to return to Indonesia, and this list was easier to make.
1. Meet up again with Ning, my CS host in Jogja
2. Cheap massages in Bali
3. Vegan food on every corner in Ubud
4. The opportunity to drive a motor-scooter without a license
5. Visit more areas of Indonesia (Papua, Flores, Kalimintan, etc.)
6. Gateway to East Timor
7. The volcanoes of Java; I dream of climbing a few of them
8. The Love Hut vegan restaurant in Jogja
9. Temples at Prambanan
10. Cool air of Bukittinggi
11. Rice terraces of vibrant green
12. Luwak coffee
13. Bright sunrises of Jogja
14. Girls in hijab being photogenic
15. See the Komodo dragons
16. Gado-gado
17. Satay with peanut sauce
18. Possibly start a non-profit to combat the rubbish problem
19. Get a photo crossing the Equator
20. Spot an orang-utan in the wild
21. Learn some Bahasa Indonesia
22. Visit during the wet season when the land is green and lush
23. Wooden toys on the Java-Bali ferry
24. Chatting with locals on the Batam-Dumai ferry
25. Entering and travelling Indonesia in about the most exciting way possible (land and sea)
26. Being invited to sleep in a mosque in Batam
27. Cheap cans of Milo
28. Have a hitch hiking experience when I need it most (as happened in Bali)
29. Hygienic products (e.g. facial scrub, toothpaste) are very cheap
30. Mountain and lake scenery of Bali
31. Call in and see Varian and Fryuger if I pass through Palembang
32. Indomaret: the one-stop shop for all your needs.
33. To create at least 33 more reasons to return this great country!
In the end, I'll most certainly return. Indonesia is one of those countries that gets under your skin and never fully leaves you!
