It’s extremely tough being an Indonesian citizen that loves to travel abroad. Even if you have the money to go globetrotting, the power of an Indonesian passport won’t take you very far (we’re ranked 61 out of 96 in the Global Passport power rankings). But the number of countries opening their doors to Indonesian tourists has been slowly but steadily increasing in recent years, with Uzbekistan the latest added to the list of 70 countries Indonesians can now travel to visa-free.
On February 10, citizens of six countries were officially added to Uzbekistan’s list of those granted visa-free access. In addition to Indonesia, passport holders from Israel, South Korea, Malaysia, Japan, Turkey, and Singapore can now visit the Central Asian country for up to 30 days without a visa.
Uzbekistan could hold special interest for Indonesians interested in Islamic tourism as the former Soviet Union member is known for both its classical Russian architecture as well as its many restored 12 century mosques. The city of Samarkand is home to one of the region’s most important pieces of Islamic architecture: the Registan, a plaza bordered by three ornate, mosaic-covered religious schools dating to the 15th and 17th centuries.
Samarkand is also a major city along the historic Silk Road that runs right through Uzbekistan. Travel writers praise the country’s colorful history, wonderfully preserved cities and ease of getting around all as reasons to give the relatively little known country a shot.
So cheer up, travel-hungry Indonesians. The 70 countries that you can travel to visa-free now is an increase of 14 since 2015 (an increase spurred at least in part due to Indonesia’s own expanded visa-free policy) so, hopefully, that trend will continue and a lot more countries will make it easier for Indonesians to visit in the near future.
Reader Interactions