I've been back home in Brisbane for the last few days thinking about the awesome trip to Indonesia I have just experienced.

The 4 week trip felt like it lasted for 4 days!  I had such a blast, and I'll never forget it!

I was amazed at the variety of experiences I had on this trip.  Each place was just so different in character, feel, and food!

When I originally thought of this trip idea, I wanted to experience the real Indonesia – not the tourist one. 

The only way to do this is to stay with the locals and have them show you their world.  That’s exactly what I received – and so much more.

I was shown the very best of Indonesia.  And I saw the very best of the Indonesian people.

So to all of Indonesia – Thanks so much for everything.

Unfortunately, Indonesia does receive some bad press, but the hard reality is that 99.9999999% of their people are extremely wonderful, hospitable and caring human beings, and I have definitely been grateful to receive this hospitality.

My job was to show all the good in Indonesia, and I think I've accomplished that!

Thanks to the local blogging communities, there were so many things that I experienced that would have been almost impossible as a solo traveller. 

Things such as drinking Teh Telur (Tea With Egg), Kacang Memet (Shaved Ice with Red Beans), eating Cow’s Nose with Peanut Sauce.

Experiences such as an Indonesian Wedding, the off the beaten path areas of Banda Aceh, and Muara Takus temple.

These are experiences that money cannot buy.  I am so grateful that I was able to be part of your lives.  I consider myself very lucky.

And I think I’ve made a few more friends in Indonesia!

Thanks so much again, and I hope to see you again soon!

I would also like to thank Air Asia for their support for flying me to and from Australia.  Hope to to this again sometime!  

For other bloggers out there in cyberspace, the websites of each Blogging Community I visited are listed below. 

Drop an email and say hello – I'm sure the Indonesian bloggers will be happy to hear from you, and follow each other on Twitter.  They're a friendly bunch and love to have a good time.

Here are the websites:

Banda Aceh – AcehBloggers.org

Pekanbaru – Bertuah Blogging Community

Palembang – Wongkito Blogging Community

Bandung – Bandung Blog Village, Batagor, and RumahBlogger.

Semarang – Loenpia

Surabaya – Tugupahlawan

I had such a good time this year. I might have to try and swindle another trip next year!

Anyway, normal service at The Travel Tart will be resumed from next week! 

Keep an eye out for a return to the crazy, wacky and downright absurd aspects of world travel today!
 

I'm now back home after my fantastic trip throughout Indonesia in October 2009. 

This culminated with the Pesta Blogger 2009 conference on Saturday 24 October. 

Basically, Pesta Blogger means 'Blogger Party', and conference is a loose interpretation.  The whole day is related to all things about blogging, and sharing new and interesting ideas on the direction of blogging within Indonesia.  I was even involved in a panel on photo blogging and using photos to back up the writing.

But I mentioned I was a writer that takes photos, not a photographer who writes!

The previous night was spent having dinner at the United States Ambassador's residence – as the U.S Embassy was the major sponsor of Pesta Blogger.

This dinner was somewhat swish for me, as I'd spent the previous few weeks eating the excellent food off the street. 

But this was still nice!  I was even allowed to take this shot of the main boardroom without being interrogated!  Seriously, it was pretty relaxed.

Saturday involved about 1200 participants from throughout Indonesia in the Blogger Party.   The atmosphere, like last year, was buzzing and I had a chance to meet loads of fantastic people.

Here are some photos from the conference:

The main conference room.

Even a Storm trooper turned up to celebrate.  I'm not sure why.

Just imagine wearing this plastic suit of sweat in 30 degree Celsius heat and 80% humidity.

This photo was taken with Tristram from the U.S. Embassy.  The Storm Trooper even managed a shot with the newly appointed Indonesian Minister for Technology.

Like last year, I had many interviews with the press – here is one with Tito from Radio Australia.

I caught up with old friends that I had previously stayed with throughout my trip.

And I had my photo taken with loads of Pesta Blogger participants. Just Google Image 'The Travel Tart' and I'm sure there will be approximately 200,000 results from Indonesia posted in the next couple of weeks.

