Posted by Glen Smith on Thursday, 4. February 1999 at 21:46 Bali Time:
This could be a long report! We learned a lot from this forum before we went to Indonesia and now its time to give some back. Turn on your printer as this could be the most practical info you will read.
We have just spent 3 weeks on Bali and East and Central Java from 10 to 30th January. To give you some background.......We are a couple in our late forties who have a 20 year old daughter who has been studying Indonesian at university in Australia for 2.5 years then at a university in Yogykarta (Central Java) for the last 5 months. She is now reasonably fluent and met up with us in Bali and was our guide and translator. Why I tell you this is because this gave us a unique view of Indonesia that the average tourist would not have. We are an adventurous couple willing to go out and try most things. We traveled widely and did many things that the average tourist would not see or do. Generally we did not do the tourist things like white water rafting, paragliding and the elephant park that we believe are not the real Bali and Indonesia and avoided the tourist resorts. We preferred to get out into the villages and country and experience the people and culture.
We spent 6 nights at Ubud during which we hired a driver for 3 days and saw most of central and northern Bali. The day rate for a minivan with driver was 150,000 rupiah. Then we went on the ferry to East Java and onto Mount Bromo by mini van. From there to Malang also in a mini van then by bus to Yogykarta. There we spent 6 nights before flying back by Garuda Airline back to Bali for another 6 nights at Jimbaren Bay.
Here are a few tips that will come in useful!
Dogs..........are very bad on Bali. In fact the island is almost overun with them . They are everywhere including wandering all over the roads. But as soon as one gets to Java they are very unusual as the Javanese are mostly Muslim and do not like dogs. We are generally dog lovers but the Balinese dogs are very unlovable! They are all mongrel dogs, scrawny, usually light in colour and almost all a uniform size. They are usually mangy, unkept and are often covered with scabs and scars. My advice is keep well clear of them, and do not pat them (not that they look tempting to pat!) A friend of ours was staying at Nusa Dua at the same time we were at Ubud. We have since heard she had a severe dog bite the second day on Bali while out riding a push bike, and then had a bad reaction to the tetanus and antibiotic shots the resort doctor pumped into her. She also was very worried about catching rabies from that dog.
Bartering............we got quite good at this and our daughter was an expert but it can be exhausting for almost every item you purchase. Very few shops except the upmarket shops have prices marked on anything. We found that the best way was to ask the vendor the price which is about twice what they will accept for the item. Then offer them about one third of what they have just said to which they will refuse but will come down a bit. You then put in another slightly higher offer and eventually one arrives at the final agreed price which is usually (sometimes less) than half the initial asking price. They are then happy getting the price they wanted and you usually have a bargain. Do it with a smile and do not raise your voice, which is considered very bad form. Be realistic as to what is less than one dollar to you may be a half day wage to a Balinese. If the shop has its stock marked with prices you can guarantee getting it at around half that price at a stall where you have to barter for it. If it is marked in US Dollars, get out, it is 3-4 times the price of a stall.
Police........we read a report on this forum of cars often being stopped by the police who were then paid usually 500 rupiah by the driver to let them pass. We saw absolutely no evidence of this on Bali or Java. We can only assume the writer was confused with the many parking officials in uniform (that do look a little like the police uniform). There are no parking meters anywhere that we saw and the usual sum at most temples and tourist attractions to park was 500 rupiah. The same applies with the military, we saw very little of them and they gave us absolutely no hassles. On Java when we arrived it was the end of Ramadan and there were frequent roadside collections for the local mosque building fund or local school but one did not have to pay them to pass through.
Beggars.......these were a shock to us from Australia and often were terribly pitiful. The best policy is to give them a coin or two then they will leave and move onto the next prospect. Remember that Bali (Indonesia) is a third world country and there is no social security or welfare of any sort. The only income they have is what they can beg and even the locals (who have a lot less than us tourists) will give them something. The worst sight we saw in our time on Java was at a restaurant (warung) one evening when an old, dignified and frail Javanese man came into the warung and sung a few Javanese songs with his harp like instrument (a form of begging) down on his knees. A women at the next table drank two glasses of red wine with her meal at 20,000 rupiah per glass, or two days wages for many Javanese but refused to give the old man even 100 rupiah. The arrogance and injustice of it was criminal in my opinion and I hope she dies of rectum cancer!! (I shouldn't really say that!). But it did make me very angry.
Hawkers..............can be a real problem in some areas. It is a way of life and most tourist areas are over-run with them. We found that Kuta was by far the worst area. Fortunetly we spent only a couple of days there shopping at the end of our trip and were immune by then. The few Indonesian words we learnt for "NO" ( "TEEDUCK") and "Don't want" or "Teeduck Mau" came in very useful. Another useful word is "thank-you". Generally I felt sorry for the local hawkers who have a hard time in the present economic climate. A sale for them means they get to eat that day. On the other hand the English touts in Kuta can be most obnoxious and don't easily take "No" for an answer. Once you get away from the tourist areas the people are a delight and are genuine friendly without having the ulterior motive of trying to sell you something or get you into their shop.
