By Kowsar Teymouri

Graphic design by Qingyue Guo 

After a week of attending the World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics in Singapore, my husband and I boarded a short flight to explore one of our bucket list countries, Indonesia. We were greeted with motorcycle horns, warm smiles, and Nasi Goreng—famous Indonesian fried rice—as soon as we landed in Jakarta. While you might think “Bali” when you hear “Indonesia”, let me tell you that Indonesia is way more; 17,507 islands, to be exact! There was so much to see, and we decided to sample four islands: Java, Borneo, Bali, and Nusa Penida. 

Java, the world’s most populous island, surprised us at every turn. After wandering through the old town of Jakarta, where we felt the footprints of Dutch occupation, we headed to Yogyakarta. The first day, we hiked the green terraces of rice paddies, where we were warmly welcomed by the local farmers. The next day, we visited Merapi, one of the active volcanoes in Java, and interestingly, it had its largest eruption since 1872 in 2010, where over 350 of its residents lost their lives. The village was completely covered in lava, and I couldn’t help but ask our young guide why he was still living there, to which he said, “We are from Merapi, and we die in Merapi.” Next, we wandered through three tiers of Borobudur temple, the largest Buddhist temple in the world, and we were enchanted by its 72 bell-shaped stupas, each holding a Buddha statue. We ended the day at Prambanan, the famous Hindu temple, and watched the sun set behind its 240 structures. 

Rice terraces of Java Island – Yogyakarta

Borneo was the highlight of our trip: Four days cruising through the Kumai River on a Klotok boat, waking up to see the sun rise over the Tanjung Puting National Park. We got to see six primate species in the wild, including the endangered orangutans, the amusing proboscis monkeys, and the energetic macaques. From night trekking to see the shiny eyes of the nocturnal animals in the forest to visiting different feeding platforms where orangutans swung through the trees to get their daily fruits, we were in awe. Tanjung Puting is one of the two natural habitats of the orangutan, and it is the home of Dr. Birute Galdikas, one of the trio of women—including Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey— appointed by Dr. Louis Leakey to study great apes. We left the island with a heart full of respect for anyone contributing to the rehabilitation of orangutans.

Family of Orangutans at the feeding station in Camp Leaky, Borneo

Our trip ended in Bali, where the lush greenery, mesmerizing Hindu temples, beautiful waves of the ocean, and the offerings on the sidewalks will be forever engraved in our hearts. A day trip to Nusa Penida, the pocket-sized island just south of Bali, completed our Indonesia trip, where we got to experience its cliff-edge roads and swim with manta rays and sea turtles while snorkelling. Indonesia was a heaven on earth, and we left with shoes covered in ash, salt on our skin, and a promise to return.  

Selfie with the monkey at the monkey forest, Ubud, Bali