Touring
1333km
- +200km (commuting Bali)
- +535km (car)
- +1117km (bus)
- +0km (train)
- +34,5km (boat)
- +0km (plane)
- 1 flag
- 3 punctures
Introduction
Indonesia was the first country being part of Asia I’ve been to. I’ve heard several negative things about it, not necessary about Bali, but about Java and Sumatra. Australians told me “be careful, there is lots of Muslims there”. Yes of course there is but who said they are bad people? Television? this is crap. People are very friendly, welcoming. They smile most of the time. They want to learn from us. The language is not so difficult to learn which makes contact a bit easier when they don’t speak english. The only things that repel me are pollution and rubbish. Their mind is not focused on ecology at all. I met a bunch of students who were working on solutions but 95% of the people don’t care at all. At least, this is the experience I had and each one is different.
Visa
You can get to Indonesia using the VOA (Visa On Arrival) which cost about US$35 (AUD$51) for one month. Here are all the countries that are eligible. In my case, which is not the same in the previous link, I’ve been able to extend my VOA for another month and an extra AUD$75. I was certainly lucky to meet the right person. I don’t know if it’s a common thing in Bali. Any overstay under 60 days will cost you US$20 per day so don’t be late!
Food
The food in Indonesia (talking about Bali, Java and Sumatra only) is very nice. There is mainly rice (nasi) and noodles (mee), fish or chicken. The food can be spicy sometimes but people would ask you first. In two months, I’ve spent on average AUD$4 per day in food. In Bali, I’ve spent a bit more but later on I’ve stayed with some people on the way and the food was offered. Mainly it’s cheap :-)
Accommodation
I’m not the best example to talk about accommodation because I sleep outside, in the bush most of the time. During the first 10 days in bali, I was travelling with my family so we stayed in Hotels. A room with 2 beds cost us between AUD$12 and AUD$25 per night. For this price, most of this tiny hotels had a swimming pool, the service was great and the hotel in general wonderful, but still expensive compare sleeping in the bush ;-). Along the way, it was quite easy to find a spot where I could set up my hammock for the night. Several times, I’ve slept in people’s houses which makes this experience even more rich. I’ve never felt unsafe at all and at anytime.
Transports
Indonesia traffic is 200% different compare to Australia (where I was just coming from)! Indonesian love motorbikes and scooters. I would say it’s 70% of the transportation on these islands. They are everywhere, drive anywhere, even against the traffic. Surprisingly, everything is fluent and no one complains. In Australia, the frustration I felt regards the traffic disappeared straight away. There is no police to tell you what to do and mess up everything. Everyone does what they have and it works so well.
Now, what about the prices? We rented a car for 10 days (insurance included) and payed 2.000.000 IDR (AUD$200) so AUD$20 per day. That was a good deal. Later on, when I’ve started cycling by myself I had to catch a bus. In Java, for 560km with a bike (so two tickets) I’ve payed IRD270.000 (AUD$27). Then when I got to Sumatra, I caught another bus during 1120km and payed IRD700.000 (AUD$70). That trip cost me about AUD$6 per 100km which is very cheap!
Internet / phone provider
In every country I usually get internet on my phone and chose to have 4GB which is just enough to upload all my pictures. There is three main provider in Indonesia which are Telkomsel, XL Axiata, and Indosat. I’ve chose Telkomsel which apparently has the best coverage. 4GB cost me $AUD16.6, which is a very good deal. All along the way, internet did work well enough.
Tips
Travelling in Indonesia is not that hard and far to be dangerous. People are everywhere and always want to help. Usually, when I want to find a spot where to sleep I stop in a Warung (local restaurant) and simply have a meal. Each time, I ended talking with the people at the restaurant. They would tell me where there is a safe place where to sleep or even invite me in their place. Mainly, I avoid big cities where it’s naturally harder to find a free spot. Several people told me that’s possible to sleep in police stations or petrol stations. I haven’t tried the first one but I’m sure it’s possible.
