The Botanical Gardens of Bogor

Leaving Cibole, I thank my guide for his help (especially for answering my endless questions!) and head solo to the small city of Bogor. If departing from Jakarta, Bogor is easily reached by train and bus, so easily many residents have taken to living in Bogor and commuting the hour to work each day in Jakarta. It’s nickname is “City of Rain,” which I soon discover is quite fitting.

Bogor is home to the well landscaped Kebun Raya botanical gardens. Technically, the gardens are one of five branches of the Kebun Raya. The gardens lie in the heart of the city and take up nearly 80 hectares. It was started during Dutch times first by Raffles, and then more seriously by the Dutch biologist Reinwardt in 1817. During the Dutch cultivation period, the growth of various types of “cash crops” were researched at the botanical gardens. The institute at the gardens is still one of the leading agricultural institutes and is continuing to work to develop new strains of rice and other important crops.

Sunday mornings are supposed to be the biggest day for the gardens, so when I set out on Monday morning during a slight drizzle the gardens weren’t crowded. The drizzle of course became a down pour, and I did my best to make it to the Orchid house before getting too wet. The orchids were really quite beautiful, different shades of purple mixed with some white blossoms. Do not litter signs were clearly posted and I saw no rubbish within the Orchid house, and only minimal amounts around the garden. The plenty of natural rain in the city seems to be doing wonders for the plants as everything looked vibrantly green. One thing I did observe is that KFC seems to be a popular place to grab food for picnic lunches, as garbage cans were overflowing with the Styrofoam containers. Outside entrepreneurs were selling other plastic wrapped food and canned drinks, as well as various edible roots.

The entrance fee is very minimal, less than a $1 per entry, so it can be assumed most of this money goes to upkeep and not toward any related community projects. I did learn about another group, Friends of the Indonesian Botanic Gardens, who work to develop public awareness on the importance of Indonesia’s flora.

A Trip to see the Baduy

Previously, I mentioned meeting Andy a local guide at the Jakarta National Monument who was wearing a WWF t-shirt. He had told me about a place called Cibole and the nearby preservation area housing the Baduy people. On Saturday afternoon I decided to take him up on his offer to guide me to this area.

The Baduy people make up an indegenious community that live in a 5,000 hectare reserve among the hills of West Java. They largely still hold onto their traditional beliefs, and are thought to consist of over 7,000 people, but census takers are not allowed inside so it isn’t known for sure. As the story goes, the Baduy fled into the hills around the 1400s when Muslims came trying to convert inhabitants to Islam. The tribes have kept their local dialect and are still considered practicing animists. Their remote location has served to isolate them and prevent development, and myth tells how “magic powers” kept the Portuguese and Dutch from ever discovering their existence. The Baduy people consist of two different clans, the first being the Inner Baduy, who dress all in white and are very strict to their spiritual beliefs, thus not allowing any tourism. The second clan, about 10km away, is the Outer Baduy who dress in Black and Dark Blue and allow tour group visits of up to 2 nights. I was particularly interested in this place since it was only 5 years ago that tourism was first introduced, and I was curious to see the effects.

(Outer Baduy skirt)

Getting to Cibole is not an easy task, though it is just 168km from Jakarta. It requires 3 different busses and taking a motorcycle taxi, called an Ojek, between the bus station of one town and the neighboring town. The area is not listed in most guide books, and the poor conditions of the road make many tour companies leery of organizing trips to this area. However, the journey to get there is quite scenic, if bumpy, as towns give way to rice fields and concrete houses turn to those made of thatch. We didn’t leave until midday, so it’s well past 9p by the time we arrive at the border town next to the reserve.

We walk through the modest town to the house of a guide Andy knows. Inside the guide and his wife are watching TV as their two kids are sprawled asleep on mats directly next to the television. The house is solidly constructed of bricks and painted thatch, and in front of the house sits equipment from his second job, that of a mechanic. Both he and his wife are dressed in traditional long skirts wrapped around the waste. They speak with a regional dialect that mixes Bahasa Indonesian with the local language, but he is also knowledgeable in the language of the Baduy people, which is also distinctly different. On our arrival his sweet wife hustles the kids off to bed and makes some fried Casava root that she serves with hot thick cups of coffee. It is arranged that we will stay there for the evening and leave early in the morning to enter the Baduy protected area.

