Travel Information
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Travel Information |
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Indonesia |
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| Weather: | ||
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Highest annual rainfall in January and February. Lowest in July, August and September. I experienced a lot of hassle because of this rainfall when I was travelling there in January. From 3 pm until 7 pm it rained, and there was really nothing you could do, except for staying inside. A good thing though is, that the scenery is much more beautiful in the raining season, since everything is lusher and greener. |
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| Transport: | ||
| Plane: |
There are many flights between all the main cities on all the islands. Prices of tickets have risen since the crisis. A few examples of prices:
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| Train: | A big part of Java can be reached
by train, at least all the main cities. There are different classes of
trains, varying from economy class, which is very cheap and very
uncomfortable, with no garantuee for a seat, to executive class. This
class is the best, the most expensive (but still cheap) and
often very luxurious with TV, meals, drinks etc. In between there is a.o. bisnis
class. I experienced bisnis class good enough, but executive perfect
for the long hauls. Between Jakarta and Surabaya, the best, fastest and
most luxurious train of the whole country train goes back and forth, and
takes only 8 hours. That one costs around 160.000 Rph, which is around 25 US$ at
the time of writing.
Sumatra has trains too, but less used (at least by tourists). On the other islands where I travelled (Bali and Sulawesi), there are no trains running. These are the trains I took on Java:
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| Bus:
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Buses are seen everywhere and in
many different varieties. Thereīs the BEMO, the local buses. They cost
from 500 to 2000 Rph for a single trip trough town.
Public buses do the same tracks as the trains, but also go beyond their final stations. They connect all the villages, cities etc. They are crowded, dusty and very uncomfortable. But a good way to go Indonesian. Tourist buses go everywhere where you as a tourist want to go, and vary from the big ones to the mini buses. Of course, they are more expensive than the other buses, but direct, good seats and often aircon, although the aircon is ībrokenī most of the time. Even if they garantuee you an aircon bus when you book it, it often isnīt. When you are travelling alone, tourist buses are a good way to meet other travellers. A few examples:
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| Ship/Ferry: | There is an extended network of
Pelni Ships; huge boats which connect all the major islands of Indonesia.
There are 5 classes: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and Economy class. When you take
1st to 4th class, you get a bed in a cabin. Economy class means you stay
and sleep on the deck, with a mat to lie on ónly if you are lucky. It is
uncomfortable with cockroaches crawling over you, but cheap and the best
way to mix with the locals. 1st class means a cabin for 2 (expensive but
cheaper than flying), 2nd means a cabin for 4, 3nd means 8 beds in a
cabin, and 4th 16. If you go 1st class, thereīs a big dinner and
entertainment included. Unless you hire a whole cabin for yourself or your
group, it is not allowed in class 2, 3 and 4 to mix male and female.
It is almost impossible to get a schedule for this Pelni Ships yourself. It IS possible to get a schedule of the routes all the ships make, but dates and times are changing all the time and it is a real challenge to get that straight. I found out that the only way to get any information is to ask around a lot, especially at hotels/hostels which have a little travel agency. The other option is to go to one of the offices. They are in each city which has a Pelni harbour, and you can find the addresses in travel guides (e.g. Lonely Planet). An example of a trip is from Jakarta to Padang, which takes 48 hours!!
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| Others: | Becaks or Rickshaws are a good
and pleasant way to go from A to B. The motorised version is called a Bajaj.
They cost from 1000 to 5000 depending on, of course, the distance. It is a
very pleasant way to get around, and a good thing is, that the money you
pay, goes straight to the poor driver himself.
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| Costs: | ||
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Indonesia has become a very
cheap country for most tourists. The only thing, I experienced, that has
become more expensive during the last few years, is the price of domestic
airline tickets. Other things are very cheap. My daily budget, including
everything (except for flights and vaccinations) was around 15 dollars,
and with that amount of money, you can do a lot!! In general, I slept in nice budget
hotels, had 3 nice meals a day (usually breakfast was included, but only
on Bali a breakfast means a real breakfast...), made nice tours, used
internet facilities almost every day, had a beer in the evenings, took
good transport (tourist/bisnis/executive class) most of the time, and
bought nice souvenirs and clothes.