Language
- Verbs
- Have : memiliki
- Be : menjadi
- Think : berpikir
- guess : kira
- know : tahu
- like : seperti, suka
- hate : benci
- Eat : makan
- drink : minum
- open : buka
- close : menutup
- Pay : membayar
- spend : menghabiskan
- buy : membeli
- sell : menjual
- keep : menjaga
- Sleep : tidur
- Cycling : siklus
- walk : berjalan
- run : menjalankan
- swim : berenang
- Play : bermain
- stay : tinggal
- go : pergi
- leave : meninggalkan
- Learn : belajar
- Speak : berbicara
- Work : bekerja
- Give : memberi
- Need : perlu
- Pronouns
- I : aku : saka
- You : anda
- He/She : dia
- It : itu
- We : kita
- They : mereka
- Simple sentences
- My name is … : Nama saya …
- Where is …? : Di mana…?
- Please, … : tolong
- You are welcome : sama sama
- Questions
- What : apa
- Why : mengapa
- Who : yang
- Where : mana
- When : ketika
- How : bagaimana
- How far : seberapa jauh
- How long : berapa lama
- How often : deberapa sering
- How much : berapa banyak
- How come : bagaimana bisa
- Food
- Good : baik
- Bad : buruk
- Tasty : lezat
- Sweet : manis
- drinks : minuman
- food : makanan
- Transport
- Airplane : pesawat
- Train : kereta
- Truck : truk
- Bus : bus
- Car : mobil
- Motorcycle : sepeda motor
- Bicycle : Sepeda
- Weather
- Rain : hujan
- Wind : angin
- Sun : matahari
- Clouds : awan-awan
- Mountain : gunung
- Lake : danau
- Flat : datar
- Hilly : berbukit
- Sizes
- Small : kecil
- Medium : sedang
- Big : besar
- More : lebih
- Less : kurang
- Very : sangat
- Time
- Second : detik
- Minute : menit
- Hour : jam
- Day : hari
- Night : malam
- Week : minggu
- Month : bulan
- Year : tahun
- Before : sebelum
- after : setelah
- soon : segera
- later : kemudian
- yesterday : kemarin
- Now : Sekarang
- Tomorrow : besok
- Never : jangan
- Ago : dahulu
- Coordinating conjunctions
- But : tetapi
- Or : atau
- And : dan
- Because : karena
- With : dengan
- Without : tanpa
- Between : antara
- Maybe : mungkin
- Price
- Cheap : murah
- Expensive : mahal
- Slow : pelan-pelan : lambat
- Fast : cepat
- Too : terlalu
- Enough : cukup
- Directions
- From : dari
- To : untuk
- In : di, dalam
- Out : keluar
- Top : atas
- Bottom : bawah
- Right : kanan
- Left : kiri
- This : ini
- That : bahwa
- Here : di sini
- There : sana
- Colours
- Red : Merah
- orange : oranye
- yellow : kuning
- green : hijau
- blue : biru
- purple : ungu
- pink : pink
- brown : coklat
- black : hitam
- grey : abu-abu
- white : putih
Step by step
Kuta, Bali > Kediri, Java (538km, 8 days)
This is my first indonesian cycling step. First thing I can say is people here are extremely friendly. I’ve been cycling two days in Bali and have been invited the first night. Bali being small I quickly reached the ferry and arrived in Java. From there I visited the north side of the island and then went inland towards Bromo. This place was really impressive. Finally I’ve been cycling through the center and met a nice Family with who I stayed a week.
Kediri > Solok, Sumatra (354km + 30km by ferry + 1678km by bus, 8 days)
2 months is very short to visit the whole Indonesia (especially when I spend many days with people here :-). I’ve stopped nearly a month around different places because I’ve enjoyed the time and what I was doing. This is why I had the catch a bus for about 1700km across Java and Sumatra.
Solok >Dumai (441km, 8 days)
The third and last step was a nice ride around the lake Maninjau and around western Sumatra in general. I met another very nice family with who I stayed only 2 nights because I was not sure how long it would take to get to Dumai before the end of my visa. I would have stayed more if I could. Then I’ve crossed the mountains and got back to Bukittinggi. Finally I’ve headed through flat lands until I caught the Ferry for Malacca.