DUTCH EAST INDIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20819, 11 March 1931, Page 12

DUTCH EAST INDIES.

ATTRACTIONS FOR TOURISTS. CHEAPNESS OF MOTORING. "I wonder more Now Zealanders do not think of touring the Dutch East Indies, said Mr. J. de Kuyper, of Holland, who is visiting Auckland on business. Its scenery is unrivalled, its natives aro absolutely unspoiled by contact with European life and motoring is wonderfully cheap." The cost of motoring 800 miles on the famous Padang-Medan route in Sumatra was only £lO to £ls for the five-days trip and the traveller passed through the most beautiful scenery that could be imagined. By arranging a contract for a fortnight or a month's motoring the cost worked out at 2d a mile, inclusive of the services of an experienced native chauffeur. At tho same time, rapid transit was obtainable by air, the whole of the Dutch East Indies being served with three-engined Fokker aeroplanes. It was an eighthours' flight from Sourabaya to Batavia and tho service had, been carried out without a singls accident, the 'planes being piloted by ex-Air Force officers, "To anyone who loves great scenery and is interested in antiquities the Indies are an inexhaustible mine of wonder," 6aid Mr. de Kuyper. "There are some wonderful old Hindu temples of great historic value and the mountain landscapes are the finest, except the Canadian Rockies, I have seen. Although you are in the tropics the climate in these mountainous districts compares with temperate lands and everywhere you go, even in comparatively small places, there are excellent hotels, magnificently appointed. What is more, all the Dutch people speak English and do their utmost to make the visitors' stay a pleasant one."