Things to do in Indonesia

Indonesia is seventeen thousand islands spread across three time zones. No visitor sees more than a corner of it. In practice the country divides into a handful of trips that have little to do with each other.

• Bali — the one most people mean, a single island of four million people. The south is given over to beaches and surf, Ubud sits in the middle among the rice terraces, volcanoes run down the spine and the Nusa islands lie offshore.
• Java — west of Bali, the populous heart. Yogyakarta sits between the ninth-century Buddhist terraces of Borobudur and the Hindu spires of Prambanan, with the volcano Merapi smoking behind.
• Lombok — east of Bali, with Rinjani rising to 3,726 metres. The three Gili islands off its northwest corner have no cars.
• Komodo, Flores, Sulawesi and Sumatra — further out, each a separate expedition.

What visitors actually do is shaped by that geography.

• Bali — temples and rice terraces, sunrise treks up an active volcano, waterfalls, snorkelling and diving on the eastern reefs, rafting the Ayung gorge, cooking classes and the purification ceremonies at the water temples.
• Java — the two great temple complexes at dawn, and the volcano jeep tours.
• Lombok and the Gilis — trekking, diving and doing very little.

One line there is not a tourist activity. The purification ceremonies at the water temples are a living religious practice rather than a show. Across all the islands the money goes further than almost anywhere else in Asia. A private driver for a full day costs less than a taxi across a European capital.

Practical

• Seasons. Two, not four. The dry one runs roughly April to October and is the reliable half of the year. November to March brings afternoon downpours that rarely last long but do close boat crossings.
• Visa. Most nationalities get a visa on arrival for thirty days, bought online in advance or at the airport, and it can be extended once.
• Money. The currency is the rupiah and the numbers are large. Cards work in hotels and restaurants, cash rules everywhere else, and ATMs dispense in hundred-thousand notes.
• Tipping. Not traditional, but it has become normal in tourism: ten per cent in a restaurant, a note for a driver or guide.
• Temples. A sarong and sash are required, usually lent at the gate, and menstruating women are asked not to enter.
• Bali levy. Bali charges foreign visitors a separate tourist levy, paid online before arrival or at the airport, and it is checked at some sites.
• Nyepi. One date reorganises everything: the Balinese day of silence in March, when the whole island shuts down for twenty-four hours and even the airport closes.