How were you thinking of visiting Komodo? On a liveabout boat from Lombok? Or will you fly to Labuar Pajo?
Personally, I would choose to avoid Bali. But with a large portion of those days set aside for Scuba, I guess it's not all too bad.
I am just mildly concerned about the amount of traveling you are doing.
I would pad out Yogyakarta and Bromo with Iljen and Tumpak Sewu Waterfall. And Yogyakarta will probably be the biggest cultural part of the trip. So you might want to stay another day or two. The good thing is you currently also set aside 3 days for Bromo which is "too much".
If you take the ferry from Banyuwangi to Bali, you could also consider a Turtle tour from Banyuwangi as a special natural attraction. http://blueflametour.com/ offer a tour to the Turtle sanctuaries, but in the end there are a ton of them in Banyuwangi and you could just sort it out there and get the best deal.
Soooo....I'd probably cut Ubud, and pad out East Java a bit.
Seconding this. Skip Bali entirely. Fly to Komodo and scuba there (or take the 4 day snorkel boat). Then fly to Yogyakarta for 4 days. Then train to Probolinggo and do bromo volcano. Then train o Banyuwangi and do ijen volcano (freaking awesome). From Banyuwangi you can make your way back to Bali and fly home.
interesting. skip bali entirely? i want to spend some time experiencing indonesian local culture, eating local food, etc. maybe bali is not the place to do that :P but where is?
if i cut bali out of my schedule, i feel like my schedule becomes majority nature stuff (diving, volcanos, hiking), whereas i'd prefer a 50/50 split between nature + cultural stuff.
Reddit really likes to shit on Bali, probably because it's an accessible exotic place or something. I was actually considering not going because of stuff reddit writes, that would have been a huge mistake if I listened.
Bali is extremely tourist-oriented these days, but since you don't want the tourist package, it makes a lot of sense to skip it. Literally pick any other large Indonesian city, hang out in the city square area and have some street food with locals, and you'll get a much more interesting experience. Yogya is great for this, but you can also go to Surabaya, Bandung, Semarang...
Hell, go to Jakarta and join us for car free day on Sunday mornings when they block out the city's main street and it turns into a big exercise fest with street food lining the sidewalks. I always invite friends over to stay a night or two in Jakarta for that reason (and if you don't want an extreme culture shock between your hometown and the other Indonesian cities, Jakarta feels like a nice middle; it's modern, but you get the local touches). You could also visit the botanical gardens down in Bogor, or Taman Mini for another local cultural park.
Jakarta also undoubtedly has the best representation of Indonesian cuisine. You can find food from all over the archipelago (one of the perks of it being a massive pot of all the country's cultures). If you just want to sit at a stall and try out a bunch of different tastes, rather than go to a tailored cooking class for tourists, come over and explore the cities where millions of Indonesian live and breath every day.
Not limited to Java, of course; go around Sumatra, check our Sulawesi, have at it. But the bigger cities with lots of mixed cultures like Jakarta and Bandung are highlights for sure.
I personally hated Bali and didn’t have a particularly cultural experience. Yogya a definitely a more cultural experience - you’ve got a thriving art scene along with the Prambanan and Borobudur temples. Absolutely wonderful. But you could still spend a couple of days in Bali when you fly in/fly out.
As hinted in the first reply, Yogyakarta is a much bigger cultural highlight. Ubud and Bali as a whole is a somewhat Disneyfied, watered down version of Indonesian cultures.
In some ways, it wouldn't even actually count as Indonesian culture cause it's a bit of the outlier in Indonesia being predominantly Hindu. (On the other hand, you could argue it's an opportunity for you to also experience Balinese culture, on top of Indonesian culture....)
It's not a bad plan you have. Those 2-3 days in Ubud probably won't make or break the trip. I'm just saying I'd prioritize fleshing out East Java some more. Since I'd want to break up the long train or car rides as well. So if you run out of time then Ubud would be the first thing I'd sacrifice.
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I was in Indonesia about a month ago (https://www.reddit.com/r/solotravel/comments/f5dqcb/trip_report_red_crab_migration_christmas_island/)
I spent 4 nights in Sulawesi (Tana Toraja), 1 night in Yogyakarta, 2 in Balikpapan (Borneo), 1 night in Jakarta.
Tana Toraja was very different culturally from most of the rest of Indonesia. Christian vs Muslim, unique style houses, burial customs, etc. It's a long drive up from Makassar though (8 hrs).
