With its clean sandy beaches, tropical terrain and well-developed culture, Indonesia is ideal for rejuvenating holidays. What it lacks in terms of economic progress, it compensates with exotic locales, mild climate and cultural affinity with Indian visitors. With the decline of service culture and sky-high hotel room prices in the West, the clean, neat and infrastructurally well-equipped high-growth nations of south-east Asia and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) have emerged as the preferred hot spots of leisure travellers around the world. During the past two decades, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand with their thriving economies have earned good reputation as safe and exotic getaways with opportunities for excellent shopping and extra-curricular activities. Although not quite in the same league in terms of economic progress, what Indonesia (pop. 264 million) lacks in terms of development, it compensates with exotic locales, mild climate and cultural affinity with Indian visitors. The island of Bali, although set within an officially Islamic republic, maintains its strong cultural association with its Hindu past and offers pretty beaches, tropical terrain and exotic culture ideal for rejuvenating holidays, especially for Indian travellers. The name Indonesia has its roots in two Greek words: Indos meaning Indian and nesos which means islands. Strategically located between the mainlands of Asia and Australia, Indonesia comprises a necklace of 17,508 islands stretching 5,150 km, of which only about 6,000 are inhabited. Six main islands — Java, Sumatra, Bali, Kalimantan aka Borneo, Sulawesi aka Celebes and Irian Jaya aka Papua — and 30 smaller archipelagos contain the majority of the population. Indonesia’s history goes back to the fossil era of the Java Man. Fossils discovered by Dr. Eugene Dubois in 1809 near Trinil village in East Java are estimated to be about 500,000 years old. This discovery proves that the region had been inhabited since several millennia. Major migration patterns from China and Tonkin to the Indonesian archipelago have been traced as far back as 3,000-500 BC. These migrations introduced new Stone, Bronze and Iron Age cultures as well as the Austronesian language into the archipelago. By about 100 AD Indonesia had come under the influence of the mighty Hindu kingdoms of south India and later of the powerful Srivijaya Buddhist kingdom during the seventh century. The spectacular Borobudur Buddhist sanctuary was built in Central Java by the Srivijaya kings. The 13th century witnessed the rise of the powerful Majapahit Hindu empire in East Java, which united the whole of what is latter day Indonesia and parts of the Malay peninsula for over two centuries. As in all Hindu empires, the Majapahit kings built several grand temples in Java including the Prambanan temple complex near Yogyakarta, the Penataran temple complex in East Java and several ethereal shrines on the Dieng Plateau. The prosperity of the archipelago attracted plundering Mongol armies led by Kublai Khan in 1293 AD, but he was badly defeated and driven back. Later during the 14th century visiting Arab traders and merchants laid the foundations for the gradual spread of…
