Bali is magical. As probably the most famous island in Indonesia, Bali blends spectacular mountain scenery and beautiful beaches with warm and friendly people, a vibrant culture and out of this world resorts.

Travel & Leisure Magazine has awarded Bali the World’s Best Island in 2009, while the Lonely Planet’s Best of Travel 2010 ranked Bali second place among the world’s Top Regions.

Also known as the Land of the Gods, Bali appeals through its sheer natural beauty of looming volcanoes and lush terraced rice fields that exude peace and serenity. Bali enchants with its dramatic dances and colourful ceremonies, its arts and crafts, to its luxurious beach resorts and exciting night life.

For this exotic island has much to offer, from inspirational spirituality to fine dining and meeting experiences, from world class surfing and diving to exhilarating treks in the wild. And everywhere you will find intricately carved temples. For, the Balinese, who embrace the Hindu religion, are a most devout people where a large part of their lives is dedicated to rites and ceremonies aimed at maintaining harmony in this world. Indeed, this relatively small island holds many surprises.

This is a miraculous island indeed, for after decades of popularity, Bali continues to amaze both local and international visitors alike. Here gather a variety of visitors from around the globe: from those who come to surf the waves of Kuta, Uluwatu and Dreamland, to others who love the panoramic beauty of mountains and lakes at Batur, Kintamani, or Lake Beratan at Bedugul, to those who merely love shopping or spend endless days on the beach.

The magnificent Borobudur temple is the world’s biggest Buddhist monument, an ancient site widely considered to be one of the world’s seven wonders. Built in the 9th century during the reign of the Syailendra dynasty, the temple’s design in Gupta architecture reflects India's influence on the region, yet there are enough indigenous scenes and elements incorporated to make Borobudur uniquely Indonesian. This awe inspiring monument is truly a marvel. After a visit here you will understand why it is Indonesia’s most visited tourist attraction and a famous icon of Indonesia’s cultural heritage.

Located on the island of Java, the temple sits majestically on a hilltop overlooking lush green fields and distant hills. It covers an enormous area, measuring 123 x 123 meters. The monument is a marvel of design, decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. The architecture and stonework of this temple has no equal. And it was built without using any kind of cement or mortar! The structure is like a set of massive interlocking Lego blocks held together without any glue.

The temple has remained strong even through ten centuries of neglect. It was rediscovered in 1815, buried under volcanic ash. In the 1970’s the Indonesian Government and UNESCO worked together to restore Borobudur to its former majesty The restoration took eight years to complete and today Borobudur is one of Indonesia and the world’s most valuable treasures.

The temple is decorated with stone carvings in bas-relief representing images from the life of Buddha. Commentators claim that this is the largest and most complete ensemble of Buddhist reliefs in the world, unsurpassed in artistic merit.

This monument is both a shrine to the Lord Buddha and a place for Buddhist pilgrimage. The ten levels of the temple symbolize the three divisions of the religion’s cosmic system. As visitors begin their journey at the base of the temple, they make their way to the top of the monument through the three levels of Budhist cosmology, Kāmadhātu (the world of desire), Rupadhatu (the world of forms) and Arupadhatu (the world of formlessness). As visitors walk to the top the monument guides the pilgrims past 1,460 narrative relief panels on the wall and the balustrades.

The whole monument itself resembles a giant stupa, but seen from above it forms a mandala. The great stupa at the top of the temple sits 40 meters above the ground. This main dome is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues seated inside perforated stupa.

Historians suggest that the name of Borobudur comes from the Sanskrit ‘Vihara Buddha Uhr’ or the ‘Buddhist monastery on the hill’.

As the largest Hindu temple in Southeast Asia, the beautiful and graceful temple of Prambanan is a magnificent spectacle and an icon of Indonesia’s cultural heritage.

Located not far from the Buddhist Borobudur temple, the proximity of the two temples tells us that on Java, Buddhism and Hinduism lived peacefully next to one another.

Prambanan is known locally as Roro Jonggrang, coming from the legend of the ‘slender virgin’. According to the legend once upon a time, there was a young and powerful man named Bandung Bondowoso. He wanted to marry a beautiful princess named Roro Jonggrang. Her father, the king, agreed and forced her to marry Bandung Bondowoso. Butm Sita did not love him yet could not refuse him.

After careful consideration, she thought of a way to refuse Bondowoso, whose magical power was well-known. She decided she would agree but only if Bondowoso built 1,000 temples in one night before the break of dawn.

She insisted that the work must be completed before the rooster crowed, something she believed was impossible. But with the help of genies and his own magical powers, Bondowoso managed to complete 999 temples. Panicked, Jonggrang told the women of her village to start pounding rice so that the rooster would wake up and begin to crow. When Bondowoso heard this he was deeply disappointed and wildly enraged. When he found out that Roro Jonggrang had made the roosters crow, he turned her into stone, The statue of a slender virgin graces the main Prambanan temple, while a group of temples nearby is called the Candi Sewu or the Thousand Temples.

