- My first blog, my first post
- Indonesia 2009 - prices
- Introductory remarks
- Sumatra
- Java
- Bali
My first blog, my first post
I got inspired by a discussion on LinkedIn about blogging. Until now my opinion was that blogging would not make much sense for me. I do not do anything so important that others would like to monitor its progress.
But after thinking a bit, I decided that it might not be a bad idea. Maybe some of my friends would like to know what I am doing, and I may want to come back later to my own posts. I might also get some suggestions from strangers about how to do things better. Writing on a blog can help me to improve my English and general writing skills.
I hope that this blog will be a learning experience for me.
Indonesia 2009 - prices
I have just returned from a trip to Indonesia. This was my second visit to this beautiful country. So far I never used Lonely Planet during any of my trips, so I always need to spend a few days on research to find out things like how to get from the airport to the city, what prices should I expect, where to search for budget accomodation etc.
During the trip I made noted the prices of basic things, like food, accomodation and transport especially for this blog post.
Introductory remarks
Indonesia is a vast and beautiful country. It is inexpensive place to travel. People are very friendly and always try to make life easier for the tourist. Food is OK, nature is amazing, local culture is rich and fascinating.
Even though it is not all roses and with time you start seeing negative aspects of life in Indonesia, even though tragic natural disasters happen here more often that elsewhere, in my opinion it is a great destination for a holiday trip.
Travelling is very, very easy in Asia, and Indonesia is no exception. There are plenty of cheap flights. I did not use neither my debit nor my credit card in Indonesia, but my friend did, and he did not have any problems with that. ATMs were easy to find everywhere.
I brought cash, and I did have some problems. If you bring US dollars, try to bring banknotes with serial number starting with letter D or “higher”. Many places do not want to accept banknotes with serial number starting with “A”, “B” or “C”. Others will accept them, but give you a lower exchange rates. The bank where I was changing money, charged me with a commision for accepting these banknotes. Euros were not accepted in places where I was changing money.
Getting to Indonesia from Europe is easy - I usually monitor Lufthansa and KLM for promotions. It is possible to get a ticket to Singapore for half of the normal price. There are many ferry and air connections from Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand to various places in Indonesia. IMHO flying is cheapest, quickest and most convenient way to travel. Tickets can be bought online. People from many countries can get a visa on arrival for a 25 USD fee on the border.
Sumatra
Last year I spent one month in Bukittinggi learning pencak silat. I wanted to use this opportunity to see and say hello to the teacher and his students and my friends, who helped me to practice last year. Because of that we headed directly to Bukittinggi and did not see the rest of the island.
We arrived to Padang via air from Kuala Lumpur and got visa on arrival. Visa formalities and passport control did not take long.
ATMs are available right in the airport. There is also a money change office, but the rate is very unattractive. I have seen equally low exchange rates on Bali, but never saw anything lower.
Getting from Padang to Bukittinggi is easy. Right in front of the airport building stop local buses. There will be people there trying to get passengers. Tell them you want to get to Bukittinggi. You will get on the local bus to Padang first, and they will take you to the place where you can get on the bus to Bukittinggi.
We were staying in the Orchid Hotel in the Teuku Umar street. I can recommend this place - this is the “standard” place where backpackers stay in Bukittinggi.
One of my friends is a guide in Bukittinggi, so of course we asked him to organize our time there. My friends name is Adrian, his email is adrian_turs@yahoo.co.id. Adrian organized everything for us: sightseeing, transfers, food during the trips. We saw Ngarai Sianok and the flying foxes that sleep there on the trees during the day, Koto Gadang, Minangkabau houses nearby, but the highlight was our one day trip to Harau Valley.
We were sleeping in Echo Valley - a beautiful, charming place - very scenic, very clean. We had another guide in Harau Valley - Conty, sumatra.explore@yahoo.co.id. We spent the whole day walking in the jungle, seeing great views and beautiful waterfalls. We saw a cave going 7 km deep into the mountain, we saw black gibbons, we were swimming under the waterfalls. But the best part was the end of the day, when we were going down the mountain on a wall that I would never believe we can go down if someone would tell me before. It looked like a vertical wall, but Conty led us skillfully on a curvy path where we had to walk on and hold to the roots of trees growing on this wall to get down. I do recommend this tour, it was a great day for us.
