Indonesien

Tanjung Puting is the most popular tourist destination in Kalimantan, and for good reason. A near guarantee that you'll see free-roaming orang-utans, combined with a storybook journey up a winding jungle river, gives this adventure world-class appeal. And though remote, the park is easily reached via direct flights from Jakarta and Surabaya.

Gili Trawangan is a tropical playground of global renown, ranking alongside Bali and Borobudur as one of Indonesia's top destinations. Trawangan's heaving main drag, busy with bikes, cidomos and mobs of swimwear-clad visitors, can surprise those expecting a languid island retreat. Instead, a bustling string of lounge bars, hip guesthouses, ambitious restaurants, convenience stores and dive schools clamors for attention.

The land on the other side of the map, that's north Bali. Although one-sixth of the island's population lives here, this vast region is overlooked by many visitors who stay cocooned in the south Bali−Ubud axis.

Few isles tempt the imagination with the lure of adventure quite like the wild land of Sumatra. An island of extraordinary beauty, it bubbles with life and vibrates under the power of nature. Eruptions, earthquakes and tsunamis are Sumatran headline-grabbers. Steaming volcanoes brew and bluster while standing guard over lakes that sleepily lap the edges of craters. Orangutan-filled jungles host not only our red-haired cousins, but also tigers, rhinos and elephants. And down at sea level, idyllic deserted beaches are bombarded by clear barrels of surf.

If you’ve ever dreamt about having a tropical island entirely to yourself, complete with palm trees, powdery white beaches and crystal-clear waters, the Banyak Islands is a great place to fulfil your Robinson Crusoe fantasy. A cluster of 99 mostly uninhabited islands, the Banyak (Many) Islands are situated about 30km west of Singkil. Remote they might be, but they are now very much on the radar of paradise-seeking travellers and surfers. As well as having arguably the finest beaches in Sumatra and a handful of quality surf spots, the Banyaks feature Sumatra’s best snorkelling, with beautiful underwater forests of colourful coral (at least where there has been no past dynamite fishing).

A string of 130 palm-fringed islands in the Jakarta Bay, the Thousand Islands (Pulau Seribu) offer white-sand beaches and calm, clear seas (aside from the islands closest to the mainland, which are plagued by trash). Although they're hardly a match for many of Indonesia's other dream isles, they're certainly a welcome break from the polluted air of Jakarta. Most visitors to the archipelago are concrete-jungle-fleeing Jakartans and expats, and because of this, the Thousand Islands are expensive by Indonesian standards.

Papua’s second-biggest city, Sorong sits at the northwestern tip of the Vogelkop. It’s a busy port and base for oil and logging operations in the region. Few travelers stay longer than it takes to get on a boat to the Raja Ampat Islands, but Sorong can be interesting for a day or two, and there are some worthwhile destinations in the surrounding region.

Kalimantan – the expansive Indonesian part of Borneo – is an adventure in every sense of the word. Remote jungle, snaking rivers and interior mountains serve up endless opportunities for epic rainforest hiking, while its cities are low-key and little visited by Indonesian standards. You can travel here for weeks without meeting another foreigner, and at least some knowledge of Bahasa Indonesia is recommended.

Look towards the open ocean southeast of Bali and the hazy bulk of Nusa Penida dominates the view. But for many visitors the real focus is Nusa Lembongan, which sits in the shadow of its vastly larger neighbour. Here, there's great surfing, amazing diving, languorous beaches and the kind of laid-back vibe travellers cherish.

While surfers have long flocked to the Mentawai Islands for its legendary waves, it's a destination that will also have a far-flung appeal to independent travellers, in particular for those wanting to meet the island's tattooed hunter-gatherer tribes. The islands' pristine beaches are also magnificent and as idyllic as any you'll find anywhere in Sumatra.