Monkey Forest Ubud

The Monkey Forest of Padangtegal represents a sacred Balinese Hindu site. In trying to understand Balinese Hinduism it is important to keep in mind that Balinese Hinduism is unlike Hinduism practiced in other parts of the world today. Balinese Hinduism combines aspects of Animism, Ancestor Worship, Buddhism, and Hinduism.

Some of the first evidence of extensive human inhabitation on Bali dates back to approximately 2,500 B.C. The religion of the Bali Aga (original Balinese) centered around both Animism and Ancestor Worship. Ancestor Worship represents the belief that prosperity is associated with a relationship that exists between the living and the dead (prosperity is something that can only be achieved through intense worship and obtainment of blessings from ancestors). Animism represents the belief that inanimate objects and other elements of the natural landscape can possess souls which can help as well as hinder human efforts on Earth.

Source :
http://monkeyforestubud.com

Mount Semeru

Semeru, or Mount Semeru (Indonesian: Gunung Semeru), is an active volcano located in East Java, Indonesia. It is the highest mountain on the island of Java. The stratovolcano is also known as Mahameru, meaning 'The Great Mountain. The name derived from the Hindu-Buddhist mythical mountain of Meru or Sumeru, the abode of gods.

Semeru is named from Sumeru, the central world-mountain in Buddhist cosmology and by extension Hinduism. As stated in legend, it was transplanted from India; the tale is recorded in the 15th-century East Javanese work Tantu Pagelaran. 

It was originally placed in the western part of the island, but that caused the island to tip, so it was moved eastward. On that journey, parts kept coming off the lower rim, forming the mountains Lawu, Wilis, Kelut, Kawi , Arjuno and Welirang. 

The damage thus caused to the foot of the mountain caused it to shake, and the top came off and created Penanggungan as well. Indonesian Hindus also hold a belief that the mountain is the abode of Shiva in Java.

Travel to Indonesia

Indonesia was a regional superpower before it was colonized by the Dutch. The Sri Vijaya and Majapahit Empires span the entire Indonesian archipelago and include the present-day Malaysia and even the southern islands of the Philippines.

Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, was known as Batavia during the Dutch colonial period.
The Mount Tambora eruption of 1815 on the island of Sumbawa is the largest observed volcanic eruption in recorded history. This eruption affected the climate of the entire globe and was known as the “year without summer”.

Jakarta is considered a global city, but it boasts no high-speed railway system. Instead, busways are developed as a response to the transport needs of the city.

Aside from the Orangutan, Indonesia is also home to exotic and rare animal and plant species including the Sumatran tiger, Javan rhinoceros, and the Rafflesia – the largest flower.

Indonesia stretches 5,120 kilometers from east to west. Because of this, the country covers three time zones.

Indonesia is one of the largest producers of nutmeg in the world.


Source :
http://sfubiz.ca/aiesec/2013/07/travel-tuesday-indonesia/

Kelud Stratovolcano

Kelud (Klut, Cloot, Kloet, Kloete, Keloed or Kelut) is a volcano located in East Java on Java in Indonesia. Like many Indonesian volcanoes and others on the Pacific Ring of Fire, Kelud is known for large explosive eruptions throughout its history. More than 30 eruptions have occurred since 1000 AD. It last erupted on February 13, 2014.

Kelut is notorious among Indonesia's volcanoes for its violent, and often deadly explosive eruptions. One of the worst disasters occurred during the 1919 eruption, when the then very large crater lake drained and produced extensive mud-flows (lahars) that killed at least 5160 people. 

An eruption in 1586 is believed to have caused even more than 10,000 fatalities. The most recent prior explosive eruption in 1991 caused more than 50 deaths due to pyroclastic flows that swept down the flanks of the mountain. In contrast, the 2007 eruption was almost purely effusive and built a new lava dome, replacing the previous lake. This lava dome was with all likelihood completely destroyed during last night's explosion. 

Source :
http://www.volcanodiscovery.com
http://en.wikipedia.org
http://www.erepublik.com

Krakatoa

Krakatoa, or Krakatau (Indonesian: Krakatau), is a volcanic island situated in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra in Indonesia. The name is also used for the surrounding island group comprising the remnants of a much larger island of three volcanic peaks which was obliterated in a cataclysmic 1883 eruption, unleashing huge tsunamis (killing more than 36,000 people) and destroying over two-thirds of the island. 