Buying things in Bukittinggi is simple. I have the feeling, that in most places the prices are given more or less as they are. I rarely felt the need to haggle in this town - we were usually just paying the asking price; only in some cases, when we were buying more, did we ask for a little discount.
Here are the prices that I have seen on Sumatra in 2009:
| Place | Things bought | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Bukittinggi | Coca Cola 1.5l | IDR 11500 |
| Bukittinggi | Toast bread - small | IDR 7500 |
| Bukittinggi | Toast bread - big | IDR 14500 |
| Bukittinggi | Tuna in chilli sauce - canned | IDR 16600 |
| Bukittinggi | Restaurant - 2 people food and drinking | IDR 58000 |
| Bukittinggi | Salak 1 kg | IDR 13000 |
| Bukittinggi | Local coffee - 1kg | IDR 40000 |
| Bukittinggi | Cinnamon - 1kg | IDR 20000 |
| Bukittinggi | White pepper - 1kg | IDR 65000 |
| Bukittinggi | Black pepper - 1kg | IDR 60000 |
| Bukittinggi | Nutmeg - 1 kg | IDR 70000 |
| Bukittinggi | Cardamom - 1 kg | IDR 60000 |
| Bukittinggi | 3 day sightseeing package around Bukittinggi | USD 200 |
| Bukittinggi | Orange syrup 1,5l | IDR 41300 |
| Bukittinggi | Roasted corncob | IDR 5000 |
| Bukittinggi | Bus from Bukittinggi to Minangkabau airport | IDR 40000 |
| Bukittinggi | Minibus fare within Bukittinggi | IDR 2000 |
| Bukittinggi | Taxi from Bukittinggi to Minangkabau airport | IDR 200000 |
| Bukittinggi | Room in Orchid hotel (for 2 people) | IDR 75000 |
| Bukittinggi | Room for 2 people, TV, warm water (Orchid hotel) | IDR 100000 |
| Bukittinggi | Room for 3 people, TV, warm water (Orchid hotel) | IDR 150000 |
| Bukittinggi | Toilet paper | IDR 3300 |
| Padang | Basic meal for 1 person in the airport restaurant | IDR 30000 |
| Padang | Airport tax for domestic flight | IDR 35000 |
I do not remember the bus fare from the airport to Padang and from Padang to Bukittinggi, but they were around 20000 - 30000 IDR each.
I did not buy any silver jewellery in Koto Gadang, but heard that other tourists were given prices around 40 EUR. I do think that one can bargain that down, and I really liked the design of brooches, especially the one with the buffalo head. I expected to see even better silver jewellery in Yogyakarta later, but I did not.
Java
We were flying Mandala from Padang to Jakarta. We had a good experience and in the future will want to fly with them again. The flight was delayed for 2 hours, like many other flights operated by Indonesian airlines.
Contrary to the information that I found during my research, there is a DAMRI bus from the airport to the Gambir railway station as late as 23:30. Jalan Jaksa, were the cheap “backpackers hostels” are, is not far from Gambir, but looking for it during the night may be a bit problematic.
We took a bajaj, but had to haggle the fare down to 50% (IDR 10000) of the asking price (IDR 20000).
Generally we did not like the bajajs and that one was the last we used. Taxis in Jakarta are faster, more comfortable, cheaper and save you the tiresome haggling over every couple of cents. I recommend metered taxis for getting around Jakarta.
We did not like the city and left almost immediately changing our schedule a bit. I was disappointed by the lack of bookshops, but I do regret a bit that I did not visit the Pencak Silat centre.
We went to Yogyakarta by train - again contrary to my research our train did not leave from the Gambir railway station, but from Pasar Senen. We took business class, but this does not look even far like something that people in Europe call “business class”. The trip was pretty tiresome, but incomparably more comfortable than my last year bus trip across Sumatra.
West Java looks pretty dirty and crowded, but the eastern part of the Island is nice and beautiful.
