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About Indonesia |
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Indonesia is the largest archipelago and the fourth most populous country in the world. Consisiting of five main islands (Sumatra, Jawa, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Papua) with 33 provinces, 30 smaller archipelagos, it has a total of 17,508 islands of which about 6,000 are inhabited. It stretches 5,150 km between the Australian and Asian continental mainlands and divides the Pacific and Indian Oceans at the Equator. The name Indonesia is composed of two Greek words: “Indos” which means Indian and “nesos” meaning islands. The capital city of Indonesia is Jakarta.
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Climate
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Climatewise, Indonesia is distinctly tropical. The east monsoon from June to September brings dry weather while the west monsoon from December to March is moisture-laden bringing rain. The transitional period between these two are interposed by occasional rainshowers, but even in the midst of the west monsoon seaso, temperatures range from 21 degrees C (70°F) to 33 degrees C(90°F) except at higher altitudes which are much cooler. Heaviest rainfall are recorded in December and January. Humidity is between 60-100%is the largest archipelago and the fourth most populous country in the world. Consisiting of five main islands (Sumatra, Jawa, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Papua) with 33 provinces, 30 smaller archipelagos, it has a total of 17,508 islands of which about 6,000 are inhabited. It stretches 5,150 km between the Australian and Asian continental mainlands and divides the Pacific and Indian Oceans at the Equator. The name Indonesia is composed of two Greek words: “Indos” which means Indian and “nesos” meaning islands. The capital city of Indonesia is Jakarta.
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Language and Dialects
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There are more than 583 languages and dialects spoken in the archipelago. They belong to the 350 different ethnic groups of the population. Bahasa Indonesia is the national language, written in Roman script and based on European orthography. In all tourist destination areas English is the number one foreign languages fairly spoken and written.
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Ethnic groups
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Most Indonesians are ethnically Austronesian, particularly in central and western Indonesia, although much of eastern Indonesia is Melanesian. There are, however, around 300 distinct native ethnicities in Indonesia and 742 different languages and dialects. Small but significant populations of ethnic Chinese, Indians, Europeans and Arabs are concentrated mostly in urban areas. An almost universally shared sense of Indonesian nationhood overlays this vast diversity and steadfastly maintained regional identities, providing a largely harmonious society.
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Religion
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Religious majorities throughout Indonesia are recognised by the Indonesian Government. Although the Indonesian constitution guarantees religious freedom for all citizens, the Government officially only recognizes six religions, namely Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation with almost 86% of Indonesians declared Muslim according to the 2000 census. 11% of the population is Christian (of which roughly two-thirds are Protestant), 2% are Hindu, and 1% Buddhist.
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Cuisine
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The staple food of most of Indonesia is rice. On some of the island in eastern Indonesia, staple food traditionally ranged from corn, sago, cassava to sweet potatoes. Fish features prominently in the diet as fresh, salted, dried, smoked, or a paste. Coconut is found everywhere and besides being produced for cooking oil, its milk, the juice from the white meat is an ingredient for many dishes. Spices and hot chili peppers are the essence of most cooking, and in some areas they are used generously such as in West Sumatra and North Sulawesi.
Each province or area has its own cuisine, which vary in the method of cooking and ingredients. The Javanese cuisine is probably more palatable to the general taste and consists of vegetables, soybeans, beef, chicken and other varieties. The Sumatrans generally eat more beef compared with the other regions. West Sumatra particularly is known for its Padang restaurants found nationwide. Beside the hot and spicy food, these restaurants are known for their unique style of service.
Further to the east, seafood features on the daily diet, either grilled or made into curries. In Bali, Papua and the highlands of North Sumatra and North Sulawesi, pork dishes are specialities. Pork is usually served in Chinese restaurants or non-moslem regions. There is a wide variety of tropical and sub-tropical fruits and vegetables all year round. Coffee and tea plantations are plentiful, growing on several islands, and served everywhere from fine restaurants to small village stalls. There are several breweries which produce local beer. Bali produces “brem” which is rice wine, whereas Toraja has its “tuak” which is also known in North Sumatra.
