Tag: Indonesia

INDONESIA: PERFECT DESTINATION FOR BUDGET TRAVELERS

20’s are the most precious days of our life and are incredible. In this phase, you are old enough to be reasonable, responsible, courageous and knowledgeable. And in this age, you are young enough to have your time of freedom and open- mindedness.

WHAT IS THE BEST ACTIVITY TO DO IN YOUR 20s ? TRAVELLING…. Travelling gives a great experience and is a great way to enjoy these days of young age, to start exploring the world and to start a career. But in this age, we also think about doing activities which will be pocket friendly and will also not drain out the money. Therefore, money is a major obstacle for adventure and travelling for the people in their 20s. It’s very rare to find young persons who have sufficient amount of money for travelling.

The first step towards selecting a place for travelling is “doing a research”. Travelers seek out more unique and affordable ways to travel and the solution to this is research… Iam also one of those individuals who are aspiring to travel and here I have mentioned some awesome countries which are budget friendly and are easy to travel when you’re young and while on a budget from my research’s and bucket list. And Iam super excited to share about Indonesia from my researches.

The world has numerous countries, infinite number of gorgeous places and the more we travel, the more we get interested to explore and it is good to travel. There are many perfect places which are accessible without paying for private tour guide to travel in your 20s.

What makes Indonesia an ideal place for tourists ?

  • Indonesia is a land gifted with beaches, exotic water villas on peaceful islands, cultural ethos and vibrant tribes. The country provides many surreal places and all together they offer a mix of outlandish island and numerous adventures which will make a successful trip.
  • The country has many beautiful islands, beaches and lakes for beach and water bodies lover; national parks for wildlife lovers; active volcano sites for adventurous soul and many places to explore.
  • Indonesia is perfect place for every type of travelers. It is a place that gives peaceful time and alone time as well as adventures. Starting from wild and extravagant adventures to beautiful sights, Indonesia is the summation of every sort of adventure and peaceful. So, pick your favorite place and experience the adventure and peace of a lifetime.
  • Bali is the main tourist destination and in addition to that, the country has hundreds of little islands to visit every single day.
  • Indonesia is a perfect destination for a low cost vacation. As you move towards the inland more, the more the prices will go down. This place is economically feasible and you can also visit Lombok or Sumatra island.
  • The main deciding factor of budget is “transportation” . Depending on the transportation, the trip can get cheaper or even expensive. Intercity travelling can be very expensive and time consuming, so sticking to one region can be a solution. Indonesia gives large number of adventures to experience, explore and rejoice. So, spending more time in a particular place will allow you to travel deeper and explore more and will make the experience more meaningful.
  • If someone wants to travel far and wide on a budget, then using local transportation can be a solution.
  • Apart from Bali, Indonesia provides many beautiful resort island and Indonesia’s archipelago is even wider than United States and offers a whole world to discover.

From white sand beaches to jungles and savannahs, and from blue flame spewing volcanoes to remote rainforests which has orangutans…

Indonesia is a budget traveler’s dream. Indonesia’s best islands and mountains await your wandering soul! Have a look.

East Timor: Brief analysis of its history & independence.

East Timor or Timor-Leste is a tiny island country in Southeast Asia nestled between Australia and Indonesia.

For more than 300 years the territory of East Timor was ruled by Colonial Portugal (Portuguese Timor). They set up both commercial outposts and catholic missions. On 28 November 1975, Portugal withdrew from the island territory when the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor had declared the territory’s independence. But this exit from East Timor was not at all smooth and this enraged bitter rivalry between various local groups. Just nine days later in December 1975 East Timor was invaded and occupied by the Indonesian military. Suharto, the Indonesian president at that time didn’t receive much resistance from the western countries due to the left-leaning stance of East Timor at that time (Cold war).  The Indonesian occupation was a brutal and violent period in East Timor’s history with various suppression tactics many people lost their lives during that period.

The following decades were highly violent with many conflicts between the separatist groups known as Fretilin and the Indonesian military. The military fought a continuous guerilla war with the rebels in the island’s interior mountains. There were numerous rights violations and over 100,000 people died under the occupations of Indonesia.

One of the most defining instances happened on November 12, 1991, when the Indonesian military shot and killed over 250 people who had come for the memorial procession in honor of Sebastio Gomez, a pro-independence supporter killed by the Indonesian military. The events occurred in the Santa Cruz Cemetery in Dili, East Timor’s capital. This tragedy is known as the Santa Cruz Massacre. The event gained international media attention. Although the Indonesian occupation did not cede until eight years later in 1999, the Santa Cruz massacre was a defining moment in the island nation’s quest for independence.

In 1998 president Suharto resigned from his position after more than 30 years in power due to growing pressure and protests against him from within the country. His replacement was open towards more open towards the autonomy of East Timor. International pressure for East Timor grew in 1998. During the downfall of the New Order government, as part of Reformasi, a referendum was held in East Timor to ask whether they wished to remain in Indonesia with increased autonomy or become independent. On August 30, 1999, about 78% of the population of East Timorese chose to remain independent.

Following the referendum, violence again erupted in East Timor as Indonesian-backed militias increased their activities across the country. In September UN peacekeeping let by Australia force took control of the situation but a lot of damage was already done. In 2002 Xanana Gusmão was elected as the first president after three years of transitional governance by the UN.

As of today, the country has been relatively stable but the economic conditions have not been improved. Indonesia’s Timor has fared comparatively better than East Timor. It was also discovered that Australia, a country that East Timor considered as their ally had spied on East Timor to gain leverage over negotiations on the exploitation of natural resources in the Timor Sea. On a positive note, the country has comparatively good relations with Indonesia now.

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