It was a high official in the region’s biggest town, Rangkas, that five years ago suggested the development of tourism in the area. A large meeting took place between government officials, elders of the various Baduy villages, and officials of Cibole town. Since the Baduy people traditionally haven’t used money, plus lived in a society where everything is equally distributed, it was decided that citizens of Cibole town would manage the selling of souvenirs and other tourism concerns. Ten men from Cibole were then picked by the Baduy to act as guides. These ten have organized to provide a flat fee of $15 for Indonesians and $20 for International visitors, per group. Part of this money has been used on Cibole community projects, such as building a primary school and library. The Baduy are of course not as organized, and demand very little from their visitors, besides a $1 entrance fee and a donation from those who wish to stay the night. While no restaurants or guest houses operate in Cibole, stalls have opened in the main part of town selling souvenirs, as well as fish and fresh fruit from the protected area. Every few weeks the money is then collected by members of the different villages and taken back to the village elders. It is the elder of each village who then makes purchases for the community. The Inner Baduy have no part in this, but occasionally the children of Inner Baduy can be seen venturing from their home to watch what is happening in Outer Baduy. No one is allowed into Inner Baduy, not even those from Outer Baduy, so it is impossible to see if there have been any changes since the introduction of tourism.

In the morning we start off early after a quick breakfast of fried rice. First, I’m shown around the town of Cibole, which ironically has 3 mosques for such a small town. Then, we go to the entrance of the protected area to register. I skim through the 2008 book, and notice there have been just 7 international visitors to date, 2 Russians, 1 Ukrainian, 1 Slovenian, 1 Canadian, and 2 French persons. The number of Indonesians visiting were much larger, at least 6 pages, and about 25 groups for each page. I was particularly startled to see the number of people in each group ranging up to 30, 50, and even 80 visitors at a time.

The first Baduy village is directly next to the town of Cibole. The houses are uniquely shaped, a bit like a Chinese takeout box with a roof, and made entirely of thatch and dried grass. A few people were around, a woman who was weaving and others pounding rice. Making clothes is an extremely lengthy process, around a month to make a skirt, so many of the villagers and children now wear purchased clothes and plastic thong sandals. As we walk to other villagers it is easy to see the adjustments people have made, such as plastic dishes and glasses, purchased undergarments, and all the women were wearing golden earrings. That being said, they still live very traditionally and without electricity or formal schooling. It was particularly interesting to see the pictures that children had drawn into the mud, a white and red telephone tower that can be seen from one of the hills and an image of a car. The children from Outer Baduy are the ones that typically bring souvenirs and produce to the town, so they likely have more exposure to the modernization taken place in Cibole. We pass many boys carrying large bundles of durian on a pole toward the market. The path was narrow, so I can only imagine the problems produced by large groups of visitors trying to share this footpath.

For a visitor the trip offers a pleasant time, hiking through jungle and seeing the culture of the distinct Baduy, so I can see the appeal. Difficulty in transportation is for the moment keeping tourism on a small scale, but it seems like some serious problems might arise if tourism continues with minimal regulations, especially concerning the large amount of visitors arriving at one time. Also, as in many places in SEA, proper waste disposal does not seem to be of central concern and the footpaths are becoming strewn with garbage. Most worrisome may be the direct contact villagers have with unscrupulous visitors. In one village some shady Jakarta business man two years ago convinced the villagers to start a rather blatant illegal logging operation. While illegal logging does go on all over Indonesia, it just seems particularly unscrupulous for these actions to be taking place in a protected area and with the support of the indigenous inhabitants. I’ll actually be contacting one of my professors who used to live in Indonesia to get her input if there is anything that can be done.

Newly Arrived

Echoing “Calls to prayer” are sounding from quite a few different mosques as I listen from my room, trying to collect my thoughts about my initial reaction to Indonesia. Um, “it’s great and I’m having a really good time,” wow, I guess that wasn’t too difficult after all.

I arrived in Jakarta via Malaysia, where I’ve been for the last few days getting my visa. The plane ride was just a couple of hours and 1 time zone away. Everyone seems eager to talk with you here, or at least to a female bule (foreigner). The first people I meet are two guys sitting near me while waiting for the bus from the airport to central Jakarta. We strike up a conversation and randomly enough, one of the men attended my same university in the small town of Bloomington, Indiana, but enrolled the year I was born. Needless to say, I never expected the first Indonesians I’d meet in Jakarta to start talking to me about US college basketball. They were both pleasant and quite helpful too, since they were disembarking at the same stop and could point me to Jalan Jaksa, the main tourist street with budget accommodations.

The next people I met were at the guesthouse. I stopped at Kresna homestay, and while waiting for the manager to get back from lunch, started talking with two fellows hanging out in the lobby. After initial introductions, I discover that they both come from Sumatra and work in the tourism industry. They have degrees in hotel management, and training has brought them to Jakarta. Specifically, cruise ship training. Online they had discovered a 2 month training program in Jakarta that guaranteed placements on US cruise ships. After an intense program in English grammar, diction, etc. they have developed fairly good American accents and one already has a placement on a cruise liner that caters only to seniors and departs from Tampa, Florida. Long hours, hard work, and absence of family, they said they are willing to endure for the expected economic benefits. I ask them some questions about the tourism industry in Indonesia. The younger one eagerly responds that Sumatra has much better tourism areas than Java, but Yogyakrta, the Borobudur temple complex, and Mt. Bromo were all good tourist locations in Java. When I ask how environmentally the places were handling tourism, the other one responded, “In many places older people don’t treat the environment right, and younger people follow this behavior.”

