From: jb8o+@andrew.cmu.edu (Jennifer Brodt)
Newsgroups: rec.travel
Subject: travel within Indonesia-results
Date: 14 Apr 92 19:47:56 GMT
Organization: Studio for Creative Inquiry, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA


Here are some results of my questions about purchasing
tickets for domestic flights in Indonesia (with some other 
info mixed in).

jenny

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Subject: Indonesia
 
Sent this info to someone while back, it may be of interest to you too.
Lonely Planets has the best range ofbooks for the true backpack traveller
and best laid out. If you want pictures, borrow a Fodor book from the store,
its for folk with money and no adventure.
 
8 weeks for Timor to Java is a bit short unless you have already been to 
Indonesia before and are going to skip large areas. I guess you have the Lonely
Planets book, a better book is Bill Daltons but its a personal opinion, I met
him when he was living in Java 20 years ago!!! It has more in depth stuff on 
the more out of the way places like Sumba.
I quess you are starting in Timor cos its the cheapest place to fly to.
I have never been to Timor but I have visited Sumbawa and Sumba, Lombok,
Bali, Java, Sumatra and Borneo. In terms of the places you mentioned Java,
Sumatra and Bali are the easiest to travel, Lombok is fairly easy on the main 
routes, Sumba and Sumbawa are hard, dusty, few vehicles and also larger
distances between interesting spots. The main reason to go to these Islands
is to get to Flores to see the dragons, they are impressive if you can get
a villager to show you. Its getting touristy now cos there are flights from
Bali and boat tours.
 
If you havent travelled much in the 3rd world I would fly direct to Bali and
visit Lombok (short boat trip), Bali, Java and Sumatra. I was at these islands
last year except Sumatra which has changed a lot since I was there. Bali is
great, especially in the rice growing areas mentioned in the book. Lovina
on the north coast is ok but I prefer the place on the west side about 1 hour
away from the Lombok fery, forget the name!! Kuta is a real zoo, but good for
resting up in civilization after a few weeks. Seems to be the place to get
good food, cheap t shirts, and Aussie girls..
 
Might be good to make a trip, Bali, Lombok back to Bali, then Java, visit
Mount Bromo, tons of things in between, Madura (very few people go there and
its easy to get to and very interesting, the locals are not used to tourists -
food is not to good!).
Then on to Jogya and finally to Jakarta, the arse hole of Indonesia, the best
things are the fishing port and the boat out!!. Get the boat to Sumatra from
here to Padang, takes 2 days.  If you are in for some Jungle can get a boat to
South Sumatra and bad road through Palembang,some interesting country, maybe
see a Tiger.
 
Lake Toba used to be like heaven but I here you have to be more careful now.
Can then fly from Medan to Penang and on to Singapore or Bangkok.
 
Well gives you a few ideas anyway. Im an ex Encounter Overland driver, been on 
the road for 6 years, so hopefully the info can be taken with some credibility.
If you dont travel at a reasonably slow pace you will end up just going city to
city, never meeting the country folk and getting diesel poisoning!!
Got any specific questions mail me.
 
bps@cpsc.ucalgary.ca
Brian Scowcroft
 
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Great places for me were the islands of Lombok (Rinjani, gili islands),
Flores (Labuan Bajo), Komodo (Komodo Dragon), Bali was a zoo but Ubud was
OK because the food there was good and cheap.  Watch out for theft on
Bali (Kuta/Legian Beach).

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From: Graeme.Hart@bbs.actrix.gen.nz

When I was in Indonesia we just bought the tickets there, however it would
have probably been cheaper to buy them in advance.  The airlines tend
to give discounts.
 
I recommend that you consider taking the train from Jakarta to Yogyakarta,
you can go by executive class for about US$15, but be warned, bring your
own food, the train food is terrible!  You can buy the tickets from the
station.
 
The train leaves at 6am, and from memory arrives at about 3pm.
 
If you want the name, address and fax no of a great place to stay in Yogyakarta
(how do you spell that name??), let me know.  They have great private
rooms, with a garden view etc, for US$30 per rooom per night, or back packer 
accomodation for US$3 per person.
 
I also have a list of good restaurants, etc, in Yogyakarta, if anyone
is interested.
 
One thing you need to be careful of is a lot of places offer "commission"
to anyone involved with booking accomodation.  Make sure that you have
real evidence (e.g. a fax) if you try to organise through a travel agent.
 
Most reasonable places will collect you from the train station/air port
if you arrange this in advance.  This is usually free.  They charge you
when you leave, if you want to be dropped off.  Usually hotel taxis are
expensive.  It is often best to get them to order a "metered" taxi, which
they are usually happy to do.
 
Most people in Indonesia are very friendly, you should have a great time,
but remember to bargain, they expect it.
 
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From: jerdee@neptune.convex.com (Bill Jerdee)

As far as air tickets go, I guess it depends on where and when you're
going (and luck!).  Since you are not travelling during the high
season, you probably won't have any problems buying tickets in Jakarta.
However, you might want to make reservations with Garuda now, just for peace
of mind.  The last time I checked they had a toll-free number in the
U.S.: 800-342-7832.  I had no problems buying tickets on short notice
in Jakarta and Bali, but that was in November (low season).  However,
my parents were unable to get certain flights even a month in advance
for a trip during July and August (high season).
 
If you decide to buy tickets in Jakarta, I can recommend Kaliman Travel
(they are located in the President Hotel).  They have English-speaking
staff who appear to be on-the-ball.  They saved me a bundle of money on
one occasion.
 
If you haven't purchased your international tickets yet, I can recommend
the following:
                  Robert Nee
                  Overseas Tours
                  475 El Camino Real, Suite 206
                  Millbrae, CA  94030
                  1-800-222-5292
They have very good prices on Singapore Airlines tickets.  I would
recommend taking Singapore Airlines over Garuda.  Also, Singapore Airlines
has a stopover plan which includes places like Honolulu, Tokyo, Taipei,
Hong Kong, and Singapore.  This is really good because you can visit
these places for very little extra airfare.  I'm assuming you're
departing from the west coast - I have no idea how things work from
the east coast.
 
If you plan to stop in Jakarta, hotels there are hideously expensive.
I don't know whether you fall in the category of "backpacker", "budget",
or "moderate" (I assume "deluxe" is out of the question! :)), but in the
latter two categories the Kartika Plaza and the Hotel Kemang are
possibilities.  The Kartika Plaza has a very convenient location.
You will need to make reservations as far in advance as possible.
All the hotels outside the "backpacker" category have English-speaking
staff available at the front desk.
 
In case your itinerary isn't completely set yet, I would recommend a
visit to Lombok (a short flight from Bali).  It's much less crowded
and commercialized than Bali.  The Senggigi Beach Resort is very
nice, all the facilities of a deluxe resort for about $50/night.
 
Let me know if I can be of any further assistance.
Selamat jalan!

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I was there in August and the earilest some flights
could be booked was two weeks ahead. This included
Bali to Flores and Yogyakarta to Bali. May might not
be as busy, but check carefully so you're not disappointed.
 
Happy roads. Selamat Jalan.
--
Ron McEwen     | UUCP:  chucker@bigsur.UUCP         | Phone: (613) 765-4591
BNR Ltd.       | or:  ..uunet!bnrgate!bigsur!chucker| FAX:   (613) 763-2626

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