Indonesia
Links to Indonesian Embassies and Consulates
Fast Facts
Coutntry Full name: |
Weights & Measures: Metric |
| Population: 234,893,453 |
Country Dialing Code: +62 |
| Languages Spoken: Official - Indonesian |
Time Zones: GMT/UTC +7, GMT/UTC + 8, & GMT/UTC + 9 |
Electric Plugs:  127/230V 50Hz |
Currency: Name: Rupiah Code: IDR Symbol: Rp |
Exchange rate:
Weather
Though travel in the wet season is possible in most parts of Indonesia, it can be a deterrent to some activities and travel on mud-clogged roads in less developed areas is difficult. In general, the best time to visit is in the dry season between May and October.
In most cases, experiencing an Indonesian festival is reason enough to head to a destination. Some are so significant, however, that they can generate difficult conditions for travellers. Tana Toraja's funeral season boosts Rantepao's population, and hotel prices, substantially during July and August. In Java it's a good idea to avoid the final days of Idul Fitri, when public transport is mayhem and some businesses close.
A tragic drop in tourist hordes means that Indonesia's 'high season' no longer presents the same kind of bother it once did. Certainly, the December-January Christmas holiday period and the school holidays still brings a wave of migratory Australians, and Europeans head to Bali, Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi in July and August. But climatic impediments aside, pretty much any time is a good time to head to Indonesia at the moment.
The main Indonesian holiday periods are the end of Ramadan, when domestic tourists fill resorts to overflowing and prices escalate; Christmas; and from mid-June to mid-July, is when graduating high-school students take off by the busload to various tourist attractions, mainly in Java and Bali.
Draped over the equator, Indonesia tends to have a fairly uniform climate - hot. It's hot and wet during the wet season (October to April) and hot and dry during the dry season (May to September). Temperatures climb to about 31°C (88°F) in coastal regions, dropping (but not by much) further inland. The best time to visit Indonesia in the south is from April to October. Northern islands tend to be wet all year round.
Money& Cost
The Asian economic meltdown has badly affected the rupiah. After a rollercoaster ride, it has now settled against the US dollar. As a result, costs are not as low in dollar terms as they were a year or two ago, but they still represent value for your dollar. Jakarta is the most expensive city with costs outside major centres being significantly lower.
Travellers cheques and cash (preferably US dollars) are the way to go in Indonesia. Credit cards are accepted by expensive hotels, restaurants and shops, but not for day-to-day expenses. In major centres, you can always find a bank that will advance cash on Visa or MasterCard. Credit card advances through ATMs are possible, but limited.
Tipping is not a normal practice in Indonesia but is often expected for special service. Someone who carries your bag or guides you around a tourist attraction will expect a tip. Jakarta taxi drivers expect you to round the fare up to the next 1000 rp. Hotel porters expect a few thousand rupiah per bag.
Many everyday purchases normally require bargaining but in the current economic turmoil you'd do well to look to your conscience before applying this too stringently. Tourism has taken a severe downturn in most parts of the archipelago and, despite price hikes, hotel rooms are liable to be discounted.
Currency
Name: Rupiah
Symbol: Rp
Sample Price Guide
loaf of bread Rp 3800.00 |
men's shirt |
trekking guide |
litre of milk |
postcard to Europe |
movie ticket |
Average Room Prices |
|||
Low |
Mid |
High |
Deluxe |
Rp15000-50000 |
Rp50000-100000 |
Rp100000-200000 |
Rp200000+ |
Average Meal Prices |
|||
Low |
Mid |
High |
Deluxe |
Rp3000-20000 |
Rp20000-50000 |
Rp50000-100000 |
Rp100000+ |
Getting there and around
Getting There
The principal gateways for entry to Indonesia are Jakarta and Bali. Jakarta is serviced by more airlines but Bali - as the tourist capital - receives almost as much traffic. Departure tax from Jakarta and Denpasar is Rp100000.00 and from other airports about Rp75000.00 .
There are three land crossings to Indonesia: at Entikong, between Kalimantan and Sarawak; at Motoain between West and East Timor; and the road from Jayapura or Sentani (Papua) to Vanimo in PNG. Visa regulations have been fluid (to say the least) of late, so check the need for obtaining a visa in advance before you roll up at the border crossing.
