Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TELEPHONE
The telecommunications service within In-
donesia is provided by Telkom, a government
monopoly. All of Indonesia is covered by a do-
mestic satellite telecommunications network.
To call any country direct from Indonesia dial
001 plus the country code followed by the
number, or make a call via the international
operator (
hand-held cameras in theatres!), the format
may not work with your system and many of
the disks are no good to begin with. You really
will get what you pay for.
Legitimate DVDs are uncommon but au-
thentic CDs are often sold in the same places
offering fakes. They are good value at around
80,000Rp to 90,000Rp. The cost of CDs featur-
ing Balinese and Indonesian artists is gener-
ally lower.
a wooden framework and packing around it
with shredded paper. There are also many ca-
pable packing and forwarding agents, though
the shipping costs will almost certainly be
more than the cost of the article.
Batubulan, on the main highway from
South Bali to Ubud (p204), is a major stone-
carving centre. Workshops are found fur-
ther north along the road in Tegaltamu and
Silakarang. Stone figures from 25cm to 2m
tall line both sides of the road, and stone
carvers can be seen in action in the many
workshops here.
and will give you your own local telephone
number. However make certain the phone
you bring is both unlocked and able to take
SIM cards. Basic phones bought locally start
at US$30.
Usually the person selling you your SIM
card will install it and make certain things
are working. There is also a requirement that
you show some ID so your number can be
registered with the government but often busy
clerks will suggest you return 'some other
time' thus saving you this formality.
Long-distance and international calls from
a mobile can be less expensive than through
the regular phone system. When you buy your
SIM card and usage credit ask about special
access codes that can result in international
calls for as low as US$0.25 per minute.
101 ) .
The country code for Indonesia is
%
62.
%
The area code for Jakarta is
021 and for
%
Paintings
There are a relatively small number of creative
original painters in Bali today, and an enor-
mous number of imitators who produce cop-
ies, or near copies, in well-established styles.
Many of these imitative works are neverthe-
less very well-executed and attractive pieces.
Originality is not considered as important in
Balinese art as it is in the West. A painting
is esteemed not for being new and unique
but for taking a well-worn and popular idea
and making a good reproduction of it. Some
renowned artists will simply draw out the
design, decide the colours and then employ
apprentices to actually apply the paint. This
leads to the mass production of similar works
that is so characteristic of Balinese art.
Unfortunately, much of the painting today
is churned out for the tourist market and
much of that market is extremely undiscrimi-
nating about what it buys. Thus, the shops
are packed full of paintings in the various
popular styles - some of them quite good, a
few of them really excellent, and many of them
uniformly alike and uniformly poor in quality
(think doe-eyed puppies in garish colours).
Before making a purchase, visit the muse-
ums and galleries of Ubud (p175) to see the
best of Balinese art and some of the European
influences that have shaped it. At the galler-
ies you will get an idea of how to value truly
deserving Balinese paintings.
Lombok it's
0370. Bali has six telephone
area codes, listed in the relevant chapters of
this topic. Phone numbers beginning with
%
%
Wayang Kulit
Wayang kulit (leather puppets) are made in
the village of Puaya (p206) near Sukawati,
south of Ubud, and in Peliatan (p198) a vil-
lage near Ubud.
08 are usually mobile (cell) phones.
Telkom publishes a good phone book for
Bali that includes yellow pages in English.
Local directory assistance operators (
108)
are very helpful and some of them speak Eng-
lish. If you call directory assistance and have
to spell out a name, try to use the 'Alpha,
Bravo, Charlie' system of saying the letters.
Calling internationally can easily cost from
US$0.25 to US$1 or more a minute no matter
which of the methods you choose to opt for
as outlined in the text following.
Some foreign telephone companies issue
cards that enable you to make calls from Indo-
nesian phones and have the cost billed to your
home phone account. However, the catch is
that most public telephones, wartel (public
telephone offices) and hotels won't allow you
to call the toll-free
%
Phonecards
The vast majority of public phones use phone-
cards. Some use the regular kartu telepo
(phonecards) with a magnetic strip. Others
use a kartu chip, which has an electronic chip
embedded in it. You can buy phonecards
in denominations of 5000Rp, 10,000Rp,
25,000Rp, 50,000Rp and 100,000Rp at wartel,
moneychangers, post offices and many shops.
An international call from a card phone costs
about the same per minute as a call from a
wartel.
Woodcar vings
As with paintings, try to see some of the best-
quality woodcarvings in museums and galler-
ies before you consider buying. Again, many
standard pieces are produced in the same
basic designs, and craft shops are full of them.
Even with a basic frog, hand or fisherman
design, some are much better than others.
Look for quality first, then look at the price -
you may see the same article vary in price by
anything from 10% to 1000%!
Apart from the retail mark-up and your
bargaining skills, many factors determine
costs, including the artist, the type of wood
used, the originality of the item and the size.
The simplest small carvings start at around
15,000Rp, while many fine pieces can be
found for under 100,000Rp; there's no upper
limit.
Ubud (p174) and Mas (p206) are good
places to look for woodcarvings. For more
details on where to buy these arts and crafts,
see p55 .
SOLO TRAVELLERS
Bali (and to a lesser degree Lombok) is a good
place for solo travellers. Both locals and other
travellers tend to be open and friendly, mak-
ing it easy to hook up with others while ex-
ploring the island.
Most places to stay have accommodation
for single travellers for a price at least a lit-
Telephone Offices
A kantor telekomunikasi (telecommunications
office) is a main telephone office operated by
Telkom, usually only found in bigger towns.
Wartel are sometimes run by Telkom, but
the vast majority are private, and there's a
lot of them. You can make local, inter-lokal
(long-distance) and international calls from
any wartel.
The charge for international calls is the
same from all parts of Bali, but may be cheaper
in Telkom offices than in private ones. In most
areas you dial the number yourself, and the
cost increases in pulsa - a unit of time that
varies according to the destination.
The official Telkom price of a one-minute
call is about the equivalent of US$1 to most
parts of the world. Many wartel, however, will
charge higher per-minute rates.
001 access
numbers needed to use these phonecards
or other home-billing schemes, and the few
hotels and wartel that do permit it charge a
particular fee for doing so.
Internet connections fast enough to sup-
port Voice Over Internet (VOI) services like
Skype are uncommon. Internet centres that
allow this charge 3000Rp or more.
008 or
%
%
Mobile Phones
The cellular service in Indonesia is GSM.
There are several local providers. If your
phone company offers international roaming
in Indonesia, you can use your own mobile
telephone in Bali - check with the company
to find out how much they charge.
Alternatively, a mobile phone (called a
handphone in Indonesia) using the GSM
Sculpture
Balinese stone is surprisingly light and it's
not at all out of the realms of possibility to
bring a friendly stone demon back with you
in your airline baggage. A typical temple door
guardian weighs around 10kg. The stone,
however, is very fragile so packing must be
Search WWH ::




Custom Search