Indonesia advice desperately needed
 

DH and I were encouraged to come to Indonesia to visit a friend the first 2 weeks of May. Friend was taking care of all the logistics, hotels and transportation, etc., now it looks like it may not work out with the friend and DH and I have already bought our tickets to Jakarta, so now we have to plan on our own. We will have just visited India the month before, so I really want to keep it simple and try to keep expenses down. I was thinking of a beach vacation. But I really need to know, how do I do this. Do I fly to a beach location from Jakarta? Which airlines? Which Location? Is Bali the best choice? Do I need a visa, and where do I get it? and most importantly what are some inexpensive hotel choices near a nice beach? Any thing else you can tell me would be great. Thanks so much.

You need a visa to enter Indonesia. You don't say what country you are from, but people from North America and the EU can get visas on arrival.

Bali is a good choice for a vacation. Dividing your time between a beach location and an inland location is a good idea.

Foe inexpensive flights, consider Air Asia. They are a budget airline, so have a limited baggage allowance and no assigned seats. However, you can pay extra for increased baggage allowance and early boarding.

There are hundreds of inexpensive places to stay on Bali. If you can give us a per night budget, we can be more helpful.

I was there a few weeks ago and noticed that the jayakarta Hotels in all locations were $100 a day or less (the less was in Lombok). They really a beautiful places (mainly bungalows) with great grounds and even several pools and directly on the beach. I was at the one in Legian, Bali just to walk around and eat, and it is huge and so beautiful. Legian and Kuta are probably the two ugliest towns on earth and it is amazing to see this grand, palm covered place for $100 a night there. If you go up to Ubud, look at Puri Saraswati bungalows - middle of town, and quiet and so beautiful, great breakfast, beautiful marble-floored porch to sit out and really enjoy all for $60. night. Right next to the Lotus restaurant (prettiest in the world) & close to Starbucks if you need one.

Relax, you will have no problems negotiating Indonesia.

Visa: As Kathie advised check with an Indonesian embassy or consulate to find out if you need a visa. If you do you can get a visa on arrival. The process at Jakarta airport is simple and organized. You can pay in US$ or by credit card. Just make sure your passports are valid for at least six months after the date of arrival and that you have several blank visa pages.

Where to go: You don't say how long your stay is or what you might be interested in, aside from a beach. The most popular destinations in Indonesia are Bali and Central Java. There are also some 17,000 other islands if you want to explore.

Bali has a rich culture and some phenomenal scenery. The beaches are, to some, disappointing. The Ubud area is inland, but full of culture and nature activities.

Central Java is the home of two famous 10/11C temples: Borobudur and Prambanan. The town of Yogyakarta is famous for its court culture and arts and crafts.

Lombok is next to Bali and has some very nice beaches.

Off the beaten track you could look at Sulawesi, Sumba.

How to get around: Fly. Garuda is the flag carrier and there are several budget airlines. Garuda is a little more expensive but it flies to most destinations and has the most flights.

Where to stay: There are plenty of low cost choices all over Indonesia. Let us know where you're going and what you want to spend and we'll come up with some suggestions.

Why don't you ask your friend what s/he had planned for you and just follow that itinerary without him/her?

Thanks everyone,
I am glad to know its easy to negotiate. We have 14 days to spend. I think if we could get away with spending just $100 a night for hotel that would be great, so I am pleased to know thats a good possibility. Since the friend we were visiting won't be available, I do have some other friends who have offered up their relatives to show us around, but I just feel as if I'd rather just relax and do it on our own. Please keep the ideas coming.

With two weeks you could see Bali and one or two other destinations. It really depends on what you're interested in doing. I'd not recommend including Jakarta unless you have personal reasons to do so.

If your friend is not available, I would skip Jakarta and head directly to Bali. Indonesians are very nice people and relatives love to help out (typical Indonesian thing to do) but there really not much to see there. My Jakarta expereince can usually be sum up in 3 words-'stuck in traffic'. I go there to visit friends so I cannot complain but the traffic situation is really stressful. Bali is more than the beaches and really easy to navigate. Enjoy!

Forget Sulawesi - the airfare is $800 & not what you want. Forget Jakarta - the city without (any) friends (anywhere). You want beach, pretty and low cost and your genune choices are Lombok and Bali.

Jakarta has some interesting sights but if you are not used to travelling by yourself and slightly skittish about it, Jakarta is not a good tourist destination for you. I would hop directly onto a flight to another destination within Indonesia. With 2 weeks you can easily do both parts of Java and parts of Bali. Read a good guidebook that will give you an idea of what interests you. If you stay in mid-range accomodation you can easily get by on less than $50 a night (outside of Jakarta) for cute hotel. For beaches, yes your best choices would be Bali and Lombok, as they have very good tourist infrastructure and are beautiful and culturally interesting. If you get just slightly off the beaten path you will find Bali and Lombok are not as "spoiled" as many people make it out to be. Private cars and drivers are incredibly easily available and very reasonable. It might actually work better for you to be alone, as you are more likely to meet more people on the trip, rather than being insulated by well-meaning friends who drag you around to places you don't need to see eg kids piano recital. (trying to look on the bright side!) Try to relax and have a wonderful time.