Indonesia - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 161

Indonesia has good ferry connections
with Malaysia and Singapore and
there are occasional cargo boats from
the Philippines.

You can get a sixty-day visa , but only by
applying in advance from an Indonesian
consulate; the cost is US$55 and the
process takes three to five days, though
this varies from one consulate to the next.
A visa is most easily obtained in
Singapore, Penang or Kuala Lumpur.
Note that you must show your ticket out
of the country when applying for a visa,
whether you're applying at the embassy
or the port. A visa-on-arrival can be
extended once for up to thirty days for
a fee of Rp250,000 (sixty-day visas can
currently be extended several times); this
process also usually takes a few days.
When applying for an extension of your
visa, bring photocopies of the photo page
in your passport, your Indonesian visa,
and your flight ticket out of Indonesia.
hose entering the country via a
non-designated gateway must get a visa
from an Indonesian consulate (see p.49)
before travelling. Further details on the
latest situation can be found at
W

FROM MALAYSIA AND SINGAPORE
A variety of ferries and speedboats depart
from Penang (see p.437), on the west
coast of Peninsular Malaysia, to Medan ,
and from Malacca (see p.465) in southern
Malaysia to Dumai or Pekanbaru . You
can also take ferries from Johor Bahru
(see box, p.472), in far southern
Malaysia, and Singapore to Sumatra via
the islands of Batam and Bintan ; and
from Port Klang (see p.426), near Kuala
Lumpur, to Tanjung Balai and Dumai
in Sumatra.
here are two entry points between
East Malaysia and Kalimantan . You can
catch a bus between the capital of
Malaysian Sarawak at Kuching (see
p.479) to West Kalimantan's capital,
Pontianak; alternatively, you can cross
from the East Malaysian state of Sabah
by catching a two- or three-hour ferry
(see p.514) to Pulau Nunukan or Tarak an
from Tawau, two days' bus ride southeast
of Kota Kinabalu.

4

indonesianembassy.org.uk.

GETTING AROUND
Delays are common to all forms of
transport in Indonesia - including major
flights - caused by weather, mechanical
failure, or simply not enough passengers
turning up, so you'll save yourself a good
deal of stress if you keep your schedule as
flexible as possible.

VISAS
Citizens of the UK, Ireland, most of
Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada
and the US can get thirty-day visas
(US$25) on arrival from any of
Indonesia's o cial immigration gateways ,
though it's worth checking beforehand as
Indonesian visa regulations are
notoriously prone to change. O cial
gateways include major international
airports - such as Jakarta, Denpasar
(Bali), Yogyakarta, Solo, Surabaya and
Medan - and several seaports, including
Padang Bai in Bali, Tanjung Priok for
Jakarta, Pulau Batam and Pulau Bintam
(between Singapore and Sumatra), and
Medan on Sumatra. If you're arriving in
Indonesia through a more remote air- or
seaport, check whether you need to
obtain a visa from an Indonesian
consulate in advance. For a full list of
o cial gateways see W indonesianembassy
.org.uk.

BUSES, MINIBUSES AND TRAINS
Buses are inexpensive, easy to book, and
leave roughly on time. But they're also
slow, cramped and often plain terrifying:
accidents can be devastating. Where
there's a choice of operators on any
particular route, ask local people which
bus company they recommend. Tickets
are sold a day or more in advance from
the point of departure or bus company
o ces - which are not necessarily near
the relevant bus station ( terminal ). Where
services are infrequent it's a good idea to
buy tickets as early as possible. Tell the
driver your exact destination, as it may be
possible to get delivered right to the door
of your hotel. he average long-distance
bus has padded seats but little leg- or