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 Traveller's Tales: Getting around in Indonesia
Know the most popular landmarks in Indonesia. You may read about best transportation, recommended travel itinerary, suggested routes and directions. Also, you might want to read our
Bali city guide,
and Lombok city guide.
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| S Gallyot |
05 September 2004 |
Stayed at Le Meridien Jakarta - Jakarta, Indonesia.
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I didn't take any tours cos I was there for business but Hardrocks good, not very far from the hotel. Laguna is a restaurant to go and if you're travelling by cab make sure you take the BlueBird cabs, they go by the meter. If you choose not to travel at night, then the Hotel's Tiga Puluh Bar will be the best place to relax and have some fun. As for shopping, Mangga Dua (2) should be the best place to shop.
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| R Souwen |
03 September 2004 |
Stayed at Jakarta Hilton International - Jakarta, Indonesia.
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Best and safest way to go around in Jakarta at the moment is by SILVER BIRD. Avoid traffic if you can. Stay inside shopping malls!!
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| M Mohamed taufik |
25 August 2004 |
Stayed at Inna Grand Bali Beach - Bali, Indonesia.
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Make sure you bring your international driving license, otherwise the contribution to the local law enforcement is about 3-4 times higher than Jakarta.
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| A Hong |
12 August 2004 |
Stayed at Komaneka Suites - Bali, Indonesia.
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One of the places one must not miss is Kotamani in the north of Bali. We used the meter taxi to get around, alternatively you can also book for a taxi or private car for R300000 for one full day. They are everywhere, and chances are they will be insinuating for transports before you. Restaurant to visit in Ubud is Bebek Bengil, good food and good ambience.
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| P Greenlaw |
06 August 2004 |
Stayed at Balisani Padma Hotel - Bali, Indonesia.
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Having been to Bali about 40 times now I can recommend a few quick essentials for first timers: Bargaining is a way of life there. Dont get angry: relax, smile and treat it as a game (they do). Starting price also depends on your nationality: if you’re Japanese unfortunately you get to start at a price almost double the starting price offered to an Australian tourist – sorry about that but better you know. Wherever you’re from, start off at 20% of the price offered and work your way up (as they work their way down) to a maximum of about 50% of the starting price. Don’t be afraid to walk slowly away or call their bluff. As a guide, you should pay about RP20,000 for a simple sarong or RP 25,000 for a copy (not good quality) T-shirt. If you buy more than one whatever, that's always another good reason to offer them less.
Any freshly cooked food is fine even at smaller restaurants. Be careful of soup (which may not have been boiled). Peeled fruit is great. Salads are usually washed in the local water - dont go there. Don’t be afraid to try the local dishes if they are FRESHLY cooked and haven't been standing in some bowl for half a day. The local food is often better as it has a higher turnover rate and they know how to prepare and store the ingredients. (unlike Western food)
If you change money at the airport you will end up with a rate about 200-400 RP less than what you can get at the money changers near the hotels (hotel rate is a rip off), but you won’t get ripped off. If you change at the money changers the ones who count out 50,000RP notes and are in dedicated buildings are usually ok. It's the ones with just a small wooden table or offer fantastic rates that you have to watch out for. Common tricks are: leaving one bill missing, the total not equaling what's on the calculator, counting out so many small notes (often repeatedly) you get totally confused or after watching them carefully and they cant find any other way of ripping you off, they tell you the exchange rate has just changed and guess what?: it's much less. You can actually get the correct money even out of the rip off ones but you really have to watch them closely - again treat it like a game.
“Transport” Yes, you’ll hear that a lot. Taxis with a meter are probably going to be cheaper for short trips. For a driver for a day, about 150,000RP FOR THE WHOLE VAN is a reasonable price. For 5 or 6 hrs about 100,000RP is a good price. Be careful whatever price is quoted to you is TOTAL and not per-person. Taxis fares to anywhere from the airport are a set price at the taxi counter outside arrivals. You can bargain with the touts but you'll probably end up only a few dollars cheaper if you're good.
It is normally better for your own piece of mind to have an international driving/motorbike licence if you intend to hire your own transport. The police aren't paid much so stop a tourist instead and "fine" them for not having one. The minimum "fine" which goes directly to their pocket is for a local 10,000RP and for a tourist about 50,000RP. You can always just pay the fines as you go and you may be lucky and not even see any police. When getting petrol, make sure the attendant ZEROS the meter on the bouser before filling up your tank. Remember you’re on holidays: enjoy, relax and don’t stress about all this.
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| D Bolton |
28 May 2004 |
Stayed at Inna Garuda - Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
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Jogja was great. Don't miss the Ramayana Ballet, quite spectacular. Prambanam and Borobodur temples were sensational. If you really like the time to look around these places rather than being rushed by a limited tour schedule, book a taxi for the day. Of course you'll need to bargain, but we got a car and driver (albeit with almost no english) for 400,000 rupiah for the day (and no doubt you could get it cheaper too) and for this we toured to Borobodur for as long as we wanted, the village of Kaliurang for views of Mt Merapi (although it was raining the walk through the rainforest there was beautiful - so didn't see the volcano) and Prambanam is also very beautiful and worth a good look. Also hire a guide at both temples - only 40,000 rupiah and worth the money - very informative.
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| R Barichello |
24 May 2004 |
Stayed at Aryaduta Jakarta, Hotel - Jakarta, Indonesia.
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Jakarta is a fascinating city but allow lots of time for car travel due to the bad congestion that applies pretty much all the working day plus Friday evenings. Take Blue Bird taxis as often as you can to avoid surprise rip-offs, junky cars and obnoxious drivers. Too many good restaurants to list.
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| J Jiang |
24 May 2004 |
Stayed at Melasti Beach Resort - Bali, Indonesia.
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No need to eat at the hotel restaurant, as there are a few nice restaurants near the hotel. The shops near the hotel tend to be cheaper than the ones near Kuta. When take a taxi in Bali, always use meter, and try to take blue (light and navy color) color taxi, Blue Bird is a good company. Japanese food is a good value in Bali, as they are cheaper than anywhere else. Of course, you should always try the chicken satay:) if you are taking a one day tour to nearby island, try to ask for the sailing boat. When shopping always bargain, they tend to ask one third of the price. You can find good silver jewelry, sarong, swim suit, housing ware and other good stuff.
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| S Johnston |
03 March 2004 |
Stayed at Shangri-La Hotel Jakarta - Jakarta, Indonesia.
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Recommend Silver Bird taxis since they are metered.
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| B Suda |
02 March 2004 |
Stayed at Ramada Resort, Benoa - Bali, Indonesia.
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Bali is a nice relaxing destination. It was not very busy which may be a result of the lingering doubts felt by some tourists after the Kuta bombings of October 2002.
I felt entirely safe the whole time I was there and would not hesitate returning.
I would recommend hiring a taxi for the day. 8 hours will set you back aorund 250,000-300,000 rupiah which is a bargain. Places to see are Tanah Lot, Mt Kintamani (I hope that's how it is spelt), Ubud and the nearby monkey forest.
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