These mysterious mountains now lure hikers and mountaineering clubs, which have sprung up in Jakarta, Bandung, and other cities. Adventure travelers from other countries also find these volcanoes worth the trip. The most popular ones to climb are:

• the twin volcanoes of Gede and Pangrango in West Java;
• Semeru and Kelud in East Java;
• Merapi in Central Java; and
• Rinjani on Lombok.

On rare occasions, expeditions are made to the snow-covered summit of the Jayawijaya Range in Papua. Although it was not formed by volcanic activity, it is the highest point in Indonesia and one incredible adventure at 5,050 meters (16,000 feet).

Indonesia’s most famous volcano is Krakatau (known in the Western world as Krakatoa) in the Sunda Strait, between Java and Sumatra. When it blew up in 1883, the explosion and its after-effects circled the world. This volcano and many others have killed more than 150,000 people in Indonesia over the last 200 years. Following is a list of the deadliest Indonesian volcanic eruptions on record:

Mt. Tambora, Sumbawa: In 1815, it killed 92,000 people. This eruption was greater in size and power than the more famous eruption of Krakatau. About 10,000 people were killed directly as a result of eruptions and ash falls, while about 82,000 were subsequently killed by starvation and disease.

• Mt. Krakatau, Sunda Strait: This well-known volcano erupted repeatedly over August 26-27, 1883. The northern part of the island vanished into the air and sea. It killed more than 36,000 people, mostly those who lived on the neighboring islands of Java and Sumatra. The massive tsunamis caused by the explosion surged 10 miles inland on these two islands to kill most of the victims. The explosions were heard 3,000 miles away and the shock was felt as far away as California, 9,000 miles from ground zero. Since 1925, this volcano has visibly been regenerating itself and is violently active again.
• Mt. Kelut, East Java: In 1586, Kelut (also called Kelud) erupted and killed about 10,000 people. Most of the victims were killed by lahars—violent mudflows comprised of volcanic ash and debris saturated with water from the volcano’s crater lake.  In 1919, this volcano erupted again and killed more than 5,000 people.
• Mt. Galunggung, West Java:  In 1882, this volcano erupted and killed about 4,000 people with mudflows and hot ash.

Mt. Awu, Sangihe Besar Island in North Sulawesi Province: In 1711, Awu erupted and killed more than 3,000 people. In 1856, it erupted again and killed about 2,800 people. In 1892, it erupted again and killed about 1,500 people. In 1812, this deadly mountain killed another 960 people.

Mt. Merapi, Central Java: In 1672, Merapi, which means mountain of fire, erupted and killed about 3,000 people. In 1930, Merapi erupted again and killed about 1,300 people in the valleys below. In 1994, a scorching heat cloud from the volcano killed 66 villagers and farmers living on its slopes.

• Mt. Papandayan, West Java: In 1772, this volcano killed about 2,900 people with its ash flows.
• Mt. Agung, Bali: On March 17, 1963, an eruption blew the top off of the volcano and killed nearly 1,200 people. Agung is the island’s highest and most sacred mountain.
• Mt. Raung, East Java: In 1638 this volcano erupted and killed about 1,000 people.
• Mt. Iliwerung, Lomblen Island, which lies between Flores Island and Alor Island, East Nusa Tenggara Province: In 1979, this remote volcano erupted and killed about 500 people.

Mt. Semeru, East Java: In 1965, Semeru killed more than 250 people. This is the highest mountain on Java.  In 1981, Semeru killed another 250 people.

Mt. Kelut, East Java: In 1966, Kelut killed more than 200 people. In 1966, Kelut killed another 90 people.

Mt. Dieng, Central Java: In 1979, this volcano killed about 150 people. The Dieng volcanic complex in Central Java Province consists of two main volcanoes and about 20 smaller craters, several of which emit poisonous gas.

Papua New Guinea Mask

Papua (Western New Guinea)

New Guinea is the second-largest island in the world, and it stretches from warm equatorial sands to icy glacial peaks. Indonesia shares the island with the country of Papua New Guinea, which controls the eastern half of the island. Papua (PAH-poo-AH) features abundant natural resources, including the second-largest tract of rainforest in the world.

About 75 percent of Papua is covered by forests, which contain more than 2,500 species of orchids and 600 species of birds. Papua is also rich in culture, with as many as eight hundred different languages spoken among the various tribes and ethnic groups. Papua also is famous for its various art forms and its unusual flora and fauna.