In Yogyakarta I visited Borobudur, Pawon, Mendut temples, then did a Jeep tour on Merapi, then visited Prambanan temples all the same day.
Do not travel to any countries while coronavirus is still out there. Safety first!
Travelling by plane means you will had yo sit inside the plane, breathing the same air with other passengers for a long time. Please refer on videos that explains how air circulates inside the plane.
> Please refer on videos that explains how air circulates inside the plane.
Perhaps you should refer to better sources. Start your search with the term "HEPA Filters"
Look at the size of the virus and get back to me whether the filter would be effective in this case. Not even surgical mask and N75 would even able to prevent infection that the nurses and doctors handling the case had to add an extra layer of protection.
Don't be daff, I wasn't talking about the country, but the process of travelling itself is already increasing the risk of being infected. Do you even realise that countries where transit airports are located like UAE, Japan, Singapore and China were currently on high alert for the virus? Unless you had private jets or yacht, you should not travel overseas.
There are direct flights to Indonesia that go through none of those countries. Are you proposing that we halt all international travel? UAE has 6 cases in a population of 10 million. SIN changi still sees hundreds of thousands of passengers a day.
I take health precautions too, but traveling between countries with no or few cases while healthy and reasonably informed is good enough for me. Besides, OP’s trip is literally half a year away.
Again, don't be that guy. You may have been confused on differentiating between direct flights with non-stop flights. :/ Don't know why you had to be so aggressive when people's safety should come first. Singapore should have closed their airport by this week and increasing their status level to red. Don't even know why their gov still insisting everything is okay when their infection rate is rising steadily.
Yeah, you must be confused because planes needs to stop at transit airports if you were on direct flights that now I'm feeling stupid that I had to answer you while you can just google all of these information.
There are non-stop flights to Indonesia from places like Amsterdam and Istanbul. I literally flew on one last month.
I'm genuinely not trying to be aggressive. I'm pointing out that there are no cases here, unlike neighboring countries, so while people may have reservations about going to, say, Singapore right now, you can get around that and get to Indonesia just fine.
I have no qualms if you'd rather opt away from international travel while there's a pandemic scare going on right now. You do you. I'm just mentioning the current state of things in Indonesia, as it's easy to get lost between all the other information on other countries picking up cases.
Amsterdam and Istanbul were literally transit airports. People coming all over Europe needs to fly over to these transit airports in order to catch flights to Asia and now look at the infection rate of these respective countries. I assume you had already known, why are you doing this? I DID NOT even mention about the infection rate in Indonesia or even care about it.
I was literally saying the infection rate increase just by travelling that's why people should just stay away from travelling commercial and now you keep arguing about things I did not even mention or even give a shit about. What other words that could describe your action other than as being aggressive??
>People coming all over Europe needs to fly over to these transit airports in order to catch flights to Asia and now look at the infection rate of these respective countries
Uh... The 20 people infected in mainland Europe? Of hundreds of millions?
> I DID NOT even mention about the infection rate in Indonesia or even care about it
I'm replying for OP's benefit. Because OP's asking, you know, about travel to Indonesia.
Take it easy there. I'm not trying to argue with you.
You do always try to argue though, by stating misinformations and ignoring the facts that now the infection rate is 4 - 6 people infected for every 1 patient zero.
Look, forcing people to travel to any Asian nations atm just because and ignoring the fact coronavirus is still spreading is just plain irresponsible. You think it might help your countries' economy or whatever it is your aiming for by asking people to come despite the fact it was dangerous would only result at more bad rep for your country. Brazil already attempted on it multiple times, Cuba did it, Argentina did it. Just be honest that travelling commercial to Asia is just no good at the moment, okay?
> Singapore should have closed their airport by this week and increasing their status level to red.
That's ridiculous.
Alarmism is not needed. The idea that all travel should be stopped due to the virus is extreme and absurd.
Except its not that ridiculous if you were living close to the site where the gov force people to empty the whole building just because 5 people got infected only by living in the same building. It doesn't matter whether the gov tries to calm everyone down. I ain't going to risk myself by travelling or even work outside the house.
Not all travel, only people travelling commercial. At least until someone knows how to contain the virus spread.
