Famous Scams:
Whoever intends to visit Indonesia, should pay close attention to some traditional scams applied against tourists. It’s nothing “dangerous” but it’s worth keeping an eye out so you don’t take any financial damage. The two main ones are:
Exchange Rate Scam:
If you are looking for a place to exchange money, you will surely see stores offering incredible quotes or much higher than exchange bureaus. When you find a place like this, be suspicious. They usually change your money and take a cake of bills before handing it to you, it seems like a well-done magic that rolls before your eyes.
They use tall wooden benches with drawers at the back of the stores and there are usually two people serving you, one exchanging money and the other being nice to take your attention.
My tip is: run away from places like this! Avoid changing money in these stores as much as possible and look for places of trust.
Taxi driver scam in port:
If you want to know the islands close to Bali, you will certainly need to use the fast boats offered by companies such as Fast Gili. A really cool thing is that most of them pick you up and drop you off at your hotel or in central areas, everything already included in the price of your transport (which usually ranges from 17 to 35 dollars).
However, many taxi drivers are waiting for people on the boats saying they want the ticket to take them to the company bus, but that’s a COUP! They do this to steal your ticket and take you to your hotel for a much more expensive price! Therefore, be careful when leaving the port and look for your company’s authorized bus or van before handing over any paper. Click Here For Big Island ATV Tour
How to get around?
In general, everywhere I’ve been in Indonesia, I’ve seen that the 2 types of transport most used by tourists to get around are bicycles and motorcycles (you don’t need a wallet to rent).
The daily rates for bicycles are around 50,000 rupees (Indonesian) ($3.49) and for motorcycles 65,000 rupees (Indonesian) ($4.53) plus gasoline than a liter cost around 10,000 rupees (Indonesian) ($0.69).
If you are in big cities like Jakarta and Bali, you can use Grab which is the company that bought Uber in Asia. The prices are very reasonable and well worth it! If they have it and it saved me a lot during the trip.
Gastronomy:
Unlike Thailand or Vietnam, in Indonesia the food is not so spicy. It was the dish I ate the most while in Indonesia. They have the version of the dish with fried rice and noodles with an egg on top, vegetables and a shrimp cracker.
In most parts of the country, it is forbidden to eat pork. However, in Bali, the most popular dish is Babi, which is a pork barbecue. This difference is religious and is due to the Hinduism that prevails in this region.
When to go?
This is an important issue when it comes to Indonesia. There are times of heavy rain that can end up harming your trip. In general, the country has a very hot and somewhat humid climate throughout the year.
The best time to visit is between June and September – this period can be longer depending on the island, so it’s worth researching the individual climate of the islands you’ve included in your itinerary. For example, Bali has a longer period: from April to October.
The season of heavy rains, also in relation to the whole country, takes place between December and March.
More tips and trivia:
- The outlet in Indonesia has that two-pin round socket, as was the standard in India in the past. Still, it is recommended to take the universal adapter to be sure.
- The voltage in Indonesia is 230v – stay tuned!
- In Indonesia, there are several religions, only in the places we visited we find Catholics, Hindus and Muslims;
- Indonesia is considered the largest archipelago in the world;
- Tourism in the country can be considered very young and the famous tourist destinations are still adapting to receive tourists;
- Indonesia is a favorite country for surfers, especially Australians (there even has an ATM in Australian banks in Bali).
