Java - Bali - Lombok in 3+ weeks
Replies: 6 - Last Post: Aug 23, 2012 7:29 AM Last Post By: Olid_Rori
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Java - Bali - Lombok in 3+ weeks
HiMe and my girlfriend (both from Iceland) are travelling to Indonesia for 3 weeks in September/October.
First our plan was to do Bali and Lombok but now we are interested in seeing some bits of Java as well.
This is our rough plan. Does this seem doable?
Java
13. september – Flying from Singapore to Yogyakarta
14. september – exploring Yogyakarta
15. september – day trip from Yogyakarta to Borobudur
16. september – a trip from Yogyakarta to Prambanan. Leaving for Surabaya the same day
17. september – From Surabaya to Cemoro Lawang (which I understand is the “base” for Gunung Bromo).
18. september – One day at Gunung Bromo
19. september – Leaving Cemoro Lawang and heading to Bali.
Bali
c.a. 20. september – 28. september.
We want to travel around and see as much of Bali as possible (in one week). I think we will avoid Kuta and aim for less crowded areas. We will deffinetly stay a few nights in Ubud and do some day trips from there and then I am not sure if we should find another “base” maybe Amed? Would you recomend that we head straight to Ubud on arraiwal to Bali? And would Ubud and Amed be good “bases”?
Lombok
ca. 28. September – 5. Oktober
In Lombok we want to end our trip at some remote beach and relax a bit. Maybe travel a bit around and then stay at some nice place for the last 4 nights or so. I was thinking Kuta maybe? We would like to have the accomodation for the last nights booked ahead, so if you can recomend some place it would be nice. We are looking for something that is not too expencive. A friend of mine recomended http://www.sempiakvillas.com/ but they are fully booked. I am not sure if we will head to Gilli Islands but I would really like to go some place remote and unspoild... is Rinjani national park maybe a must? Or some other places in the northern part of Lombok.
5. oktober – Leaving for Singapore
So what do you think of this plan? Is it to much to cover in 3 weeks? Will we be exhausted? Should we go back to the original plan and skip Java? I am really just getting more confused as I write this ☺
1
When you say "leaving for Surabaya" how are you plannning to travel? If you take a bus then I would say that would be tiring. A train would be faster and easier. Yogja main sights are easy, Borobudur is at most 1.5 hours from Yogja, Prambanan is 20 minutes from Yogja...so you can do all your Central Java highlights in a few days if pressed for time as you are.Ubud and Amed would be great places to go...I would certainly skip Kuta in Bali...you can get a "taste" of it when you arrive at the airport as you will be close by. However, Amed is a bit further out so not a great base, but more like an end destination. Ubud is a good base for a lot of things except for southern temples like Uluwatu and Tanah Lot.
Have a great trip! You might look at Travelfish which has some good articles on Indonesia.
2
I think that you might be putting in a bit to much for your 3 weeks. Just a comment on Sempiak Villas. They are situated in Selong Belanak and not in Kuta, it's about a 1 hour drive to get there from Kuta. What you can do is to rent a moped in Kuta and drive to Selong Belanak for a day trip. It's a great place with the nicest beach and you can have your lunch at Laut Biru Cafe´, it's managed and run by the same people who manage Sempiak Villas. Clive and Adam are the most friendly persons ever and the food at Laut Biru Cafe is delicious. You can google and find lots of info.In Kuta I can recommend Mimpi Manis Homestay, a homestay owned and run by Gemma and Made. Very good price and you get a free orientation tour if you stay more then 2 nights. They offer car rental, moped rental, fishing trips, transport on the island. www.mimpimanis.com
At the south west you find many more Gilis (islands). Gili Gede, Gili Asahan, Gili Nango are some. Nice, secluded places.
Have a wonderful holiday
3
Another thought..you can do the Jogja area along with Borobudur, Prambanan etc and then just fly to Bali, skipping East Java. It will take a lot of pressure off your schedule and give you more beach time eg Lombok, Gilis, if that's one of your main interests. That way you will still get a taste of Javanese culture and history..5
I know many do not use guides but we do and with an informed one like the one we used twice in Java in Jagjkarta we were able to thorougly do and understand Bobodurur and Prambanan, a quick visit to the Sultons Palace(he lives there) and a few villages that are stuck in the 1920's that are sinply amazing.. This can be done in 10-11 hours with a guide with stopping for chips for lunch. The guide we use is wiedyantara@hotmail.com A little expoensive but he makes the day come alive. If you spent a second day a day trip 9 hours to Dieng Plateau is very wortyhwhile. Though the first part is a little boring once to get withing 10 miles of the plateau the beauty rivals or exceeds Bali in my opinion.In terms of snorkeling West Bali has some quality snorkeling but it is 3 hours from Ubud.You would want to stay there for 2 days so as said above one or two places would have to be sacrificed, maybe Mt. Bromo as suggested.
The guide we used is wiedyantara@hotmail.com
6
Hi there,U ca get Prob (base of mount Bromo) directly from Jogja w/ economic train, Sritanjung train leaves Jogja at 7 am n arrives Prob at 4 pm, n Logawa train leaves at 9 am n arrive at 6.10 pm.
So u can skip Sby transit.
Then get bus station 4 public transport, u can get IDR 25K (Prob-Cemorolawang) if u r very lucky.
Good luck.