Most of the sea connections are between Malaysia and Sumatra and the vessel of choice is the comfortable high-speed ferry from Penang to Medan. The other main ferry connection is between Dumai (Sumatra) and Malaka (Malacca). Ferries also run from southern Malaysia (Johor Bahru) to the Riau Islands. There are speedboats from east-coast Kalimantan to Sabah in Malaysia.
Getting Around
Domestic air services have been in a state of flux since the economic downturn in the late 1990s. With a few new players entering the market and deregulation of air fares, competition is creeping back into the domestic business. Note that domestic tickets bought overseas in US dollars are about 50% more than if bought in Indonesia in rupiah. It is essential to reconfirm domestic flights in Indonesia, otherwise you may be bumped from the list because of widespread overbooking of flights. Departure tax on domestic flights fluctuates between Rp12000.00 and Rp20000.00 .
Indonesia's main roads are generally excellently surfaced, with the mainstay of land travel being the ekonomi buses - cheap and cheerful fares that may democratically include chickens, pigs and anything in-between. Next step up is the express bus, which carries the same cargo but gets to the destination sooner; higher-up still are the luxury air-con buses, with all the whistles and bells that a coach can have.
Rail travel is restricted solely to Java and Sumatra. Indonesia's trains are pretty much a mixed bag: slow, miserable and cheap, or comfortable and expensive. It's advisable to buy train tickets a day in advance to ensure a seat. Cars, motorbikes and bicycles can be rented in the main cities and tourist centres. There are regular ferries between the various islands, many operated by Pelni (www.pelni.com). Kalimantan and Papua have undeveloped road systems and internal transport is primarily by river or by air.
Local transport includes the ubiquitous bemo (pick-up trucks with rows of seats along each side), opelet (minibuses), bajaj (auto rickshaws), becak (bicycle rickshaws) and dokar (horse-drawn carts); most are ridiculously cheap. Many towns have taxis, but be sure to agree on a fare in advance.
History
Pre-20th-Century History
It is generally believed that the earliest inhabitants of the Indonesian archipelago originated in India or Burma. In 1890, fossils of Java Man ( homo erectus ), some 500,000 years old, were found in east Java. Later migrants ('Malays') came from southern China and Indochina, and began populating the archipelago around 3000 BC. Powerful groups such as the Buddhist Srivijaya empire and the Hindu Mataram kingdom appeared in Java and Sumatra towards the end of the 7th century. The last important kingdom to remain Hindu was the Majapahit, which was founded in the 13th century. The subsequent spread of Islam into the archipelago in the 14th century forced the Majapahits to retreat to Bali in the 15th century.
By this time, a strong Muslim empire had developed with its centre at Melaka (Malacca) on the Malay Peninsula. Its influence was shortlived and it fell to the Portuguese in 1511. The Dutch displaced the Portuguese and began making inroads into Indonesia. The Dutch East India Company based in Batavia (Jakarta) dominated the spice trade and took control of Java by the mid 18th century, when its power was already in decline. The Dutch took control in the early 19th century and by the early 20th century, the entire archipelago - including Aceh and Bali - was under their control.
Modern History
Burgeoning nationalism combined with Japanese occupation of the archipelago during WWII served to weaken Dutch resolve, and it finally transferred sovereignty to the new Indonesian republic in 1949. Achmed Soekarno, the foremost proponent of self-rule since the early 1920s, became President. In 1957, after a rudderless period of parliamentary democracy, Soekarno overthrew the parliament, declared martial law, and initiated a more authoritarian style of government, which he euphemistically dubbed 'Guided Democracy'. Once in the driving seat, Soekarno, like many like-minded military strongmen, set about consolidating his power through monument-building and socialising the economy, a move that paradoxically opened up a huge divide between the haves and have-nots and left much of the population teetering on the edge of starvation. Rebellions broke out in Sumatra and Sulewesi, Malaysia and Indonesia came perilously close to an all-out confrontation and instability was the general order of the day. Things came to a head in 1965, the eponymous Year Of Living Dangerously , when an attempted coup (purportedly by a Communist group) threatened Soekarno's hold on power.