Yogyakarta is much more touristy than Sumatra - this was the only place in Indonesia were I met a tout that did not want to understand the word “no”. My first impression of the city was not that good - but once I got outside of Malioboro street I saw a normal Indonesian city and after some time I decided that it was OK. I think that if I had the time to spend there 2 or 3 weeks and learn were the interesting things are, I could like it a lot.
We were staying in Indonesia Hotel, Jln. Sosrowijayan 9, tel. (0274) 587 659. Rooms are basic, staff is very nice and helpful, as everywhere in Indonesia. But I can not recommend this hotel because of cockroaches (we killed at least 2 every day) and rats (ones 3 of them were running on the yard and almost ran into the room).
We bought a tour around eastern Java with drop off in Denpasar from Sosro Tour&Travel (http://www.yogyes.com/en/yogyakarta-tour-operator/sosro-tour/). Generally we are satisfied customers. We changed the buses a little bit more often than one could expect, of course there is no trace of promised aircon in the car, you are rushed from one attraction to another, and sometimes you miss a not-so-attractive attraction because of “technical problems”. But all these things are to be expected, and in principle we received what we expected and are happy.
Borobudur and Prambanan are the prime attractions and you simply have to see them. IMHO Prambanan is nicer, because there are more places to walk around and contemplate, even though the admission to the main temple is closed. I am not that fond of visiting this kind of attractions, but I am happy that I was there and saw both monuments.
I was disappointed by the Prambanan ballet. The open air theatre was great, the story was interesting, the Prambanan in the background of the stage looked very nice. Only the dance was so so...
Both Bromo and Ijen are very nice places and I recommend them both. They are both a bit crowded, but in both places you can go a bit farther than other people around the crater to find the place where you can sit down and enjoy the view.
On the Bromo tour they try to sell you a jeep ride to the view point where you can enjoy the sunrise over Bromo. I do recommend to take the jeep, because this is better than searching for your way to the Bromo during the night, but be warned that this viewpoint at sunrise is a kind of funny place. There are so many people that it is a major challenge to get to the place from where you can actually see the sunrise. The jeep will not bring you to the top, because there will be so many jeeps, that the road will be blocked. Moreover, there will be multiple motorbikes blocking the road for the jeeps to offer the ride to the tourists that are thus forced to climb on feet.
At the viewpoint people climb the fence, trees (I did climb on a tree), trashbins to be able to see the view. Those who did not get to the good place ask those who did to make a photo for them. It all looks very funny.
The view itself is nice, and you can make a nice photo with the view only - no a single person around you ;-)
We were staying in the Sion View Hotel close to Bromo (adress?) and I can recommend it - nice rooms, beautiful view. Nights are cool there, but not that bad. Hotel was included in our tour.
In Yogyakarta, the prices quoted on Malioboro are 2 or 3 times more than the real value, but I did not see anything worth buying there. Outside of Malioboro, things get back to normal.
| Place | Things bought | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Jakarta | DAMRI bus from CGK airport to Gambir station | IDR 20000 |
| Jakarta | A bottle of mineral water on a filling station | IDR 5000 |
| Jakarta | Metered taxi ride in the city | IDR 30000 |
| Jakarta | Train to Yogyakarta, “bisnis” class | IDR 150000 |
| Jakarta | Second hand handbook of Indonesian | IDR 45000 |
| Jakarta | Cheap Indonesian-English dictionary | IDR 25000 |
| Yogyakarta | Original Indonesian music CD | IDR 400000 |
| Yogyakarta | Transfer to Prambanan | IDR 75000 |
| Yogyakarta | Entry ticket to Prambanan candi | USD 11 |
| Yogyakarta | Entry ticket to Borobudur candi | IDR 120000 |
| Yogyakarta | Entry to Mendut candi | IDR 3700 |
| Yogyakarta | Ramayana ballet, 2-nd “class” (125000 for 1st row) | IDR 100000 |
