Indonesia Itinerary Help

In my opinion 3 weeks is a bit too short to see all the places you have listed. If you want to enjoy it I wouldn’t spend any less than 10 days to Visit North and West Sumatra( Bukit lawang, Lake Toba and Bukittinggi). Yogya is worth a few days, at least to be able to go to Borobudur and Prambanan, though Solo is also a good option. Jakarta might only be worth a few days. That would leave you only a few days in Bali, where you could relax on the beach, Padangbai, being my favourite. If these places are your priority forget Kalimantan and Sulawesi, Indonesia's a big country and transport is not always reliable.

Hi Lonelytrotter, I spent all of last May in West Sumatra, Bukit Lawang and Aceh, so I agree that to do the area justice, to restrict the distance you travel would be wise, However, internal air travel in Indonesia is very easy and cheap and so, if you wanted to include Java, you could fly there.

If you get to Bukittinggi (it is well worth a visit), I suggest Hotel Kartini and my friend Zulfikar is a guide - he is very knowledgable, with excellent language. He can be found at Cafe Bedudal Jln Ahmed Yani. His mobile phone is 62 8 1374537413. He can take you on a motorbike tour of the surrounding countryside, which is very interesting.

Peter

Hi Lonelytrotter,
I wrote a huge post for you last night and then promptly lost it all.

If you are visiting Bukit Lawang then I would save 3 days-one day travelling and recovering, maybe a 1 day or even 2 day trek, then the trip back to Medan one morning early then get a bus to Lake Toba the same day- a long trip. 2-3 days in Lake Toba, then a 17 hr bus trip from Prapat Lake Toba to Bukittinggi.
Many travel agents in Bukittinggi so yuo could book your airfares there for the flight from Padang to Jakarta at least.
Check out the area as mentioned by Peter above and then a few days down at Lake Maninjau.
Don't forget to head up to Embun Pagi one morning really early to witness the mist over the Lake- a wonderful experience.
Embun Pagi is 44 hair pin bends up from Lake Maninjau- wonderful scenery all around.
There is a great 2 day trek from Bukittinggi down to Lake Maninjau through the jungle which I did in September 2006-loved it. Stayed overnight high up in the jungle at Anas Homestay. Oh, so much to do and so little time. Then bus it back to Padang.
From Padang you can fly to Jakarta ( Lion Air has some good deals) and then onto Yogjakarta.
Borobudur and Prambanan worth a visit- can do both in a day. You could also book a tour to see Gunung Bromo (one of the highlights of my 5.5 months in Indonesia in 2006) which will also take you to Bali by bus. The tours are very reasonable and probaby better priced than what one can do alone from what I hear.

From Bali you can fly to Mataram Lombok-one way fares about 370,000 rupiah and either head north to SEngiggi and the Gilis or south to Kuta which has the most beautiful beaches.

Hoping I have been of some help in your decision making.
Pamela.

More might well be less. Have a look at my recent post. I did 3.5 weeks in Central and East Java. It could have been 1.5 really. Maybe. 'the discriminating tourist, an endangered species'.
P

Hey Lonelytrotter,

If you are traveling in and out the same way would involve quiet a travel if you need to come back again from Java or Bali. I would suggest stick to Sumatera only for 3 weeks and if you definately want to visit Jakarta, Yogya and Bali then you best can fly out from Denpasar (Bali) on your return journey to Kuala Lumpur and from there to Penang with Air Asia. I think this will be less expensive.

And yes you will miss a lot if you don't see Kalimantan and Sulawesi (and many other places) but Indonesia is too big for 3 weeks. If you would only see Sumatera from north to south you would need 1 or 2 month (and in 1 month the highlights only) for historic places you should visit Java, for the beaches Lombok or Bali and for nature Sumatera (not meaning that there no nature on the other islands)

Good luck with you choice.

Anne Mieke