Backpacking Indonesia - On a Budget
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BUDGET FOR
TWO PEOPLE
EXPENSE
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DESCRIPTION
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COST
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Flights
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Cairns to Bali
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$200
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Cost of Living Per
Day
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Accommodation, food,
drinks
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$60 x 23 = $1380
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Transportation
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Boats, Buses,
domestic flights
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$300
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Extras
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Trekking, diving, snorkelling
etc
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$300
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$2180
|
I would
like to point out that for almost one month of travel in Indonesia it costs as
much as a 1 week all-inclusive vacation for two people in Mexico….so if you
were ever toying with the idea of travelling to South East Asia, I think this helps
make an obvious decision!
ITINERARY
If
travelling from Australia the best place to begin is Bali. Flights from Cairns
to Denpasar can be very cheap, so if you just finished travelling up the east
coast of OZ, like us, then make sure you keep your eye out for deals at least
two month before your intended departure. We ended up getting a direct flight
with Jetstar for $75 each (not including checked bags).
Once we arrived we planned to island hop in the following order:
BALI –> boat -> LOMBOK -> plane -> JAVA
FOOD AND DRINK
Indonesia opened my eyes to a whole new world of fruit. It is exotic, colourful, and tasty. Visiting local market stalls and buying bags of fresh fruit is guilt free for backpackers because it is so affordable. My favourites were Mangosteen, duku, salak (snake fruit), and rambutan.
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| Duku flesh |
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| duku |
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| rambutan |
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| salak - snake fruit |
Do yourself a favour and spend your money on fresh coconut rather than beer. Buying a fresh young green coconut is only around $1.50 compared to the $3.00 for a crappy beer. After you drink the coconut water you can also eat the yummy flesh inside. This was my new 4 o’clock happy hour drink!
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| fresh young green coconut |
When in Lombok you have to try Bakso Soup. You can find it anywhere from restaurants to street carts. As usual, it is cheapest and often best when bought from a street food vendor…the one pictured below was only $1.00. It can be extremely spicy but the flavours are explosive. Typically it is a beef meatball soup but you can also find chicken and in non-Muslim areas, pork. Its totally delicious.
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| beef bakso soup from the street |
FAVOURITE EXPERIENCES
Ubud, Bali – Watching the Traditional Balinese Dancers
Ubud is
known to be very touristy (thanks to Julia Roberts and Eat, Pray, Love) but
both Jean and I really enjoyed it there. Despite being a top spot for
travellers in Bali, the eco-friendly town still radiates traditional charm. We
stayed at Srinadi Guesthouse, recommended by our friends and within our budget.
It is a clean and welcoming guesthouse run by a friendly family, and has a
temple like aura. In the town, every night there are Traditional Balinese
performances you just have to go to the information center to find out which
one is where. The show involves a series of dance performances that display
religious and artistic expression with very distinct head, eye, and hand
movements. It is intense and very exotic.
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| female dancers |
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| male dancer |
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| final dance from the funny guy |
Mount Rinjani, Lombok – Trekking to the Peak
If you are
looking to test your physical and mental strength, look no further, the Mount
Rinjani Trekking Experience awaits you. We chose the 4 day trek with ‘Mount
Rinjani Trekking Company’ but we really aren’t sure if it was a ‘knock off
name’ pretending to be another business,
you never really know if you’re getting what you think you’ve paid for in
Indonesia, if you know what I mean. I highly recommend waiting to book a trek
until you arrive on one of the Gili Islands or at the port in Bangsal.. you will
save a lot of money if you do it this way. If you browse or buy online/over the
phone you will end up paying twice, if not more, the price of what you could
pay if you book in person. We began the trek in Senaru and finished in
Sembulan. The trek was physically tough every day, with an average of 15km on
foot per day. At one point you are descending through meadows to a sulphur creator
lake, and after lunch you are literally free climbing rock walls. The climb to
the peak requires you to wake up at 3am and hike for 3 hours in the dark on an
extremely narrow and steep path with loose rocks in landslide ready conditions.
