4 days Malaysia / 17 days Indonesia - Suggestions?

St1mpMeister

I haven't really had much time to do research on a trip to Malaysia / Indonesia in month of May so any suggestions on what to do would be great.

I arrive in KL, and have 4 days there, then arrive Jakarta and have 17 days before I fly back.

Things I'd like to see/do include...

- Nice beaches for swimming/relaxation (it is a holiday after all! Would prefer somewhere off the beaten track)

- Check out a volcano (is there a better/less-visited one than Mt Bromo?)

- Snorkelling/Scuba diving (I'm qualified to 40m so should be able to do any sites)

- Culture (I have Borobudur Temple as one of my must-dos)


So Malaysia is going to really be centred around KL and is more of a chance to get over the jet lag and relax by the pool, and the real adventure begins in Indonesia. So for Malaysia I was thinking:

- 2 days in KL (Butterfly park + shopping / chilling by pool)
- 1 day in Malacca

anything else I should consider for Malaysia?


Then Indonesia I'm thinking Java / Bali / Komodo Nat Park ... maybe Raja Ampat for diving?
I think it's rainy season in Raja Ampat so not sure.

Travelling solo so I'll be free to spontaneously change plans.

cooker3

Trying to do Java, Bali and Kimodo/Rinca islands in 17 days is very ambitious. Java is a big island to get across.
As an example I travelled from Gili T, just off coast of Lombok, to Flores where I organised my journey to Kimodo and it took me about 40 hours. That's as quick as you'll get unless you fly. If you take the tourist boat it's about 4-5 days depending. Now you want to do diving so I think your best bet is to take the tourist boat as they do dives as well along the way. 1 slight warning, some of the boats are not exactly the greatest. A friend of mine who is a travel blogger had hers sink so...try to find out about the boat.

Jakarta I get out off after a day so not much to say about that. Good you have Borobudur on the list, check out Prambanan as well. You do them both from Yogyakarta. If you do a tour usually it's a 1 day tour where you go to Borobudur at sunrise and on to Prambanan. Personally I did it the other way round. I took local transport to Prambanan in the afternoon and the next morning I went to Borobudur. I think this is a better way to do it as Borobudur is more impressive and I found people who did the tour undersold Prambanan as they were comparing it to Borobudur which they saw 2 hours before it. The other good thing about that is you can visit 1/both when it is much quieter as tours are all there at same time.

As for Bromo I did visit it. I was lucky that I have more time than you so I stayed in Cemoro Lewana, which is the town beside Bromo for 2 nights so as well as doing the sunrise thing I was able to visit when nobody else was there. You'll probably will not have enough time to do that but it's still pretty cool.
If you a bit of free time than might be worth looking at Mount Rinjani on Lombok island. It's a volcano that is regularly active. You can do a 2 or 3 day tour to it and it is awesome.

The Gilis are the relaxing, beach and party islands and in my opinion a lot better than Kuta, which is the party town in Bali and it is also where a lot of the tourist boats on to Kimodo and Flores end up starting from.

St1mpMeister

Cheers for all the advice, will take it all on board.

Forgot about the slow pace of South East Asian travel (15 years since I did the Banana Pancake trail over a 4 month period) so will probably try flying where possible to maximise time, or pick less locations.

Any tips for what to do in Malaysia for 4 days? Thinking just Malacca and KL.

duffman13

Only had two days in Malaysia myself which was plenty for me in KL. In Indonesia id avoid Kuta in Bali, some nice trips Uluwatu and Tanah Lot and on Bali which id reccomend thoroughly. Id agree with the OP about Gili Islands. I loved it there, some pretty good diving around there along with a good party scene and plenty of solo travellers.

St1mpMeister

duffman13 wrote: »

Only had two days in Malaysia myself which was plenty for me in KL. In Indonesia id avoid Kuta in Bali, some nice trips Uluwatu and Tanah Lot and on Bali which id reccomend thoroughly. Id agree with the OP about Gili Islands. I loved it there, some pretty good diving around there along with a good party scene and plenty of solo travellers.

Which of the Gilis is best for snorkeling/diving?

I think Gili Air is the recommended one? I assume it's quick enough to jump between them though? A week in the Gilis too much?

cooker3

St1mpMeister wrote: »

Which of the Gilis is best for snorkeling/diving?

