Hello everyone! And welcome to my travel log.

Perjalanan di Indonesia means “Travel’s in Indonesia”, to improve my bahasa indonesia, I will be peppering this blog with Indonesian words and putting the appropriate translations. Let me begin this travel log’s first entry with a brief introduction about the country that I will be residing in for half a year.

Indonesia is a massive country in Southeast Asia, with over 18,000 islands and some 6,000 of them inhabited and providing some 108,000 kilometers of beaches, it is the largest archipelago in the world. The two extremes of the country, with Aceh in the West and Papua in the East have a distance of more than 4,000 kilometers. Indonesia lies on the western rim of the Ring of Fire, with more than 400 volcanoes, of which over a hundred are considered active and the most recent eruption occurring on November last year where the eruption of Mount Merapi claimed a significant number of lives.

Indonesia has a population of an estimated 250 Million people; after China, India and the USA, Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world and by far the largest in Southeast Asia. Indonesia’s capital is Jakarta and has the largest Muslim population in the world. Most locals speak the official language Bahasa Indonesia and many other regional languages, the most widely spoken of which are Javanese and Sundanese and Achehnese in Bandar Aceh.

The culture of Indonesia is steeped in tradition. Despite being a majority Muslim country, many influences of its Hindu and Buddhist past are still practiced. This is evident even by the various monuments that can be seen on the country’s roads, adding vibrancy especially at the roundabouts on the islands of Bali as well as Kalimantan. It is mandatory to have a religion declared in your Identity card, also known here as “KTP”, Kartu Tanda Penduduk. The current political party and government recognize six religions officially and you can choose anyone of the 6 to be represented on your KTP, they are Islam, Kristen (Christianity – Protestant), Katholic (Catholic), Hindu, Buddhist and Confucianism.

Before Suharto’s era there wasn’t Confucianism and citizens of Indonesia only had five to choose from. If you did not have a religion on your KTP, it means you are either Atheist or Communist, and communism is punishable by the law here. Hence it is a crime not to have a religion declared and as a result of this there is a local saying, “Saya Islam KTP”, meaning “I am only Islam on my IC”. Of course there is a lot more on Indonesia’s culture how it was influenced by religion and I will elaborate in future entries once I’ve learnt more about the religion in Indonesia.

Stay tuned for more exciting updates to come!