Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Almost any place calling itself a
hotel
will include at least a basic breakfast in
the price of a room. Most of the
mid-range and top-end places add a
service-and-tax surcharge of between 10
and 22 percent to your bill, and smarter
establishments quote prices - and often
prefer foreigners to pay - in dollars,
though they accept plastic or a rupiah
equivalent. In popular areas such as Bali
and Tanah Toraja, it's worth booking
ahead during the peak seasons. Bland
and anonymous, inexpensive urban hotels
are designed for local businesspeople
rather than tourists, and have tiny rooms
and shared squat toilets and mandi.
Moderately priced hotels often have a
choice of fan or a/c rooms, almost
certainly with hot water.
In rural Indonesia, you may end up
staying in villages
without formal
lodgings, in a bed in a family house.
First ask permission from the local police
or the
kepala desa
(village head). In
exchange for accommodation and meals,
you should offer cash or useful gifts,
such as rice, salt, cigarettes or food, to
the value of about $2 at the very least.
he only bathroom might be the nearest
river. With such readily available and
inexpensive alternatives,
camping
is only
necessary when trekking.
Usually,
electricity
is supplied at
220-240 volts AC, but outlying areas
may still use 110 volts. Most outlets take
plugs with two rounded pins.
the main meats in this predominantly
Muslim country.
Vegetarians
can eat well
in Indonesia, though restaurant selections
can be limited to
cap cay
- fried mixed
vegetables. here's also plenty of tofu
and the popular
tempe
, a fermented
soya-bean cake.
INDONESIAN FOOD
Spices, the backbone of all Indonesian
cooking, are ground and chopped
together then fried to form a paste, which
is either used as the flavour-base for
curries, or rubbed over ingredients prior
to frying or grilling. Chillies always
feature, along with
terasi
(also known as
belacan
), a fermented shrimp paste. Meals
are often served with
sambal
, a blisteringly
hot blend of chillies and spices.
Light meals and snacks include various
rice dishes such as
nasi goreng
, a plate of
fried rice with shreds of meat and
vegetables and topped with a fried egg,
and
nasi campur
, boiled rice served with
a small range of side dishes. Noodle
equivalents are also commonly available,
as are
gado-gado
, steamed vegetables
dressed in a peanut sauce, and
sate
, small
kebabs of meat or fish, barbecued over a
fire and again served with spicy peanut
sauce. Indonesian bread (
roti
) is made
from sweetened dough, and usually
accompanies a morning cup of coffee.
Sumatran
Padang restaurants
are found
right across Indonesia, the typically fiery
food pre-cooked - not the healthiest way
to eat - and displayed cold on platters
piled up in a pyramid shape inside a
glass-fronted cabinet. here are no
menus; you either select your composite
meal by pointing, or wait for the staff to
bring you a selection and pay just for
what you consume. You may encounter
boiled
kangkung
(water spinach);
tempe
;
egg, vegetable, meat or seafood curry;
fried whole fish; potato cakes; and even
fried cow's lung.
4
FOOD AND DRINK
Compared to other Southeast Asian
cuisines, Indonesian food lacks variety.
Coconut milk and aromatic spices at first
add intriguing tastes to the meats,
vegetables and fruits, but after a while
everything starts to taste the same
- spiced, fried and served with rice. Be
particularly careful about food
hygiene
in
rural Indonesia, avoiding poorly cooked
fish or meat.
Rice
(
nasi
) is the favoured staple across
much of the country, an essential,
three-times-a-day fuel. Noodles are also
widely popular. he seafood is often
superb, and chicken, goat and beef are
WHERE TO EAT
he cheapest places to eat in Indonesia
are at the
mobile stalls
(
kaki lima
, or “five
legs”), which ply their wares around the
streets and bus stations during the day,
and congregate at night markets after
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