Most common nationwide are “sate” (skewered grilled meat), “gado-gado” (vegetable salad with a peanut sauce), “nasi goring” (fried rice served at anytime and with different styles) and also “bakmi goreng” (fried noodles).
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Clothing
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Dress is normally casual and light clothing is advisable due to the hot, humid climate. Trousers or slacks and shirts are generally considered appropriate but a jacket and tie are required for formal occasions or when making official calls. For certain formal occasion’s long sleeved batik shirts are acceptable.
For travel to mountain areas, a light sweater or jacket is recommended. Halter tops and shorts are frowned upon in most places except around sport facilities or on the beach, proper decorum should especially be observed when visiting places or worship.
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National Parks
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An unique marine biodiversity hotspot, the Wallacea region with 28,000 flore species from tiny rare orchids to the giant Rafflesia flower; 3,500 species of animals, including the endangered orang utans of Sumatra and Borneo, the unique giant lizard of Komodo, the horned Java Rhinoceros, and the last tigers of Sumatra.
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Travel Formalities and Useful Hints
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All travelers to Indonesia must be in possession of passport valid for at least six months from date of arrival and have proof (tickets) of onward or return passage.
Recently the Government of Indonesia has issued a new regulation concerning the application of visa to enter Indonesia. Immigration authority will provide Free Tourist Visas for a period of 30 days to nationals from 11 countries only on the basis of reciprocity. The countries are Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, the Philippines, Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR, Chile, Morocco, Peru, and Vietnam.
Moreover, Visa on Arrival (VOA) will be given to nationals of 52 countries. These are Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Denmark, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Norway, Poland, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, New Zealand, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States of America, Austria, Belgium, India, Ireland, Kuwait, Luxemburg, Maldives, Egypt, Oman, Portuguese, Qatar, The People of Republic China, Russian, Saudi Arabian, Spain, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cyprus, Estonia, Greek, Iran, Islandia, Lao PDR, Liechtenstein, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Nederland, Suriname, and Sweden.
Visa on arrival is valid for 30 days and maybe extended under the permission of Indonesia in conditions as follows, the natural disaster happens in the place that is visited by the tourist. And if, the tourist is sick or got an accident during other visiting. Other nationals must apply for visa at Indonesia Embassies or Consulates in their home country. In addition, the visa cannot be replaced with any other immigration letters.
Entry ports where visa-on-arrival may be issued are the Soekarno-Hatta airport in Jakarta, Ngurah Rai airport in Bali, Sultan Syarif Hasim airport in Pekanbaru, Tabing airport in Padang, Juanda airport of Surabaya and the Sam Ratulangi airport in Manado.
While authorized seaports are Batam, the Sekupang, Batuampar, Nongsa, Marina, Teluk Senimba, Bandar Brintan, Talani Lagoi and Bandar Sri Udana Labon in the Riau archipelago, Sri Bintan Pura in Tanjung Pinang, Belawan port and Sibolga in North Sumatra, Yos Sudarso Tanjung Perak in Surabaya, Teluk Bayur of Padang, Tanjung Priok at Jakarta, Padang Bai and Benoa in Bali, the port of Jayapura, Bitung, Tanjung Balai Karimun, Tanjung Mas in Central Java, Tenua and Maumere in East Nusa Tenggara, Pare-Pare and Soekarno Hatta port in South Sulawesi.
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Transportation
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 Indonesia's transport system has been shaped over time by the economic resource base of an archipelago with thousands of islands, and the distribution of its more than 200 million people highly concentrated on a single island which is Java.
All transport modes play a role in the country’s transport system and are generally complementary rather than competitive. Road transport is predominant, with a total system length of 370,500 km in 2003. The railway system has four unconnected networks in Java and Sumatra primarily dedicated to transport bulk commodities and long-distance passenger traffic.