Credit Cards............such as Visa/Mastercard. Only useful inside the resorts and hotels (who charge more for everything anyway) Once you leave your hotel they are virtually useless as very few warungs or shops take them unless their prices are marked in US dollars! We took clean $100.00 Australian notes which we got the best rate at moneychangers for, plus some travellers cheques in Australian dollars. If going to Java there are very few money changers apart from the Banks unless in a tourist area. During the public holiday for Lebaran at the end of Ramadan, everything was shut on Java (including the banks) and we had no cash but made a cash withdrawal of 400,000 rupiah at a ATM which got us by for two days. That was the only time my card came in useful.
Useful items to take:
A small calculator..........when you change money. Rates vary a lot and we always used the moneychanger with the best rate. We had no problems and were never ripped off but were always careful to use our calculator to work out the exchange in rupiah. We found that all the zeros very confusing for the first week or so and you carefully have to count the money and that it has enough zeros, tricky when it is 2,500,000 rupiah! Make sure that you are the last one to count it and do it slowly, everyone does. Also with the money there are two different 10,000 rupiah notes the new and the old which is still in circulation. There is also a 500 rupiah coin plus the more common 500 rupiah note. There is also a 100 rupiah note and two totally different looking100 rupiah coins!! It is a mystery why some are not withdrawn from circulation and simplify matters!
Take ......a small good quality folding umbrella that you can carry at all times. It is now the rainy season and it rains most days. Sometimes the sky just opens up and it comes down in buckets! Raincoats are a waste of time as you couldn't wear it because of the heat and humidity.
Small Flashlight.........the footpaths are very bad in almost all areas and are often full of potholes, missing concrete covers and are very uneven. Street lights are usually non-existant. We also experienced several short power failures while there. Take care on the footpaths and road edges as hazards are not marked or fenced off.
Back Pack.......we found it very useful to carry the camera, umbrella, flashlight, money and purchased goodies.
Toilet Paper or tissues............. You can buy at a supermarket, but once you leave your hotel it is extremely rare at other toilets. (squat or western).
Malaria Tablets........don't believe it if you are told there is no malaria on Bali, we have since heard two accounts of people getting it there. However we saw VERY few mosquitoes and almost no flys either on Bali or Java but take your tablets!
The Indonesian Lonely Planet Guide..........an excellent essential publication on almost everything you need to know but the prices quoted are well out of date as almost all have risen with the economic recession.
Safety Concepts..........in our opinion the Indonesians have very little or no safety concept. They don't know the meaning of the word! Whether it be on the roads, on motorbikes (usually no helmets) or with electrical wiring and gas bottles. What they take as normal practice made us cringe. You will need to take extra care with footpaths and roads as there are often gaping holes left uncovered and not fenced that are big enough to fall into and break a leg. We did hear of exactly that happening to a woman tourist on her second night in Nusa Dua when she fell into an unmarked hole in the footpath and broke her leg.
Bali Belly...........we had no problems but didn't drink the water. Neither do the locals unless it was boiled. You can buy bottled water very cheaply everywhere. We ate at many dubious warungs but only those that freshly cooked the food. Many roadside warungs and food carts frequented by the locals cook the food in the morning then have it on display in the heat all day. We quickly decided it was prudent to give those a miss! If in doubt we avoided meals containing chicken or meat and ate vegetarian dishes.
Food.........generally we liked the Indonesian food but found the choices limited. Indonesian dishes were usually half the price of western dishes on all menus and of better quality. Western dishes were very disappointing. What may be called spaggetti bollonaise or pizza often had little resemblance to the real thing. Stick with the Indonesian food. Dishes containing meat were expensive and the meat was usually of very poor quality by our Australian standard. We did hear that the most common meat on Java is horse meat (there are lots of horses and very few cattle) but really do not know how true that is!
Driving...........we wouldn't recommend it! They have a set of rules which seem to be unwritten and a mystery to us. Hire a driver or use taxis or go by bemo. It is very cheap and just not worth the risk of driving yourself, see my note on "safety concept" above! Many a time we thought we were dead meat with our driver and had one of us been driving we would have been. Has to be experienced to be believed! Words fail. We saw several warnings to tourists in brochures to take extra care riding motorbikes as many serious accidents happen to tourists not used to the driving conditions.
General Impressions............the glossy brochures do not show you how poor the people are. There is widespread poverty, probably worse on Java without tourism to ease it. Indonesia is a third world country in every sense. The overwhelming numbers of people were a shock to us. Where ever we were at any time of day or night there was always people, often not doing anything but sitting, waiting and talking. The hotel was often welcome just to get a break from being continually surrounded by people. Everything looks rundown and in need of some repair and a coat of paint. Despite their poverty the people were amazingly clean and we never smelt any body odors. We didn't see any malnutrition and children looked healthy and were obviously loved and well cared for and always seemed happy and would usually call out "Hullo" as we passed. When we replied they would usually have a fit of giggles! They are an amazingly friendly people on both Java and Bali but it was hard not to be cynical when they usually had a motive behind it of us buying something, taking us to their shop or organizing transport for us. Away from the tourist areas we felt it was a more genuine friendliness.
We never felt threatened or insecure at any stage despite walking down many dark alleys late at night pass groups of youths or people just doing nothing. Something we wouldn't do in many areas at home. We saw no crime or experienced any. We saw no sign of riots or political trouble either on Bali or Java (we were not near Jakarta at any time). We saw plenty of support for Megawati and her party with banners, flags and roadside stalls everywhere. We sincerely hope there is no trouble in the May elections.......God knows they have enough problems already.
E-mail me at zzglesmi@fox.uq.net.au if you want any more specific info,
Glen