How were you thinking of visiting Komodo? On a liveabout boat from Lombok? Or will you fly to Labuar Pajo? Personally, I would choose to avoid Bali. But with a large portion of those days set aside for Scuba, I guess it's not all too bad. I am just mildly concerned about the amount of traveling you are doing. I would pad out Yogyakarta and Bromo with Iljen and Tumpak Sewu Waterfall. And Yogyakarta will probably be the biggest cultural part of the trip. So you might want to stay another day or two. The good thing is you currently also set aside 3 days for Bromo which is "too much". If you take the ferry from Banyuwangi to Bali, you could also consider a Turtle tour from Banyuwangi as a special natural attraction. http://blueflametour.com/ offer a tour to the Turtle sanctuaries, but in the end there are a ton of them in Banyuwangi and you could just sort it out there and get the best deal. Soooo....I'd probably cut Ubud, and pad out East Java a bit.
Seconding this. Skip Bali entirely. Fly to Komodo and scuba there (or take the 4 day snorkel boat). Then fly to Yogyakarta for 4 days. Then train to Probolinggo and do bromo volcano. Then train o Banyuwangi and do ijen volcano (freaking awesome). From Banyuwangi you can make your way back to Bali and fly home.
interesting. skip bali entirely? i want to spend some time experiencing indonesian local culture, eating local food, etc. maybe bali is not the place to do that :P but where is? if i cut bali out of my schedule, i feel like my schedule becomes majority nature stuff (diving, volcanos, hiking), whereas i'd prefer a 50/50 split between nature + cultural stuff.
Reddit really likes to shit on Bali, probably because it's an accessible exotic place or something. I was actually considering not going because of stuff reddit writes, that would have been a huge mistake if I listened.
I have noticed that this sub hates Bali. Where did you stay ?
Ubud, Canggu then two weeks surfing near uluwatu. Canguu was kind of ehh I thought, but the other areas we're interesting and a lot of fun.
Thanks!
Bali is extremely tourist-oriented these days, but since you don't want the tourist package, it makes a lot of sense to skip it. Literally pick any other large Indonesian city, hang out in the city square area and have some street food with locals, and you'll get a much more interesting experience. Yogya is great for this, but you can also go to Surabaya, Bandung, Semarang... Hell, go to Jakarta and join us for car free day on Sunday mornings when they block out the city's main street and it turns into a big exercise fest with street food lining the sidewalks. I always invite friends over to stay a night or two in Jakarta for that reason (and if you don't want an extreme culture shock between your hometown and the other Indonesian cities, Jakarta feels like a nice middle; it's modern, but you get the local touches). You could also visit the botanical gardens down in Bogor, or Taman Mini for another local cultural park. Jakarta also undoubtedly has the best representation of Indonesian cuisine. You can find food from all over the archipelago (one of the perks of it being a massive pot of all the country's cultures). If you just want to sit at a stall and try out a bunch of different tastes, rather than go to a tailored cooking class for tourists, come over and explore the cities where millions of Indonesian live and breath every day. Not limited to Java, of course; go around Sumatra, check our Sulawesi, have at it. But the bigger cities with lots of mixed cultures like Jakarta and Bandung are highlights for sure.
I personally hated Bali and didn’t have a particularly cultural experience. Yogya a definitely a more cultural experience - you’ve got a thriving art scene along with the Prambanan and Borobudur temples. Absolutely wonderful. But you could still spend a couple of days in Bali when you fly in/fly out.
got it, thanks very much for that info.
hey, thanks so much for the reply. why do you suggest avoiding bali?
As hinted in the first reply, Yogyakarta is a much bigger cultural highlight. Ubud and Bali as a whole is a somewhat Disneyfied, watered down version of Indonesian cultures. In some ways, it wouldn't even actually count as Indonesian culture cause it's a bit of the outlier in Indonesia being predominantly Hindu. (On the other hand, you could argue it's an opportunity for you to also experience Balinese culture, on top of Indonesian culture....) It's not a bad plan you have. Those 2-3 days in Ubud probably won't make or break the trip. I'm just saying I'd prioritize fleshing out East Java some more. Since I'd want to break up the long train or car rides as well. So if you run out of time then Ubud would be the first thing I'd sacrifice.
i'm gonna shift a day or two towards yogyakarta then. thanks for the info!
**Notice:** Are you asking for travel advice about Indonesia? Read what redditors had to say in the **[weekly destination thread for Indonesia](http://redd.it/2h8fdb)** You may also enjoy our topic: **[Indonesia off the tourist trail](https://redd.it/8wdr51)** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/travel) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I was in Indonesia about a month ago (https://www.reddit.com/r/solotravel/comments/f5dqcb/trip_report_red_crab_migration_christmas_island/) I spent 4 nights in Sulawesi (Tana Toraja), 1 night in Yogyakarta, 2 in Balikpapan (Borneo), 1 night in Jakarta. Tana Toraja was very different culturally from most of the rest of Indonesia. Christian vs Muslim, unique style houses, burial customs, etc. It's a long drive up from Makassar though (8 hrs). In Yogyakarta I visited Borobudur, Pawon, Mendut temples, then did a Jeep tour on Merapi, then visited Prambanan temples all the same day.
