and in response I have received some great pictures of areas I have never even heard of.

Here are the pictures and the names of the areas alongside the Twitter accounts or websites of those who have provided me with them:

North Celebes Province. Where Bunaken is
Courtesty of iFairchild

Sunset in Gangga Island, North Sulawesi by EthnicGirl

Graceful Prambanan by @luthfianya

Santolo, Garut by @mrsnyamnyam

Nusa Tenggara Timur by The Best Photographer in Indonesia

Kakaban by @gitzgitz

Gunung Kerinci by @aquanakmama

Pulau Penyu (Turtle Island), Bali by @adistyanggraini

Indonesian food was nominated as well, I myself like Sate.

Kawah Putih, Ciwidey, Bandung

Airplane headed for Bali from Bisnis Ticketing

Kelor island

a dragon posing on Komodo Island, West Flores, Indonesia
by GOKOMODO

The Rafflesia, as it is named after the expedition leader Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles, has been voted as one of the world’s top 10 ugliest plant in July 2009. The corpse flower only blooms every four to six years within its 40-year life expectancy. The flower is described as the world’s largest; reaching 5ft high and 4ft wide. It only blooms for 3 days and for 8 hours of these 3 days, the flower gives out the rotting flesh smell.

You can find the corpse flower only in the rainforests of Sumatra or in Bogor Botanical Garden.

The Corpse Flower

Back in 1526, the Sultanate of Demak sent Fatahillah to invade the Hindu port of Sunda Kelapa, which is now located in northern Jakarta, still under the same name ‘Sunda Kelapa’. He changed the port’s name to Jayakarta. Today, the old Jakarta city hall is located right at the square named the Fatahillah Square.

Jayakarta then was only 15 Ha in size and rendered in traditional Javanese coastal city. In 1619 the VOC (The Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie) destroyed Jayakarta under the command of Jan Pieterzoon Coen. The town’s name Jayakarta was then changed to “Batavia” to honor Batavieren, the Dutch ancestors.

The inhabitant of Batavia are called “Batavianen”, later known as “Betawi” people, the creole ethnic, the descendants of mixed various ethnicities that has inhabited Batavia.

The Old Jakarta City Hall

The Gili islands was the backpacker mecca in the beginning but today there are glamorous options available. The Gili Air is the closest to the mainlaind of the island Lombok, in the province of Nusa Tenggara Barat. It has the largest local population of all three islands. The Gili Meno is the smallest and also the quietest. Here you will be able to find simple places to stay. Gili Terawangan is the most developed and have been backpackers favourite destination in South East Asia since the beginning.

The Gili islands are very relaxed and laid back. You can find many little beachsite cafes playing reggae and serving up banana pancakes. Many of the cafes are also serving a variety of dishes, from seafood buffet, fresh salads and excellent Asian and western food. You can find many simple hotels and Losmen’s (hotel-like budget accommodations) which provides three meals a day.

All of the three islands have white sandy beaches, coral reefs and crystal clear water. The white sand is far better than anywhere in Bali or Lombok itself.

More and more westerners are now living on Gili islands, running businesses such as dive companies and also resorts. In the beginning people come here to dive, snorkel and party but nowadays more upmarket tourists show up to wine and dine and hang out.

To reach the Gili island, it is fastest to fly from Denpasar in Bali to Mataram in Lombok and from there book a package at the nearest travel agent. It will take you a flat rate of about Rp.75,000 – Rp100,000. Or you could also go to Senggigi and charter your own private boat to the islands.

Every year, thousands of local pilgrims visit the lake as they believed it to be a sacred place. Here, they offer gifts to the goddess that rules over the lake, Dewi Anjani (dewi means goddess, pronounced day-wee).

The three-day Rinjani trek route from Senaru to the crater rim, down to the Crater Lake then on to Sembalun Lawang, is considered one of the best treks in South East Asia. The national park of the Mount Rinjani manages the Rinjani trek. This is to ensure that communities around the mountain benefit from the tourism revenue. Revenue from tourism activities and entry fees is used for conservation, raining, management and assisting the National Park with maintenance of the Rinjani Trek, thus ensuring sustainability. The best time of the year to trek in Rinjani is from April to November.

