Travel Guide To Indonesia - Land Of Balmy Breezes

Indonesia is a large archipelago in Southeast Asia that straddles the Equator between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. While it has land borders with Malaysia to the north as well as East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the east, it also neighbors Australia to the south, and Palau, the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore, and Thailand to the north, India to the northwest.

Indonesia is the sleeping giant of Southeast Asia. With 18,110 islands, 6,000 of them inhabited, it is the largest archipelago in the world. With well over 210 million people, Indonesia is is the fourth most populous country in the world — after China, India and the US — and by far the largest in Southeast Asia. Indonesia also has the largest Muslim population in the world.

Indonesia markets itself as the ultimate in diversity, and the slogan is quite true, although not not necessarily always in good ways. Indonesia's tropical forests are the second-largest in the world after Brazil, and are being logged and cut down at the same alarming speed. While the rich shop and party in Jakarta and Bali, after decades of economic mismanagement, the country is the only member of OPEC that has to import oil, and 53% of the population earns less than $2/day. Infrastructure in much of the country remains rudimentary, and traveller off the beaten track (pretty much anywhere outside Bali) will need some patience and flexibility.

The Indonesian people, like any people, can be either friendly or rude to foreigners. Most of the time, though, they are incredibly friendly to foreigners, particularly Caucasians (bule) who make it off the beaten track.

Best Time To Go

Though travel in the wet season is possible in most parts of Indonesia, it can be a deterrent to some activities and travel on mud-clogged roads in less developed areas is difficult. In general, the best time to visit is in the dry season between May and October.

In most cases, experiencing an Indonesian festival is reason enough to head to a destination. Some are so significant, however, that they can generate difficult conditions for travellers. Tana Toraja's funeral season boosts Rantepao's population, and hotel prices, substantially during July and August. In Java it's a good idea to avoid the final days of Idul Fitri, when public transport is mayhem and some businesses close.

A tragic drop in tourist hordes means that Indonesia's 'high season' no longer presents the same kind of bother it once did. Certainly, the December-January Christmas holiday period and the school holidays still brings a wave of migratory Australians, and Europeans head to Bali, Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi in July and August. But climatic impediments aside, pretty much any time is a good time to head to Indonesia at the moment.

The main Indonesian holiday periods are the end of Ramadan, when domestic tourists fill resorts to overflowing and prices escalate; Christmas; and from mid-June to mid-July, is when graduating high-school students take off by the busload to various tourist attractions, mainly in Java and Bali.

How To Get There

The two main international airports are Soekarno-Hatta (CGK) at Tangerang, Banten, near Jakarta, and Ngurah Rai (DPS) at Denpasar, Bali.

Approximate flight times: From London to Jakarta is 21 hours, From Los Angeles to Jakarta is 25 hours. From New York to Jakarta is 31 hours. From Singapore to Jakarta is one and a half hours. From Singapore to Bali is two and a half hours. From Sydney to Jakarta is 8 hours. From Sydney to Bali is 6 and a half hours. From Perth to Bali is 4 hours.

There are however many cities which have air links with neighbouring countries which can be interesting and convenient entry points into Indonesia. They include: Medan with to/flights from Penang and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Pekanbaru in Sumatra with flights to/from Malacca, Malaysia and Singapore; Padang in Sumatra with flights from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Singapore; Pontianak in West Kalimantan to/from Kuching in Sarawak, Malaysia and Singapore; Tarakan in East Kalimantan to/from Tawau in Sabah, Malaysia; Manado in North Sulawesi to/from Davao in the Philippines; and Kupang in West Timor to/from Darwin in Australia, and Dili, East Timor.

Travel to Indonesia from America costs around US$1000. Many flights stop in Hong Kong, Seoul, Taipei or Singapore before arriving in Jakarta. Indonesia's Garuda provides links to Asian, Australian and European destinations.

The fares for flying within the Southeast Asia region has gone down a lot with the advent of low cost carriers. Among them are Air Asia, Tiger Airways and Jetair Asia/Valuair.