Jolotundo – The Bathing Place
In the bathing tanks – women to the left, men to the right – people are standing chest-deep in the cool, clear water. Clearly something unusual is going on here; clearly Jolotundo is more than just another thousand-year-old relic of Java’s classical Hindu past.
Read MoreClowning Around
There is something about spending your formative years as a young expatriate in Indonesia that changes you forever. Some feel a deep commitment to come back to Indonesia and give back in creative ways once they’ve ‘grown up’. But who says that ‘growing up’ has to be so serious? And sometimes the best way to give back is with a big red nose and floppy shoes.
Read MoreThe Kopernik Revolution
Kopernik is a technology marketplace that connects life-changing innovations (such as water purification and solar-powered devices) to the people who need them in the developing world. Co-founder Ewa Wojkowska explains how and why it came about.
Read MoreRing of Fire: the Extraordinary Odyssey of the Blair Brothers
“Are you one of those people who believe that there’s nothing left to discover in this world of ours? Then here’s the story of Lawrence Blair and his brother Lorne, who came East in search of adventure and found themselves wandering for 10 years in the most volcanic region on earth, into the Ring of Fire…”
Read MoreMonkey Business
Topeng Monyet – masked monkeys – are a traditional Jakarta past-time that borrow their visuals and sense of drama from the masked human dancers of Cirebon in West Java. Dave Smithson discovers that the teenaged handlers from one of Jakarta’s darkest slums provide a new twist to an old tale.
Read MoreThis Side of Paradise: Nikoi Island
Closer to Singapore than to Jakarta, Nikoi island off the east coast of Bintan, is Riau's best-kept secret. The private island is owned by a small group of expatriate owners who'd spent decades working in the region. The vacation spots in the vicinity fell short of their expectations.
Read More