Postcrossing in Indonesia

A postcard from Indonesia 🇮🇩 

But the most interesting thing about this postcard is that - it’s a 

Maxicard - the postcard has a personal stamp from Indonesia Post that resembles the image on the postcard and a relevant postmark that ties the stamp to the postcard. 

Postcrossing meet-up card - a meet-up was organised in Densapar, Indonesia during the philately exhibition. 

Postcrossing special postmark -

Thanks Shinta for this card !! 

( the label - Postcrossing will take you to my collection of envelopes and cards with special postcrossing postmarks and stamps from across the world ) 

Ramayana - the India Indonesia link

A cover from Indonesia 🇮🇩 

70 years of diplomatic relationship between India - Indonesia 

Date of issue : 24-04-2019

Designer : Bapak Nyoman Nuarta- Indonesian sculptor 

The stamp, a personal stamp - features a scene from Ramayana in which Jatayu valiantly fights Ravana to save Sita, symbolising the reaolve of the people of both countries in times of adversity. 

The event also showcased a traditional Chauu dance by Indian dancers and a photo exhibition that highlighted the landmark moments in the diplomatic relationship between both the countries starting from the President Sokarno’s participation as chief guest for India’s first Republic Day ! 

The story of Jatayu in Ramayana 

In the epic Ramayana when Jatayu sees Ravana abducting Sita, he tries to rescue Sita from Ravana. Jatayu fought valiantly with Ravana, but as he was very old Ravana soon got the better of him.

As Rama and Lakshmana chanced upon the stricken and dying Jatayu in their search for Sita, he informs them of the fight between him and Ravana and tells them that he had gone south.

While Jatayu was wounded and lying on the ground when Lord Rama arrived, Lord Rama sensed the end result and decided that Jatayu gets moksha. Jatayu consoles the distraught Rama and reassures Him that no harm will come to Sita and that very soon she will be restored to them. Rama is as much overwhelmed by grief as by a surging sense of affection and gratitude and embraces Jatayu. He asks Jatayu to be comfortable and blesses the bird. Rama says that the grief of seeing Jatayu pass away is greater than the loss of Sita. He considers Jatayu as equal to His father and proceeds to do the final rites for the bird. 

Thanks Juned for the beautiful cover and the stamps :) 

Bridges of South East Asia & the World

Thailand 🇹🇭 

World stamp exhibition 2018 - Tourist destinations 

Date of issue : 28-November-2018

Postmark : Hin Kong, Ratchaburi, Thailand 

Khao Tha Chomphu White Bridge: The Railway Bridge is situated at Ban Tha Chomphu, Lamphun Province. It was between Khun Tan railway station and The Chomphu railway station. It has become a historic bridge now. The bridge construction began in 1919 and was completed in 1920. It has been used as part of the railway from Lampang to Chiang Mai.

  A fascinating story arose related to the bridge during WWII that the allied forces thought of bombing it to destroy the Japanese railway route. The scheme prodded the villagers to paint the bridge black to camouflage it from the allied forces. They managed to save the bridge from the bombs.

Indonesia 🇮🇩 

Bridges of Indonesia 

Date of issue : 03-12-2017

Postmark : Bogor , Indonesia / 06-03-2019

Jembatan Merah Putih is a cable stayed bridge in the  Ambon Bay Of Ambon island connecting Rumah Tiga village with Hative Kecil village. Construction began in 2011 and the bridge was inaugurated in 2016, making it the longest bridge in the eastern side of Indonesia. The bridge is named after the flag of Indonesia - Bendarah Merah Putih

Jembatan Tayan is a Truss Arch Bridge and the longest bridge in West Borneo which crosses Kapuas River in Sanggau, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. The bridge construction was started in 2012 and ended in 2016. The construction of the bridge is divided into two parts. The first part is a 300 meters bridge from Tayan town to Tayan Island, and the second part is a 1,140 meters bridge from Tayan Island to Piasak.

Jembatan Soekarno is a bridge connecting the old and new parts of Manoda city in North Sulawesi. The bridge was stalled for 15 years due to technical reasons and finally opened in 2016. 

Vietnam 🇻🇳 

International stamp exhibition - Pacific 97- SanFrancisco USA -modern suspension bridges of the world 

Date of issue : 12-06-1997

Postmark : Saigon , 13-06-2019

Golden Gate Bridge ( USA )  is a suspension bridge connecting San Francisco with Marin County, California. It was inaugurated in 1937. 

Raippaluota Bridge ( Finland ) is a cable-stayed tuftform bridge connecting the island of Replot with the mainland in Korsholm, near Vaasa, Finland. It is 1,045 metres (3,428 ft) long and the longest bridge of Finland. It was inaugurated in 1997. 

