opinion about indonesian turism

Found this great travelogue on the internet, hope you'll find it interesting too.

Terry

Usually we go to the main tourist destinations however this year we decide to be a little more adventurous and travel to Java as well as Bali. Of course everybody we told said you will come home in a body bag or the least be missing a kidney. Well we did make it home safe and sound and Java turned out to be just as friendly as Bali and in two instances we found them to be honest. One time I gave a 10,000 note instead of a one thousand, which he told me and returned it. The other time was when my wife left her watch at the pool in the hotel and it was returned also.

We flew to Jakarta from Perth Western Australia on the 30th March 2002 (sanhen note: i know its 2002, but i read and most things still valid), a 3 and a half hour flight. From research on the Internet, Indotel were the cheapest place to book hotels in Indonesia. We found their booth easily at the airport and booked the Aston Atrium hotel for 286,000 rupiah a night including breakfast.

We walked out the airport and got a passing bluebird taxi, which cost 41,000 rupiah (plus toll charges) to the hotel. It is best to arrive there with some small notes for the taxi and the toll charges. The Aston Atrium was a four star hotel and was excellent value for money. The rooms were really good with a really lavish bathroom a tempat tidar besar (double bed) and a brilliant smorgasbord breakfast.

Right next door to the hotel was the Atrium shopping centre, which the wife thought, was really good. Seven stories of shops, which have everything to make a shopaholic happy. There was not one other tourist there.
Everybody says avoid Jakarta at all costs as it is a hellhole. I didn’t find it to be a hellhole more so another big Asian city with lots of pollution on the streets. Places where there was real poverty and some really modern buildings and some interesting things to see. I would also say that Jakarta has some great shopping. (sanhen note: SOME?????? Jakarta is r00x!)

Sights in Jakarta

Monas - 5,000 rupiah entry fee plus 100 rupiah insurance. This is the National monument. You catch an elevator to the top for a fantastic view of the city, which stretches in all directions. The day we were there was a Sunday and there were heaps of locals therefore it was a long queue to get to the top. In the wide-open spaces around Monas there were sidewalk markets with fixed and really cheap prices. E.g. Bali T-shirts 10,000 rupiah. Good belts 10,000 rupiah. In fact everything was about half the price or less than in Bali but with no haggling.

Sunda Kelapa the Old Port

This was like a step back in time with old sailing vessels being unloaded by hand. They take two weeks to unload. Well worth a visit here but beware of the guides who attach themselves to you and then want US$20 for a tour about an hour or so. This guide was the greediest I have met all others were very good. You can go on the boats and also go for a row on the harbour. Next to the port is the fish market that was another interesting experience as it was real Third World.

Taman mini. This park has 27 full-scale buildings, which represent all the provinces of Indonesia. You can spend a whole day here.

Taman Impian Jaya Ancol This Recreation Park has an Aquarium and the Gelanggang renang swimming pool complex, and shows with Dolphins, seals, monkeys, birds and otters; again you can easily spend a day here.
Bogor

We caught the train at the Gambir train station and went to Bogor to visit the Botanical Gardens. The train was executive class and cost 8,000 rupiah each. The journey took 50 minutes and passed through some very poor areas of Jakarta. I would say that there would be people here battling to earn in a couple of months some of the running shoes seen in some of the stores in Jakarta.

At Bogor station we bartered for a ride to the Botanical Gardens, which was a real experience as he had to get four of his friends to push start the car and then with an almighty bang off we went.

We spent about four hours wandering around the Kebun Raya Botanical Gardens, which were very good. There were palms, bamboos, many different types of trees and an orchid house. If you like gardening or nature then you would appreciate these gardens. The president's palace backs onto the palace and has deer in the grounds which you can get quite close to. There didn't seem to be much activity while we where there. I think she was in Korea at the time. (sanhen note: Indonesia have many presidential palace. The official president residence is the Merdeka Palace at Jakarta. The rest of the palace usually being use for meetings only).

We had lunch at a shopping centre opposite the park, which was so cheap it was amazing. It cost less than US$2.00 for two meals and drinks.

After lunch we caught a number 6 microlet to the Bus Terminal to get on a bus to Bandung. The buses in Indonesia do not run to schedule but leave as soon as they are full. We didn’t have to wait long as we filled the last two seats on the bus (cost 16,000 rupiah) The bus on weekdays passes through the Puncak pass and I thought this scenery was everything I had heard. It was very beautiful well worth the trip to see the scenery. Also on the buses in Indonesia people hop on the buses to sing songs etc to get money off of the tourists. I gave a man here 5,000 rupiah and then found out the locals were giving 50 to a hundred rupiah. Hence why they love tourists there.


