Capital: Jakarta (Jakarta)
Major cities: The main city of Bali – Denpasar (Denpasar), Lombok islands – Mataram (Mataram)
Land and water, smoking volcanoes and impenetrable jungles, rice terraces and tea plantations, ancient temples and palaces, a mixture of languages and civilizations – that’s what Indonesia is in the eyes of a tourist. Remaining a 100% year-round destination, the country still has pronounced “high” seasons: December-January and July-September.
The main tourist center of Indonesia is the island of Bali, a kind of “state within a state” with its own way of life, traditions and customs. Now another island of the state, Lombok, is gradually gaining momentum in tourism – you will read about it downstream.
Why do tourists choose this country?
Indonesia is one of the most popular year-round tourism destinations in the world. This is not surprising: consistently high air and water temperatures all year round and beautiful nature provide an excellent beach holiday, and the excursion program in Indonesia is exotic and varied.
Who is going?
Indonesia is a “fifth or sixth visit” country. Wealthy travelers come here, able to appreciate the real quality and level of relaxation. These are people of completely different ages, mostly married couples who already have travel experience. The newlyweds go to Bali for their honeymoon.
Features of the hotel base:
All the world’s best chains are represented in Bali. It doesn’t matter if it’s a 4* hotel or a 5* hotel – excellent service is guaranteed (the difference will be only in the surroundings and equipment: say, a carved mahogany door in a room or a simple one). Hotel buildings are no higher than four floors, most with large parks and beautiful grounds.
Features of service and maintenance:
Top-class service is what people go to Indonesia for. For sophisticated tourists: the service in all “brand” hotels is always impeccable, the difference is only in the “zest” of the service of each chain. In an Indonesian hotel, a tourist will always get more than he was promised in the agency. The only thing is that we warn you about the presence of an “obtrusive” service, which, however, you can always refuse.
Features of staying in the country:
All Indonesians who come into contact with the guests of the country have a clear understanding that the tourist is the main figure. It would never occur to anyone to reprimand him (unless he commits an offense). Our tourists in Indonesia have the most positive attitude, some restaurants have menus in Russian. However, caution does not hurt in Bali either: it is better to keep an eye on valuables and money, and change the currency only at exchange offices, without being tempted by the tempting exchange rate of street money changers.
The main reasons for the claims:
Serious dissatisfaction may be associated with a problematic charter flight, usually there are no claims to the country itself (especially to hotels). We warn you about the high and low tides, which complicate swimming at certain hours, and also that small delays of guides and drivers for the islanders are in the order of things.
Main resorts: Sanur, Nusa Dua, Jimbaran, Kuta, Ubud, Lovina; Lombok – Senggigi
Flight: Charters in Bali to Denpasar are raised during the New Year holidays, the rest of the time only regular flights fly. The most economical and convenient flight option is the Transaero flight (Moscow – Singapore – Denpasar), but it flies only once a week. As an alternative for the price – China Eastern flight (Moscow – Shanghai – Kuala Lumpur / Singapore + separately flight Kuala Lumpur / Singapore – Denpasar). Turkish Airlines (Moscow – Istanbul – Singapore – Denpasar) are also in demand. The duration of the flight from Moscow is about 15 hours.
All passengers departing from Denpasar pay an airport tax of ~20 USD.
Customs: Import and export of foreign currency is not limited, export of national currency – no more than 50,000 IDR, a declaration is required. It is allowed to import duty-free up to 200 cigarettes or 50 cigars or 100 g of tobacco, 2 liters of alcoholic beverages.
The import of medicines, plants, animals, drugs, weapons, military ammunition, fruits, pornographic products, printed publications on Chinese medicine is prohibited. It is forbidden to export rare animals and birds, objects and things of historical and artistic value (unless there is a special permit).
Professional photo, video and audio equipment must be registered with the authorities when entering and leaving Indonesia.
Required phones: The Consulate General of the Russian Federation is located in Jakarta at the address: 13, Jalan MH Thamrin, Jakarta Pusat; tel.: (21) 32-2162, 32-1477; Consular Section: (21) 32-7007
Ambulance: 118
Police: 110
Fire Department: 113
Information Desk: 108
Transport: The main transport on the island is a taxi. The fare is not high, since a liter of gasoline costs about 0.3 USD here, but before boarding, you need to agree on a price. Boats and traditional boats run between the islands. Domestic flights are operated by Air Garuda. The local population prefers to travel by scooters and motorcycles.