If you are on a tight budget, it is possible to live from 5 US$. But if you prefer a hot shower every day, clean sheets on a soft bed, aircon transport, no cockroatches in your room, the luxury of taking a becak once in a while when itīs too hot too walk, etc. you will be spending more. A few examples:
(10.000 Rph is about 3 guilders/1,2 US Dollar)
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| Dangers/Annoyances: | ||
Others:
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I didnīt experience any trouble at all, related to the political situation in Indonesia. The only difference you will notice is that due to the economic crisis, prices have risen of plane tickets, and people are poorer, so theft, cheating and ripping off has increased. Of course you have to stay away from riots and demonstrations. In general, the indonesian people donīt like to talk about the political situation with foreigners/tourists. What Iīve understood, is that they want to keep tourists out of their problems, and for the same reason, tourists will be protected from it. A good advice is to keep your eyes and ears open, read a newspaper now and then, ask other tourists who come from a certain region how itīs going on there, etc. |
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Theft/ Cheating |
So, it appears that theft, robberies and cheating have increased since the crisis, which is more than logical. I travelled for 9 weeks, and experienced minor trouble. Once I was sold dirty water instead of mineral water. And of course, looking as a tourist, you will always be paying more than locals, but that is going to be a matter of acceptance. Bargaining is the only thing you can do.....You just have to be very careful with your money and valuables, and be aware of thieves everywhere. Be careful in night trains and crowded buses. Donīt wear jewels or expensive watches, donīt show you carry a lot of money around. The money belts most tourists wear most of the time, do their job, but of course a lot of thieves know by now, you wear them. I tried to take only hotels with a safe, but even that is not a garantuee for safety, and often, hotels didnīt have a safe. More than once, I was warned by Indonesians not to go to certain places on my own, and especially not with (more than necessary) money or other valuables with me. Be wise and follow those advices. They know what they talk about! And if you know all the above, you will probably experience no real trouble at all. Before I left for Indonesia, I was told not to trust anyone. That sounds cruel and hard, but maybe a wise advice. And being aware of the possibility of being ripped off anywhere, you will find lots and lots of people truely very friendly and more than willing to help you finding your way around. Not every person is a thief! In Sulawesi I was really touched by the friendly, sincere and very helpful people.
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| Highlights:
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SUMATRA: Bukit Lawang, Lake Toba
JAVA: Bromo area, Borobudur, Papandayan Volcano, Train trip from Jakarta to Bandung, Bogor area BALI: Tengenan, Ubud, cremation ceremony SULAWESI: Togian Islands, Tanah Toraja region
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| Women travelling alone: | ||
| In general, I hardly experienced real problems as a woman. The only
thing is that you get a lots and lots of attention. Because you are white on
the first place, and if you are a blond woman, you will be glanced at by
men all the time. But usually it is only verbal attention. They try to get
you to speak back to them, but understand īnoī as well.
On the other hand, careful as I was, I did not go outside the main tracks on my own. Use common sense. Donīt walk alone in the dark on a silent road, donīt go into a forest alone etc. etc. Just the normal things everybody knows, also in your own country. So I WAS careful, I did not trust the men just because they smiled at me. Use your instinct. When you feel uncomfortable somewhere, leave. Go to the main streets, walk with other tourists, etc. I found out, that many Indonesian were trying to protect me to. When a hotel owner asked me what I was going to do that day (They álways ask!!) and I told him I was going to a deserted vulcano, by public bus, he warned my not to do that, or at least not to take more money than I needed. So, the good fellows know the dangers and will try to protect you for the bad ones.
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| Tips: | ||
| PREPARE: prepare yourself for trips you make within the country. If
you go by train from city to city, you will be jumbed at by 100.000 men at
the destination station who want to take you to hotels, becaks and more.
If you donīt know where to go, and you are standing there on your own
with a travel guide in your hand, you will feel desperate and end up in a
hotel you really donīt want to be in. I always chose a hotel before I
left train/bus/becak from my travel guide, and even studied the map how to
get there. That way, you will look confident, and like you know the place.
You will notice that people leave you alone much more.
SHEET: bring your own sheet. Even if you plan to take good hotels, you will find yourself in situations that you donīt have much choice and then some hotels donīt have sheets on the beds, or they do, but you donīt want to touch them.... MONEY: put money in your socks, behind your BH and on other secret places if you leave your plane the first day, if you arrive in Jakarta. Just to be sure that if your bag of wallet is stolen, you have something extra. IMODIUM: you will need it for sure! DRINK: as much (bottled!) water as you can, whole day long, and then even more. Dehydration can occur before you realise it. I experienced it myself. If you feel weak, eat salt soup or something else salt and drink water with it. REST: rest enough. Especially in the beginning, you often feel like doing a lot, visiting the places you read about at home as fast as you can. After a couple of days you will be exhausted, sick, stomach problems, overactive bowels etc. etc. Even if you feel good the first few days, the tropics are demanding a great adaption from your body. Take the time to get acclimatised to the temperature, the food, the culture, the hotels, the transport. Donīt make trips every day. Make sure you have īrest daysī very regularly, to lie on the beach, read a book in the shadow etc. That way, you also get to enjoy BEING in Indonesia, not just TRAVELLING over the islands. OFF THE BEATEN TRACK: go off the beaten track once in a while as well, but make sure you organize that well. For example with a guide from your hotel. We hired bikes in Ubud, and biked around outside the city. Beautiful! You see so much biking! And when you get out of the tourist areas, you will find the pure friendly people, surprised to see you in there little alleys, on their country roads, you see little children bathing in the rivers, beautiful rice paddies, etc. etc.
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