Another map!

This is a map showing how to get to D'omah in Tembi which is pretty accurate, and the top is North!

Food

• Indonesia is a food paradise! Enjoy, be diverse - Indonesians are!

• Eat local food as Indonesians are generally crap at cooking foreign food.

• Eat anything you want, but avoid salads unless you are sure that they washed the vegetables with purified water!

• Being vegetarian is actually quite easy as Indonesians eat lots of rice, tempeh, tofu and eggs. However, you might have to be a bit relaxed about fish sauce, because this is not thought of as meat.

• Indonesian hygiene rules are different to western rules, instead of based on Christianity they are based on Islamic/Hindu beliefs

  • Think Chakras... they progress from your feet to your head, getting more purified as they go

  • Food may be prepared on the ground, then moves up to be cooked, then moves to the table (which can be a mat on the floor)

  • Everything is dirty until cooked

  • Only westerners and fools eat uncooked food

• All tap water and ground water in Indonesia is heavily contaminated with Giardia and E.coli, only drink boiled or bottled water

  • Avoid ice unless it is "ice shaped" – this tells you that it was made where it is served. Ice chipped from a block is still made from boiled water, but the transportation process is dodgy and can contaminate the ice.

  • Ice made freshly at the restaurant or bought in ice shaped blocks is clean and ok

• Chili kills bugs... eating hot food is cool

• Eat stuff that is freshly cooked at time of purchase

Bathrooms (no more on toilets...)

Indonesians have completely different bath/shower culture than western. Most Indonesian bathroom are wet, not dry as western bathrooms. Most westerners who come here think that there must be a leaking pipe in the bathroom, but no, it’s only because Javanese people like to wet their bathroom and the system of bathrooms here are different. They don’t have a bathtub and a shower. Instead, here they have “bak mandi” which is a big bucket made of concrete to fill up with cold water from tap.

Here having a bath with cold water is more common than having a hot shower. Its more expensive to have a water heater and most people (especially from a village) prefer to have a cold bath because it feels fresher than having a bath with hot water. Bathing with hot water is only for sick or ill people. Therefore, if you book into a hotel, especially a small or cheap one, it is worth asking if they have hot water as this may not be standard.

People usually use a small bucket/water dipper/bailer to put the water from the “bak mandi” to their body. Most people in Indo don’t feel like they are clean enough if they don’t use as much water as they can, and that’s why a shower is not popular. And Indo has plenty of water sources so people don’t think they have to save water. 

A similar bucket and bailer system is used for most toilets in Indonesia.

Gestures

• Do:

  • Bow slightly when you pass someone as a sign of respect.

  • Eat with right hand when you have to eat the ‘traditional way’.

• Don’t:

  • Call someone with your palm up.

  • Talk with someone with your hand on your hips, it’s considered you’re telling the people you talk to that you feel superior

  • Yawn while talking to people

  • Wink; even to those you considered as close friends, unless they are familiar with European culture; or you’ll be considered hitting on them.

  • Touch someone’s head unless you’re really close to them, even kids.

Health

If travelling for a short time, health insurance makes sense

The best hospitals in Indo are Jogja, Bali and, Jakarta, but they are still not that good. However, they are cheap.

Dave knows a good dentist and very cheap.

Your biggest health threat is a motorbike accident so keep it slow

Don't drink the water! Bottled water is everywhere and cheap. Called “air putih” (pronounced ayeer pootih, means white/clean water) or “aqua” (brand name of common bottled water). Using tap water to brush your teeth, however, may expose your body safely to some of the local bacteria and help to build up your immunity, thus reducing your chance of getting the trots.

The trots

• Most tourists will get the trots at some stage!

• This will NOT kill you, just inconvenience you

• Collodial silver or charcoal tablets work very very very well!

• If using either take a high initial dose! Don’t muck around, get amongst it.

• Keep up your liquids and avoid eating until cured

• Use GastroStop if you have to catch a plane

Malaria etc are rare in Jogja, Bali, or Jakarta, but very common in eastern Indonesia

• Avoid being bitten by first mosquitoes at dawn and dusk to avoid malaria and during day time to avoid dengue, in the middle of night is just annoying

• Dave does NOTHING to protect himself as do many friends and they have been fine for 6 years 

• Indonesians think of Malaria as we think of Pneumonia, annoying, could be bad, but fairly normal, we only think of it as bad cause we don’t live in the tropics

• Hence worry less about all of the above

Use condoms... it’s not the practice in Indonesia, aids is very low but growing.

