I thought I’d revisit one of my favourite places….Indonesia. Last year was my second time visiting and both times have been amazing. I always think the best way to visit a new country or place is to have someone from there who can show you about. Of course that’s not always possible. Luckily for me and my friends one of our friends lives there, therefore we have any excuse to visit! So I’m sharing with you, some of the places we went, here’s my quick guide for visiting Indonesia…..
Photography by Chloe Dominik
Booking
Book early! If you know well in advance when you’re free to go book well in advance. It may sound obvious but that put off till tomorrow syndrome costs extra money. We gave ourselves a deadline…. the deadline passed. Three months before we were due to go we agreed on a price and a flight, purchasing time a week later the prices had gone up by £100 each! Don’t do what we did! We flew from London Heathrow, with a stop to Dubai on to Soekarno-Hatta International, Jakarta. That was about a 14 hour flight, so stack up with your chosen entertainment!
Go See!
There’s so many diverse different places to go, like a lot of countries in Asia. You have the modern cosmopolitan city clashing with the traditional historic elements of country as well as the geographic factoring in beaches and cities. I love it. Bars and clubs to go to as well as a little historic trip to Old Town Jakarta, what used to be the main square. I love history and I had no idea that Indonesia was claimed by the Dutch at one point. There’s so much more about their history that I’d love to learn about.
Schedule
Have some idea of the things that you just have to go, do or see. You might want to visit some of the places mentioned on here or you can do your own research. Plan around those main events giving some leeway time either side just in case. I know it’s a holiday but if you’re not one of those people who like to laze on the beach everyday be prepared for some very early mornings! It’s worth it. Make sure that at least one person can make that first morning move. If you’re by yourself, set as many alarms as needed! Again we had no iternary until our friend stepped in.
Schedule Two!
Now if you made a iternary before hand and stuck to it that’s great! But if you need a to change a couple of things around then do so. That’s what the leeway is for. When we got there we decided to swap a couple of things because of travel time and events that were happening at the time. Being flexible is good as long as you stick with a couple of main destinations. Our friend did both of ours for us, bless her! (Unimpressed with our last minute organisation!) Adjusting the schedule slightly once we got there worked well for us, whatever works best for you!
Destinations
Ok! Destinations!
Yogyakarta
Borobudur, a Buddhist Temple, the views from the top are amazing. You will probably need a whole day for this travel and to go around the temple. There is a particular way round that you are supposed to go round the temple based on how it was built. A guide helps!
Prambanan, a Hindu Temple. Again, if you can, get a guide they don’t cost much. Ours was really funny and of course he gave us the story about the legend that came about how pillars of Prambanan temple was built.
Amanjiwo, Part of Aman Resorts around the world. You can go for dinner and a drink at their restaurant. Quite a few celebrities have stayed there it’s not hard to see why. The resort is beautiful with the courtyard grounds and incredible views.
Photography by Chloe Dominik
Jakarta
Offers a mix any great main city would have, bars, restaurants and shopping. Best way to get around is to hire someone to ¬¬driving but traffic can get crazy. A non-stop city and be careful crossing the roads!
Bali
About an hour and half flight from Jakarta, this is the place to go for the beaches, bars and the incredible views. Kuta is the party place. Most of bars and clubs are located here one of the main tourist areas.
Potato Head Beach Club In Bali, Kuta. For a chilled evening you can relax poolside while listening to the DJ. Spoilt for a choice of different restaurants available for you to eat at. If you catch the club at the right time you might get a live night featuring a top performer. You can book online.
Ubud The more peaceful destination, further up into the mountains is where you’ll find the yoga retreats. Go haggle in the market place to find some beautiful handmade carvings and pieces. Rice paddy fields stretched all around.
Photography by Chloe Dominik
More Destinations!
Asia has lots more great cities to explore being in close proximity to each other. Tickets are cheap, we booked a flight a couple of days before hand for the equivalent of £40 each to Singapore. With Bangkok and Kula Lumpar across the way, why not?!
Photography by Chloe Dominik
Indonesia Recommended
There’s so much more I could say about Indonesia, honestly one of my favourite places visited so far. The food is amazing and you get a lot for a small price which of course made me happy! It is hot and very humid most of the time.
For design, it’s probably one of the most interesting places you could go still very much steeped in their traditions, carvings of wood and stone. Paintings, weavings and the intricate details depicted. You see all kinds of tradesmen on the road side working on their master pieces.
Cultural traditions vary depending on where you go in Indonesia, watch not step on the beautiful offerings made in the mornings if in Bali! Oh and drink of choice while over there BINTANG, remember I told you that! (Mine with lemonade lol).
Let me know if you’ve been or planning to go and what you think!
Chloe
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