....Wednesdays with Indonesia?

So I recently found out that Lonely Planet will come out in January with the first book on indonesia since 2007 - my copy. Good think I bought it....

In anycase, I'll probably by this new one so I'll actually know how giant babies, terrorism, and earthquakes have affected prices. I need to know if I can still get by in beach huts for 5$ a night.

This weeks little snippet is filled with my dream islands. The Alor Archipelago. These islands are remote - even farther East than those islands I talked about last week. They are right beside East Timor if you need a better geological reference. They were still headhunting up until the 1950s. Pretty exciting.

In anycase I have a really big interest in Lamalera - the people that surprizingly still hunt whales and even more surprizingly are allowed by all the environmentalists and anti-whaling organizations.

But if everyone hunted whales like this than I imagine a lot more people would be allowed to:




Now I don't really plan to go there and have a go at stabbing a whale. But I just thought this little tid-bit was pretty interesting - and I think I've already fallen in love with the Alor's - even without seeing it.

Although I do understand the problems with Lonely Planet guides - and believe me they are many - I can see that parts of this Indonesian one are very humble. Many times sections actually refer you to 'Mr. Jim' or 'Dive-Master Dave' or any number of famous local personalities that are aparently the best source for information. When hotel/guest house listings mention how 'Baba Yosef' is a really excelelnt chef - it sort of makes a difference. I automatically are more drawn to these places - they seem far more personable than the resorts and 'Hotel Florida's' that seem to be everywhere. I suppose it's all probably different now - but I can dream.