Like last year, everyone is genuine and passionate about whatever the like blogging about.  And this year's Pesta Blogger was another good excuse to network with like-minded people and add another tonne of people to Facebook and/or Twitter.

I could see complete strangers helping each other out throughout the day, which is pretty much reflective of my entire trip here to Indonesia.

You can see more about the conference at the official Pesta Blogger site.  You might need to use Google Translate to see what's going on.

Anyway, one more post about the trip is left, so stay tuned.

Oh, and you can fly Air Asia to get to Indonesia from many places in their ever expanding network. Check out their website for a cheap airfare somewhere!

Bromo, Indonesia, is a Volcano is located south of the city of Surabaya in East Java province.

It's not a huge volcano, but the setting is spectacular – it feels like one is on the moon when walking through the valley that leads up to the volcano.

Here are some pics:

The volcano at Dawn.  Bromo is the one that is smouldering:

Dawn reveals a captive audience:

Later on, you can be driven near the Bromo crater to climb to it and walk around.  It's a nice walk, or if you want to be lazy, you can hire a pony to then climb a lung-testing series of steps.

Looking right into the guts of the Bromo crater. If you really want to, you can throw some offerings in – a bunch of dried plants.

And anyone you don't like!

Check out the odd lava flow:

The best bit is walking along the edge of Bromo – and not be overwhelmed by the odd spurt of rotten egg case entering your nostrils!

Air Asia flies to Surabaya regularly from Jakarta so you too can visit Bromo, Indonesia. Check out their website for a cheap airfare!

Surabaya, Indonesia, is located in East Java – and it's my last stop before the Pesta Blogger Conference this Saturday.

I've had a great time here with members of the Tugupahlawan Blogging community here, and here are some of the things you can do in Surabaya, apart from eating Cow's Nose With Peanut Sauce and drinking Kopi Luwak Coffee:

1. Eat, Eat and Eat!

As you may have discovered by now, Indonesians love to eat, and Surabaya is no exception.  Yes, there are some unusual dishes, but here are some great examples of tasty food on this side of Java.  I tried Rawon last night – a tasty beef soup with rice.

There are other tasty options as well:

BBQed prawns

Cumi-cumi – chili squid. One of my favourite dishes on this trip!

And you can wash this down with Es Blewah – a drink with syrup, water and shaved melon.

2. Drive Over the New Bridge and Visit the Island of Madura

During October, there are numerous bull races held across the island on the weekends. 

Unfortunately, I'm not here on the weekend, so I won't be able to see this Formula One version of bovine racing.

I only made it as far as a seafood restuarant, where you can sample the dishes above.

3. Visit the Sampoerna Kretek Factory

Kretek is a unique cigarette that is a blend of tobacco and cloves.  Even if you are a staunch anti-smoker, it's worth a visit to see how the cigarettes are rolled by hand. 

There are hundreds of people on the production floor who roll the tobacco/clove mixture. 

However, when watching the workers, they look like someone has pressed the fast forward button on a DVD player! These people are capable of manually rolling up 7000 cigarettes per day!

There is also an almost overpowering smell of cloves throughout the factory which does a good job of cleaning up the sinuses.

4. Down a Zangrandi Ice Cream

This is a local favourite and has been around for ages.  It's can be packed with youngsters wanting to cool down from the Surabaya heat.

5. Visit The Old City

There are tonnes of old buildings that were built around Dutch Colonial Times. 

If you sneak down the alleyways, there are all sorts of bustling markets, ranging from fish to fresh fruit.

There is also the odd temple scattered in the old city.

Thanks to the Tugupahalwan Blogging Community of Surabaya for showing me around!

Air Asia can fly you to Surabaya as well to experience what Indonesia's second largest city has to offer.  Check out their website for a cheap flight here!

Kopi Luwak Coffee is internationally famous for where it comes from.

And I don’t mean the country of Indonesia either.