The explosion is considered to be the loudest sound ever heard in modern history, with reports of it being heard up to 3,000 miles (4,800 km) from its point of origin. The shock waves from the explosion were recorded on barographs around the globe.
In 1927 a new island, Anak Krakatau, or "Child of Krakatoa", emerged from the caldera formed in 1883 and is the current location of eruptive activity.

Tangkuban Perahu Stratovolcano

Tangkuban Perahu (spelt Tangkuban Parahu in the local Sundanese dialect) is a dormant volcano 30 km north of the city of Bandung, the provincial capital of West Java, Indonesia. It last erupted in 1826, 1829, 1842, 1846, 1896, 1910, 1926, 1929, 1952, 1957, 1961, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1983. 

It is a popular tourist attraction where tourists can hike or ride to the edge of the crater to view the hot water springs and boiling mud up close, and buy eggs cooked on the hot surface. 

This stratovolcano is on the island of Java and last erupted in 1983. Together with Mount Burangrang and Bukit Tunggul, those are remnants of the ancient Mount Sunda after the plinian eruption caused the Caldera to collapse.

In April 2005 the Directorate of Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation raised an alert, forbidding visitors from going up the volcano. "Sensors on the slopes of the two mountains - Anak Krakatoa on the southern tip of Sumatra Island and Tangkuban Perahu in Java - picked up an increase in volcanic activity and a build up of gases.

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org
http://www.indonesia.travel

Kopi Luwak

Sumatran kopi luwak farmer holds civet feces with embedded coffee beans. Sumatra, Indonesia

Kopi luwak or civet coffee, refers to the beans of coffee berries once they have been eaten and excreted by the Asian palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus). The name is also used for marketing brewed coffee made from the beans.

Producers of the coffee beans argue that the process may improve coffee through two mechanisms, selection and digestion. Selection occurs if the civets choose to eat coffee berries containing better beans. Digestive mechanisms may improve the flavor profile of the coffee beans that have been eaten. The civet eats the berries for the beans' fleshy pulp, then in the digestive tract, fermentation occurs. The civet's proteolytic enzymes seep into the beans, making shorter peptides and more free amino acids. Passing through a civet's intestines the beans are then defecated with other fecal matter and collected.

The traditional method of collecting feces from wild civets has given way to intensive farming methods in which civets in battery cage systems are force fed the coffee beans. This method of production has raised ethical concerns about the treatment of civets due to "horrific conditions" including isolation, poor diet, small cages and a high mortality rate.

Although kopi luwak is a form of processing rather than a variety of coffee, it has been called the most expensive coffee in the world with retail prices reaching €550 / US$700 per kilogram. The price paid to collectors in the Philippines is closer to US$20 per kilogram. The price of farmed (considered low-grade by connoisseurs) kopi luwak in large Indonesian supermarkets is from US$100 per kilogram (five times the price of a high quality local arabica coffee). 

Genuine kopi luwak from wild civets is difficult to purchase in Indonesia and proving it is not fake is very difficult - there is little enforcement regarding use of the name "kopi luwak", and there's even a local cheap coffee brand named "Luwak", which costs under $3 per kilogram but is occasionally sold online under the guise of real kopi luwak.


History

The origin of kopi luwak is closely connected with the history of coffee production in Indonesia. In the early 18th century the Dutch established the cash-crop coffee plantations in their colony in the Dutch East Indies islands of Java and Sumatra, including Arabica coffee introduced from Yemen. During the era of Cultuurstelsel (1830—1870), the Dutch prohibited the native farmers and plantation workers from picking coffee fruits for their own use. Still, the native farmers wanted to have a taste of the famed coffee beverage. Soon, the natives learned that certain species of musang or luwak (Asian Palm Civet) consumed the coffee fruits, yet they left the coffee seeds undigested in their droppings. The natives collected these luwaks' coffee seed droppings, then cleaned, roasted and ground them to make their own coffee beverage.[11] The fame of aromatic civet coffee spread from locals to Dutch plantation owners and soon became their favorite, yet because of its rarity and unusual process, the civet coffee was expensive even in colonial times.[citation needed]

Sumber : http://en.wikipedia.org