What I’ve Learned About Indonesia

240 million Muslims live here, more than the populations of Saudi Arabia, Iran and the UAE combined!

Today, Muslims make up 87% of the population with one province, Aceh, formally using Sharia (Islamic) law rather than national civil law with religious police monitoring dress codes, public behavior and even banking. In fact, when I was in Aceh 2 years ago, I recall my hotel’s reception desk had a sign reminding couples that they needed to show a marriage certificate to check in together.

But it wasn’t always this way. Seafaring traders from the Indian sub continent brought Hinduism and Buddhism in the 1st-5th century and Muslim traders from Arabia and Persia brought Islam in the 7th century. The arrival of the Dutch and Portugese in search of the spice trade brought Christianity to these islands.

Finally, here’s something that isn’t on my Minnesota driver’s license. An Indonesian identity card includes an individual’s religion.

Religion choices for an Indonesian ID card include Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism as well as indigeous belief systems. However, I don’t believe that there is an option for “none of the above“,

I hate buying single use bottled water. On Nusa Lembongan, ocean currents can bring plastic waste over from Bali and the amount of plastic washing up on the beach is depressing. Bottles, bags, food packaging and the occasional flip-flop. There is a lot of it.

I came prepared to do my part to reduce plastic waste.

I packed a portable Sawyer water filter, which was advertised as removing 99.99999% of bacteria, 99.9999% of protozoa and 100% of microplastics and lasting up to 100,000 gallons.

Then I read the fine print.

Sure, the Sawyer filters out most bacteria, protozoa and microplastics. What I hadn’t paid enough attention to was what it doesn’t remove: viruses, chemicals, pesticides, heavy metals or other dissolved contaminants.

I had brought a very good filter, but I what I needed was a water purifier. 😡

My grand plan to eliminate plastic bottles wasn’t quite as clever as I thought. I could filter the tap water and boil it to kill the viruses, but it still left me with the potential for other contaminants.

Back to bottled water. Which, of course, was exactly what I was trying to avoid.

The largest Indonesian banknote is 100,000 rupiah (US$5.60), so even small purchases can involve a surprising number of bills. A cappuccino might cost 40,000 rupiah. A ferry ticket can be 500,000 rupiah. And when the monthly rent comes due at 4,000,000 rupiah, you need a pretty impressive wad of cash.

That coffee? About $2.30. A ferry ticket? About $29. Credit cards? Not so much unless you’re in a tourist area or a national convenience store.

The catch? Bali has a serious traffic problem. With millions of tourists arriving every year, the roads are often gridlocked,. That 10-mile trip from the airport to the beachside town of Sanur can easily turn into an hour-long ride. And when you are sitting in the back seat of a car watching scooters zip past you on both sides, you start to wonder whether there is a better way.

Both Grab and Gojek offer motorcycle / scooter rides. Instead of a car, you get on the back of a scooter with a driver, who then proceeds to thread through the traffic.

It is considerably cheaper than a car and, more importantly, considerably faster.

I had scooter lessons on my list of things to do in Bali. After all, learning to ride would free me from having to wait for a ride and give me more flexibility on the other islands where ridesharing doesn’t exist and the taxi mafia charges whatever they think you can afford.

Great idea in while I’m sitting in Minnesota. Not so great when I get to Bali….

There’s a good reason Bali’s hospitals and clinics are experienced at treating broken bones and road rash. While plenty of people do it, add that my medical insurance wou’t cover a scooter accident without a license. Learning to ride was perhaps not such a great idea after all.

So I’ve settled for riding on the back. It’s not exactly the same experience as an Uber in Minneapolis. But that US$2 scooter ride that takes 15 minutes can make far more sense than a car ride that takes an hour.

So while I enjoy my $8 brunch of eggs benedict and cappucino on the beach, the savory “mystery triangle rice packet” that I pick up from the local warung at 15,000 rupiah (< US$0.85) for dinner with a filling protein, vegetable and amazing sauce is more in line with the local scale. Both, equally yummy

It’s easy to think of Indonesia as a “cheap” country, but cheap is relative.