Flash floods, an erupting volcano, and attacks on Christian worshippers in Indonesia are turning this popular island into a place to avoid.
This weekend flash floods in Borneo, a popular tourist destination, killed ten people and over fourteen are missing. The flooding occurred on the swollen banks of the Kinarum River after a torrential downpour common in the country even in the dry season.
Mt. Sinabung a dormant volcano for four centuries erupted for the third time on Tuesday since erupting on August 29, 2010. Berastagi, a town seven kilometers from the volcano is popular with tourists interested in hiking. Indonesian experts in volcanic activity have declared the area a danger zone within 6 kilometers of the volcano. Over 30,000 people have been evacuated from the area.
Accompanied by the natural disasters, there is also violence. Christian worshippers were attacked on their way to prayers on Sunday. Attackers stabbed a Christian worshipper in the stomach and stroke a minister on the head. Islamic hard-liners are suspected for the attacks but no one has been arrested and probably never will as perpetrators are rarely punished or even questioned by police.
OSAC Indonesia 2010 Crime & Safety reports, “The police have limited capability in responding to criminal acts. They lack sufficient patrol vehicles to respond quickly on a consistent basis. Corruption continues to be a problem throughout the police force.
U.S. Citizens are highly advised to check Indonesia country specific information with Travel.State.Gov before making any travel plans.
Comments
Exaggeration.
Same as warning "don't visit the USA" because there's a hurricane in the Gulf, shootings in Philadelphia, and forest fires in California - all usual occurences in any given year...
First of all, Indonesia is not an "island", it is a collection of over 13,000. The three occurences above took place on separate islands, literally thousands of miles apart, and away from popular international tourist destinations. The distance between the easternmost and westernmost parts of the country is around the same as from LA to NY.
Indonesia is not an island but made up of islands. Borneo is not a popular tourist destination; now is a transition period between dry and rainy season. The number of deaths due to Mt. Sinabung's erruption is low, much lower than regular highway traffic casualties in developed countries. Finally, the stabbing was done by a small group of extremists that don't represent general population. Be data driven, please.
Haha actually it's a funny and silly.
Indonesia are really big (and not only 1 island, but almost 20.000 instead). Those incidents only occurred in tiny part of the country and involved only few people. You can't make decision just based on news in the Internet.
Indonesia and Borneo are high on my list of places to visit in the near future. It is good to provide information of the dangers so travelers can make an informed decision on whether or not to go. The recent troubles have not deterred me. Natural disasters and extremist killings happen everywhere unfortunately.
Whoever wrote this, should be fired. I am mean cmon, Popular Island?? singular?? it should be Island[s] If the basic of knowledge of this writer is in doubt, don't take the article seriously.
This is a ridiculous post. I've made 4 trips to Indonesia in the past 11 months, including three to Kalimantan, and 2 to Papua, without any problems. The author clearly has very little knowledge of this subject and is just rehashing a few random news stories to generate some ad revenue.
Very odd article. I wonder if it's a computer generated article cobbled together from AP reports. Someone testing out some nonhuman system is the only excuse I can imagine for such a bizarre tying together of incidents across an archipelago. Plus "and stroke a minister on the head."? Is this some auto-translation software in action or did someone actually write that? Odd...
this is a very poorly researched article for the reasons mentioned by other commenters. The author shows ignorance (the island of indonesia???!) I will remember examiner.com as a low quality site.
I hope they find the missing people in Borneo and they will be alive when found.
This is a very stupid article. Badly written. Poor research. Indonesia has thousand islands. To be honest, I feel safer in some places in Indonesia, compared to some places in the US. As for natural disaster, I don't give a shit. It can happen anywhere (hurricane in the US, earthquake in New Zealand, etc). If it's the time for me to die, it can happen anywhere.
I've been to Indonesia on several trips never had a single problem. I've been to the tourist areas but I prefer to visit the paths less travel. The rural people are very hosipitable; the young that know some English will try to help you. Bali is beatiful but in the North away from the tourist traps. Kalimatan (Borneo) is mostly wild. West Sumatra has the best food. But don't expect AC; AC is fan when power is available. There's 17,000+ islands and I've only seen 10 islands.
Next time you post something on-line put a byline and your qualifications so we're sure you're not a 13-year old geek who has never left his room to travel overseas, took one look at Google News and wrote something that's totally untrue, unverified and unbelieveable. This site won't last long if you continue putting up writeups like this. I've travelled the world and I've been to Indonesia several times; this place is one of the greatest.
I concur with most of the comments above - poor research and reporting. This article should be retracted.
Poor writing skills indeed, the author should be let go by management and persue a better job for her abilities........... floor sweeper in a factory
Grettel Deane... Do you even travel?
Really? I live in Indonesia. It is one of the best places in the world to live! I also have to comment, "popular island". Really?
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