What's the largest flower in the world? Where can we see the largest lizards? Where are jockeys not horse riders? The answers to such questions and many others take us to a place where Egyptian writer and journalist Samy Rateb spent four years and wrote a book. In his book, Indonesia... The Land of Wonders and Curiosities, Rateb takes the Arabic-language reader on a journey to one of the richest natural diversities in the world. The 120-page work begins with an introduction to the southern Asian country, giving an idea about its geography, history, population and economy. We are old something very surprising: Indonesia is a country of 18,000 islands, home to 300 distinct native ethnicities. The writer then discusses the different attractions of the country, illustrating his writing with a number of photos. Indonesia is a country of great natural diversity, which is why the author dwells on its natural wonders. Rateb was courageous enough to pay a visit to Komodo National Park, where the largest lizard in the world, the Komodo Dragon, lives. These lizards can grow to 3m (10 feet) in length and their bite packs a punch with a mouthful of virulent, bacteria laden saliva. The natural wonders of Indonesia also extend to the two biggest flowers in the world. The flower with the world's largest bloom is the Rafflesia arnoldii. This rare flower is found in the rainforests of Indonesia. It can grow to be 3 feet across and weigh up to 15lb! It is a parasitic plant, with no visible leaves, roots or stem. Another enormous flower found there is the Amorphophallus titanum, or Titan arum. While describing their beauty, Rateb also reports, regrettably, that their nasty smell stands at odds with their remarkable beauty. It was also prudent of the author to visit to the Insects and Butterflies Museum in Sulawesi, as Indonesia is home to 16 per cent of the world's species of the butterflies. Rateb goes on to talk about his visit to the forest in Bali where the monkeys live. The monkeys freely interact with the visitors, who also come to visit the Hindu temples there. One of the most interesting parts of his book is his story about the orangutan, an endangered ape. He tells the reader the true story of an orangutan which lived with a family of humans for 15 years; when it left them, it died. But it's not only the natural diversity that attracts the reader, as the writer also goes into details about the 300 ethnic groups and the different faiths in Indonesia. One of these ethnic groups are the Dayak People. This primitive tribe has gorgeous traditional dances, musical instruments and ethnic arts, as well as unique customs. They use lances or blowpipes to hunt animals. They smear the blowpipe needle with a poisonous mixture that paralyses or kills the lured animals. They used to collect the skulls of their enemies and hang them on the doorways of their huts. The book also discusses unique solutions to the country's traffic problems, one of them being a law that prevents cars from driving down certain big streets if they contain fewer than three persons. This where the jockeys that don't ride horses have their say. These jockeys, jobless young men, get into a car with only two persons, at one end of one of these streets. The driver drives to the end of the street, dropping off the jockey after the police check point and giving him some baqqsheesh, which is better than the car being fined. The jockey then walks back to the start of the street, where he waits for more customers. Rateb also stresses that Indonesians love and respect Egypt. There's even a modern restaurant in Jakarta named Tahrir, which is very popular with Indonesians, who love the name and the food served there. Some investors have capitalised on the Indonesian fascination with Egyptian civilisation, using the Egyptian and Pharaonic theme for some of the lavish real estate projects that attract wealthy Indonesians. If you can't afford to fly to Indonesia, this wonderful book lets you see what you're missing.
