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Through the association, we often get inquiries about travelling to Indonesia, so this page has been set up to offer some tips and travel advice for those travelling to Indonesia. It's always a good idea to contact the Indonesian Embassy for the most
accurate / latest information prior to travelling to Indonesia, but
some basic information is provided here.
VISA's for visitors to Indonesia
Australian's visiting Indonesia must have a valid passport, but typically don't need to arrange a visa prior to departing Australia for short trips to Indonesia. Upon entry to Indonesia, you can purchase (in the Airport in Indonesia) for a 7 day stay or a 30 day stay. Best to carry some US Dollars or Rupiah in order to purchase this. Upon last checking prices were around $25USD for a 30 day temporary visitor visa. In Denpasar airport in Bali, be sure to purchase your visa from the glass booths marked "Visa On Arrival" just prior to the customs / immigration queue. If you end up queuing for 1/2 hour to reach the customs officer, and are told to leave the queue to purchase a visa only to return to the end of the customs queue, you are unlikely to be happy!
Immunisations & Health
While Bali is often cited as not being a high risk Malaria area, some parts of Indonesia are, and it is always recommended to consult your doctor, and obtain the appropriate immunisations prior to travelling. Travel insurance can typically be obtained for around $100/traveller and is highly recommended to ensure you have appropriate medical coverage while overseas.
Taxi's in Bali
There are a number of different taxi companies operating in Indonesia, but for travellers to Bali, the "Bluebird" company (light blue colour, with the bluebird pictured on the light above the car) are reputable, and will always use the meter rather than any privately negotiated fares. Taxi's for anything up to a 15 - 20 minute trip are generally very cheap (usually <$5AUD), and taxi's are ubiquitous, so taxi is a great way to get around.
Riding Moped's / Scooters in Indonesia
This is for the brave of heart only - and should be done with care, and certainly not a few hours after arriving for the first time (take some time to observe the traffic conditions and understand the rules - it may appear to be chaos, but there are rules that riders are expected to conform to).
Typically you are able to rent a scooter for $3 - $5/day and often (in tourist locations) without a motorcycle license or international license (just your Australian car license is often enough at many rental places). Be aware however that this contravene's Indonesian law and you may be stopped by police, and asked to pay an on the spot fine if riding without a an international license. Helmets are also compulsory, and while riding in back laneways without a helmet is commonplace, again this is against the law and on the spot fines can be issued - and police often patrol larger busier roads for riders without helmets. It's very very easy to get lost in Indonesia as many streets are not well sign posted, and if you end up off the beaten track - then language may become a barrier.....so ride with a local if taking long trips, or stick close to the places you know.
If renting a car, you may have difficulty as not all car rental places will rent to foreigners, and driving in Indonesia can be even more hair raising than riding a scooter - so consider carefully if you would be better to use other forms of transport.
International Car Licenses may be obtained in Victoria by visiting your local RACV office with your current Australian license, and paying a small fee - contact RACV for more information. This is recommended if planning to drive or ride a scooter in Indonesia.
ATM's - Don't forget your card!
In Indonesia, unlike Australia a large percentage of ATM's will deliver the cash to you, before you are required to remove your credit card from the ATM, creating a risk that you might forget your card in the machine. As Australian's are used to ATM's requiring you to remove your card before you take your cash (ie taking the cash in Australia is the last thing you usually do before leaving the ATM) there's a chance that force of habit may cause you to take your cash and walk away from the ATM with your card still in the machine - don't forget to wait for your card!
Note: Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Bank are opening an increasing number of branches in Indonesia at present, so many ATM's and branches are available in various cities in case you need to go into a bank while in Indonesia.
ATM's & currency:
Most ATM's give Indonesian Rupiah only, and many with Rp.50,000 notes as the largest denomination. If you need to carry a lot of cash (not generally advisable, AUD$100 is a lot of money in Indonesia) then you may want to think about where you'll store it (ie money belt etc). If using money changers in Indonesia, it's best to use larger / reputable places to do this - if travelling to Bali, the Money Changer immediately adjacent to McDonalds in Kuta Square is a (reasonably) reputable place to change money. Some of the less reputable places can't always be trusted, so count your money carefully before leaving if you choose to use these. Generally you are probably best to take your Visa or Mastercard and use the ATM's in Indonesia. The exchange rates offered are reasonable, and it allows you to avoid carrying a large amount of cash.
