As our allotted sixty days ended, our time in Indonesia came to a close which feels incredibly bittersweet. This is a country we easily fell head over heels with for multiple reasons. And, because of its vastness and the fact we only visited 5 of 17,000 islands, we still have a few more to get to on our return. We enjoyed how we planned it as well with three weeks of quick travel and five of slow and would probably follow this model next visit again.
One of these biggest reasons we loved Indonesia is the diversity of its terrain and cultures. This is why when discussing our upsides and downsides below we chose to break them apart by each island we visited. They were all undeniably different.
Below is our personal list of stats, as well as upsides and downsides for the country.
In Summary…
Time Spent: 59 nights (August 1-September 29, 2024)
Money Spent: $3141.41 or $53.24/day
Our itinerary: Surabaya (1) Jepara (1) Karimunjawa (4) Semarang (1) Yogyakarta (5) Solo (1) Malang (7) Sanur (3) Amed Area (7) Senggigi (19) Tetebatu (1) Sembalun (1) Gili Air (7)
Favorite Place: Amed
Least Favorite: Sembalun
Favorite Experience(s): snorkeling off the beach in Amed, batik workshop in Jogja, motorbike trip on Lombok, and sunrise at Mount Bromo
Least Favorite: Tumpak Sewu waterfall itself and Prambanan Temple
Would we return? Yes. To Amed in Bali. We will be choosing other islands for exploration next time with our top pick being Sumatra. We had planned to go this time but delayed it due to August burning season.
Our Upsides & Downsides
Overall Upsides
-the Indonesians are making an effort to reduce plastic waste
-green, green, green everywhere you go. We’ve never seen so many wild palms in our lives. Also, the islands we visited are not drastically affected by palm plantations like others
-stunning nature overall
-very hospitable and friendly people
-easy to find vegetarian options thanks to their use of tofu and tempe
-almost all accommodations provided drinking water
-coffee lover’s paradise
-so much sunshine (at least this time of year!)
-the entire country is quite easy on the wallet. We didn’t work too hard to achieve $50/day or less.
Overall Downsides
-not the most organized society with everything from their transit to their visa process
-the grocery selection was quite poor in many places, еven surprisingly the availability of fruit/veg markets
-seismically active; we felt many little tremors
-One of the biggest challenges we encountered overall was the local food. It was ok for a little while, but we didn’t find a lot of variety even from region to region, and ultimately most dishes just seemed quite oily and unhealthy to us. After trying multiple options, we fell into a routine of Gado Gado and Chicken Satay when eating out.
Java Upsides
-played 1960s music everywhere
-lightening fast internet
-decent walkability in cities, by Asian standards, which included adorable neighborhood enclaves tucked away from busy streets, which we loved
-in these enclaves there were always tons of cats
-the people on Java were overall the friendliest, especially the kids. We took so many photos with locals
-crossing guards many places to help you across the roads
-unique tourist sites
-terrific snorkeling (Karimunjawa)
-possibility to travel by bus or train
-staying at a five-star hotel for $29
-Not an obnoxious amount of tourists. Jogja was the most saturated.
-inexpensive taxi rides booked via Grab
Java Downsides
-a lot of smokers
-ridiculous opening times (very late)
-there are a plethora of mosques so the call to prayers can be overwhelming
-small food portions
-the price and availability of alcohol was challenging
-unreasonable prices for temples like Borobudur and Prambanan
-the traffic is horrendous
-some difficulty finding decent apartments
Bali Upsides
-English is abundant
-the number of tourists makes travel logistics very easy
-easy and cheaper access to alcohol
-laidback and captivating Balinese Hindu culture
-the availability of accommodations at great value
-so many healthy and western food options
-easy to get away from the crowds
-great place to rent a motorbike
-snorkeling off the beach (north and east)
Bali Downsides
-there are simply too many tourists
-a lot of hawkers and tourists scams
-cost of taxis when Grab or Bluebird is unavailable was very steep
-the area near the airport feels showy and inauthentic, like Las Vegas
-a lot of street dogs which seemed out of control
-prices more inflated than anywhere else on food and accommodation
Lombok Upsides
-super easy to get off the beaten path
-ideal place for motorbiking
-our villa was amazing. So happy we stayed there!
-beautiful beaches and waterfalls
-a great blend of Islam and Hindu cultures
-Delicious strawberries. It had been awhile
Lombok Downsides
-the hawkers selling on the beach were quite pesky
-steep taxi prices if you don’t know to use Bluebird
-dog packs could be very intimidating
-non-existent public transportation
-disturbing amounts of beach rubbish
Gili Air Upsides
-it’s a hippie haven…the yoga, meditation and artisan workshops were plentiful
-water refill stations everywhere
-motorized vehicle free; you walk and bike everywhere on this small island
-a ring path takes you an hour or so around the whole island
-cats, cats, cats
-seeing more sea turtles than we’ve ever seen in one very reasonably priced snorkeling trip
-cheap and easy drinking; happy hours aplenty
-they have all the services a tourist needs
-fantastic restaurant quality due to stiff competition
-the public ferry from Lombok was very cheap ($1) and easy
Gili Air Downsides
-overrun with tourists and because of this, didn’t even feel like Indonesia; very little culture
-the off the beach snorkeling experiences we had were not the best
-the locals weren’t as friendly as other places…not that we blame them! It was also difficult to meet them
-more expensive meal options, although it was easy to find cheaper, local warungs
-more flies and mosquitoes than any other place we visited
-departing was challenging due to the oversight of the speedboat companies. Sort of felt like a free-for-all and hard to know who to trust.
