I'm a big fan of Indonesia, but even I feel like I've only scratched the surface. Indonesia's huge - a massive archipelago of 17,500 islands spread out over thousands of square miles of the southwest Pacific.
Many travelers deal with Indonesia by exploring it in chunks - devoting their entire stay to a trip to Bali, for instance, or commuting between Jakarta and Yogyakarta, or diving in the Flores Islands. There's no way you can explore most of Indonesia in a week's time... or is there?
Maybe I'm setting myself up for an impossible task that pleases nobody, but I thought there was a way to just hop over Indonesia's essential places in just eight days. The plan is biased against visitors looking for long, strenuous hikes, favoring visitors who want to explore Indonesia's culture, architecture, and shopping. And yes, the plan cheats by sticking to two of Indonesia's more popular islands: Java and Bali.
But as far as introductory visits go, it covers all the bases: shopping in some of Indonesia's most modern and most traditional places, close-up looks at the local culture, and where available, a taste of the rest of Indonesia without needing to go too far off the beaten track.
So here goes: check out our Indonesia Eight Day Itinerary.