| Yogyakarta | Ramayana ballet, VIP “class” | IDR 200000 |
| Yogyakarta | Room for 2 with mandi, no hot water | IDR 70000 |
| Yogyakarta | Post stamp for a card to Europe | IDR 8000 |
| Yogyakarta | Airmail package to Europe, 1 kg | IDR 105000 |
| Yogyakarta | Sea mail package to Europe, 3-5 kg | USD 23.57 |
| Yogyakarta | Tour: Bromo + Ijen, drop off in Denpasar (haggling) | IDR 550000 |
| Yogyakarta | Transport to Cemoro Lawang | IDR 150000 |
| Yogyakarta | Transport + room in Cemoro Lawang | IDR 370000 |
| Yogyakarta | Brromo package tour | IDR 460000 |
| Yogyakarta | Tour: Bromo, Ijen, drop off in Ketapang | IDR 670000 |
| Yogyakarta | Tour: Pananjakan, Bromo | IDR 540000 |
| Yogyakarta | Tour: Pananjakan, Bromo, Ijen, Ketapang | IDR 750000 |
| Yogyakarta | Postcard | IDR 3500 |
| ??? | Jeep to Bromo | IDR 90000 |
| ??? | Entry ticket to Bromo | IDR 35000 |
| ??? | Road restaurant, food for 1 person | IDR 30000 |
| ??? | Watermelon, 1 kg | IDR 2300 |
Drop off in Ketapang is no problem if you are heading to Denpasar. You just buy a ferry ticket to Bali and are on a ferry in minutes. The bus terminal on the other side is just a few steps from the ferry.
Prices of tours do vary a lot depending on standard and what is included (eg. breakfast, hot shower, aircon, padded chair). The prices above are for services that IMHO are likely to be chosen. This list has a purpose of allowing you to estimate your budget, not to give you precise price list of tourist services.
Bali
My first reaction to Bali was irritation - touts, tourists everywhere (crowded shop and the only Indonesian inside was the shop assistant). We were also unlucky in the first restaurant - slow service (we left without waiting for the last dish), the food not exactly as it should be, but costing 3 times it would on another island. “Art” galleries everywhere, and not much more.
This was the only place where I lost interest towards the local language. But with time I cooled down and can see that if you like shopping for the “art” like masks or similar objects, if you enjoy walking and observing local temples, reflexology massage etc, then Bali is a good place for you.
We stayed in Alamanda Accomodation on Monkey Forest Rd in Ubud (alamanda@balimore.com). I can recommend this place - we killed only one cockroach, the room was spacious; we got the key and could enter or leave the room without disturbing anybody. The walls and plants shielded us from the outside world, the place was cosy, nice and convenient.
Prices on the Ubud market are 5 to 3 times more than the real value - they go immediately down from 5x to 3x in the beginning of haggling. For example, the asking price for a wooden mask was 250000 IDR. I bought one and my friend bought one. In both cases the asking price was the same, and we both paid 50000 in the end. This looked pretty much the same for other articles, too.
Bali so far is the only place in the world, where the sellers tried to change the price after it was agreed - and it happend not once, but 3 times.
| Place | Things bought | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Ubud | Sprite 1,5L | IDR 15000 |
| Ubud | A packet of some kind of “nuts” | IDR 25000 |
| Ubud | Promotional bottle of Coca Cola 1,5L | IDR 11300 |
| Ubud | A set of small bottle with massage oil | IDR 35000 |
| Ubud | Bicycle rental for 1 day | IDR 25000 |
| Ubud | Smirnoff 0,7 bottle | IDR 72500 |
| Ubud | Sarong on the market (poor quality, asking 150000) | IDR 50000 |
| Ubud | Mineral water 1,5L | IDR 3000 |
| Ubud | Simple food in restaurant, 1 person, drinks incl. | IDR 52000 |
| Ubud | Post stamp for a postcard to Europe | IDR 7500 |
| Ubud | Taxi to the airport, bargain price, normally 200000 | IDR 150000 |
| Ubud | Wooden mask on the market | IDR 50000 |
| Ubud | Presentation of local dances | IDR 80000 |
| Ubud | Post parcel to Poland, 20kg, 50x60x140cm | IDR 720000 |
| Denpasar | Airport tax for international flight | IDR 150000 |
Local tours around Ubud and elsewhere in Bali cost between 200000 and 600000 IDR, depending on the kind of tour (starting with bicycle tours, ending with rafting and similar attractions).
Similar report for Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore will come in the next post.