Sea transport is extremely important for economic integration and for domestic and foreign trade. It is well developed, with each of the major islands having at least one significant port city. The role of inland waterways is relatively minor and is limited to certain areas of Eastern Sumatra and Kalimantan.
The function of air transport is significant, particularly where land or water transport is deficient or non-existent. It is based on an extensive domestic airline network where all major cities can be reached by passenger plane.
Garuda Indonesia’s flagship airline serves all major cities in Indonesia. They fly only jets and mainly wide-bodies while Merpati airline serves domestic route. PELNI (The National Passenger Line) criss-crossing the archipelago on fixed schedule while the train travel across Java and Sumatra can be cheap depending on the class.
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Airport – City v.v Transportation
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Taxi fares are metered and will cost between Rp.60,000 to Rp 85,000 to the downtown area of the city where most large hotels are located. The air-conditioned airport bus service (known as DAMRI Airport Bus) is approximately Rp.15,000 to any of the five city zones in Jakarta.
Limousine services are provided by some of the leading hotels in the city. Faster and comfortable within in Jakarta is Trans Jakarta bus service with Rp 3,500 one way.
At all major airport terminals, inquires about local transportation should be directed to the information counter.
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Airport Tax
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An airport tax Rp 100,000 is imposed by the airport for travelers on international routes and Rp 30,000 for those on domestic routes.
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Customs
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Customs allow on entry a maximum of one litre of alcoholic beverages, 200 cigarettes or 50 cigars of 100 grams of tobacco and a reasonable amount of perfume per adult. Cameras, video cameras, portable radios, cassette recorders, binoculars, and sport equipment are admitted provided they are taken out on departure.
They must be declared to Customs. Prohibited are firearms, narcotics drugs, pornography, Chinese printing and medicines, transceivers and cordless telephones, films pre-recorded video tapes and laser discs must be screened by the Censor Board.
There is no restriction on import or export of foreign currencies and travelers cheques, however, the import and export of Indonesian currency exceeding Rp. 100 million rupiahs is prohibited.
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Accomodation
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In order to keep up with the growing number of visitors and the need for their comfort, more hotels all over Indonesia have been built, ranging from small bungalows for budget travelers to the luxurious tourist resort area.
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Office Hours
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Government offices open from 8.00 a.m to 4.00 p.m from Monday to Friday in Jakarta and close on Saturday and Sunday. In the provinces, they close at 3.00 p.m and open on Saturday till 1.00 p.m. Business offices have staggered hours. Banks are open from either 8.00 or 8.30 a.m to 3.00 p.m. Banks in hotels stay open longer hours, and money changers till the evening. Shopping centers open from 10.00 a.m to 10. p.m. everyday.
Bargaining might be necessary especially in tourist area. A general rule of thumb is to aim for half the asking prices by opening with an offer lower than that but many sellers may come down by 20%.
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Telecommunications
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Telephone dial 62 from outside Indonesia, then the city code and telephone number. Within Indonesia, the city code must be preceded by a zero (0) from most phones. To dial an international calls press 001 or 008 or find an International Direct Dial (IDD) in hotels or private telephone service (wartel).
For operator assistance, dial 101 or 104. For general information in a province inside the country, please dial (code area + 008) or dial 003 for time information.
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Time Zones
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Indonesia’s time zones are divided into three time zones. They are:
Western Indonesia (Sumatra & Java) GMT+7
Central Indonesia (Sulawesi & Nusa Tenggara) GMT+8
Eastern Indonesia ( Maluku & Papua) GMT+9
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Currency
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Indonesia’s currency is in Rupiah (Rp) IDR consists of: 500, 1,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, 50,000, 100,000. While the coins IDR are: 25, 50, 100, 500, 1,000.
US dollars and other major currencies in banknotes or travelers cheque are easily exchangeable in banks or at authorized money changers in main tourist destinations.
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