Travel Books Review: Culture Smart! Indonesia*

[Ad-gifted] Travel Books : Culture Smart! Indonesia: the essential guide to customs & culture is written by Graham Saunders & Jessica Ginting. One of the 105 Culture Smart Guides, it is published by Kuperard, an imprint of London publishers Bravo Ltd.

The Culture Smart! guides aim to begin where other travel books end, giving the inquisitive traveller more than information on hotels, sightseeing and how the country has responded to COVID-19. This series also offers an insight into the peoples, values, faiths, home lives and leisure of each country – as well as a briefing section for the business traveller. With these guides, the reader is equipped with insight for a more meaningful exploration of their destination.

Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelago, made up of 17,508 islands – 6,000 of which are inhabited. It is the fifth most populous country in the world, with 260 million people, and has 18 major cities across its territory. Although Javanese, English and Dutch are the languages most widespread across the country, there are 300 regional forms and dialects. There are also some three hundred ethnic groups in Indonesia, the product of centuries of migration and settlement, and 6 main religious faiths. ‘Culture Smart! Indonesia’ provides an introduction to this rich range of islands and their inhabitants, whilst helping the traveller to be sensitive, respectful and appreciative of such diversity. Keep on reading to find out how you can win a copy of this book worth £9.99

What I thought of the Travel Books : Culture Smart! Indonesia

When I received ‘Culture Smart! Indonesia’, I thought it might be quite frustrating to read a travel guide to a country that I’ve always wanted to visit, during a time when world travel is out of the question, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. This brilliant, pocket-sized book about Indonesia is more than the guide to customs and culture that the cover claims. A map and information table at the start of the book gives the reader lots of very useful initial facts about the country.

A comprehensive chapter titled ‘Travel, health, and safety’ acts as a more traditional travel companion, suggesting places to visit; discussing the pros and cons of various means of transport in the country and giving practical advice on items such as food safety and medical care – supported by appendix pages of useful phrases and pronunciation. There are sections on Indonesian geography, history, anthropology, politics and the economy, and suggestions for further reading.

All this information could make the book daunting and inaccessible. However, it is so well organised that the reader can choose interesting or relevant pages to read and return to others at another time, without missing vital details for their time in the country.

The ‘Culture Smart!’ guide’s main strength is in recognising that interactions with people are what really enriches travel. The book focuses on how to navigate these interactions in a country with twenty-first-century global cities full of the trappings and technology of modern life, with each area developing a unique identity, but also with traditional values and hierarchies that underpin the way of life across Indonesia.

Some of the advice is more suitable for a visitor who will be staying in the country for some time, as it covers being invited into Indonesian homes, to family events and similar. However, the author also suggests how to navigate social situations that travellers might find themselves in – at tourist sites, restaurants, street markets etc – to avoid clashes of culture and have positive experiences instead. For example, he explains that street celebrations of festivals are very common in Bali and are often staged for tourists, but to be invited to a celebration elsewhere and take photographs may be seen as rude and insensitive; that very different types of dress are acceptable in tourist areas and quiet villages and that haggling and three-tiered pricing – for tourists, locals and friends – are the norm. Rather than wanting to worry the well-meaning traveller, the author aims to help the reader make the most of the friendliness, warmth and hospitality that he has clearly experienced from the Indonesian people.

I’ve learned a huge amount about Indonesia from this book, and am now even more keen to visit especially since there is a section in the book which shares how Indonesia has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic.  It was a really interesting read and I think it will have value for readers when we can finally get back out on the road.

With this guide in my bag, I would feel confident that I could understand a little more about the tourist sites that I might go to; choose authentic food, drink and experiences and be an ecologically and culturally sensitive traveller whilst enjoying my destination.

How much is Travel Books : Culture Smart! Indonesia and how can you buy it?

Culture Smart! Indonesia: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture is available in a handy, pocket-sized paperback for £9.99 and can be purchased via this link to Culture Smart Books.

How to win yourself a copy of Culture Smart! Indonesia: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture worth £9.99?

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* Prize is not exchangeable for cash and not transferable
* Open UK Wide
*Entrants of the competition must be 18 or above
* All entries must be received by Sun, 6 June 2021 (23:59).
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About the Book

Title: Culture Smart! Indonesia: the essential guide to customs & culture
Authors: Graham Saunders and Jessica Ginting
Publisher: Kuperard, an imprint of Bravo Ltd, London
ISBN: 978-1787028968
Trim Size: 173x107mm
Pages: 200 pages, B&W photographs

About the Authors

Graham Saunders is an Australian by birth and has a Ph.D in East Asian studies. He spent twenty-eight years teaching in East Malaysia and Brunei, and made numerous visits to the countries of the region, including Indonesia. He is the author of many books and articles on the history of Borneo and Southeast Asia. Graham now lives in England and runs a business specialising in books on Southeast Asia.

Jessica Ginting is an Indonesian writer and translator from Jakarta and is currently completing an M.A. in Publishing at University College, London. Her poetry has featured in the leading Southeast Asian journal ‘Anak Sastra’ and the ‘Bristol Poetry Anthology’; in 2018 she translated a non-fiction book on traditional Indonesian textiles and has recently created sci-fi comic series ‘ROSANA!’ set in the Indonesian archipelago.

Review by: Sharon Corbally

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