I think Gili Air is the recommended one? I assume it's quick enough to jump between them though? A week in the Gilis too much?

I went to Gilis for what I assumed would be a few days and spent nearly 3 weeks there so no...
Gili Meno and Air are much quieter, more about relaxing, beaches etc. I went to Gili Air after climbing Mount Rinjani and spent 3 days on a hammock recovering basically.
Gili T is party central and by far the busiest although all 3 are pretty damn small.
I didn't do any diving but Gili T would be where you would organise it from mostly as there are a ton of dive shops on the island. It's a fairly short journey between all 3 so whatever way you do it all fairly easy.

St1mpMeister

One final question... is there anything in particular in Indonesia that you need to generally book in advance, or can I literally play it by ear once I arrive and book things the day before?

Examples are like climbing Mt Bromo (or a different volcano), or internal flights etc, or other "must-dos".

I'm assuming I can book these pretty easily the day before and change my itinerary on the fly (e.g. stay in the Gilis longer if I want). Although internal flights might be something I'd need to book in advance.


Basing this on other trips I've taken like climbing Kilimanjaro in Tanzania or watching the Sumo tournament in Tokyo, both had to be booked in advance.

cooker3

St1mpMeister wrote: »

One final question... is there anything in particular in Indonesia that you need to generally book in advance, or can I literally play it by ear once I arrive and book things the day before?

Examples are like climbing Mt Bromo (or a different volcano), or internal flights etc, or other "must-dos".

I'm assuming I can book these pretty easily the day before and change my itinerary on the fly (e.g. stay in the Gilis longer if I want). Although internal flights might be something I'd need to book in advance.


Basing this on other trips I've taken like climbing Kilimanjaro in Tanzania or watching the Sumo tournament in Tokyo, both had to be booked in advance.

Yeah everything I did in Indonesia I booked on the fly. I spent 3 months there and never once had accommodation booked until I turned up. Booked a flight from Borneo to Jakarta and Flores to Bali in agency for the next day etc. I would give yourself maximum flexibility and book as little as possible.

(Lucky for me I just went to sumo tournament in Tokyo and got tickets at the venue!)

St1mpMeister

OK getting closer to finalising this. It looks like I'll be flying as much as possible to save time as I can't really afford 3-4 day boat trips between destinations.

So something like this possible in 17 days in Indonesia assuming I fly?

Java - Yogyakarta and surrounds (for culture) .. maybe Mt Bromo

Lombok - Gili islands (for beaches)

Flores - Komodo national park (for diving - basing myself in Labuhanbajo) (Maybe a volcano if Mt Bromo not an option)

St1mpMeister

Final thoughts.... is this route workable in 17 days? Assume I'm flying where possible.

Jakarta -> Yogya (+ surrounds) -> Flores -> Lombok -> Jakarta

(or maybe Lombok -> Flores -> Jakarta)

St1mpMeister

Holy crap, they don't make it easy to book flights using an Irish credit card.

Only airline I had success with was Citi ... so I guess I book all flights at a travel agency when I arrive in Indonesia.

cooker3

Yeah when you include caveat of you will fly whenever necessary you can do that. It will be a packed schedule certainly and little more rushed than is ideal but you can do all the "must sees"

Are you definitely flying in and out of Jakarta?

I'm not surprised by the flight issues. Indonesia was the most pre internet feeling country that I visited in all of Asia. I did everything on the fly because you had to. There are some Indonesia airlines but they don't tend to be on sky scanner etc so I booked it at a travel agent which I would never normally do. Every place on hostel world would be outrageously expensive but you turn up and find a nice place for $5 a night. This was 2012 so going back a few years but still well into smartphone type era.

Todd Gack

St1mpMeister wrote: »

Holy crap, they don't make it easy to book flights using an Irish credit card.

Only airline I had success with was Citi ... so I guess I book all flights at a travel agency when I arrive in Indonesia.

Try tiket.com, used it a few times without any problems when Lion air wouldn't accept my cards, works for train tickets too. They charge commission but it's only a euro or so.

If you're tight on time Mount Bromo takes a bit to get to from Yogykarta, I'd second the Mount Rinjani recommendation, it's the second highest volcano in Indonesia and a nice trek.