Mobile phones in Indonesia.
Mobile phones are cheap in Indonesia with basic models available for purchase for around Rp.300,000 (around $36 or so) and fine for use while there. Other models can be purchased for around 20 - 30% less than Australian prices so if you're after a new phone, Indonesia's a good place to get one. After you arrive in Indonesia you can purchase an Indonesian "SIM card" from many local telephony shops. After that you can top up your credit (called 'Pulsa' in Indonesian) in the local telephony shop too.
Most Australian mobile phones work just fine in Indonesia, but before travelling - make sure your phone is "network unlocked" so that you can swap in an Indonesian SIM card after you arrive. To test that, just borrow a friends SIM card in Australia (from a different phone company/network) and try it in your phone to ensure you can call out and receive calls before travelling.
Calling Australia From Indonesia
A simple, cheap way to reduce the cost of calling Australia is to insert '01017' before the country code, and phone number - so for example, to call (03) 9888 1234 from Indonesia, you would dial 01017 61 3 9888 1234 from your mobile in Indonesia, and you'd be connected. This calling code makes use of Índosat's satellite service and reduces your international calling costs considerably. Calling Australia using this method is around 5 - 10c per minute from Jogya or similar with most Indonesian carriers. Indosat sometimes has call quality issues (delay, drop out) but its fairly usable, and its very cheap.
"Global Roaming" from Telstra or Optus (where you keep your Australian SIM card in the phone while overseas) is considerably more expensive.
Calling Indonesia from Australia
The best and simplest method I've found (far better than phone cards) is to use Skype. Most people roll their eyes back when I say that to them initially as they think it’s the realm of computer geeks with headphones strapped to their head, but I'm not talking about using a computer to call - using this technique, neither you - nor the Indonesian person needs to own a PC once its all setup (you need a PC to get it going).
Skype offer a service where you can setup a local Australian (for instance Melbourne (03)) number that connects to a skype account. You can then permanently call-forward that skype account (using the skype international telephony network) to an Indonesian number. What you end up with is this:
- A local Australian phone number that connects to your Indonesian destination number - no computers involved, no hassles.
- Any Australian can call that number for only the local telephony costs (ie 22c for a local call if its called locally) and it connects to the Indonesian party - you can use it exclusively yourself, or share that number with your family and friends for all to call Indonesia
- The owner of the skype account that does the call connection to Indonesia (you?) - would pay around 0.10c per minute aussie to connect to an indo land line, or around 20c per minute to connect to a mobile - roughly. There's also a $8/month rental on the phone number that you use. You can rent the phone number for 3 or 12 months.
Here's how to do it:
Step 1. Visit www.skype.com, download the software for your pc, install it (don't give up yet, remember I promised that in the end no PC's would be involved) - and create a skype username and password (account) as part of the installation process (bear with me, onces its all setup you wont need this software). Install the software, and open it to ensure its working and you were able to login with the username and password you created. Once that's done. Shut down the PC software that was installed ie close the program on your computer.
Step 2. visit www.skype.com and login to skype.com with your username and password details you setup during step 1. After logging in to Skype.com with your username and password, choose the option to "Buy Skype Credit" and purchase say $20 of credit initially so you have some credit to use for calls. Then sign up for an "online number" (accessible from the "My Account" tab in Skype) - choose one from your local area ie for example in my case, a Melbourne (03) phone number. That costs about $8 per month to have - not too expensive.
Step 3. Once you have your Online Number, from the skype.com "My account" interface, choose 'Call forwarding' - and forward the account to the Indonesian number of your choice (after you have arrived in Indonesia and your have your local SIM Card - you'll know the number to forward to). Indonesian land line phone numbers are a bit cheaper to call than mobile numbers.
Voila - you now have a local aussie Melbourne number that connects direct to an Indonesian number - no computers involved. Allow 3 – 4 rings for the call to connect using the skype network, and once you’re connected you’ll find the call quality is generally very good. Call rates are around $0.15c per minute if you're connecting to an Indonesian mobile, or around $0.10c per minute for a home / land line (these are rough figures, consult skype.com for full details).
You can then give the Melbourne number to family or friends here, and they can all use it to reach you of course.
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