Soekarno won that particular battle but lost the war when the man responsible for putting the coup down, General Soeharto, wrested presidential power from him in 1966. Soeharto started off with a nice line in political reconstruction, but the promises of economic reform and greater government transparency quickly degenerated into much of the same-old same-old. Nepotism, cronyism and grandiose spending, coupled with the brutal massacre of East Timorese nationalists in Dilli in 1975, proved that much of the talk was mere rhetoric. By March 1998 Soeharto was out of touch with the people and, perhaps seeing the writing on the wall, awarded himself only five more years in office. He never made it - by the end of May that year, with the economy freefalling and street violence flaring, he was out of office and the vice-president, BJ Habibie, was installed.
Habibie, never popular to begin with, mouthed the same promises of reform and even appeared willing to consider independence for East Timor, but it was all too little too late. The uncompromising stance by East Timor set off a chain reaction and sectarian violence, student protests and increased demands for independence spread like wild fire through Ambon, Kalimantan and Papua. Rogue militia groups, widely thought to be controlled and equipped by the Indonesian miltiary, rampaged through East Timor after it overwhelmingly voted for independence in 1999; local police forces and parts of the army were sent in to quash other rebellions; protesting students were killed in the streets and the whole country went to hell in a handbasket.
A UN peacekeeping force brought stability to East Timor but prompted Indonesian outrage at the 'meddling in internal affairs'. When the dust finally settled the East Timorese had been granted independence over the smoking ruins of their country. Soon afterwards Abdurrahman Wahid became Indonesia's first democratically elected president. By 23 July 2001, he'd lost the confidence of parliament and was replaced by the inscrutable Megawati Sukarnoputri.
Recent History
Indonesia faces numerous crises - rising Islamic extremism, military insubordination, official corruption, a fledgling and fragile democratic process, and the many separatist movements threatening to tear the country apart. On 12 October, 2002, bombs targeting Western tourists claimed around 200 lives in Bali. An extremist group with links to Al-Qaeda was responsible.
Religious violence also plagued the Maluku islands, where Christians and Muslims reached a short-lived peace deal in February 2002. In April 2002, masked gunmen massacred 14 Christian villagers. Fighting between Christians and Muslims has claimed more than 6000 lives since 1999. In Irian Jaya and Aceh, guerrillas have been fighting for independence from Jakarta for decades.
Megawati Sukarnoputri's presidency deserves credit for restoring social stability and economic growth but was widely condemned as ineffectual in combating rampant institutional corruption. In September 2004, 80% of Indonesian voters turned up to vote in the country's first direct presidential ballot. Charismatic retired general - and sometime crooner - Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (who holds an American management degree and is often referred to as SBY) won handsomely.
As the closest country to the epicentre of the earthquake and resulting tsunami in December 2004, Indonesia suffered the most physical damage and loss of human life. It's estimated that more than 128,000 people were killed and half a million were left homeless, mainly in Aceh and North Sumatra regions. A massive national and international aid operation responded to the tsunami and the affected areas are recovering slowly.
Mother Nature continues to test the resilience of the Indonesians. A devastating earthquake hit Java near the city of Yogyakarta in May 2006, causing thousands more casualties and in July of the same year an offshore earthquake caused a tsunami that ripped into West Java, devastating the area around Pangandaran. Meanwhile a mud-volcano, caused by gas drilling, continues to spew forth mud, displacing thousands near Surabaya.
Since coming to power, SBY has made battling corruption and growing Islamic fundamentalism a priority. Aside from these campaigns, the most successful domestic achievement of his government has been the peaceful resolution of the Aceh conflict, after complex negotiations and decades of bloody strife. But according to some experts, the June 2006 release from prison of radical Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, who was implicated in the 2002 Bali blasts, may yet cause the president a few headaches. The introduction of an anti-pornography bill into parliament by Islamic parties highlighted the divide between secular and religious forces in Indonesian politics. The proposed law called for restrictions on everything from kissing in public to semi-naked traditional dancing and was only passed in a heavily revised form. President Yudhoyono will need all of his charm and political nous to keep the many voices of his enormous nation working together in harmony.
Source: www.lonelyplanet.com
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