Indonesia

ivorygal

Hi!

Does anyone have any advice / recommendations about travel to Indonesia? I was thinking of planning a trip there this summer (3 weeks) and I don't know much about it. What areas (islands, cities) can you suggest. Also, budget is going to be important - is Indonesia a place to go if you're on a tight budget? In terms of traveling in Asia, Thailand is my only point of comparison - where we were spending on average 30 euro a day.

All advice is greatly appreciated, thanks.

jackbhoy

Only visited Java and Bali but really liked it. Generally the cities are big, dirty and clogged with traffic, but interesting all the same. Kota is really nice old colonial area of Jakarta, in Surabaya the Arab quarter is one of the maddest and most intersting places I have ever seen. Yogyakarta is nice, if liitle touristy and has lots of nice temples and countryside. Mount Bromo in east java at sunrise is one of most jaw dropping sights i have seen anywhere in the world and i'd highly recomend that.
We mainly stayed in Ubud in Bali, nice town, very pricey compared to java but cheap by irish standards. Could head to Kuta if you want to go on lash and Gili islands for amazing beaches and serenity.

Java is very cheap, to give you an idea we paid about 1.60 euro for tonne of gorgeous chicken satay and 2 (soft)drinks, about 4-5 euros for basic room in guesthouse, 20 euro for nice 3 star hotel, 3-7 euros for intercity bus, trains are bit more expensive but great value considering comfort. Bali is only a little bit more expensive if you eat at local places but could be many multiples more if you want touristy western menu restaurants...

Hope this helps.....

RATM

If budget is your main concern then Indo will fit the bill. In some cases things there are half the price of Thailand and it is generally ( along with Laos and the Philipinnes ) considered amongst the cheapest countries in which to travel.

Its a big place (13,000+ islands) so in 3 weeks you won't be able to see all of it. I spent 3wks there a few years back and regretted not having 6 or even 8. All I did in that time was fly into Bali then went island hopping to Lombok & the Gili Islands. We then took a 5 day boar tour which brought us to Rinca & Komodo ( for the dragons) and we also saw the volcanic lakes of Kelimutu. Then we flew back to Bali and onwards to OZ.

That may not be a bad way to go OP but bear in mind there are also some good things to see on the islands west of Bali. Mates of mine highly recommend Lake Toba ( I think its on Java?)and there is also some massive temple there too, think its called Boroduphur or something like that- its supposed to be akin to Angkor Wat in Cambodia and is very impressive.

Be warned that travel in Indo is a bit rougher than Thailand but equally as rewarding.

mac123

i agree with the two above posters, its very cheap, i spent 2 months there last summer. in 3 weeks i would just pick one/two places and stick with them.
in kuta (bali) you can eat in western style restaurants very cheaply, around €3-4 will get you a good 2 course meal with drinks in alot of the small but very nice restaurants on the side streets of poppies 1 and 2. rooms are also really cheap there, €2-4 for reasonably good rooms incl breakfast but i did stay in one place for €8 but that had a pool! other parts of bali are more expensive than kuta for accom. def go to the gilis/lombok if your going to bali, amazing!!!
id also recommend, sumatra, thats where lake toba is! its amazing and the people in sumatra and java are probably alot easier going than bali, ie. less touts! also i was living on about €12 a day at lake toba and other parts of sumatra. bukit lawang is good too, you can do trekking etc there and theres an orangutan rehabilitation centre which is pretty cool.

as for java, i agree mt bromo is quality, i stayed for two days but theres lots of tours that do it in one if your in a rush, also yogykarta is good, borobudor temple is close by. bandung was a nice city between yogykarta and jakarta but i only met one other foreigner there so its not for everyone. i also liked jakarta but alot of ppl dont, its big and dirty but i thought it was a pretty exciting place. nightlife was quality too although it was good all over java!

oh and if you do go to java/sumatra expect people to approach you constantly to practice their english and take pictures with you! it happens in bali too but to a lesser extent!

anyway id definately recommend it but dont try and rush too much into the 3 weeks...theres just too much there!

OriginalSinner

I would probably give Jakarta a miss. I didn't find that there was a lot there of interest, so if you only have three weeks I would skip it if possible.

I agree with the other posters about Gunung Bromo. Don't go to Java and miss out in it. Cemoro Lawang is the village most people stay in and it's really so lovely. Bromo is a beautiful sight and one of the best trips I took in the whole of SE Asia.

It might be a little awkward to do, but if you have about 3 or 4 days I would recommend a trip to Camp Leakey in Tanjung Puting National Park in Indonesian Borneo.
You can fly with Linus Air. We flew from a palce called Semerang to Pangkalan Bun in Borneo where we stayed for 1 night.
The next day we rented a Klotok that took us 4 hours up river to Camp Leakey, which is an the longest established research centre for Orang Utans (or any animal!) in the World.
We went to a feeding there and then slept on the Klotok under a mozzie net on the deck for the night. It was beyond amazing!
There are gibbons living in the forest and in the morning time they do an amazing call to each other! It's the ultimate jungle experience in my opinion! On the second day you are brought to another feeding at another part of the park.
You get to see Orang Utans and sleep on a boat in the jungle on one trip. It cost us about 20euro each for the 2 days I think, including all park fees. Definitely recommended!

We then went to Gili Trawangan which was great fun, but I wasn't fond of the beaches. There is good snorkelling around the Gili Islands though.
Then we spent a week at Kuta beach in Bali, which is basically a holiday resort. Ubud is a lovely village about an hour from Kuta.

Billie May

Hi Originalsinner and other posters

was wondering if you could give me some more details about Borneo and Tanjung Puting National. I've got about 5 weeks in Indonesia, but it is over October/November .. rainy season. Love to do a jungle trip by jeep, boat, little bit on foot. I am a solo traveller and was wondering how you arranged it. Thanks, all advise welcome.

Billie