marmot

I'd say that Losari is about an hour, an hour and a half from Borobudur so it's just not as convenient as Amanjiwo or Manohara which are minutes away.

Good point about Jakarta traffic. It's about an hour from the Dharmawangsa to the airport but it can be twice that.

If you just want to get in and out, there's a Sheraton at the airport that is acceptable. The Dharmawangsa is a lovely setting for dinner, spa, pool etc but I have to agree that Jakarta is a place that is best avoided.

laurieco

Well, I'm back to square one as to what to do. Now I'm not sure I want to spend the night in Jakarta (actually I'm very sure, I don't!) I've just emailed Vayatour to ask if they can help with airline tickets and also asked about the Amanjiwo and Losari. We'll see if they answer. My guess is, even if the Garuda 7:40am flight is delayed or cancelled, there are budget airlines that will have a flight we can take if necessary. I've flown plenty of airlines with questionable safety records, Lao Aviation being perhaps the worst offender, and have lived to tell about it, so while concerned, not overly so.

Am I wrong to assume that there will be some airline we can get back to Jakarta with the morning we have to connect to BKK in case Garuda decides to whack out?

I'm so confused....HELP!!!!!!!!

marmot

Yes, there are three other options at around the same time: Adam Air, Lion Air and Batavia Air. I flew Lion Air once and didn't feel comfortable with the experience. Thousands of people use these airlines every day, however, so it's a personal decision.

Garuda flies into the international terminal so connecting is relatively painless. The budget airlines fly into the domestic terminal so you have to allow a little extra time to get yourselves and your luggage into a taxi. It's just a few minutes away from the international terminal.

BnS

If you do not get an email response from them, give them a call. This way they know you are serious.
I did just that and got a response . I would send an enquiry to the other agent at the same time just to save time.
I think you are worrying too much about Garuda cancelling their flight, I don't think they do it lightly. They might be late on a regular basis (you do know that and you have made an allowance) but they do not necessarily cancel flights as easily.

laurieco

I haven't been able to get a working email address for Anta Tour. The few I got from a Google search resulted in all of them coming back to me as undelivrable. Does anyone know their email or website? The website I found doesn't seem to be working either.

laurieco

Okay, I just made a reservation for the Amanjiwo for the night of May 24. I figure we can splurge there for one night since all the other hotels are not costing that much (except the 5 nights at the Pen in Bangkok but even that's not TOO bad). I made it through asiaroom.com whcih had a rate of $693 including tax and service but not breakfast. It's a savings of about $100 over all other sites, who charge the rack rate++. I have to wait for confirmation. Wish me luck that the room is available! Ericka, this should please you

BnS

Have a look at the following link.
It has a list of travel agents in Indonesia including Anta Tour.
Unfortunately no web address.

http://www.indonesia-tourism.com/jakarta/travel.html

Ericka

That's awesome, Laurieco. Sometimes a little research pays off. =D> Unfortunately, it's not something we can take advantage of as we are in a different category of room. But keep us informed as to how your plans progress.

laurieco

I just got word that our reservation th the Amanjiwo has been confirmed. This place had better be worth the money! It's really hard to justify spending so much on a hotel for one night but I have to try it, just once.

Ericka

Hi Laurieco,

Amans do not usually have designated check-in/check-out times so try to arrive early and stay late to get the most for your money. And try to partake of some of their custom activities if possible - either send them an email asking for the Word document of activities or I can email you the one that I have. Just let me know. >- The document is very well written and includes prices.

laurieco

Ericka, I've already informed Eric that the day at the Aman will be our day of rest. We'll get there very early and spend the entire day hanging out there and taking advantage of the luxe surroundings. We may take a couple of hours to do one of their activities, or perhaps do one the next day. I would appreciate it if you could email the activity sheet for me

[email protected]

When I told some of my co-workers what this place costs, they all said, take loads of pictures of it. I said, for that kind of money, I'm going to commission a painting!