When we went out our big Asia trip about a year and a half ago now (I can’t believe it was so long ago) we spent a fair amount of time in rural Indonesia, both in Ubud up in the mountains, and also in Banyuwangi on Java. To be honest, I never wrote much about Indonesia because I had a terrible experience in Denpasar. We were there twice, once at the beginning of the trip and once at the end, and I resented every second of it. It was crowded, touristy, tacky and the people were ridiculously pushy.
Needless to say, this experience made me not want to write about Indonesia at all. However, after a little bit of time passing, I’m now realizing that not all of Indonesia was bad and I don’t want the crappy bits to overshadow some amazing experiences we had. Our first few days were spent in Ubud and it is beautiful and unlike anything I had ever seen before. Driving around with some locals near Banyuwangi I saw beautiful vistas, rice paddies and tiny villages. I experienced monsoons out in the forest. Some locals took us to where they made red sugar and showed us how they did it.
Not all of Indonesia was bad, and looking back some parts of it were beautiful. I’m very happy that now I can finally appreciate the time I spent there, but I have to say that rural Indonesia gave me a much better impression than the rest. And to be honest, I’d probably return back to this part of the country.
I’d love to hear about any of your experiences in Indonesia, whether it was rural or not.
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