The Gunung Rinjani National Park lies within a major bio-geographical transition zone (Wallcaeae), where the flora and fauna of South East Asia meets that of Australasia. The park covers about 413 square km. Some of endangered plants and also animals are protected here.

Malin Kundang’s hometown is Padang, the capital city of West Sumatra on the island of Sumatra, which is one of the biggest islands in Indonesia. Tourists usually only come here because it is an access to the incredible surfing site, the Bungus Bay in the Mentawai Island.

The word “Padang” in Indonesia simply means ‘field’. Ever since the 16th and the 17th century, pepper was cultivated and traded in Padang with India, Portugal and the United Kingdom! Yep, it has been an international city for centuries. Padang is the biggest city on the island Sumatra and has an international airport called Minangkabau International Airport in Ketaping, to be precise. Although big, you see that the streets are still very quiet… especially if you are used to the streets of Jakarta!

The cuisine of the Padang people is probably the most famous cuisine amongst all traditional cuisine in Indonesia. Wherever you go you can find Padang restaurants which is named “Rumah Makan Padang” (Padang House of Dining), not only here in Indonesia but also all around the world! In Frankfurt, Germany where I grew up, we also found a Padang Restaurant. I was told very early in my childhood that even if we set our foot on the moon, we will find at least one Padang restaurant there. That is how we joke about their amazing cuisine endeavor.

In Indonesia, every tribe and place has their own cultural signature. Padang’s is not only their delicious food but also their beautiful traditional roof design that you can easily recognize whenever you spot them. Even in Jakarta, you can find roofs of Minangkabau people (the indigenous people of Padang) designed the same way as well as their restaurant buildings.

If you come to Padang, try their delicious beef dish ‘rendang’. We will soon add a special article about this most favourite dish including the recipe!

After one year of research and study the new found fish in the shallow waters of Indonesia finally bounced into the books as a new species.

The fish is a fish family called the frogfish because of it’s bouncing moves in the water. But it has several traits that are not usually found in frogfish, according to Ted Pietsch.

Each time the fish strike the seabed, for instance, they push off with their fins and expel water from tiny gill openings to jet themselves forward. That and an off-centered tail cause them to bounce around in a bizarre, chaotic manner.

To watch the video about the new species of Indonesia, click here.

Worried villagers say that they used to live peacefully with Komodos. The lizards never used to attack them or the children when they walk in the forest, no matter how dangerous they really are.

The komodo dragons are believed to be descendants of a larger lizard living on Indonesia’s Java island or Australia 30,000 years ago. They eat about 80% of their weight and go without eating for the next several weeks. Before 1994, villagers used to feed the komodos with bones and deer skin but since the government issued a policy in 1994 prohibiting the villagers to feed them the beasts have become hungry and now are more aggressive.

The reason for the policy was to “keep the komodo’s instinct and ability to hunt”. By feeding the animals, villagers are making them lazy and the animals will lose their ability to hunt and therefore are threatened to die and extinct. Ironically, now that the dragons are stimulated to hunt, the inhabitants of the islands are now the ones in danger. When they requested the government to build a high wall around the villages to keep the Komodo Dragon’s out, the idea was also rejected as the wall would be considered as a “strange thing in the middle of the national park”.

Fear now spreads over the islands of the komodos home. Even park rangers are nervous. Before the komodos were hungry, the villagers were “goofing around with the lizards, poking their tails, hugging their backs and running in front of them, pretending they’re being chased”. Now those days are over.

The government is currently campaigning to get the Komodo National Park into the New 7 Wonders of Nature. While they are trying hard to do what is best for the komodo dragons, the government should still prioritize human beings first and find a real solution to keep the villagers safe.

After all, in the beginning the world and everything in it was created for us and not the other way around.

To reach the Komodo islands it takes a long voyage from Bali along the islands of Lombok and Sumbawa, giving you the imagination that you are actually entering a real life Jurassic Park. This part of the world is still unexplored especially underwater. Due to the remoteness of the island, the Komodo Dragons themselves were first discovered by the western world only at the beginning of the 20th century. Imagine what else can still lie out there underwater and above!