Some people don’t make it to the top, but those who do will remember the
feeling of accomplishment for the rest of their lives. I’ll be honest, both
Jean and I cried the moment we finally made it to the top. Besides the feeling
of being on top of the world at the peak, other moments of excitement are felt
when you find out you are camping along the crater rim at the top of the
mountain, or when the clouds break and you see the stunning panoramic views
around you. It would have been a perfect trek, but the weather almost got the
best of us. Unfortunately we had 3 days of torrential downpour. It rained so
much on the first day, when we finally got into our tent I wanted to cry and
turn back, but I didn’t. Despite the crap weather, it was still an amazing
experience and I would highly recommend it. Don’t do it if you are a pussy, or
if you are looking for a leisurely walk through the woods.
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| day 2 and we are happy to see a bit of sun |
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| trying to dry our socks by the fire before the next downpour |
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| view from the top of the creator rim |
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| happy/emotional and very cold |
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| the tiny specks along the rim are our tents |
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| the crew! |
Borobudur, Java – Borobudur Buddhist Temple
This was
probably my favourite place we visited in Indonesia. The temple itself is the
largest Buddhist temple in the world and was constructed in the 9th
century. It is built in sections which aim to have you reach nirvana by the
time you reach the top. It was very crowded with people but for once it was the
domestic tourists that flocked to the attraction like an army of ants. If you
are a foreigner, expect to be asked to have your picture taken by many of the
hundred Indonesian tourists. What I found very interesting is this temple is
located in an area which is mostly Muslim. During the late 9th
century it was essentially abandoned and eventually buried in volcanic ash. It
wasn’t until the early 19th century when it was rediscovered. During
this time the shift in religion also happened, and now you can only find 5
Buddhist Monks in the area. Most people make the visit a day trip from
Yogyakarta, but Jean and I decided to stay for 3 nights in the town surrounding
Borobudur and we are so glad we did. We stayed at Griya Homestay, about 2 km
outside of the town. This is a very affordable and clean place, with breakfast
included. The family who runs it will surprise you with their kindness. You can
also rent a scooter from them, and when we asked how much it was they said
whatever you think’, meaning it is by donation. We paid $10 per day. The great
part about staying in the area is you will see no other foreign tourists at
night. The locals were very surprised when we walked into the small eateries
around dinner time. One particular woman was so excited to see ‘foreigners’ in
her café she took may pictures and tried to give us free drinks and food. We
were very surprised by this because most of the destinations we had travelled
to in Indonesia were flooded with ungrateful white people looking for cheap
everything and anything (especially on the Gili Islands in Lombok, please do
yourself a favour and avoid these islands). If you spend a couple days in
Borobudur you can explore the area by scooter and experience picturesque
country side with clutters of small artisan villages specializing in clay
pottery and tofu production. There are also beautiful scenic spots to visit to
watch the sunrise over the town with the temple in sight. If the temple and
scenery seize to amaze you the warm and open hearted locals will.
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| temple stone carvings |
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| I am enjoying the atmosphere |
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| sun rise view spot |
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| riding around the villages |
Yogyakarta, Java – Our CouchSurfing Experience at Scholastica Loka Art Sudio
Before
leaving Australia Jean and I talked about trying to ‘couch surf’ during our
travels in Asia. If you haven’t heard of this before here is the breakdown. You
have an online account where you can search destinations for hosts to stay with
for free. It is more of a cultural exchange experience with the CS community
largely comprising of avid travellers or people who want to meet others from
around the world and share their home. We found an opportunity in Yogyakarta
with a beautiful soul named Tica. She and a couple of her friends rent a home
within the city and use it as a community space for creative and artistic learning/development.
She generally looks for Couch Surfers who can contribute to the space in any way,
in return she provides a mattress and a fun loving environment for you to stay.
While we were there Jean and I helped maintain the permaculture garden and
talked about composting, giving them idea’s to better improve theirs. On our
last day they had a community workshop where locals were encouraged to come to
the space and learn about liquid composting. While all this was happening Tica
was busy inside teaching traditional Indonesian Dance to local girls. The
community space was pulsing with love and passion. During our stay, Tica and
her friends also took us for lunch and dinner at their favourite local spots.
When they aren’t dinning out you can find them harvesting fresh veggies from
the garden or brewing up rosehip kombucha. I would highly recommend to any
fellow traveller to get involved with couch surfing, as it is a safe and fun
way to meet other people from around the world and share ideas, experiences and
love. Thank you to all the people at Loca Art Studio for inviting us into your
community space.
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| garden fresh veggies |
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| rosehip kombucha |
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| composting workshop |
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| many of the friendly faces at the community space |
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