A pair of European tourists say they regret offending Indonesians, especially the Hindu community, after they posted a video depicting one of them peeing on the sacred Mount Bromo in East Java.
The video, posted as a reel on Instagram, shows the male and female pair having a whale of a time at Bromo National Park. For one quick moment, the video cuts to the male peeing on the mountain’s peak.
Indonesians soon discovered the video and condemned the pair for the sacrilegious act, saying it was especially offensive towards Hindu people and the Tengger tribe who believe the site to be holy.
Under the same joint Instagram account, the pair posted an apology early this morning.
“Many people ask us: Why did you do that? or What were you thinking?
The truth is: We did not think,” they wrote.
“We come from a small country in Europe and are used to be in the mountains. We are always outside and do a lot outdoors. We really did not know what kind of holy temple the Bromo is for the Hindu community.
“Sadly here in Europe we do not get in touch much with the Hindu culture and have a serious lack of knowledge here.”
Many in the comments section were not satisfied with the apology, saying that if the tourists were able to book a trip overseas, they should also be able to conduct research on their destination’s laws and customs.
There’s still a lot of unknowns regarding the pair, but their post suggests that they have returned to Europe and thus may end up avoiding any sanctions in Indonesia. It’s also unclear which small European country they’re from, but it looks to be a German-speaking one judging from their content.
Coconuts Jakarta has reached out to the pair for comment.
Indonesia has been seeing the occasional disrespectful acts by foreign travelers amid a revival of its tourism sector. Most of these have been reported in Bali, leading to several deportations.
