Travel Indonesia: 1982-1984

In 1981 I travelled to South East Asia and spent three months exploring Java, Bali, Singapore and Hong Kong. Compared to my impressions of Europe there seemed a greater sense of vibrant living cultures that melded in a mish-mash of old and new and Indonesia was extraordinary – particularly Java. The tropical monsoons were at their peak with an atmosphere like a sauna, pouring rain interspersed with blazing sunshine.

Arriving in Jakarta at night the city was in semi-darkness – quite normal at that time when the whole country was still recovering from the political upheaval of the 1960’s and finding accommodation was an interesting challenge.

From the energy of Jakarta came a meandering train trip through lush forests, villages and rice paddies to Yogyakarta, a place of extraordinary early Buddhist monuments like Borobodur (and Prambanan) which was in the early stages of restoration but mercifully few tourists.

There followed trips into the coolness of the hills and tea plantations near Bandung then onwards to Bali with its Hindu culture and reverence for beauty through music, dance and sculpture.

From the watercolours and sketches done at the time I worked on a series of pictures with the simple aim to transpose my fleeting sketches into a more solid format but keeping a sense of being snap shots of all that busy, vibrant, lush life.