What the hell is somebody doing in Indonesia thinking they are on the
ICW?
This is Indonesia, a lovely country but purely 3rd world. The 3rd most
populace country in the World, with an infrastructure in some places
resembling the western world 200 years ago (although rapidly changing -
fortunately)

Brian replied:
Just a little correction. Indonesia is the 4th most populace country behind
China, India, USA, Indonesia

When I worked over there in mid nineties I was amazed to find out that no
American president had ever visit this 4th most populace country until Bill
Clinton. Following that visit it was amazing to be there. Americans were held
in very high esteem until we extended these new religious wars (over oil).

Peter wrote:
A very close friend is in charge of teaching anti terrorism to the
country and has set up an academy to bring this country up to world
speed, and he and his wife were shot at by robbers just two weeks ago in
their car.

Brian replied:
This is still a very poor country, and thievry is a part of their nature.
And bribery, we had to walk around with pockets full of money to pay off the
various officials.

Peter wrote:
I'm in Indonesia in 2009. I study every day what's ahead of me and am
very cautious.

Brian replied:
Good luck to you. I liked Indonesia myself, and we had a crew of Indoneisan
guys working for us.

But I would give serious thought to visiting there now until American foreign
policy cleans up their act and another high level offical visits in
peace....and not some Texas cowboy

Hi PUPers,

We are currently in Indonesia, and certainly recommend visiting here by
boat. We entered at Kupang, Timor from Thursday Island, Australia. So far we
have had a great time, and everything has been smooth, including the seas!
We did hire an agent to get our cruising permit (CAIT) and to check in.

It is hard to generalize Indonesia since it is a large country and it has
distinct regions. For example the east is more rural, Bali is tourist
central, and the west (Java) is super dense population. Also each region has
different religions, different economics, and different problems.

We have done more rural areas and we are currently in Bali. Via that route
we have had nothing but nice and helpful people. Tourism has been hard hit
recently, and our sense is many are trying to compensate and make it a nice
experience for tourists. We will share our experience through our blog (at
bottom of this message). The first Indonesia posts will go up around New
Years timeframe. We are working on writing the stories and getting the
pictures organized.

The only consistent thing about Indonesia is it seems everyone has a
different story. Ultimately it really does not seem different than any other
destination: Do your homework, make relevant preparations, and go in with a
respectful attitude.

By the way, the food in Indonesia is great, and amazingly inexpensive. It is
anywhere from 1/10 to 1/4 of the price of comparable meals in places such as
Australia and USA.

--
Eric & Christi Grab
m/v Kosmos http://kosmos.liveflux.net/blog (Nordhavn 43-18)