Bandung

In Bandung I picked up the phone and rang some hotels for prices. Picked the Panghegar, which cost 300,000 a night. This hotel turned out to be a real find as it had a revolving restaurant on top. We had an excellent meal here with a great view of the city at night.

In Bandung we visited the Tangkuban Prahu volcano. You drive right to the top of this volcano for an impressive view. Near to this volcano were the Ciater Hot Springs, which were very pretty with some good places to swim in the warm water.

Jeans Street, which is mentioned as a must in the guidebooks, did not impress me just a few shops with large plaster figures of Rambo, Batman etc. I did buy a pair of jeans here though as the prices were quite good. Bandung has lots of colonial buildings that are worth a look and lastly the Dago tea house and the walk along the river there is not to be missed.

The bank Niaga in Bandung changed Australian dollar traveller’s cheques with a good rate. We never found anywhere in Jakarta to change Australia dollar travellers cheques. One scary moment there with an ATM. Put the card in and the machine said transaction ok then nothing spat the card out no receipt no nothing. Went into the bank where I was told the machine had run out of money. Have since checked transaction and nothing shows on statement. From Bandung we decided to hire a car to take us to Pangandaran this cost us 400,000 which was a bit expensive but the tourist bus was full. (A lesson here. Book the day before). The trip took from 09:20 until 14:30

Pangandaran

They say Pangandaran is a hidden jewel in regards to western tourists and I agree with this. We had planned on staying here 3 days but stayed four and even then we didn’t really want to leave. Pangandaran is on a peninsular near Cilacap and the whole town consists of tourist related activities. We found the people here to be very friendly in fact we were invited to a Sundanese (The local people) wedding. Apparently they are more than happy for tourists to come to these events. There are a heap of cheap hotels here. We stayed at the Nyiur Indah II which cost us 206,500 a night with breakfast. The only problem with this hotel was that it did not have any rooms with tempat tidur besar (In Indonesian big bed or double beds). Here I found the most useful Indonesian phase. Saya mau kamar dengan tempat tidur besar. (I want a room with a big bed).

There is plenty to see and do around Pangandaran or even just walking along the beach at sunset watching the flying dogs (what they call bats) go by is nice. I walked along the whole beach and wasn’t approached by one hawker, which was a very pleasurable change to Kuta beach. There are plenty of Becak drivers here and we did use a couple of them but found it great to hire a motorbike and travel around town on that. The cost was 25,000 per day.
The people in Jimbaran bay could learn something from their equivalent in Pangandaran. We had a really excellent meal of Lobster, Tiger prawns and fish plus drinks and the bill was 134,000 rupiah.

Another really good meal was had at the Scandinavian restaurant and guesthouse. 106,000 rupiah for a great meal and 35,000 of that was for an imported Portuguese Port and another 30,000 for other drinks.

The tours around Pangandaran are really cheap e.g. 60,000 for two people to go on a jungle tour. The tour was about a four-hour walk through the jungle and we saw deer, two different kinds of monkeys, a porcupine, squirrels, bats and something that looked like possums. At the entrance of the park you feed the monkeys peanuts and if you give them a peanut with your right hand they always take it with their right hand and visa versa. Definitely do not go into the park without a guide, it would not be too hard to get lost.

Pangandaran’s no 1 tour is to the green canyon and once you have been there you can understand why as it is very beautiful. To make the trip a full day we visited a krupup factory and a wayang golek factory where we bought Rama and Shinta dolls, which are very beautiful and very well made. Also went to Batu keras another really nice beach nearby.

Pangandaran has a nice feel to it and is very cheap for hotels, tours and meals. As for bartering t-shirts etc their starting price is what you have to haggle down to in Bali, consequently I didn’t bother.

Yogyakarta

Yogyakarta was the best of the cities we visited in Java and had a
reasonable feel to it as far as cities go and is well worth a trip from Bali it costs around 429,000 one way or 860,000 return by Garuda. There is much to see there including the famous Borobudur and hotels and meals etc are very cheap.

Hotels

The hotel we stayed at there was called the Harmony Inn, which consisted of only 16 rooms. This hotel cost us 90,000 rupiah a night with breakfast. All hotels in Java include breakfast and they give you two bottles of water a day for brushing teeth in etc. I thought this hotel was quite a bargain as in Bali it would have cost 300,000 rupiah a night and without breakfast. Yogyakarta has heaps of hotels with very cheap rates, seemed to be cheaper here than any where.