Tampons are not easy to come by - you can get them in Bali, or in chemists and there isn't much option for brands. Best to bring them with you.

Babies question

I was asked what of the following can be bought at the supermarkets (or equivalent) in Jogja:

• disposable nappies
• wipes
• baby food in jars or tins
• baby snacks
• bottled water
• formula for babies and toddlers

Hmmm...

Well disposables are easy here - they are called pampers or diapers to everyone, and as far as I can tell everyone uses them. You do not seem to have the upper end of choice we have in Australia, and not the same brands, but they are here. Wipes are easy.

You can get baby food and snacks. Though, I got to say I can't guarantee it will be the same as at home. Chances are it will have more preservatives, sugar, salt...

Bottled water is everywhere and cheap as even the locals don't drink from the tap.

Formula you can get, though it isn't cheap - over 100 000 rupiah per can. I don't know how much it costs at home. Everyone here breastfeeds so it's probably not in great demand. In the supermarket I went to the other day they had display cans in the aisle that you couldn't remove - you had to go to the cashier and ask for it. I was told this is because of the risk of it getting stolen.

While we're on the topic... I was worried about breastfeeding, given the muslim dress code of covering shoulders and knees, but turns out it is more accepted than in Australia. You never ever get anyone looking uncomfortable, or looking away as you might at a cafe in Australia. It is just completely normal her.

Road rules

• In Bali, the road rules are strict, in Jakarta very very strict, while in Jogja they are very relaxed, so don't drive yourself in Jakarta and be careful in Bali.

• However, across Indonesia the rules are the same:

  • Obey traffic lights in daylight hours and/or when police are present

  • Do anything you like as long as you do it politely, smoothly and slowly – never do anything suddenly, ever. Like, ever. That's how accidents happen. But riding along at 10kph on the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic is perfectly acceptable.

  • Give way to everything in front of you, ignore things behind you (i.e. a little old lady pulling out of a side street has right of way and WILL NOT LOOK, hence appearing suicidal)

  • The socially biggest person pays in an accident so unless you hit a bus or a rich person, that’s you!!!

More on toilets...

I don't know where Dave found this one but it's classic!

Visa and arrival

Immigration is the most corrupt department in Indonesia, one of the most corrupt governments in the world, avoid dealing with them or messing with them

Bring exactly $US25 per person for Visa at customs (or you can pay $AU25, but US is cheaper). Bring the correct change because they will give you change in rupiah with an appalling exchange rate

All airport have porters, avoid them if you don’t need them, there are nearly always trolleys. Porters are expensive, though they can be useful if you need to get in or out fast.

You will need RP150,000 airport tax to leave the country and 30-50,000 airport tax for internal flights - this includes when you transfer in Denpasar or Jakarta on your way to Jogja. If you land with no rupiah, there are ATMs in the airport.

Be at airports 30min before for Garuda flights, 1 hour for others 

Allow 1 hour for immigration on your way in or out, it can be quicker but can take an hour. The queue at customs can be quite long.

If you have a long stop over, consider paying to enter the Garuda lounge – it's 50 000 rupiah for access to showers, clean toilets, ok food, drinks and comfy chairs.

Hang on to that little baggage sticker they give you at check in – this will be checked before you leave the airport to ensure you have all your own bags, but they are not very rigorous.

Jogja runway is bumpy – don't be worried if your landing feels rough.

Print up all your flight itineraries before you leave aus, even if you have an e ticket - they make negotiating visa on arrival and even entering airports easier!

 If you're bringing food into Indo, tick yes on the form - they don't care.

Money

• Don’t change money at the airport (though even there you will probably get a better exchange rate than in Australia)

• VISA and Maestro is everywhere for use at ATMs and for fancy hotels, shops, spas etc. This is remarkably easy, even though the maximum you can withdraw is normally a few million rupiah. There are even Commonwealth Bank ATMs in Bali.

