Indonesia

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Indonesia enchanted, but a month was not enough to see everything we wanted. Here you can find everything, paradise beaches, agitation and confusion, volcanos, mountains, waterfalls, forest, wildlife, ancient culture … If you want to know the country well consider two months.

The country has about 17,000 islands and 240 million habitants. Get ready to see the most beautiful smiles, temples and volcanos in Java, less smiling people and crowd in Kuta Bali, the stunning Hindu culture in Ubud and crystal blue water beaches in the Gili islands.

What was worth it: Volcanos and temples of Java, Gili Islands, boat trip to Komodo Island and Ubud and its surroundings.
What was not so paid off: Jakarta (confusion, dirt and not much interesting stuff to see) and Kuta Bali (crowd and super tourist)
What we wanted to do but we didn’t: Sumatra’s wildlife, the reserve of Orangutans in Kalimantan and the incredible village of Tana Toraja in Sulawesi.

A few tips:

• TRANSPORTATION: Public transportation in Indonesia is not very good, there are bad roads and paths can be too long (once we did 200 km in 9 hours by minivan). So there are many companies offering shuttle between the main cities. In some cases this will be the best option, it is not expensive and you will find numerous agencies offering the service.
• TOUR WITH DISPLACEMENT: If you want to visit very isolated places, consider doing it on a tour. It might cost a little more but will save you a lot of stress and time. For example, to visit the volcanoes of Bromo and Ijen Creater we did a tour from Yogyakarta ending in Bali and it was a good choice. The volcanoes are in the middle of nowhere, the roads were horrible and we had the displacement between the two points included on the tour. It would be much longer and more complicated to do by ourselves.
• MOTORCYCLE: Going around by motorcycle in Indonesia is a great option. The daily rent is very cheap (we paid between USD 3-4 per day) and the public transport options are bad. In the islands of Bali and Lombok this will be the best option to explore the beaches and the central area of the islands. Always carry a driver’s license with you and wear a helmet, because the police love to stop tourist sto trying to get some extra money.
• BOAT FOR KOMODO ISLANDS: We did a boat trip of 5 days (roundtrip) between Lombok and Flores islands, stopping at deserted islands and the islands to see the famous Komodo dragons and it was a wonderful experience. The trip cost about 300 USD per person all inclusive. The wood boat is very simple and we slept on mats on the deck, but everything was very nice, the vibe, the people, the food and the activities. It may seem expensive compared to the average day you can spend in the country like this but for sure is worth it. You also have the option to do just 3 days to go or 2 days back only, which is cheaper. Attention, the tour is not available in the rainy season! We did with Perama Tour, considered one of the best.

Our itinerary (30 days)

We arrived at the airport in Jakarta and then remained there for five days visiting a friend, then we went by train to Yogyakarta to visit the temples (Borobudur and Prambanam), from there we joined a tour to Bali visiting the volcano Bromo and Ijen Creater. We spent four days in Kuta Bali and rent a motorcycle to explore the beaches of the South. After that we took a shuttle bus to Ubud where we explore the central region of the island by motorcycle. From there we took a fast boat to the Gili Islands and then we left for an amazing boat trip of 5 days, which was stopping at many desert islands, volcano lake and waterfall till the Komodo island. After the boat trip we spent two days resting in Senggigi and then we returned to Kuta Bali to catch our next flight.

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