Tangled swamps and rugged mountains blocked access to most of the island until the 1950s, when Christian missionaries began hiking and flying into the interior. Michael Rockefeller lost his life in the area in 1961, while conducting research and collecting art. Crocodiles or headhunters likely took his life.

The island of New Guinea is like a lost world, where Stone Age tribes still live remotely and where unique forms of plant life thrive like nowhere else on earth. It has a very old civilization, with carbon dating suggesting human inhabitation for the last 25,000 years.

The population of Papua is estimated at approximately 1.8 million people. An estimated 800,000 migrants now live in the province. Most are landless Javanese who were encouraged to move to Papua under the government’s transmigration program. Under

this resettlement program, Papua is now the largest destination for migrants from other islands such as Java, Bali, and Sulawesi. The diversity of vegetation in Papua includes an estimated sixteen thousand species. It is considered to hold the richest concentration of plant life in the world. Many unique plants are of special interest such as the beautiful flame of Irian, a winding vine with large red flowers. Papua also has carnivorous pitcher plants.

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Borobudur Temple

In many ways, Java (JAH-vah) is the heart of Indonesia. It is the historical center of Buddhist and Hindu culture and home to the nation’s sprawling capital city, Jakarta. With more than 100 million people, Java (locals say JAH-wah) is the most populated island in the world. It is the thirteenth largest island on earth in terms of land size. About 60 percent of all Indonesians live on Java, while the island only holds about 7 percent of the country’s land area. Java stretches from Bali to Sumatra, and it is framed by the Indian Ocean on its southern coast and the Java Sea to its north. This highly populated island has thirty-eight volcanoes, many of which are still very active.

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Lombok Beach

Lombok (LOHM-bohk) is often compared to Bali. The neighboring islands have many similarities and many differences. They are only about twenty miles apart. Both islands have Hindu and Muslim influences, but in opposite proportions. Both islands have beautiful highlands and white sandy beaches, but Lombok is quieter and dryer than Bali for the most part. The administrative capital and largest city on the island is Mataram. Until 1987, few visitors made the trip to Lombok. Today, Lombok is growing in popularity, but it is still relatively quiet and undeveloped, although tourism is already the second-largest industry on Lombok. Mt. Rinjani, beautiful coastlines, coral reefs, and stunning waterfalls highlight the list of popular destinations on Lombok.

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Togean Islands - Sulawesi, Indonesia

Sulawesi (SOO-lah-WEH-see), or Celebes, is one of the most beautiful destinations in all of Indonesia. It is the world’s eleventh largest island. With its beauty and natural riches, Sulawesi could become one of the major nature-based tourism centers in Southeast Asia.

The island has a distinctive shape that has often been compared to a spider. It lies just east of Kalimantan and north of Bali and is divided into two regions, north and south. Makassar and Manado are the island’s major cities.

North Sulawesi is mountainous, with fifty-four peaks, some of which are active volcanoes. The coast features long stretches of white sandy beaches lined with thousands of coconut trees. The waters host magnificent corals and a wealth of colorful marine life. However, world-class muck diving also exists in the area. North Sulawesi’s Bunaken Marine Park is one of Indonesia’s pinnacles for underwater enthusiasts. Situated off the northeastern peninsula of the island, Bunaken is one of many smaller islands that form a dotted line between Sulawesi and the Philippines. Scientists consider the triangle between the Philippines, Bali, and Papua the cradle of maximum marine diversity. Northern

Sulawesi is located in the heart of this triangle. This relatively small region hosts more than three thousand species of fish, five hundred species of coral, and thirty species of whales and dolphins.

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Minangkabau King Palace In Central Sumatra

Sumatra (SOO-mah-TRAH) straddles the equator. Numerous large reserves and preservation areas have been set aside, which makes the island ideal for ecotourism. It’s heavily forested and rich with rare wildlife, including tigers, elephants, orangutans, and rhinoceros.

The mountains in the west and the swampy plains in the east define Sumatra’s landscape. The backbone of the island is the volcanic Barisan Mountain chain, which runs the entire length of the island from north to south. The volcanic activity of this region produces fertile land and beautiful scenery, including the region around Lake Toba. It also contains rich deposits of coal and gold.

