There have quite a few countries I have visited
There have quite a few countries I have visited and some of the most “attracting” countries have been Malta and Indonesia. I enjoy going off the so called “beaten track”. Finding new places and meeting people from all different races and religions.
I have met some very interesting people and made many friends along the way. Even in South Africa, I still enjoy heading out into the mountains and wilderness to find new adventures, which generally end up as an adventure on its own.
Malta I found was quite an interesting place too
There is so much history here dating back thousands of years. I enjoyed seeing all the pansy shell fossils which I found on top of the Azure Window on the island of Gozo, but sadly Mother Nature has now removed this icon from the landscape, never the less, the fossils are plentiful here.
The caves I found in Malta were also pretty impressive.
Volcanoes are something I find spectacular and being up close and personal with one of the biggest erupting volcanoes in the world, Krakatau impressed me. The sheer size of the island was pretty impressive; although I expected the volcano to be a little taller (Merapi is a tall volcano). I was hoping during my visit to Krakatau I would feel the ground shake a little, but this unfortunately never happened.
Jomblong caves
Jomblong caves, situated near Yogyakarta was a very cool place to visit. Another gem in Indonesia. You must see the reward at the turning point of the cave to really appreciate this hike.
Out of the 2 countries I have enjoyed visiting the most; I have found Indonesia to be my favorite so far. After visiting Indonesia several times and making many friends I discovered a lot of history between South Africa and Indonesia. Certain words that the Indonesians use are very similar or the same as many Afrikaans words.
Indonesia, is this a country full of diversity?
I was reading random articles the other day and came across an interesting read. “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika” translated from the Old Javanese language to English is “Unity in Diversity”.
In 2000, the motto of South Africa changed again. It is written in ǀXam, a South African language believed to be extinct. The motto “ǃke e: ǀxarra ǁke” means “Unity in Diversity”
So, it seems after all our countries think alike and have many similarities; Unity in Diversity!
Individual differences, be it gender, race, religious beliefs, ethnicity, sexual orientation, understanding that each and every individual is unique; is what it is all about. This is Unity in Diversity.
During my travels to many islands in Indonesia and the main islands, I met so many different people from all walks of life. There were Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, Hindu’s; too many to mention. The different foods that I was offered was also unreal.
The different ethnic people I met were also something else. I have met, Chinese, Sudanese, Batak, Javanese, Betawi, Balinese and so many others I cannot remember and they were all Indonesian.
So to sum up my earlier question of Indonesia being full of diversity, I would say 100% yes.
With so many ethnic groups from so many islands, I found all of them to be so proud of their country, Indonesia.
Just the other day I read an article about “Free Papua”, (Papua is a province of Indonesia, situated North of Australia) where there are people who want the province of Papua to separate from the rest of the country of Indonesia and become independent. Why would a province of a country, which has the support and assistance from the Central Government fight to lose the protection their country? Pretty crazy if you ask me. I think I should write more about this sometime and give my thoughts and opinions. Why is it that some individuals try and tear a country apart, for the sake of their own benefit or just to get a bunch of people to intimidate others and cause unnecessary trouble and conflict?
In many places of Indonesia I have visited and notably after 2014, there have been massive upgrades to the infrastructure of the country. I have seen these upgrades pretty much everywhere I have been in Indonesia, even as far as Papua.
I definitely think the new government of Indonesia is making a big effort to improve conditions all over their country and not just around the capital cities.
So why “Free Papua”?