• The 10,000 and 100,000 rupiah notes look very similar! Keep the notes sorted in order of size in your wallet to make it easier to distinguish, otherwise in poor light you will find yourself squinting to count 0s – not a good look.

• Tip. Usually 10% of a taxi fare or meal is adequate – remember that as a white person you are seen as rich, so don't be too stingy with your tips.

  • Slip hotel porters 10 or 20,000 when you shake their hand – this requires preparation so that you don't need to pull the money out in front of them.

• Don't leave your wallet lying around and be descrete when opening it and taking money out. This is safer as well as being polite.

• Monet changers are everywhere in Bali - look for one that doesn't charge commission and double check everything they give you before you let them take your money. Use the big banks in town if you can - they will give you a better exchange rate. Better yet, it's probably easier and usually just as effective to use an ATM. It's worth checking your bank fees first though.

• Bargain hard and enjoy it! It's a sport.

• International airfares are paid in USD all else is Rupiah

Communication

There was a question asked of me about the internet and thought this a good time to chat about communication options.

Yes. The internet is available. Most hotels and many cafes have wifi. It is not always brilliant speeds but usually plenty for emailing, surfing. Skype you may have trouble with. There are also internet cafes, called warnets. They are cheap, but don't use them for internet banking.

There are telephone cafes called wartels. Prepaid sim cards are cheap and everywhere. Sending an sms is super cheap, making phone calls is expensive. Mobiles are called HPs (hand phones), credit is called pulsa. It is available everywhere - you will see white boards on the side of the road with numbers and providers listed. The shop person will take your phone, type some stuff in and viola, you have more credit.

Using global roaming from Australia is expensive - check with your provider. If you're going to buy a sim here, call your provider in Aus and ask them to unlock your phone from their network.

Bribes

• Universally bribes should always be paid as quickly as possible as far down the pecking order as possible.

• If you can, ring Dave or a local to help before negotiating

• Local police for small infringements cost 20-50,000, (no helmet, red light)

• Large infringements 50-100,000 (accident, drunk as a skunk, abusing a cop, running away and getting caught)

Clothing

Java is predominantly Muslim, though Jogja is very moderate. Consequently, you will see lots of people wearing religious head gear, but not everyone. Most people will wear clothes that cover their shoulders, stomachs, chest and knees. Some young people will be a bit more risque and show off their upper arms or their knees, but it would be extremely unusual to see upper thigh. If you wear something sleeveless or short, people will look at you funny and act like you are wearing underwear in public.

• In Bali, the dominant religion is Hindu, and consequently culturally the same rules do not apply and you can wear what you like.

• Wearing regular swimmers at the hotel pools is fine.

• Breastfeeding is totally fine and acceptable and you do not need to cover up to do this – it is seen as completely natural and normal.

• Light colours are great, as dark attracts mosquitos.

• Indonesian people dress very neatly, with ironed and clean clothes, most people feel out of place if they dress messily.

• Shoes are not worn in most houses, some restaurants or if sitting on a mat in a waroeng. It is handy to have shoes that slip on and off easily. In addition, however, you may find something as loose as thongs not appropriate for motorbike riding. Something like Birkenstocks or crocs are often a good medium.

Maps!

Here is Jogja:
You will see from the map the grey line to the north and south, this is the ring road which surrounds Jogja. It's actually a big square that doesn't quite form a ring, but you get the idea. The ring road is easily identifiable as the only road which has a separate motorbike lane and two car lanes. To get to Tembi, you follow Jalan Parangtritis to the south of the ring road (all Taxi drivers will know this street). After 5-10kms, the road to Tembi turns off to the left just after you go through the first set of traffic lights. There are some clear signs, including to the Rumah Budaya Tembi and D'omah.
.

The Rumah Budaya is on this road you have just turned onto, on your left. Before you get there, however, there is a mosque on the right hand side and a small street directly after it which takes you into the village where D'Omah and Dave's house are.

Just to confuse you, in the map below, north is to the bottom of the image:

Transportation in Indo

• Taxi

  • Bali has three commercial Taxi companies, all are quite good

  • Airport taxi: most expensive but honest and reliable. There is a counter at the airport, with a big sign TAXI just as you exit the building, use them and avoid the hawkers....hawkers are cheaper but cars can be bad and they can rip u off.