To the east, big rivers carry silt from the mountains to the vast lowlands and swamps. Even though the area is unsuitable for farming, it produces significant quantities of palm oil and petroleum. Most of Sumatra was covered by tropical rainforest prior to the development of natural resource industries. The jungles are home to species such as orangutans, tapirs, Sumatran tigers, elephants, and unique plants such as the rafflesia. Unfortunately, economic development and illegal logging threaten the habitat and existence of these rare creatures and others. Conservation areas have not been spared from destruction.

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Waterfalls

Kalimantan (Borneo) is the third-largest island in the world. Three countries share Borneo: Indonesia, Brunei, and Malaysia.

Borneo is home to the world’s most dense and remote rainforests, as well as about 12 million people, 75 percent of whom live in Indonesia’s Kalimantan (KAH-lee-MAHN-tahn) region. Given the harsh nature of Kalimantan’s interior and lowlands, most settlements are along the rivers and coasts. Indonesia governs the southern two-thirds of Borneo, while

Malaysia and Brunei control smaller northern and western sections. Indonesia calls its region Kalimantan, which is divided into four provinces:

♦ Central Kalimantan, with the capital of Palangkaraya

♦ East Kalimantan, with the capital of Samarinda

♦ South Kalimantan, with the capital of Banjarmasin

♦ West Kalimantan, with the capital of Pontianak

Kalimantan is Indonesia’s second-largest province. It generates a substantial amount of wealth for the country because of its vast natural resources, including timber and gold. Its extensive oil reserves are now a key part of Indonesia’s economy, and diamonds, rare woods, rattan, and resin also are harvested from the island’s interior.

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Komodo Dragons

The island of Komodo (KOH-moh-DOH) is dry and barren, with rainfall occurring between November and March. It lies about three hundred miles east of Bali, between the Asian and Australian biogeographical zones—an interesting crossroads for species.

Birds from both zones are found on the island, such as the friarbirds of Australia and the monarch flycatchers of Asia. Komodo is a small island located between the islands of Sum bawa and Flores. The island has about eight hundred human inhabitants and double that number of dragons. Most of the other islands where the dragons live have no permanent human residents at all.

Visitors must pay a park entrance fee of 50,000 rupiah and a camera tax of 25,000 rupiah.

In addition to wildlife viewing, Komodo National Park offers some of the best diving and snorkeling in Indonesia. The waters are clear and the marine life is spectacular. Whales and dolphins travel through the area regularly. Visitors to this area should see the island of Rinca, which is just southeast of Komodo. It’s also part of Komodo National Park, but it offers a slightly different landscape and good dragon populations. Rinca is just a short boat ride from Komodo and Flores.

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Komodo Fish

Flores (FLOHR-rehs) is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands. It is located east of Komodo, south of Sulawesi. This island is home to hundreds of different ethnic groups who speak scores of languages. It seems to be a transition point between the Malay and Papuan races. The west coast of Flores is one of the few places, aside from the island of Komodo itself, where the Komodo dragon is found in the wild.

The island is known for its mountainous terrain, but Flores also has good snorkeling and diving locations along the west and north coasts, especially near Komodo National Park and on the northern coast near Maumere and Riung. Scuba diving within the park is excellent.

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Balinese Temples

The locals refer to Bali (BAH-lee) as the Island of the Gods. The Balinese value spirituality, artisanship, and overall harmony. The Hindu religion, its beautiful forms of worship, and the simple elegance of the Balinese people represent one of the most beautiful cultures in the world. The exotic arts, ancient temples, and thousands of smiles will delight any visitor.

Bali is one of the most famous islands in the world. It offers everything from luxurious spas to the simple beach life. You can spend the morning on the beach and the afternoon near the top of a cloud-covered and chilly volcano. Choose world-class golf or world-class arts. Bali has something for everyone.

Most of the Balinese people are involved in agriculture. Rice is the dominant crop, but they also produce hundreds of varieties of fruits and vegetables. A significant number of Balinese are fishermen, even though they believe the ocean is full of demons.

The most popular beach towns for tourists include Kuta, Sanur, Jimbaran, Seminyak, and Nusa Dua. In the highlands, Ubud is the most popular destination and a spot where world-class artists and spas abound. Several quieter destinations are available on Bali’s east and north coasts, including the seaside villages of Lovina, Candi Dasa, and Singaraja.

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