Tourism of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam

The Special Region of Aceh has substantial potential to be developed better, especially nature tourism, marine tuorism, and tourism history. Aceh is known as the center of the first spread of Islam in Indonesia, where the 15-16 century BC and stood royal Pasai Periak.

Sitting in a vast expanse of green fields, the white washed walls and minerals, and charcoal blacks domes of the Grand Mosque are the most famous landmark in Aceh.

The Great of Baiturrahman Mosque is the main feature of Banda Aceh today. Lying at the heart of the city completed with excellent architectural style, this mosque is really one of Indonesia prime tourism sides. The Mosque was built in 12 Century and had caught fire several time include when the Dutch attacked Kutaraja (Banda Aceh) in 1873. Another mosque to replace the former one was later built by Dutch Military Government that was completed in 1883. The Mosque is extra ordinary in architecture and ornamentation. It has five onion shaped domes, two tall mine rates, wide white walls, and around is pillars various kinds of beautiful ornament.

The appeal of the other attractions are Mount Lauser Park which has many river rapids, which appeal to foreign and domestic tourists. Similarly, the cultural wealth of traditions and traditional art, dance and so on will add to the interest of foreign and domestic tourists to visit there. If managed properly, tourism potential will be more money the people of Aceh who work in the tourism sector.

Mount Leuser National Park is one of the largest national parks in the world, containing over 800,000 hectares of virgin rainforest. The park is home to orangutans, gibbons, monkeys, elephants, tigers, and among the last of the Sumatran rhinoceros. There are research facilities for the study of primates, birds and insects, the Orangutans rehabilitation center at Bukit Lawang being the most popular with tourists. It is possible to raft Alas River from Ketambe to the Indian Ocean on a 4 - 5 day expedition. The journey takes us through exciting white-water rapids to the calmer, crocodile-infested waters of the lowlands. Basic accommodation is available at Ketambe.

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Jogja Never Ending Asia

Jogjakarta is truly a unique city. Ruled by a king (sultan) whose lineage can be traced to centuries, this city offers plenty cultural and historical heritage. Here you can eat lesehan style without chairs. The rather sweet cuisine of Jogjakarta might surprise you first, but many people have been longing for good Javanese food after trying it once, so you might have the same experience.

This city offers many luscious delicacies. From bakpia cookies, wingko babat, to enting-enting kacang, visitors will be delighted to find there are so many delicious choices here in this town.

To make it easier, and shorter, you can take a plane from major cities such as Jakarta or Bali. From Jakarta and Bandung you can also go to Jogjakarta by train and the journey will take approx. 8-12 hours, though. Some travel agents or rental cars also offer trips to Yogya from big cities with a reasonable fee. The journey will take longer than 12 hours from Jakarta or Bandung.

Packed with local and international tourists, Yogya is ready with its innumerable inns and hotels. Choose the place to stay according to your budget and your liking.

Jogjakarta is a small city. To illustrate this, for some Jogjakartans, 2 kilometers is considered very far. In the city, you can give your legs some exercise, ride andong/delman (cart carried by a/two horse/s), use the bus and public transportation, ride a taxi, or, try how it feels like to ride becak/pedicab. If you want to visit interesting sites within the city, it is best to move around on foot. If, however, you want to marvel at the grandiose of Borobudur Temple, for instance, it is best if you rent a car.

Gudeg is one of Jogjakarta's specialties. This dish is made of young jackfruit with traditional herbs, sometimes with eggs and chicken. Cow's inner skin, cooked until tender, usually accompanies gudeg with steamed rice. Most traditional restaurants in Jogjakarta sell this specialty.

Don't let the sweet taste of gudeg fool you, however, the chili sauce of Javanese food can be really, really spicy because it is made mainly from cabe rawit the spiciest chili in Indonesia

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Dangdut is a popular music in Indonesia

Dangdut is one type of music originating from Indonesia that has also become quite popular throughout the country. This type of music is a blend of Malay and Indian music with elements from traditional music as well. The name of “Dangdut “ is derived from the sounds of “dang” and “dut” (pronounced as “doot”) that come from the dominating resonances of the bongo and the flute.

The Dangdut singers usually sing while dancing expressively and gracefully following the beat of the music. There are several varieties of Dangdut music namely Malay Dangdut, Modern Dangdut (using modern instruments) and Coastal Dangdut (influenced by Javanese and Sundanese traditional music). In the 1970s, Dangdut was initially recognized as a type of Malay orchestral music, but in the 1980s, this type of music became more popularly known as Dangdut music.



Dangdut is one of the art music that developed in Indonesia. This musical rooted in the music melayu in the 1940s. In the evolution towards the contemporary form now in effect musical elements of India (mainly from the use of the tabla) and Arabic (on the twisted and harmonization). Changes in the political currents in Indonesia in the late 1960s opened the influence of a strong western music with the entry using the guitar and also a form of electricity marketing. Since the 1970s virtually dangdut has matured in a contemporary form. In popular music, dangdut is open to the influence of other musical forms, ranging from keroncong, style, gamelan, lute, rock, pop, even house music.

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Indonesia is the most beautiful country

Indonesia is one of the largest archipelagos in the world that has 17,508 islands, situated between 6 degrees northern latitude and 11 degrees southern latitude and spreading from 97 degrees to 141 degrees eastern longitude and it is located between two continents – Asia and Australia/Oceania. This strategic position greatly influences the country’s culture, social, politics and economy. Stretching along 3,977 miles between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean,

Indonesia has a total area of 1.9 million square miles including the ocean waters. The five large islands of Indonesia are: Sumatera covering 473.606 square km, Java with 132.107 square km, Kalimantan (the third largest island in the world) with an area of 539.460 square km, Sulawesi with 189.216 square km, and Papua with an area of 421.981 square km.


Indonesia has 33 provinces (including 2 Special Territories of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam and Yogyakarta) and one Special Capital Region of Jakarta (DKI). East Timor was once part of Indonesia, but then through a referendum in 1999, East Timor became the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste.

Indonesia’s cultural art is greatly influenced by other cultures, such as the Hindu mythology and culture that is reflected in the Javanese and Balinese dances. Many of the dances also reflect some Islamic values. Several of these dances originate from the island of Sumatra, such as the Saman Meusukat dance and the Seudati dance from Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam. Another famous cultural item from Indonesia is the wayang kulit (shadow puppet made from goat skin) that depicts mythological characters and stories.

The art of old poetry in the form of quatrain and couplet sayings from various regions such as the Malay quatrain are often cited in special occasions or in cultural performances. One of Indonesia’s cultural heritage that has been acknowledged as a world heritage is the batik cloth. The prominent batik industry areas are in Yogyakarta (D.I. Yogyakarta Province), Solo, and also Pekalongan (Central Java Province). Pencak silat is an art of self defense which is uniquely from Indonesia.

This martial art is sometimes shown at certain performances accompanied by traditional music of the region. In the field of music, Indonesia is rich with traditional as well as modern music that extends from the city of Sabang (the western point of Indonesia) to the city of Merauke (the eastern point of Indonesia). Although traditional music including Javanese keroncong is commonly known, modern music is more popular followed by dangdut music.

The people of Indonesia consist of various ethnic groups, religions and faith. The various ethnic groups are for example Batak, Karo, Minangkabau, Malay in Sumatra and so forth. Indonesia acknowledges several religions namely Islam, Christianity, Catholicism, Hinduism and Buddhism and the Konghucu faith, but the majority of the population are Moslems.

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