Category: Planet Doug on YouTube

VIDEO DESCRIPTION: Discover the hidden powers of Indonesia’s GoPay e-wallet! In this video, I dive deep into the standalone GoPay app and uncover crucial features that are NOT available in the standard Gojek super app. As a traveller in Banda Aceh, Sumatra, I test these features in real-time. 🔓 You’ll…

VIDEO DESCRIPTION: Link to Florence Ryan’s YouTube video about cycling in Ethiopia: 🔍 Dive deep into the history behind a single, powerful word that connects 16th-century tax collectors, British Navy sailors, and modern-day backpackers facing a timeless traveler’s dilemma: “Can I trust this drink?” In this episode of Planet Doug,…

VIDEO DESCRIPTION: I recently posted a long video talking about QRIS and e-Wallets in Indonesia and how useful they can be for a foreign visitor. I covered a lot of ground in that video, including a section in which I zeroed in on the specific benefits of using QRIS over…

VIDEO DESCRIPTION: When you talk to people about tsunamis or read about them or watch videos about them, you come across a lot of numbers referring to how high the tsunamis were. But what do those numbers really mean? Despite the large amount of actual tsunami video available online, do…

VIDEO DESCRIPTION: I came to love using my Touch ‘n Go e-wallet while I was visiting Malaysia. And I ended up with so much experience using this e-wallet in my day-to-day life that I decided to make a video about how I navigated this new cashless world and almost NEVER…

VIDEO DESCRIPTION: Today, December 26, 2025, is the 21st anniversary of the Boxing Day Tsunami that struck Banda Aceh in 2004. So it seems like an appropriate time to visit the Museum Tsunami Aceh. I had tried twice before to visit this museum, but it had been closed due to…

VIDEO DESCRIPTION: I’d visited the fascinating PLTD Apung 1 Museum once already. Unfortunately, due to a variety of circumstances, I got there late, and I had only 30 minutes to do a quick walk-through. If the museum consisted only of the ship itself, perhaps that would have been enough. But…

VIDEO DESCRIPTION: I recently posted a video about my experiences using and testing a local Indonesian e-wallet by scanning QRIS codes. I chose the GoPay e-wallet, which is a part of the GoJek super app. I was curious to see how easy it was for a foreign visitor like me…

VIDEO DESCRIPTION: When it came to making a video about using QRIS and e-wallets in Banda Aceh, I had very bad timing. I came up with this idea just as Sumatra experienced extreme flooding and landslides, which knocked out power lines and transmission towers. Banda Aceh went into weeks of…

DESCRIPTION: I haven’t had much luck when it comes to visiting the large Tsunami Museum here in Banda Aceh. It has been closed every time I’ve tried to visit. It’s not entirely clear why, but I think it was closed on this day because of the electrical blackouts that were…