Safety: The Balinese are deeply religious people. Crime is rare on the island. Tourists should be careful when visiting Kuta (there are a lot of visitors): do not wear expensive outfits and jewelry. You should also not leave your belongings unattended on public beaches.
Climate: The weather in Indonesia is divided into “dry season” from March to September and “wet season” from November to March. During the wet season, precipitation falls locally, usually at night, in the form of short-term (for 1–2 hours) thunderstorms. Therefore, at this time there are problems with transport links, mountain tours and diving become unsafe. The average air temperature ranges from +26 °C to +35 °C. The water temperature is +26.+27 °C all year round. The hottest months are July and August.
Ebb and flow twice a day is a constant phenomenon on the island. Each hotel on the beach has a table where the current information about the time of high / low tide (high tide / low tide) is written in chalk.
Beaches: Most of the beaches in Bali are municipal, but the use of beach equipment is usually included in the price of hotels. Nusa Dua and Jimbaran have private beaches owned by hotels. All beaches are with fine yellow sand, only in the southeastern part of Bali there is black volcanic sand, but this area is not very popular among tourists.
Sunbathing in Bali in the nude is not only indecent, but also illegal.
Tropical tanning enthusiasts need to protect themselves from direct sunlight and be sure to use protective equipment: the deceptive feeling of a “dim” sun can lead to severe burns.
Hotels: In Indonesia, there are very high quality and comfortable hotels, fully consistent with their official “star rating”. There are hotels 3 *, 4 *, 5 *, in addition, many 5 * can be characterized as “deluxe”. Everything in the hotels is very clean and civilized, they don’t drink tap water – bottled drinking water is provided free of charge.
When a hotel guest invites guests, he must escort the guests, otherwise the hotel security may detain them until the owner of the room (i.e., the resident) appears. Moreover, the tourist will not be disturbed and searched for in the room.
Money: The most favorable exchange rate is at the airport and at exchange offices.
In Bali, it is difficult to exchange USD before 1996, as well as bills in denominations less than 100 USD. If 50 USD is still exchanged at a lower rate, then “twenties” and ten-dollar bills will simply not be accepted.
One rupee is a small monetary unit. It can be attributed to a collector’s coin, it is so rare. There are mainly banknotes in circulation in denominations of 100, 500, 1000, 5000 and 10000 IDR.
Shopping: Amazing batik, mother-of-pearl, dolls, fantastic masks, dragon figurines, umbrellas. Also – handicrafts (woven rattan bags, caskets, etc.), wood carving, jewelry using emeralds and pearls, silver, spices.
If you bargain, the price can be reduced by half. They are not traded only in large supermarkets. Most of all shops and rows are in Kuta and Sanur.
Treatment: Bali SPA centers offer programs aimed at improving blood circulation, breaking down fat deposits and cellulite, moisturizing the skin, as well as relaxing and relieving stress. Many treatments are based on the use of algae, salts and fango (sea mud). In addition, various flower baths, water procedures (pool with therapeutic sea water, bath with hydromassage and seaweed, underwater therapy, Charcot shower, bubbling foot bath, etc.), herbal medicine, body wraps, more than 20 types of massage are offered.
The “trick” of the Balinese SPA is the “Black Borneo” wrap for men, which includes cloves and black rice powder, then massage and bath.
Excursions: Kintamani tour (8 hours) – 45 USD, Mengwi Tanah Lot tour (5 hours) – 45 USD, Bird and reptile park (5 hours) – 45 USD, rafting on a mountain river – rafting (5 hours) – 68 USD, elephant safari (5 hours) – 70 USD, Borobudur-Prambanan day tour (minimum two people) – 235 USD, Lombok island day tour (minimum two people) – 140 USD, Surabaya safari park day tour on the island of Java (minimum two people) – 185 USD, cruise to the Coral Reefs – 90 USD, cruise with dinner at sunset – 50 USD.
DOCUMENTS FOR A TRIP TO BALI
Visa TO INDONESIA
For citizens of Belarus, a visa to Indonesia is opened in Warsaw or Moscow.
This requires:
– international passport, valid for at least 6 months at the time of departure from Indonesia
– 2 photos (size 3.5 x 4.5 – strictly!)
– application form (filled in at the office)
Production time: 7 working days