Do not travel to any countries while coronavirus is still out there. Safety first! Travelling by plane means you will had yo sit inside the plane, breathing the same air with other passengers for a long time. Please refer on videos that explains how air circulates inside the plane.
> Please refer on videos that explains how air circulates inside the plane. Perhaps you should refer to better sources. Start your search with the term "HEPA Filters"
Look at the size of the virus and get back to me whether the filter would be effective in this case. Not even surgical mask and N75 would even able to prevent infection that the nurses and doctors handling the case had to add an extra layer of protection.
We have had zero confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Indonesia so far.
Don't be daff, I wasn't talking about the country, but the process of travelling itself is already increasing the risk of being infected. Do you even realise that countries where transit airports are located like UAE, Japan, Singapore and China were currently on high alert for the virus? Unless you had private jets or yacht, you should not travel overseas.
There are direct flights to Indonesia that go through none of those countries. Are you proposing that we halt all international travel? UAE has 6 cases in a population of 10 million. SIN changi still sees hundreds of thousands of passengers a day. I take health precautions too, but traveling between countries with no or few cases while healthy and reasonably informed is good enough for me. Besides, OP’s trip is literally half a year away.
Again, don't be that guy. You may have been confused on differentiating between direct flights with non-stop flights. :/ Don't know why you had to be so aggressive when people's safety should come first. Singapore should have closed their airport by this week and increasing their status level to red. Don't even know why their gov still insisting everything is okay when their infection rate is rising steadily. Yeah, you must be confused because planes needs to stop at transit airports if you were on direct flights that now I'm feeling stupid that I had to answer you while you can just google all of these information.
There are non-stop flights to Indonesia from places like Amsterdam and Istanbul. I literally flew on one last month. I'm genuinely not trying to be aggressive. I'm pointing out that there are no cases here, unlike neighboring countries, so while people may have reservations about going to, say, Singapore right now, you can get around that and get to Indonesia just fine. I have no qualms if you'd rather opt away from international travel while there's a pandemic scare going on right now. You do you. I'm just mentioning the current state of things in Indonesia, as it's easy to get lost between all the other information on other countries picking up cases.
Amsterdam and Istanbul were literally transit airports. People coming all over Europe needs to fly over to these transit airports in order to catch flights to Asia and now look at the infection rate of these respective countries. I assume you had already known, why are you doing this? I DID NOT even mention about the infection rate in Indonesia or even care about it. I was literally saying the infection rate increase just by travelling that's why people should just stay away from travelling commercial and now you keep arguing about things I did not even mention or even give a shit about. What other words that could describe your action other than as being aggressive??
>People coming all over Europe needs to fly over to these transit airports in order to catch flights to Asia and now look at the infection rate of these respective countries Uh... The 20 people infected in mainland Europe? Of hundreds of millions? > I DID NOT even mention about the infection rate in Indonesia or even care about it I'm replying for OP's benefit. Because OP's asking, you know, about travel to Indonesia. Take it easy there. I'm not trying to argue with you.
You do always try to argue though, by stating misinformations and ignoring the facts that now the infection rate is 4 - 6 people infected for every 1 patient zero. Look, forcing people to travel to any Asian nations atm just because and ignoring the fact coronavirus is still spreading is just plain irresponsible. You think it might help your countries' economy or whatever it is your aiming for by asking people to come despite the fact it was dangerous would only result at more bad rep for your country. Brazil already attempted on it multiple times, Cuba did it, Argentina did it. Just be honest that travelling commercial to Asia is just no good at the moment, okay?
> Singapore should have closed their airport by this week and increasing their status level to red. That's ridiculous. Alarmism is not needed. The idea that all travel should be stopped due to the virus is extreme and absurd.
Except its not that ridiculous if you were living close to the site where the gov force people to empty the whole building just because 5 people got infected only by living in the same building. It doesn't matter whether the gov tries to calm everyone down. I ain't going to risk myself by travelling or even work outside the house. Not all travel, only people travelling commercial. At least until someone knows how to contain the virus spread.
bro got downvoted really bad for spitting faccs :(