Isn’t it odd how places one would assume to be hell-holes from the way they are portrayed in the media turn out to be actually quite nice when you get there?
When I read about Indonesia in the comments in this forum I often have great difficulty in recognising the country they are talking about as they bear no relationship to actual life in Indonesia.
There is good and bad in all places, and all people.
Like the blind men describing the elephant, if you are just getting one aspect reported, you miss out on the rest.
I was leery of going to Mexico for quite some time, based on reports I’d heard. Even though the reports were true (some squalor, crime and corruption), the overall experience was so nice that I’ve gone back several times.
Don’t go to Aceh or Halhamhera. Both places are bad for non-muslims. The north part of Sulawesi has Christians still, and is a very good place to go, especially for the snorkling. The middle part is good, too, for the coffee and the Toraja village.
Most of the rest that I went to were nice enough, especially Bali, although, remember, Indonesia is a huge country that has a thousand cultures, and I only went to a few places. I have no idea what the south-eastern islands are like (Ambon, Timor, etc), but I’d like to go there.