“Do you think this will change,” I next asked.

He responded that he hoped so, since the effects can already be seen, like with the smog in Jakarta. “Some places are trying to change this and become cleaner, like Bali and Yogyakarta, and sometimes the government tries to educate people through TV or getting people together to do a town project,” he explains. Also, to my surprise, his friend mentions the UN global climate conference that took place in Bali and how after wards the government has backed efforts to improve the environment by promoting activities such as tree planting. “Everyone is supposed to plant a tree, even in their front yard if there is room,” he commented. I couldn’t help but smile and ask, “Have you had a chance to plant a tree?” They laugh, not yet, they’ve been too busy with thier course.

After the manager gets back and I finally check in, I head back out to find some lunch. I stop at a little place which shows pictures of the food. As I wait I’m joined but another customer who sits down and joins me. Riv Ano Osmar, as his business card reads, is the owner of coco factory in Jakarta and a coffee bean plantation in Papua. I admit I gulped a bit, just the other night I had been reading about Papua and how many of the residents dislike the Javanese business men who come and harvest the islands natural resources and take the profits back to Java. Riv was a stocky man and I ended up talking to him mostly about food, not the complicated issues of Papua (Irian Jaya). We talked about the difference between food on the different islands, Indonesian specialties, and whether the Dutch had left their mark on the food. His opinion, “No!” In fact, he did not have good things to say about people who, like the Dutch, tend to keep their food separated, instead of blending the meat, vegetables, and sauce into one dish as is typical with Asian meals. When I finished, I thanked him for the information and walked a few blocks North to the National Monument.

(The monument gets the sort of nicknames you'd expect!)

The monument is a tall white marble obelisk with a sculpted gold leaf flame on top. A guide hanging around the statue fills me in on some details of the monument and what you can see from the top. I can’t help but notice he is wearing a light blue WWF shirt promoting Ujung Kulon National Park, home to the nearly extinct Javanese rhino (around 55 remain) and a plethora of other unique flora and fauna. His name is Andy, a slight and bespectacled man of Sudanese origins. He’s worked as a guide for the past twelve years, despite the slowdown in the number of travelers. Andy is not optimistic that this year’s “Visit Indonesia 2008” promotion is going to turn this around.

On my way back to the Jl. Jaksa guest house I run into 3 young high school girls in school uniforms. They were wearing long blue skirts and white shirts, and two had the additional white head scarf covering. “Can we interview you?” was their question. Their teacher had given them the assignment to tape a conversation with a foreigner. They had a list of questions all ready. I happily cringe, I mean agree, and sit down with the first girl. I think this might have been a little more fun if I hadn’t just been working as an ESL teacher. Anyway, I smile and put her at ease as she sits down and asks me questions. For the most part, all the questions were understandable, except “what you do want with Indonesians?” I was a bit baffled, but decided to go with how beautiful and nice the people are, and I even threw in how beautiful the country is for good measure. This led to a rather rambling answer on my part, and I could tell she hadn’t the slightest idea what I meant. However, she smiled back at me as she asked her final questions. Then her friend put her tape in the tape player, interviewed me using the exact same questions, as did the third girl.

One last thing I discovered during this first day - the sublime taste of an avocado shake mixed with chocolate sauce. Seriously, I had no idea this combination would possibly taste so good. While this is just the beginning of my trip, I hope it continues in this same vein. It’s been a long and interesting day … I just wonder what tomorrow will be like, or who I’ll meet?

The Project

The travel industry is growing at a rapid pace as transportation becomes cheaper and easier, and the idea of traveling becomes more main stream. However, concern is also rising over the diverse effects of tourism, as well as its sustainability. As a tourism graduate student, I've been learning about the idea of “responsible tourism,” which aims to manage tourism to reduce negative impacts and encourage positive effects. As an avid traveler and someone who is curious about the changing nature of tourism, I decided to structure my next trip around the topic of responsible travel. I felt a blog might be a good way to share my experience with other travelers, and vicarious travelers. So, enjoy :)

During my trip, I’ll be visiting places and meeting people that seem to be demonstrating responsible travel characteristics. Another goal is to speak with people I meet, locals, tour operators, guides, guest house owners, and other travelers on their knowledge and views of “travel,” “sustainability,” and general thoughts on tourism. I’m also going to try and be more conscientious of my own effects while travelling. Let me be clear, I am by no means an expert in these areas, and I acknowledge language will probably be a barrier. This is just my personal account of trying to learn more about Indonesia, the idea of responsible travel, and the travel industry in general.