Indonesia Travel Tips II

Here are more tips for you ... You can read other tips in ‘Indonesia Travel Tips I’

6. The staple food in Indonesia is steam rice. It is usually served with a variety side dishes. Most of the side dishes taste spicy. So if you can not tolerate spices, make sure you ask for non-spicy food before ordering. One more thing, make sure that you know exactly the prices of your food before ordering.
Then, do not drink from the tap water. The tap water here does not meet the requirement for safe drinking water. Keep a bottled water with you. You can purchase the bottled water from a supermarket.

7. As Indonesia is a hot and humid country; light clothing, like trousers, slack, shirt, is more comfortable. Avoid wearing halter-tops or shorts unless you are on the beach or around sport facilities area.

8. Do bargain when you buy souvenirs or hire a tour guide.

9. Public toilet here could also be a huge problem. Do not expect to find good and clean public toilet on the street, at bus terminals, train stations or even airports. Even for me, I try not to go to the public toilets unless I really really desperately need one. There are some good and clean public toilets in big shopping malls.

10. Most Indonesian can not speak English and most sign boards are in Indonesian. May be it is better if you are familiar with Indonesian words, such as: Good morning: Selamat pagi; Good afternoon: Selamat siang; Good night: Selamat malam; Buka: open; Tutup: closed; Masuk: enter; Keluar: exit; WC/Toilet: washroom; Wanita: ladies; Pria: gents; Kanan: right; Kiri: left; Pesan: order; Terima kasih: thank you; Makan: to eat; Minum: to drink; Air: water.

11. Lastly, do not forget to take note of these emergency phone number:
Police department: 110
Fire department: 113
Ambulance/ medical emergency: 118/119
Phone directory: 108

Well, those are all tips that I think may be useful for your trip to Indonesia. Even that the public facilities are not as good as you have in your home country; visiting and exploring Indonesia’s natural landscape and culture would broaden your horizon ... because everything here is just different and unique ...

Welcome to Indonesia!!

The Twelve Apostles

Welcome to the Twelve Apostles

The Twelve Apostles is an icon of Victoria state, Australia. The Twelve Apostles are a collection of huge natural limestone rocks in the Port Campbell National Park, Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia. I went there when I was in Melbourne. I joined a guided tour to visit the rocks. I had not searched or read any information about this place at that time, so when I heard the name, Twelve Apostles, I expected to see something in total of 12.


The natural limestone rocks...

In the past, this place was known as the Sow and Piglets. I was told that the Sow was an island (Muttonbird Island) and the piglets were the surrounding rocks. It was, then, named the Twelve Apostles in 1950. The new name was aimed to captivate more tourists to visit this place. The rocks are the remaining parts of the limestone cliffs of the mainland that underwent million of years of continuous erosion by wind and waves. The rocks have different height and thickness.

So, then, I expected to see 12 rocks. You will not find 12 rocks. Even it has been named as The Twelve Apostles in 1950, there were only 9 rocks left at that time. Moreover, there was one more rock collapsed in 2005 due to waves erosion and only 8 rocks left since then. It is estimated that the rate of erosion at the base of the rocks is 2 cm every year. So, more rocks being collapsed and new rocks being formed can be expected.

Oh, one more thing, the best views at the Twelve apostles are during sunrise and sunset. You can see the Twelve Apostles change from dark in shadow to yellowish.

Indonesia Travel Tips I

Indonesia is the biggest archipelago in the world. It has 5 big islands, (Sumatera, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Papua); and many other thousands small islands. Yes ... it is a huge country. It is not only Bali or Jakarta :). I have some friends from overseas and most of them are only familiar with Bali or Jakarta. It has about 300 ethnic groups and each group has its own culture, tradition, and language. So you can imagine how rich Indonesia is in terms of its multi-ethnic cultures, traditions and languages ...

Travelling to Indonesia can be an adventurous unique experience for you, apart from travelling to Bali of course. I think Bali is the most traveller-friendly place in Indonesia.
Well, may be some general traveling tips from me can help you to prepare before your visit to Indonesia.
Here you go:

1. Basically, there are only two seasons here: drought season (June to October) and rainy season (November to March). We have sunshine the all year. The best time to visit is during drought season as you do not have to worry about the rain and floods. The general temperature is 21°C (41°F) - 33°C (62°F). Humidity is high at all times, on average of 70%. So sunblock lotion is a must to avoid sunburning.

2. There are three different time zones here, namely West Indonesia Time (WIB: Waktu Indonesia Barat), Central Indonesia Time (WITA: Waktu Indonesia Tengah), and East Indonesia Time (WIT :Waktu Indonesia Timur).
West Indonesia Time/ WIB is UTC/GMT + 7 hours includes Sumatera, Java (including Jakarta) and Western and Central Kalimantan.
Central Indonesia Time/ WITA is UTC/GMT + 8 hours includes Eastern and Southern Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Bali and Nusa Tenggara.
East Indonesia Time/ WIT is UTC/GMT + 9hours includes Maluku and Papua.
So, always check the local time if you travel across the different time zone cities.

3. For electricity, we use 220 Volts and a two-pronged plug.

4. To make calls or send emails to your hometown/ home country is quite easy. The long distance calls within Indonesia, international calls, facsimile and internet services are available in most of big cities and hotels If you have a limited budget to make a call, you can go to the telecommunication offices, known as WARTEL (Warung Telekomunikasi). It is cheaper than making a call from the hotel. There are also public internet services (WARNET) available in big cities.
You also can accept international calls from your home country. Indonesia country code is +62. Check with the hotel for the local area code, eg. Surabaya area code is 031.

5. Do not expect a good and cheap public transport services here :(. The cheap public transports, like ‘bemos’, ‘bajajs’, and busses, are crowded, not reliable and not safe. If you still want to try the public transports, just be aware to pick-pockets or robbery. Be careful with your belongings. There is a new public transport in Jakarta, Trans Jakarta Busway. I have not tried this bus, so I do not how good it is.
Alternatively, you can take metered-cabs (available in some big cities in Indonesia, like Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung, Solo, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Bali and Lampung) or rent a car (for the rest of other cities). Yup, it is a bit more expensive …
If you want to take a cab, hire a good one. Check with the hotel where you stay. Just be aware, there are some bad and unsafe taxis especially in Jakarta … the driver purposely takes you in the middle of traffic jam or does not take you through direct route to your destination … as a result, you have to pay extra.

If you want to rent a car, it is better to rent it with the driver. First, because we drive on the right hand side of the road here. So it would be a problem for you who are from the left-hand side driving country. Second, most of the road sign boards here are in Indonesian ... could be a problem if you do not familiar with Indonesian. Third, even you are the best driver in your home country, the traffic here is just crazy ... you will not only have to share your way with other lots of cars on the street, but also busses, bemos, motorcycles, bicycles, becaks (in some cities), people crossing the street etc, so you have to know artistically how to drive safely here. If you rent a car, then, it is important to know all the renting terms and conditions and the fare including fuel or driver meal.
In some big cities, you will find people sell food, snacks, drinks etc or singing beggar or beggar asking for money at the traffic light. Just wave your hand to them and do not open your window for safety reason ... just to avoid robbery.

More tips on the next post ...