Kopi Luwak Coffee appears in my 52 Travel Tips For Weird Food and Drinks – you can even buy this stuff on Amazon!  But I’ve only heard about it and seen documentaries on TV – and never tried it.

That is, until now!

Members of the Surabaya Blogging Community, Tugupahlawan, told me there is a cafe that serves Kopi Luwak Coffee here, and I thought this was a perfect opportunity to try it.  They were kind enough to arrange a meeting with Anton Sukamto, the owner of the Rollaas Cafe (site under construction).

The main reason Kopi Luwak Coffee is famous is because the coffee beans are eaten and digested by the Asian Palm Civet - this is a cat-like animal present in Indonesia.  The Civet isn’t actually a cat – but are referred by locals as ‘cats’ or ‘weasels’.

The coffee beans are then extracted from the Civet poo, washed thoroughly, and then lightly roasted – and made into coffee, or Kopi Luwak (Kopi = Coffee, Luwak = The Civet).

I guess sifting out the beans from the poo probably isn’t the world’s most rewarding job!

There are a couple of theories of why the coffee suppossedly tastes good.  Firstly, the digestive tract of the Civet may remove some of the bitter coffee taste, but leaves the beans intact. This may be due to the interaction of the stomach enzymes with the coffee bean, which increases the body of the coffee.

Or the Civet knows where to find the best coffee beans in the first place, since the Civet is probably like most caffeine addicts – we try to go for the best!

Anyway, Kopi Luwak is the world’s most expensive coffee – when in peak demand, prices can reach about $USD500 per kilogram!

An example of the Kopi Luwak Coffee beans are shown below.  The light coloured coffee beans are the cleaned product, whilst the dark coloured beans are the result of some light roasting.

The Rollaas Cafe in Surabaya serves Kopi Luwak, and this is where I had my chance to try it.  The staff there were very helpful and informative, and I had an in-depth chat with the owner, Anton.

Anton told me that Arabica beans are used at the Kopi Luwak farm where the Rollaas Cafe sources its coffee from. It’s located at Bundowoso, about 260 kilometres south of Surabaya.  The farm produces about 2000 kilograms of Kopi Luwak per year.  Anton is looking to expand the sales of his Kopi Luwak to Bali, so this should be more accessible to more foreigners visiting Indonesia.

Anyway, I’m no coffee afficionado, as I usually drink coffee on a social basis and not as an excuse to keep myself awake at work.

But I know what tastes good for me, and I downed an entire cup of Kopi Luwak Coffee – which cost about $USD10.  The coffee is drunk black, without sugar.

Here are some pictures for the proof!

This is how the Kopi Luwak is boiled up.  The water is heated up and then rises to swirl with the coffee.

You can buy sachets of Kopi Luwak Coffee at the Rollaas Cafe and take them home – these cost about $USD3.50 each, and each sachet makes 1 cup of coffee.  You need to boil up 200 ml of water for each cup.

So what’s the verdict?

Like every single cup of coffee I have tried in Indonesia, it’s excellent.  However, it does taste different to the other varieties I’ve tried in Indonesia.  Kopi Luwak is very smooth, and it has a long aftertaste.  There is little bitterness, and the cup went down my gullet extremely quickly.

Is Kopi Luwak Coffee worth $USD500 per kilo?

Well come to Indonesia and try some out and you make up your mind!

The Rollaas Cafe is located in the City Of Tomorrow mall, which is near the Surabaya airport, or about 15 kilometres south of the city centre.  Their address is Jl Jend A Yani no.299, Lower Ground FL.LB 02, City of Tomorrow, Surabaya, East Java – Indonesia.  If you’re that desperate to try it, you can call them on +62 31 5825 1208.

I’d like to thank Anton and the staff of the Rollaas Cafe for their time and their hospitality – I really appreciate it.  I’ve included a picture of them below:

Air Asia can fly you to Surabaya via Jakarta so you too can sip on some Kopi Luwak Coffee.  Go to their website now and book a flight there! It’s only a short ride from the Surabaya airport to the Rollaas Cafe!