The people of Indonesia are very traditional and celebrate a lot of festivals throughout the year. These festivals are celebrated by Javanese, Balinese and people of other communities in Indonesia. Some of the Muslim festivals are very popular in Indonesia. Indonesians celebrate some of the Hindu & Christian festivals too. Artists wear traditional clothes and perform various traditional dances to mark different deities.

The extensive shopping opportunities in Indonesia are a good reason in itself to visit this Country. Whether one is looking for furniture, fashion, antiques, art or jewelry, the archipelago is renowned for producing exquisitely crafted goods, many of which can be bought straight from the craftsman. Most of the goods available here are cheaper than anywhere else; Asian shopaholics are known to travel here every year for a spot of retail therapy. Bali is the best place to go for local arts and crafts, while bigger cities such as Jakarta and Yogyakarta are better known amongst seekers of mainstream and luxury brands.
Arts & Crafts – Indonesia is famous for its beautiful local crafts and handiwork, from leather goods and silver to art and wood carvings. The best places to score some excellent Indonesian arts and crafts would be at local markets and from street vendors. In Yogyakarta, one can find plenty of good leather crafts such as the exotic wayang kulit (shadow theatre) puppets, as well as bags made of natural fibers, silver and batik. Lombok and Surabaya are the most popular for hand-woven cloths and traditional textiles, while Papua and Bali are more well-known for their intricate wood carvings and sand sculptures. Every village on this island is unique in terms of items for sale, where the goods differ from one village to another.
Indonesian Batik – Indonesian batik, with its gorgeous patterns and delicate details, is recognized the world over for its elegant beauty. Geometric patterns and motifs of flowers, leaves, birds and butterflies are printed onto finely-woven cotton in shades of brown, cream and indigo, and sometimes interspersed with bright colors such as yellow, green and red. Yogyakarta and Solo are the centers of traditional Indonesian batik, while the town of Pekalongan is the leader in the production of stunning hand-drawn batik.
International Goods – IAside from the more traditional street stalls and local markets that Indonesia is well known for, there are also ultra-modern shopping malls and department stores selling all sorts of international brands, particularly in larger, metropolitan cities such as Jakarta, Bandung and Yogyakarta. Most of these types of establishments are concentrated in Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital city, where one can find a huge variety catering to different markets. Department stores such as Metro, Sogo and Debenhams are targeted towards the middle and upper class, offering a variety of international brands from computer software to luxury goods.
Local Products – Indonesia’s locally-made products vouch for interesting and unique souvenirs to take home. Supermarkets and grocery stores everywhere around the country are a treasure trove of such items featuring a variety of local goods from foodstuff to beauty products. Inexpensive and unusual, you can buy local gems such as Indonesian honey, Javanese coffee and Indonesian tea – all for a fraction of the price they are sold for elsewhere

With 17,000 islands to choose from, Indonesian food is an umbrella term covering a vast variety of regional cuisines found across the nation. Rice is the staple food of Indonesians and they are happy to consume it two to three times a day. For special celebrations or ritual meals called selamatan, nasi kuning (yellow rice) is traditionally served, usually in the form of a tumpeng, a cone shaped mound of yellow colored rice served on a large platter elaborately garnished and accompanied by side dishes. Other special rice dishes include nasi uduk (rice cooked in santan but without turmeric). This is a richer, more aromatic form of white rice and is served with accompanying side dishes. Each region of Indonesia has its own specialties and there is great variety in the cuisine available. One of the most famous is West Sumatran or Padang food, which uses a lot of chili, spices and santan. Padang dishes include rendang, kalio (similar to rendang but the sauce is not reduced and thickened), gulai (a spicy curry), kari (curry), dendeng balado (thin sliced and crisp fried beef with red chilies).

Central Javanese food tends to have a sweeter taste. Traditional dishes from Central Java include ayam goreng (spiced fried chicken), ayam panggang (broiled chicken cooked with either soy sauce or santan and spices), semur daging (beef braised in soy sauce), empal daging (slices of beef cooked with spices then fried), opor ayam (chicken in mild white curry sauce), gudeg (jackfruit cooked in santan and served with chicken, egg and soybean cake) and sayur asem (tamarind flavored vegetable soup). In West Java, the Sudanese use fewer spices but some kind of sambal is always served with meals. Sambal is a hot and sometimes spicy sauce or relish served as an accompaniment to other dishes. In addition to nasi timbel mentioned above, Sudanese restaurants usually offer fried or barbecued fish or chicken as well as pepes ikan (marinated fish wrapped in banana leaf and grilled). In Jakarta you can find Sudanese food at Dapur Sunda, Padzzi Pondok Ulam, Ratu Kuring and the Sari Kuring chain.
The Hindu people of Bali are well known for their pork dishes, such as babi kecap (pork braised in soy sauce) and sate pentul (minced pork sate) as well as ayam/daging bumbu Bali (chicken or beef in chili and tamarind sauce), lawar (raw vegetable salad) and duck dishes such as bebek bangor (crispy duck) and bebek betutu (smoked duck). Manadonese specialties include ikan kuah asam (fish with tamarind sauce), ikan cakalang garo rica (fish with chili), ayam rica-rica (grilled chicken with chili), cumi/ayam woku belanga (sautéed squid or chicken with spicy green chili sauce), sayur Manado (hot and spicy mixed vegetables) and ayam isi di bulu (chicken cooked slowly inside a bamboo tube with green chili sauce. Some of the major fruits found in Indonesia are jackfruit, durian, starfruit, papaya, pineapple and mango. Besides traditional Indonesian food, Chinese and Continental dishes are also hugely popular in Indonesia. Many popular American fast food joints have also established their chains in major cities of Indonesia.

Jakarta – Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia, located on the northwest of the island of Java. Jakarta is the country’s economic, cultural and political centre and the most populous city not only in Indonesia but in Southeast Asia as a whole. Jakarta has an unmatched reputation for housing tall skyscrapers and hence finding old style Dutch houses won’t be a relevant and visible fashion here.

Bandung – Bandung is the capital city of West Java and the third largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta and Surabaya. Nicknamed Parijs van Java (Paris of Java) by the Dutch for its resemblance to Paris and European atmosphere back at the colonial times, the city of Bandung also earned another nickname as Kota Kembang, literally meaning the Flower City since Bandung used to have a lot of flowers.

Banjarmasin – Banjarmasin is the biggest city in South Kalimantan. The southern section of the province is much flatter with large rivers meandering through lowlands to vast mangrove swamps along the coast that is why South Kalimantan is an exceptionally fertile land.
Manado –Manado is the largest city and main gateway to Northern Sulawesi, Indonesia. The capital of the province, the former stronghold of the Dutch and the cultural center of the Minahasa people, for a long time Manado prospered through trade with the nearby Philippines and the spice trade with the rest of the world.