Transport

The main complaint about Yogyakarta that I have heard is about the Becak drivers, which are the main form of transport there. There are very few taxis. This is that they keep on insisting on taking you to Batik places. I shut one up quiet easily on the way to the night market. I told him Batik tidak uang Pasar malam uang (Batik no money night market money) Never heard another word about batik.

Mostly in Yogyakarta we hired a motorbike which cost 25,000 rupiah a day. Most people think this is crazy but we have found that this is the best form of getting around Java and Bali. Unlike Bali never saw any police in Either Pangandaran or Yogyakarta trying to get tourists without licences.

Sights in Jogja

The water palace, we were not impressed with this place it consisted of two pools of stagnant green water and if you do go there don’t go in the middle of the day as it gets quite hot here.

Borobudur has been called one of the Seven Wonders of the World and it
certainly is impressive. Words and pictures do not it Justice. You have to be there. It costs US$7.00 entrance fee and you can hire a guide there for 30,000 rupiah. I really suggest you hire the guide as they tell you the story of the place and about the Buddhist Religion. Which is amazing in itself considering the guides are Muslim. (sanhen note: welcome to Indonesia. A country with millions of ppl that tolerate each other religion, and thousand that is not. Dont 100% believe the news plz).

Prambanan does not get the same publicity as Borobudur but I thought it was equally impressive again entry costs US$7.00 and 30,000 for a guide. Again you get a Muslim guide telling you the Intricacies of the Hindu religion.

Parangritis Beach is a wild and windswept beach 30km south of Yogyakarta. You can’t swim here as it is too dangerous but is worth a visit. Ramayana Ballet An interesting performance about the story of Rama and Shinta. This story seems to be important through Java and even though it is a Hindu story I never heard it in Bali. The ramayana ballet performance in town lasts for one and a half-hours and costs 90,000 or for 150,000 there is a package including dinner. They pick you up and deliver you back to your hotel for this price.
Kasongan was a village near Yogyakarta where they made ceramics. There were some excellent ceramics here for incredibly cheap prices. I wish I could have brought some back. The importers must make an incredible margin from these as there ceramic figures here for AUD$5 that would sell for AUD$200. There are many other things to see in Jogja, one being the Dieng plateau unfortunateley we run out of time to visit this but next year for sure.

Shopping

Jalan Malioboro is the main shopping centre of Yogyakarta where you can buy cheap souvenirs, batik, leather goods, woodcarvings etc. again the prices where much cheaper than Bali eg. bought some flowers there for 1,500 rupiah same in Bali where 4,500. Good t-shirts cost 12,500 rupiah.

Money changing - the best place in Yogyakarta was PT Baruman Abadi the
moneychanger at the Hotel Natour Garuda. Very good rates and he changes AUD$ travellers cheques.

Via Via café This is a must visit café as they have lots of cheap and good tours. We did a cooking course here, which was run by the cook of the café who was a lovely Balinese woman. We learnt to cook Lumping, satay chicken and nasi goreng . This course was a absolute bargain 35,000 rupiah and you got to eat the meal at the end of it.

an opinion about saturday night

Well, you know you're at a sad spot in your life when, instead of spending a Saturday night out with friends, meeting women and forging social connections you are sitting at home playing a fifteen year old videogame on a fourteen year old game system.

But, I just spent my Saturday night replaying the Saturn port of Resident Evil, so what do I know?

It's hard to tell people whether or not they will like Myst. It's a very specific sort of game, and odds are you will either love it deeply or hate it fiercely. It's very slow paced, cerebral, and thought-provoking. You won't be finding weapons and shooting monsters, ever. It's the only Saturn game I have ever played where I have felt compelled to take pen-and-paper notes on each scene so that I could piece clues together later. The game is heavy on puzzles, and they will occasionally require information from a different part of the environment, meaning you may have to do a bit of traveling to fully understand them.

It's less of a first person game and more of an interactive slideshow, but you will probably know in the first five or ten minutes whether or not you will enjoy the game.

Myst for the Saturn supports the Saturn Mouse, if you have one. It also supports the "zap to" feature (I forget what it is called exactly, but it allows you to skip areas you have already been through). I would recommend turning it off, since if you use it extensively you will likely miss clues.

Picking up a complete copy for $5 is a pretty good score, though. Playing Myst is a good idea, because even if you end up hating it, you can see what gaming was like way back when CD-Rom technology was still in it's infancy, and you can play a game that was (until the advent of the ridiculous amount of Sims games released) the highest selling game of all time.

But, considering it is pretty much Sunday morning by now, you've likely already played the game and made your own opinion of it.

mau jual pulsa?

bri komen wat konfirmasi...
gampang kok....