The world’s most expansive archipelago dips and rises across the equator from the lndian Ocean to the Pacific. There are around eighteen trousand islands to choose from., six thousand of which are uninhabited, offering adventure that’s hard to find there days in the developed world. Lndonesia is endowes with a phenomenal array of wildlife, including tigers and orang-utans, and its fine white-sand beaches, sublime rice fields and exotie temples continue to lure visitors from afar.

May to September, during the dry season

Climbing Bali’s Gunung Batur for exceptional sunrises Taking a Batik course in Yogyakarta, Java Eating breakfast at the floating market in Benjarmasin, Kalimantan Chilling out on Lombok’s Gili lslands Watching the Ramayana Ballet full story unfold at the outdoor theatre in Prambanan, Java Catching a wave at Pantai Suluban, Bali’s surfing Mecca

Read Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s The Fugitive, by the leader of a failed nationlist revolt against Japanese occupation during WWll. Ayu Utami’s is a story of political repression, extramarital sex and religious intolerance.

Listen to lawn fals, a rockidol who conveys society’s sufferings, and Padi, the favourite group at the 2003 lndonesia MTV Video Awards

Watch Garin Nugroho’s Bulan Tertsuk llalang (And the Moon Dances). Joko Anwar’s Arisan is the first home-grown film showing two men kissing ‘

Eat nasi goring (fried rice), the country’s most common dish, and sate (skewered meats with spicy peanut sauce)

Drink kopi (coffee), as lndonesian is the world’s third-largest coffee producer; black the (tea); or bir (beer), especially the domestic Bintang Anker

Tidak apa-apa (no problem)

Great surfing; komodo dragons; terraced ricescapes; woodcarvings, textiles, basketwork and beadwork; exotic fruits; political corruption

The Balinese is only 210 days long; snow is found two degrees south of the equator on ‘Puncak Java’ in Papua

Bali’s roosters are the most spoiled animals of lndonesia. Preened, groomed and dined, they are as pampered as Queen Elizabeth’s corgis. Their owners look after them with unerring devotion: take them to meet friends, save them the chopicest feed, place them in baskets near roads so they are entertained by passing traffic.