Useful travel tips

Useful Travel Information
Useful tips for preparing your holiday in Indonesia. Don’t hesitate to contact us for more info.

Download our travel-tips brochure here:

Photo by David Metcalf – www.davidmetcalfphotography.com

Vaccination

Please contact your family doctor. Vaccine suggestions often change; we hereby decline any responsibility with this information.

  • No mandatory vaccinations required for Indonesia.

Recommendations for vaccination:

Necessary prevention:
– Typhoid fever
– Hepatitis A & B
– Poliomyelitis
– Tetanus –diphtheria – Pertussis

Necessary prevention in certain circumstances:
– Yellow fever
– Malaria
– Rabies

Unnecessary prevention:
– Meningitis

You are free to take the decision yourself.

Tips:

  • Get vaccinated
  • Take antimalarial meds
  • Eat and drink safely
  • Prevent bug bites
  • Keep away from animals
  • Reduce your exposure to germs
  • Avoid sharing body fluids
  • Avoid non-sterile medical or cosmetic equipment

Visa and Arrival Taxes

For most nationalities, it’s possible to purchase a visa on arrival, which is valid for one month and extendable for a second month. Today (2019) the tax is 38US$. Please make sure that your passport is valid for more than 6 months after your departure date of Indonesia and make sure your passport is applicable for this system. For certain nationalities, a visa is required before entering Indonesia. In all airports in Indonesia, you’ll have to pay departure taxes. Local flights are usually taxed 20 – 50 000 IDR (2US$ – 6 US$) and international flights around 150 000 IDR (17US$).

Photo by David Metcalf – www.davidmetcalfphotography.com

Passport & Formalities

A valid passport is mandatory in Indonesia. The expiry date must be at least 6 months after your departure date of Indonesia.

Voltage & Sockets

The voltage and the sockets are the same as in Belgium (220 volts).

Excessive Luggage For Local Flights

The allowed weight of the luggage is between 15 and 20 Kgs for international fights.

Luggage that exceeds the number will be charged between $ 1 and $ 3. Note, in case you have more luggage exceeding the weight limit, be prepared to wait before the counter and wait for the calculation result for your luggage.

Climate and Weather: When to go to Indonesia?

Indonesia is nice to visit all year round. The climate is equatorial – hot and humid. However, there are two seasons;

Dry Season: from May to September
Rainy Season: from October to April
(It happens that it rains during the dry season and sometimes it doesn’t rain for a week during the rainy season)

Near the equator, the sun rises at 6am and sets at 6pm, all year. Average temperature: 26 °C (20-33 °C) – July is the coldest month, with 25 °C.
You might want to bring warmer clothes for the cold temperature in the mountain area.

Photo by David Metcalf – www.davidmetcalfphotography.com

Dress code

Light jacket for mountain tops
Sunscreen and sunglasses

Tip: You can easily by clothes here – you will find clothes for a very cheap price (for tourists), and you will look less like tourists, more like local expats 😉

Tip: Bikinis are accepted on the beaches and by the hotel pools, but it’s recommended to wear shorts/T-shirt in any other occasions. Please respect the local community and the religion – especially when visiting temples, etc.

Language & Money

The spoken languages are Bahasa Indonesia & English. Most Indonesian speak a bit of English – some speak fluent.

Money: Indonesian Rupiah (1 € = +/- 15,000 IDR)
Exact rate on www.xe.com

Credit Cards: Visa, MasterCard and American Express are accepted everywhere (hotels, restaurants, most shops), but often there is standard additional charge of 3% when you use a non-Indonesian credit card.

Photo by David Metcalf – www.davidmetcalfphotography.com

Drinks & Food

Drinking water: The tap water is not drinkable – pay attention to the ice cubes also! Good beers, thanks to the Dutch influence. The Australian wine is very expensive. Delicious and tasty cuisine with a mix of Chinese and Malaysian influences (sometimes Dutch).

Cultural Tips

✗ Kissing in Public Area

✗ Enter to a temple without scarf around the waist (for rent).

✗ Touch the children’s heads (this is the seat of the soul).

✗ Use his left hand to eat, receive, appoint, and any other (impolite).

✗ Be above and in front of a priest, during a ceremony (stay at a distance, on the side).

✗ Be offended about the Indonesian’s curiosity.

✗ Make jokes about drugs.

✗ Drugs: Traffickers risk the death penalty, and consumers get 6 years in prison for life (even the police are not clear in this story).

Belgium Embassy
Deutche Bank Building 16th floor
Jlan Imam Bougiol 80
10310 Jakarta
Indonesia

Jakarta@diplobel.fed.be
+62 21 316 20 30
Urgent : +62 (0) 816 947 859