I found out something the hard way yesterday, which goes to show that you may think you've got a handle on most things, but there's always one around the corner to catch you out.
I am sure that many people are aware of this, but I was not.
My wife and I are going to spend a couple of months in Bali soon.
As a result, I arranged two 60 day visas at the Consulate in Perth......no problem.
Last weekend, I had an urgent need to go to East Kalimantan (nice place Les!!) and had five days sorting a few issues.
I paid USD25 on entering Indonesia through Jakarta, Balikpapan and through to Bontong.
To get back, I flew back to Jakarta, and to Perth via DPS.
Checking in at DPS, Immigrasi asked me to go to the office as there was a "problem".
They demanded to know why I didn't advise Immigrasi at Jakarta that I had a 60 day visa already issued.
I told them that as the sticker was in my passport, the Immigrasi guy should have seen it himself (especially as they do everything at snail pace went unsaid!)
Also, the VOA payment is made before Immigrasi anyway, so I had already paid the USD25 before getting to the Immigration part so they could scrutinise documents.
The bottom line is that this is deemed to be travelling on two visas.....which is not allowed.
My 60 day visa is now deemed to have been consumed by the 5 day urgent short notice trip, even though I purchased a seperate 30 day visa to cover that trip.
The Imigrasi guy was adamant that it was my responsibility to check, but conceded an apology for the taking of the unreturned USD25.
Looks like another 60 day visa is in order!!
On another note, this trip was made by grabbing what I could where I could, and there was a mix of Jetstar, Garuda and Indonesia Air charter.
I was reminded about the qualities of Garuda (4 legs were with them) including excellent services on their domestic legs.
It is a while since I flew with the "mystical bird" but their services put the likes of Jetstar to shame, and not just with the things that cost money and account for different service levels.
Last time I heard, smiles, friendliness, helpfulness and consideration were free.
Attributes that are sadly lacking among some of the Australian carriers who thankfully no longer enjoy the monopolies that they have crafted their customer service levels around.