Are you planning your journey from Europe to Indonesia? Indonesia is a popular destination to go to, because it's cheap, beautiful and simply very different from Europe. However ...there are certain things you need to know before travelling to Indonesia.
1. VISA ( passport)
Majority of the European counties are allowed 30 days visa free travel to Indonesia. However not all so check it before going. Certain countries will require visa on arrival/ visa before arrival. It is usually not a massive cost, about 30 USD, you could extend your visa for extra 30 days for another 30/35 USD. Make sure to keep your visa up to date to avoid huge penalties. So overall it is not too bad. There are 169 visa free countries and 67 visa on arrival countries. If you are from UK you can check them on the Indonesian Embassy in London website : http://indonesianembassy.org.uk/en/consular/visa-info/visa-free-short-visit/
Also make sure to remember :
Your passport must be valid for a minimum of 6 (six) months as from the date of entry into Indonesia.
Onward or return tickets are compulsory.
There are no compulsory vaccinations, however it's useful to check with your GP, whether your vaccines are up to date before travelling.
Visitors on Visa-Free Short Visits must enter and exit from certain airports and seaports in Indonesia ( check the airports before booking your tickets)
2. Vaccinations
As you read in the previous point there are no compulsory vaccinations, however I decided to check if all my vaccines are up to date. If you consult your GP you can get FREE travel vaccines in the UK. The free vaccines include: polio (given as a combined diphtheria/tetanus/polio jab), typhoid, hepatitis A and cholera. What you can possibly get in Indonesia is Rabies. For Rabies vaccine you have to pay, however it is quite rare and uncommon. If you are travelling only for leisure, it's not really needed in my opinion. Also there is a lot of people saying that you could potentially get Malaria from travelling to Indonesia, that is possible however only in certain( rural) places in Indonesia, most affected areas are eastern parts of Indonesia outside of Java. Jakarta and Bali have zero to low level of malaria transmission. So it is incredibly rare. However it's good to try and avoid the bug bites, get some anti-bug/ anti-mosquito spray along with your sun cream :)
3. Renting a car/bike
To rent a car or bike in Indonesia you will need an international driving licence, before going there. We got our international driving licence from our local post office, it takes about 5 min. You need your driving licence and a passport type photograph. It cost no more than £5.50. And in that way you can drive/ rent a car/ bike in Indonesia. There are certain car rentals that won't even ask you for a driving licence and will rent you a car/ bike, however the Police is quite strict on foreigners. They will often stop you to check if you have required documents, if not they will give you a big penalty. To be on the safe side, before renting a car go to the local police station in Indonesia and find out if the International Driving Licence you already have is enough .
4. Get a multi-city flight to save money
You can get a multi-city flight to save money, before reaching your destination you could have potentially 1 day wait in another country/city. Make sure to go to a place that you can explore without needing a visa, otherwise you will spend the whole day at the airport and we all know how boring it can get. For example I am flying to Shanghai and Bali. I'll spend 1 full day in Shanghai before travelling back, that gives me an opportunity to explore the city as Shanghai allows up to 72 hours visa free stay for all the travellers. I paid less to explore more, which is awesome !