The temples at Prambanan were built in the 9th century. The biggest temple is dedicated to Shiva – the destroyer, and the two smaller ones which sit on its right and left are dedicated to Brahma - the creator and Wisnhu – the sustainer. The tallest temple of Prambanan is a staggering 47 meters high. Its peak visible from far away and rises high above the ruins of the other temples.

After hundreds of years of neglect, the Prambanan temple was rediscovered by CA Lons, a Dutchman, in 1733. Since then, this temple has been revitalized and today is widely regarded as the most beautiful and graceful Hindu temple in Indonesia.

The grandeur, complexity, and integrated architectural concept of Prambanan makes this a truly amazing structure. As a unique cultural and architectural marvel, Prambanan was declared a World Heritage site in 1991 by UNESCO

The capital of West Sumatra, Padang is the gateway to the Minang highlands. With the largest port on Sumatra’s West Coast, this is a merchant town attracting ships trading in goods such as rubber, cinnamon, coffee, tee, cement and coal. If you take a stroll down to the old colonial waterfront you’ll see century old warehouses stocked with fragrant cinammon and other spices waiting to be shipped to Jakarta and Singapore.

The Batang Arau River flows through the city and it is quite a sight to see the collection of small boats and hand paddled ferries that line the riverside.

Baiturrahman Mosque is a masterpiece of Islamic architecture. The ornamentation is the main feature of Banda Aceh. It has five onion-shaped domes, two towering minarets, expansive white walls and pillars with beautiful design. Mesjid Raya Baiturrahman is a large mosque located in the center of the city of Banda Aceh, Aceh province, Indonesia. It is of great symbolic significance to the Acehnese people as a symbol of Acehnese religion and culture, especially since it survived the devastating 2004 tsunami intact.

This magnificent mosque was designed by an Italian architect and built by the Dutch colonial administration as a token of reconciliation following their destruction of an older mosque during the Aceh wars. Construction of the mosque commenced in 1879 and was completed in 1881. The mosque survived the massive 2004 tsunami which destroyed much of the rest of the city of Banda Aceh.

The great mosque was built in 1612 during the reign of Sultan Iskandar Muda, or, some say, even earlier in 1292 by Sultan Alaidin Mahmudsyah. The original mosque was razed to the ground in 1873 during the Dutch invasion. In March 1877, the East Indies Governor General offered to rebuild the grand mosque but construction only began more than two years later with the laying of the first stone by Tengku Qadhi Malikul Adil who became the first Imam. The mosque was finally completed in 1883. Your browser may not support display of this image.

Many Acehnese initially refused to pray at Baiturrahman, because it was built by Dutch infidels with ambitions to conquer Aceh, but today it is the pride of Banda Aceh. The mosque was designed by an Italian architect in a North Indian Moghul style, characterized by grand domes and minarets. The Baiturrahman is probably the prototype for many mosques in Indonesia and Malaysia - first introduced by the Dutch and British colonialists, Moghul Revival architecture is now embraced by the Muslim faithful, and has widely displaced the tiered-roof mosque vernacular.

The Baiturrahman Mosque initially featured only one dome and one minaret, but more domes and minarets were added in subsequent renovations in 1935, 1958 and 1982. Now it has seven domes and eight minarets, including one that is claimed to be the highest minaret in Banda Aceh. Today, the mosque has 32 pillars and covers and area of more than 1, 500 square metres.

When Banda Aceh was hit by tsunami on Dec. 26, many Banda Aceh took refuge in the mosque. The mosque also served as a temporary shelter for displaced persons and only reopened for prayers after two weeks. This mosque was saved from quake and tsunami but suffered some minor damage, while the 35-meter minaret by the main gate is now slightly tilted and cracked.

Sultan Riau Grand Mosque is a famous historical tourist site on Penyengat Island, Tanjung Pinang, Kepulauan Riau province. This mosque was built when the island was the residence of Engku Puteri Raja Hamidah, wife of the Riau ruler, Sultan Mahmudsyah (1761—1812). Initially, this mosque was a simple wooden building with brick floors and about 6 meter tall towers.

Sultan Abdurrahman then invited participation from his people to help build a bigger mosque. People from many places around the Riau Lingga area came to the island to donate their materials, food and manpower.

Some said that due to abundant food supplies of rice, vegetables and eggs, workers were so bored eating eggs that they only ate the yolks and used the whites as adhesive material. The egg whites were mixed with sand and limestone to make this mosque which still stands strong today.

