https://www.scmp.com/rss/330156/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Once popular tourist destinations, wild animal markets in Indonesia have seen visitors staying away thanks to the coronavirus pandemic that has shone a spotlight on the trade and consumption of wildlife. Organisations such as Change for Animal Foundation, Flight, Jakarta Animal Aid Network, and Animals Asia have urged the Indonesian government to ban all commercial trade in wildlife for human consumption – particularly birds and mammals – and to shut down all the markets to reduce the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3079402/wet-markets-selling-wildlife-birds-monkeys-bats-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3079402/wet-markets-selling-wildlife-birds-monkeys-bats-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Apr 2020 00:15:14 +0000 The air is quiet except for the sound of my breathing as I hold nervously onto a single rope, dangling at a height of 60 metres (200ft), before being lowered slowly into the dark cave by an instructor. It’s my first time vertical caving, but I am safely clipped into a harness, and my tension soon turns to awe as I observe the towering, plant-covered cave walls. Before long, my feet touch firm ground, and I am released from my harness by guide Suharjono. Our group of 20 tourists murmurs with... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3047920/indonesia-cave-adventure-60-metres-down-rope-ancient-mini?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3047920/indonesia-cave-adventure-60-metres-down-rope-ancient-mini?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Jan 2020 23:45:09 +0000 It is early morning in Giriloyo, Yogyakarta, and a group of women are busy drawing motifs on white cloth in an open gazebo. Next to them are buckets of liquid wax that they will melt on a small stove and use to draw intricately detailed patterns filled with flowers and birds. These artisans are making batik, cloth for which Indonesia is famous, using a wax-resist dyeing technique known as batik tulis. Batik is made in various parts of Indonesia, each of which uses unique motifs, but the artisans... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3040944/hand-made-batik-artisans-indonesia-preserve-tradition-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3040944/hand-made-batik-artisans-indonesia-preserve-tradition-and?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Dec 2019 05:00:12 +0000 Indonesia is a country with a rich biodiversity. It is estimated more than 300,000 wildlife species – 17 per cent of the world’s total, and many of them endemic – live in the archipelagic nation. Sadly, much of the country’s wildlife is threatened by habitat degradation and wildlife trade, so for their own protection many animals end up in zoos. However, animal activists say nearly all zoos in the country are failing to provide a suitable habitat for them. “According to a search by wildlife... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3036180/animal-cruelty-still-plagues-indonesias-zoos-despite?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3036180/animal-cruelty-still-plagues-indonesias-zoos-despite?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Nov 2019 07:00:14 +0000 Motorboats chug slowly down a canal running between mangrove forests in the village of Bedono, an eco-tourism area on the north coast of the island of Java, Indonesia. From a grove of mangrove trees, ruins of abandoned and partially submerged houses can be seen. “The area that has now been overgrown with mangroves was once a residential area,” says tour guide Aryo Rifai. As he drives our boat through the eerie scene, Rifai explains that erosion by waves began to undermine Bedono in the 1990s,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3023148/climate-change-tourism-indonesian-village-sank-offers-grim?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3023148/climate-change-tourism-indonesian-village-sank-offers-grim?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Aug 2019 00:45:06 +0000 Dery Sananya sits casually on a chair “watching” television – as carp, koi and pomfret swim past him. Later, he will upload a selfie of this pose to his Instagram feed, with a quip about how easy its is to find TV channels underwater. He is one of the many tourists – Indonesian and foreign – who have flocked to Umbul Ponggok in Klaten, Central Java, Indonesia, to take tongue-in-cheek underwater selfies in a pond. “Many visitors upload photos of themselves on motorbikes or bicycles, and even do... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3021430/how-village-pond-became-quirky-tourist-attraction?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3021430/how-village-pond-became-quirky-tourist-attraction?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Aug 2019 04:58:07 +0000 Dozens of jeeps negotiate the steep, sandy roads on the slopes of Mount Merapi in Central Indonesia as they take tourists to villages destroyed by the eruption of the volcano on October 26, 2010. Nine years on, villagers still talk about the enormity of the catastrophe: the volcano spewed some 140 million cubic metres of rock and ash, destroying three communities, and series of eruptions killed 353 people; more than 61,000 were evacuated. Material losses amounted to 4.23 trillion rupiah, with... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3013994/dark-tourism-volcano-villages-indonesia-destroyed-eruption?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3013994/dark-tourism-volcano-villages-indonesia-destroyed-eruption?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Jun 2019 23:30:09 +0000 The massacre of 50 Muslims at two mosques in New Zealand last month sparked an international outpouring of condemnation and grief. The horrifying demonstration of 21st-century terrorism, by an Australian national whom media have described as a white supremacist, live-streamed the attacks on Facebook, illustrating how easy it is to use social media to spread hatred. Islamist extremists were quick to respond, taking to cyberspace to provoke Muslims into “defending” their religion. Groups known... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3005547/religious-intolerance-and-moderate-indonesian-muslims-fighting-against?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3005547/religious-intolerance-and-moderate-indonesian-muslims-fighting-against?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Apr 2019 00:45:09 +0000 Despite efforts to stem the tide of radicalism on social media in Indonesia, groups and individuals with extreme Islamist views continue to emerge on digital platforms, sowing seeds of intolerance and violence. Groups and pages espousing extremism sprout up, find followers, and are deleted, only to reappear in a cat-and-mouse game with the government and internet companies trying to shut them out. JAD: the extremist group that recruits families to spread terror in Indonesia Social media users... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/2182643/how-social-media-helps-spread-extremist-content-indonesia-and-whats-being?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/2182643/how-social-media-helps-spread-extremist-content-indonesia-and-whats-being?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 20 Jan 2019 00:45:30 +0000