The Great Seto Bridge ( Japan )  is a series of double deck bridges connecting Okayama and Kagawa prefectures in Japan across a series of five small islands in the Seto Inland Sea. Built over the period 1978–88, it is one of the three routes of the Honshū–Shikoku Bridge Project connecting Honshū and Shikoku islands, and the only one with railroad connections included. At 13.1 kilometers (8.1 mi), it ranks as the world's longest two-tiered bridge system.

Bridges of Indonesia

A bridges cover from Indonesia ! 

Indonesia
Bridges
December 3, 2017
3000Rp: Merah Putih Bridge (Ambon Island)
4000Rp: Soekarno Bridge (Sulawesi) 
5000Rp: Tayan Bridge (Kalimantan)



Merah Putih Bridge  is a cable stayed bridge located in Ambon city, Maluku, Indonesia. The bridge spans over Ambon Bay in Ambon Island, connecting Rumah Tiga village (Poka) in Sirimau sub-district on the north side, with Hative Kecil/Galala village in Teluk Ambon sub-district on the south side. This bridge is the longest bridge in the eastern region of Indonesia; it is the landmark of the city.

Bay of Ambon is a narrow and deep bay than divide Ambon Island into two peninsulas; the larger Lei Hitu peninsula in the north and the Lei Timur peninsula in the south. Ambon Island region is a tectonic earthquake prone area. The length of the bridge is 1,140 meters which consist of three parts, the accessing bridge on Poka village side (north) spans 520 meters, the accessing bridge on Galala village side (south) spans 320 meters, the main bridge spans 300 meters. The main bridge is cable stayed bridge, with span between pylons measures 150 meters.
The bridge was named after the Bendera Merah Putih, the flag of Indonesia. But there is another meaning behind the naming this bridge. During the occurrence of sectarian conflict in Maluku in the period between 1999 and 2002, the Christian group was called the "red group", while Muslim group called the "white group". Thus the bridge was meant to become a symbol of peace, unity and solidarity among the people of Maluku.

Soekarno Bridge - one of Manado's most iconic landmarks. It sits above Port Manado and connects the northern areas to the rest of the city. It provides an excellent view of... well, almost everything. To the east you can see the boats taking passengers and cargo to the islands. Further away, you can see Manado Tua Island. Pan your sight to the right, you can see Mount Tumpa. To the left you can see Manado Bay area. And on the other side from the port you can see the bustling old commercial area.

This bridge spans some 1.13 kilometers. It is inaugurated on May 2015. The construction cost more than IDR 300b. It is one of the most ambitious projects the country undertook in the last 4 years. And it shows. It is, again, one of the most iconic structure in the city. And it is also majestic at night, with its colorful spotlights on both sides of the bridge. And for added bonus, both ends of the bridge has their own exciting destinations on their own right.

Sulawesi, formerly known as Celebs is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago. Within Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger populations. Manoda is a port in the North Sulawesi region. 

Tayan Bridge is a bridge which crosses Kapuas River in Sanggau, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. This bridge is a part of Trans-Kalimantan Highway (southern route) that connects West Borneo with Central Borneo. The bridge is the longest bridge in Borneo. The bridge construction project takes about 900 days. The bridge opened to traffic on 22 March 2016.

The total length of this bridge is 1,975 meters, while the width is about 11 meters, carries 3-lanes highway. The clearance of the bridge from the surface of river at the high water condition is 13 meters.

The construction of the bridge is divided into two parts. The first part is a 300 meters bridge from Tayan town to Tayan Island, and the second part is a 1,140 meters bridge from Tayan Island to Piasak. The bridge is expected to last for 100 years with maintenance.

Thanks Juned for this beautiful cover ! 

Indonesia

An Indonesian cover with the 2017 - shipping industry stamps - 3v 

Indonesia

A nice cover from Indonesia ! 

The stamps on the cover - two stamps depicting 125 years of paleo anthropology in Indonesia . The first stamp shows a Homo erectus family , and the second one shows a Homo sapient skull. I couldn’t find more details about the stamps though - it’s more like a setenant one  :) 

Date of issue - 31.08.2014 

But I also received two miniature sheets - the year of the Monkey ( showing Hanuman ) and the Thailand - Indonesia joint issue on Ramayana - a hologram stamp ! 

a cover that blew me off !

One of my first swaps ! I had requested a person in Indonesia to send me a cover with postcrossing stamps of Indonesia and he graciously sent me this envelope along with mint Indonesia Postcrossing stamps set :) the cover was so well prepared with excellent cancellations that I decided I waned to collect envelopes from all over the world . 

So the journey started with Indonesia :)