Air Manis Beach is closely related to the legend of Malin Kundang in West Sumatra. Malin Kundang is a character fabled to have been turned to stone, together with his ship, after periods of disobedience to his mother. By the beach, there is a Malin Kundang stone and several pieces of equipment from his ship, which are also stones. Based on the story, Malin Kundang was cursed by his mother for his refusal to acknowledging her as his mother after traveling to another region and becoming rich.

Air Manis beach is a favorite tourist site for local and foreign tourists because it has low waves and beautiful views of Mount Padang. There is also a small island called Pisang Kecil (literally means “small banana”) on its right side. From morning to afternoon, you can walk to this one hectare island through shallow water. In late afternoon, however, there is a tide and you must take a boat to return. On its right, there is another island called Pisang Besar (literally means “big banana”). Local inhabitants on this island are mostly farmers and fishermen.

The Jakarta History Museum (also known as Fatahillah Museum) is housed in the former City Hall located in the old part of the city now known as Jakarta Kota, some hundred meters behind the port and warehouses of Sunda Kelapa.

Originally called the Stadhuis, this building was the administrative headquarters of the Dutch East India Company, and later of the Dutch Government. Built in 1710 by Governor General van Riebeeck, this solid building hides below it notorious dungeons and filthy water prisons. Most prisoners, both Dutch rebels and Indonesian “natives” were publicly flogged, barbarically impaled and executed on the square called the Stadhuisplein--now known as Fatihillah Square--while the Dutch overlords looked down superciliously on the proceedings below from the portico and windows above.

Indonesia’s freedom fighter Javanese Prince Diponegoro, who was treacherously arrested, was imprisoned here in 1830 before being banished to Manado in North Sulawesi. Another freedom fighter earlier imprisoned here around 1670 was Untung Suropati from East Java.

In the center of the square is a fountain which served as water supply for the colonial capital, Batavia, while to its north is a Portuguese cannon, believed to be a font of fertility.

Today, the Jakarta History Museum displays the history of Jakarta from prehistoric days to the founding of the town of Jayakarta in1527 by Prince Fatahillah of Banten, and through Dutch colonization from the 16th. century onwards until Indonesia’s Independence in 1945.

The collection includes a replica of the Tugu Inscription that dates back to the 5th century under the reign of the great King Purnawarman, evidence that the center of the Tarumanegara kingdom was located around the present day seaport of Tanjung Priok.

Further historical evidence of thriving Sunda Kelapa Harbour is a 16th. century map and replica of the 1522 Padrao monument, commemorating the friendship treaty between the Portuguese and the Sunda kingdom. Furthermore, maps and drawings show the establishment of the City of Jayakarta in 1527 by Prince Fatahillah. While the rich collection of Betawi and Colonial style furniture dating to the 17th, 18th and 19th century belongs to one of the most complete in the world. This collection reflects the influences of various cultural elements on the City of Batavia, namely from Europe, especially from the Netherlands, from China and India as well as from Indonesia itself.

And to bring more life and activities to the Old Batavia square, today the Jakarta Government has organized regular attractions involving local communities and their cultures. On Sundays, shows are performed presenting the Zapin dance, a combination of Betawi and Middle Eastern influences, the Barongsai Chinese lion dance, the Portuguese influenced keroncong music, the typical Betawi Tanjidor music, batik fashion shows, vintage cars parades, food and souvenirs and fireworks.

The main Sudirman-Thamrin avenues in Jakarta lead to the Merdeka Square, where in its center stands the National Monument (also known as Monas--Monumen Nasional) which houses the first red-and-white flag flown at the Proclamation of Independence on 17 August 1945. This flag has now become threadbare, and so nowadays on Independence Day ceremonies, the original flag is taken out but only to accompany the replica flag to be flown in front of the Merdeka Palace. The 137 meter tall National Monument is obelisk shaped, and is topped with a 14.5 meter bronze flame coated with 32 kilograms gold leaf. Within the pedestal is a museum depicting in diorama Indonesia’s fight for Independence as well as the original text of the Proclamation of Independence. A lift takes visitors up to the look-out platform at the base of the flame for a grand view of Jakarta.

Surrounding the Monument is now a park with a musical fountain, enjoyed by the Jakarta public on Sundays for sports and recreation. Deer roam among the shady trees in the park.

Merdeka Square is the center of most important government buildings. During Dutch colonial days here was the center of government, known as Koningsplein or the King’s Square. The north side is dominated by the Merdeka Palace once the home of the Dutch Governor Generals, which now also houses the office of the President and the Cabinet. To the South is the office of Indonesia’s Vice President, Jakarta’s Governor and provincial parliament building, as also the American Embassy , while to the West is the National Museum, the Constitutional Court, the Ministry for Culture and Tourism and the Indosat building, Indonesia’s first international telecommunications company.