  • Airport taxi's are fixed price, all other taxi's use a meter (pakai argo), though late at night you may actually have to barter or wait for the next taxi

  • The two taxi companies aside from airport taxi are Blue Bird and Bali taxi's. Bluebird is definitely more reliable but the money goes to rich Jakarta Chinese business men... so up to you
    If you leave your phone or wallet in a bluebird, it will probably come back, in a Bali taxi it might come back, in all other Indonesian taxi's... say goodbye

  • Aside from official taxis, nearly the whole of Bali will offer you "transport" bargain hard! a small local ride should be 20,000 a longer ride 50,000, Kuta to Ubud 3-400,000 (tourist prices...if you can get lower good on you)

  • You can hire unofficial taxis' as drivers and tour guides, it can be a fun way to look around Bali

  • At night time a minimum of 20,000 is normal, but if very very close (500m) can be 10,000 inc bluebird to be nice.

  • If in JAKARTA ONLY USE BLUEBIRD!!! All else are dodgy and potentially dangerous for tourists

  • Jogja has LOTS of taxi companies...

    • Same as in Bali, use airport taxi from official taxi stand when leaving the airport

    • Other easy taxis are (0274) 373737 or 0274 545-545

    • Or even better we can hire a driver

• Ojek - All across Indonesia there are Ojek's, or motorbike taxi's. Prices vary from place to place but small trip should be 10,000, large trip 20-30,000

  • Normally remarkably reliable, cheap and fast

  • ok in Jakarta and most places in Indonesia, dodgiest if hired in centre of town, safest if hired from regular stand in village or kampung

  • Best ones use a jacket or vest and are part of a system

  • These guys are often crazy but cool and fast

• Becak

  • Becaks are available in Jogja. This is the bicycle taxi with a seat at the front. Same price as Ojek 10-25,000, depending on how far you want to go.

• Andong

  • Jogja also has Horse and Carts called Andong. These can be expensive in the city as mainly used by tourists, 50-100,000 though can be got cheap out in the villages or on their way home in the evening.

• Car and Motorbike Hire

  • Cars can be hired with a driver for around 4-500,000 per day

  • Motorbikes 30-50,000 per day

  • Insurance on motorbikes is mostly a joke, they cost $1-2,000 to replace in total, and insurance will not cover you or anything you hit.

  • Your travel insurance may not cover you if you have a crash, particularly if you do not have a license in your own country. Check if you are worried, or go slowly and don’t drive drunk.

  • It is illegal to have more than 5 people on a motorbike (i.e mum dad 2 kids and a baby), but in reality we can see families all together on the same motorbike often.

  • All across Indonesia you must wear a helmet, of course religious head wear is just as protective as a helmet and therefore acceptable.

Toilets!

Toilets in Indo are also different from western toilets. Most of Indo uses squat toilets. Most people cannot and/or refuse to use sit-down toilet because they worry about the hygiene condition of the sit-down toilets. They believe that lots of people sit down on it and it means lots of germs from many people have stayed on it. Even if they have to use sit-down toilets, most people prefer to squat on the sit-down toilet instead of sitting on it.

Another difference is the flushing system in Indonesia. In the squat toilet system, we have to pour down water from the water dipper into toilets to flush. And it’s very important to flush afterwards because it’s considered not polite if you don’t flush in the toilet after using it. As Indo has lots of water, a lot of water is used and splashed everywhere to clean it. Don’t worry about water availability, the most important thing is… to FLUSH.

Indonesians also clean themselves with water and soap instead of using toilet paper. So, better to bring tissue while travelling if you are not comfort with this system yet because most toilets in Indo do not provide tissues

Most Indonesian toilet systems are not developed very well, so putting tissues, pads or tampons down the toilet can easily cause a blockage. In many restaurants, a special basket inside toilets is provided as a trashcan for used tissues.

Of course, most hotels and fancy restaurants will have western style toilets!

Thank you for coming!

Wow, how exciting that the wedding is getting close so quickly! This is a place where we will post information about Indonesia and answer questions before you come over. Please peruse and ask whatever you still need to know.

Thanks to Dave for lots of this info.

And thank you everyone, we are so touched that so many people are coming all the way to Tembi for our wedding!

xx
Kai and Mark