The traffic in Jakarta
A normal part of most Staff College courses is to do some overseas tours and the Australian Command and Staff College is no different. In late May, the entire class of 150 students split into four groups and headed for either Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, or Indonesia. Since I had never been to any of these countries I was initially at a loss to choose one over the others. In the end, however, I opted for Indonesia since my Grandmother had lived in Jakarta as a small girl where my Great-Grandfather worked for several years as a teacher.
A Mosque in Surabuya
There are many amazing things about Indonesia, not the least of which is the geography. The country is spread out over some 17,000 islands on which close to 200 million people live! The island of Java, where we spent most of our time, was incredibly over crowded and the picture of the traffic in Jakarta (above) really does not do it justice! In addition to spending several days in Jakarta visiting with the Indonesian military, we spent one day in Bandung (in the hills about 4 hours from Jakarta) and Surabuya on the east coast of Java and home to the eastern Indonesian fleet.
Ian and a Malaysian classmate at the Indonesian Eastern Fleet in Surabuya
Our last stop was Bali where the pace of life is noticeably slower and the abject poverty in the cities of Java gives way to a more prosperous feeling. Also noticeable was the Hindu influence (most of Indonesia is Muslim) and in one of the pictures you can see “Barong” the lion god who is the king of spirits and leader of "the host of good". I brought back a wooden carving of Barong who is now bringing us luck (hopefully!).
The lion god "Barong" on a temple at Ubud on the island of Bali
A gong orchestra performing in a temple in Ubud
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