Well, Indonesia has been an eye opener. The literacy of Indonesians is really bad, one local told us they are the lowest in Asia. Not many people read, especially not for fun! It’s been very hard getting people to understand what a library is, let alone where one is, and local bookshops seem to be full of manga rather than novels. Strangely enough, internet is everywhere, and mobile phones!
We have however felt like celebrities, everywhere we go children and parents want to take photos with us, and are very excited to get a photo with a tourist. At times you can barely walk down a street. But the young generation are definitely wanting to practise their English, and seem very enthusiastic. Adults don’t speak much English, and if they do, they tend to have a Government job rather than say a taxi job (which would be way helpful!) Yet TV has a lot of English programmes which they listen to VERY loudly, but have to read the subtitles to know what is actually happening. In one town, westerns seem to be the ‘thing to watch’.
I have to mention the traffic! Footpaths are what you park your motorbikes on, or used as a extra piece of road if the traffic is backed up and the motorcyclist thinks they can find a way to the front of the queue. There doesn’t seem to be any rules to passing, just that you give a toot, no speed limit signs. We did get stuck in gridlock in a cab in Jakarta, it was insane watching motorcyclists virtually risk their lives to make a few meters further in the queue. Its dangerous to be a pedestrian, as it seems zebra crossings are painted with invisible paint and the footpath really is for parking or driving on!
Indonesians are generally very friendly and always smiling, no matter what natural disaster may have befallen them. To stay so positive in such poverty is a real lesson for us westerners. There are many beggars, who tend to be disabled/blind/old but time and time again, locals will go out of their way to give them a bit of money, even going so far as to go ask other family members for money and then going to find the beggar so they can give it to them. Not something you see in London where most of us pretend not to see them. Unemployment is apparently 60% although I think a lot of ‘jobs’ like selling on street corners etc are probably not registered. Tax is paid by a type of honesty method, which means it is not paid at all. And everybody seems to be able to afford cigarettes, I have never seen so many many many smokers in my life! But chickens are all really healthy, and while Malaysia had cats everywhere, Indonesia seems to prefer dogs, which are also well looked after. You can-not get a tea or coffee with milk, if you order it, it means condensed milk!!!
Cities are big and dirty with rubbish everywhere, yet the countryside is incredible! Those that work, work hard and long. The paddy fields are vast and everywhere, yet there is always someone working in them no matter what hour you go past. In the cities, they tend to try to rip off the tourists, yet in the smaller towns, they go out of their way to make sure you have a good deal, like any country i suppose. The worst bit of all the towns and cities are the mosque calls, 5 times a day, and no matter where you stay you can hear them, sometimes lasting quite a while, the worst one is the 4.22am call! The mosques are all fitted with a minimum of 4 PA speakers up by the dome.
Indonesians are proud of their country, but vehement about corruption and sad that their country is sliding down the poverty scale instead of finding a way forward.
All in all we would both go back again and the bad is definitely outweighed by the good.
We have however felt like celebrities, everywhere we go children and parents want to take photos with us, and are very excited to get a photo with a tourist. At times you can barely walk down a street. But the young generation are definitely wanting to practise their English, and seem very enthusiastic. Adults don’t speak much English, and if they do, they tend to have a Government job rather than say a taxi job (which would be way helpful!) Yet TV has a lot of English programmes which they listen to VERY loudly, but have to read the subtitles to know what is actually happening. In one town, westerns seem to be the ‘thing to watch’.
I have to mention the traffic! Footpaths are what you park your motorbikes on, or used as a extra piece of road if the traffic is backed up and the motorcyclist thinks they can find a way to the front of the queue. There doesn’t seem to be any rules to passing, just that you give a toot, no speed limit signs. We did get stuck in gridlock in a cab in Jakarta, it was insane watching motorcyclists virtually risk their lives to make a few meters further in the queue. Its dangerous to be a pedestrian, as it seems zebra crossings are painted with invisible paint and the footpath really is for parking or driving on!
Indonesians are generally very friendly and always smiling, no matter what natural disaster may have befallen them. To stay so positive in such poverty is a real lesson for us westerners. There are many beggars, who tend to be disabled/blind/old but time and time again, locals will go out of their way to give them a bit of money, even going so far as to go ask other family members for money and then going to find the beggar so they can give it to them. Not something you see in London where most of us pretend not to see them. Unemployment is apparently 60% although I think a lot of ‘jobs’ like selling on street corners etc are probably not registered. Tax is paid by a type of honesty method, which means it is not paid at all. And everybody seems to be able to afford cigarettes, I have never seen so many many many smokers in my life! But chickens are all really healthy, and while Malaysia had cats everywhere, Indonesia seems to prefer dogs, which are also well looked after. You can-not get a tea or coffee with milk, if you order it, it means condensed milk!!!
Cities are big and dirty with rubbish everywhere, yet the countryside is incredible! Those that work, work hard and long. The paddy fields are vast and everywhere, yet there is always someone working in them no matter what hour you go past. In the cities, they tend to try to rip off the tourists, yet in the smaller towns, they go out of their way to make sure you have a good deal, like any country i suppose. The worst bit of all the towns and cities are the mosque calls, 5 times a day, and no matter where you stay you can hear them, sometimes lasting quite a while, the worst one is the 4.22am call! The mosques are all fitted with a minimum of 4 PA speakers up by the dome.
Indonesians are proud of their country, but vehement about corruption and sad that their country is sliding down the poverty scale instead of finding a way forward.
All in all we would both go back again and the bad is definitely outweighed by the good.
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