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Indonesia is an archipelago of 13,000 islands, less than a third of them inhabited. It is the largest Muslim country in the world, in places heavily populated with a sometimes busy tourist industry. Yet the people are wonderfully friendly and there are tiny corners where westerners hardly ever go, where there are tropical jungles spilling down from steep mountains to wave-swept bays, where they may be a small fishing village or only coral reef. Described here are just two places - Aceh is the northern tip of Sumatra, presently the centre of a bloody secessionist battle, although Sumatra and Aceh in particular have always been at odds with Java, Sulawesi is the spider-shaped island known formerly as the Celebes, nearly joining the Philippines. |