Java - Paradise between Myth and Modernity (12/59)

Java - Paradise between Myth and Modernity (12/59)

"The Milky Way of the Ocean" is what they call Indonesia, with its over 18,000 islands sprinkled across the Indian Ocean, part of the so-called Ring of Fire with its approx. 150 active volcanoes. Inhabitants profit from the fertile volcanic ground on the slopes of these fiery peaks, but pay the price of living in constant peril from eruptions and earthquakes. Java is the main island of the Indonesian archipelago, and home to the capital of Jakarta. It has approx. 30 volcanoes. Its volcanic soil is fertile enough to feed around 122 million people, or almost 60 percent of the entire population of Indonesia. The island's culture is extremely complex, with some of the biggest and oldest Buddhist and Hindu temples of South East Asia located on Java. Architectural remains range from ancient kingdoms to the colonial era. People have invented myths to counter the threat posed by the holy volcano, Merapi, and the ocean. The Republic of Indonesia is an Islamic country today, but the old beliefs and legends live on, as well. Our journey takes us from Central to Eastern Java and thence to the neighboring island of Madura, where people live off tobacco harvests and salt mining - and hold an annual bull race every year?

Its name is synonymous with exotic far-away islands: Today, Java is the thriving, bustling center of the largest Islamic country in the world - where Buddhist and Hindu traditions are carried on as well, making for a fascinating mix of nature and culture.

Also availabe as 1 x 23 min.

New:

•     Cape Town - South Africa's City of Contradictions
  

•     Costa Rica - Central America's Green Treasure
  

•     Oman - Oasis of the Orient
  

•     Myanmar Land of the Golden Pagodas

•     Bhutan: In the Land of the Thunder Dragon

•     Morocco - The Road of 1000 Kasbahs

•     Canada: The Northwest - Summer in the Arctic Circle