Hello everybody!
I am planning to travel in Indonesia for 2 months (February/March). It is my first such trip and I will be travelling alone. I find it amazingly difficult to plan trip properly as Indonesia is such a massive country with so many small islands. I know that my question is very generic and it might be hard to answer it but I need any kind of help, advice, recommendations: which parts of Indonesia would you recommend to visit in 2 months? My main goal is to see nature, beaches, culture, do some hiking and especially street food! :D . Island hopping seems like a very attractive way of travel. I just want to try to avoid crowds, though I would still like to visit Gili Islands, Komodo National Park and Banda Islands. I think to spend 1 week in one place to see the local area would be enough time. I am a backpacker, meaning that my budget is not the biggest one (I would say around 6.000NZD) and I am also good with staying in the most basic places. Any suggestions?
Thank you.
P.s - if somebody is travelling during this time, I would be willing to join you traveling :)
With 100 NZD per day, you certainly won't need to stay in the most basic places!
That's far more than a typical backpacker's budget in Indonesia, so money won't be an issue. You can go pretty much wherever you like, take flights, etc. Your time is also longer than most people have these days.
The places you picked are in Nusa Tenggara and Maluku, both of which are regions great for island-hopping, beaches, culture and nature, though perhaps not all that great for street-food, away from major cities or tourist areas anyway.
To connect the two, you probably must go via Sulawesi, which also offers great combination of nature, culture and hiking.
Get the Lp Indonesia guidebook to fill you in on enough details for the trip.
I would say keep things flexible enough that you can change your plans or also have enough time for travel between areas. Flights get cancelled, boats break down, etc. Have good travel medical insurance that includes emergency evacuation just in case.
Also, you may be trying to avoid Bali but March 17 is Nyepi and it's one of the most interesting times to see the Balinese Hindu culture. Parts of Ubud (for example) can be crowded but is a great place to be for Nyepi.
Thank you for responses and recommendations. It's good to hear that this kind of budget is okay as I was a little bit worried. But apart from the above mentioned places, what other islands, areas, regions or places would you recommend to visit which are worth to visit but usually are missed by tourists?
But apart from the above mentioned places, what other islands, areas, regions or places would you recommend to visit which are worth to visit but usually are missed by tourists?
Basically all of Indonesia, apart from Bali...
I wouldn't try and see too much of the country in only 2 months, if I was you. Nusa Tenggara, Maluku, maybe a bit of Sulawesi. Certainly no more than that. You can link the regions with long-distance boats, or the odd flight. But 2 months isn't a lot of time to travel, and there is island after island in these regions to explore.
So I have come up with a rough plan:
1 week in Bali (I have decided that people go there not without a reason and as cuscus mentioned Nyepi celebration is a good time to visit Bali).
3 days in Gili islands
1 week in Lombok
1 week in Flores
1 week in Banda islands
1 week in Raja Ampat
1 week in Tana Toraja
Is such plan completely unrealistic or possible?
Transport to the Banda Islands is not very reliable. It's not realistic to turn up when you like, stay for a week, and then leave when you like. More often than not, you're limited to the sailings of PELNI ships, which only come a few times each month. If you really want to visit Banda, you need to be more flexible.
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