Indonesia is another country that requires proof of onward travel. AirAsia in Manila didn’t want to give us our tickets initially, but after telling them that I waive them of all responsibility of paying for a ticket if immigration doesn’t allow us and that I would pay for the ticket, they let us board.

Once we got to Bali, immigration didn’t ask for proof of onward travel, and we got through without a hitch. After that, though, I was pulled aside because they wanted to search my bag. You pass through security upon arrival, and when my bag way X-rayed, I guess they saw that I had some pills. Other than the typical Ibuprofen, I also carry some antihistamines and other allergy pills ever since I was hospitalized for 5 days following an allergy attack from an unknown source. After I showed them what I had, we were let through after they checked the pills in the backroom.

We struggled with Grab (the Uber of Asia) since our first driver didn’t seem to understand where to go even though there’s a designated Grab pickup spot at the airport, but we eventually got a ride downtown with a different driver.

We stayed at a hostel for a couple of nights and went to the beach to splash around in the waves.

While walking around in Kuta, we needed more money. There are a lot of money exchange places, and a lot of them seem to offer really good rates.

We stopped by one and he started counting the money. While doing that, a friend of his tapped me on the shoulder and complimented my tattoo on my leg. Alarm bells went off in my head. The agent would count the money, and it would seem right. He gave us the money to count, which we did, and then he wanted to count it again. After he gave it back to us, we quickly counted again and it was short. When we noticed, he quickly grabbed it back and counted again, and it was good. He gave it to us and it was good, then he wanted to count it one more time. I knew he was doing some sleight of hand, but even knowing it, I just couldn’t catch it. He was good. I closed the door so his friend couldn’t distract us anymore. Things quickly went south. He started getting aggressive about the whole situation, so I just put his money back on the table and grabbed our 100 USD bill, which I had made sure remained on the table. While doing that, he reached out with his phone in his hand, making it seem like I knocked it out of his hand to fall all of 10cm onto the table. He picked it up and the screen was cracked, and he started yelling at me, telling me that I needed to pay to fix it. I have heard of similar scams before, so with our 100 back in our possession, we left while I laughed at him, telling him to call the police, as he was threatening to do. Unsurprisingly, the police never came because he is running a scam operation that gives “good rates” until you realize that you didn’t get as much as you should have. If that fails, try to intimate the tourist into paying to fix something that was already broken.

We tried a few other places. Every place advertises that there is no commission and offers a good rate. But when you start getting the money, all the sudden you’re 20 bucks short, and they inform you that there is a “tax.” BS. Eventually, I just started asking people when we approached them, “are you going to do this legit, or are you going to try and scam us or charge us with a BS tax?” Then they suddenly didn’t want to purchase our dollars.

We saw a couple come out of one exchange counting some money, so we figured they must be legit. He also tried charging us a tax, so we left. When we left, we found the couple intently looking at the calculator on one of their phones. Fearing the worst, we asked them what’s up. They didn’t get it. They didn’t seem to have gotten enough. And they were right. Out of the 100 USD they sold, they only ended up getting about 35 USD worth of Indonesian Rupiah back. Scammed big time. But that’s how these currency exchange places work in Bali (or at least Kuta—to be fair, we didn’t see this elsewhere on the island). They were obviously upset, and they asked what they should do. I hated telling them, but I was sure that if they went back in, it was only going to lead to more trouble than it was worth. Distraught, they agreed and continued their night. We later saw them at a massage parlor. I’m sure they needed it!

Instead of these shady dealers, we settled on the more legit looking exchange that offered a rate that was more in line with the current exchange rate and not inflated like these other scammy places. And it worked out marvelously. TIP: never try and get a “good deal” on exchanging money in Kuta. Just use the more official-looking places that have a more modest exchange rate. Or just use an ATM.

While walking around Kuta, you walk by tons of shops full of souvenirs. Practically every shop person would whisper to me as I walked past to see if I wanted to buy mushrooms. Just out of curiosity, Puujee even looked at some, and they just pulled it out from behind one of the T-shirts that they sell. They were willing to go pretty low on the price (at least from their starting price), but we said no.

Curious about both of the previous events, I did some research. Apparently, a lot of these shop keepers work with the police. You buy drugs from them, and then they sell you out to the police. Everyone wins except you. And the punishment for drugs in Indonesia is rather high, so don’t ever buy from them. And then all the scam-exchange places are never cracked by police for whatever reason. Maybe they are paid off by the scam artists? Bali is of course very touristy, and it’s pretty tourist friendly, but the fact that the police kind of work with sting operations to get tourists busted for drugs while doing nothing about the scam artists robbing tourists blind kind of left a bad taste in my mouth about how they treat visitors. Just be careful if you go to Kuta, Bali.

After getting some cash, not getting busted for drugs, and swimming in the water, we were ready to check out some other parts of the island. We were thinking of taking a shuttle up to Amed. There is the Perama shuttle, but it was about 350k for the both of us, which is about 25 USD. That wasn’t too bad, but then we missed the cutoff for buying tickets the next day, so we decided to maybe just go up to Ubud instead.

We found a local bus, but 2 tickets for that would have been 160k, plus I think 10k in baggage fees. For only about 2 bucks more, at 190k, we could just get a ride through Grab. So we did that.

A Hindi festival was happening while we were in Ubud, so we saw a procession go through the city as well as some musical gathering at a temple.

The Perama shuttle went through Ubud to Amed, but it was still 350k for some reason even though we were already halfway there. We did some deliberation, and we settled on renting a scooter from our hostel. At only 50k (about 3 USD) a day, it’s quite a steal. The only thing we had to worry about were the police since neither of us actually have a license. We left some things in storage at the hostel so we could travel with only one backpack, and we were off!

We arrived in Amed and went swimming for a bit.

The next day, we went to a Japanese shipwreck and snorkeled there.

We then took the long way back coming along the north side of the island.

We drove from Amed to Singaraja along the coast. We passed by Mount Agung, a still-active volcano.

In Singaraja, we turned south and passed through Bhuansari waterfalls.

We continued south to Lake Buyan.

We wanted to drive around the lake for a bit, but it was getting really chilly. Since Bali is warm and we were planning on hanging out at the beaches, we failed to bring warm clothes. Most other motorcycle drivers were wearing jackets, and we were just cruising in shorts and T-shirts. We decided to get moving toward Ubud. We stopped to check out a temple which seemed closed, but we went in anyway.

We continued to Lake Beratan and the famous pagoda on the water. I always thought it was bigger, and I regret to say that I was a little disappointed. Now I know what that feels like… haha, joking.

With no more destinations in mind and the shadows getting long, it was time for the final push back to Ubud. We had been driving since about 9 in the morning, and it was already evening. Our butts hurt. To add to the discomfort, it started drizzling and getting chilly. Shivering and wet, we pushed through the adverse conditions.

We pulled into Ubud well after dark and had a hot meal of noodles to warm us up.

The next morning, since we still had the scooter, we went to a ridgeline hike after going to a temple.

I then checked out the monkey forest.

I returned the scooter, and without a single fine from the police, so that was cool. I would highly recommend renting a scooter in Bali.

We then went back with Grab to the main Bali area in Denpasar and stayed with a couchsurfer for a few nights. It was nice getting to meet a local and see the side of Bali that isn’t that touristy. She showed us some local foods and eateries, and just hanging out with her was a lot of fun.

I wanted to try surfing another time, but the waves didn’t seem very inviting and most people were falling over left and right. I have only surfed once before, so I am by no means an expert. I didn’t want to pay to fall over all day like the others, so we just swam some more in the ocean.

I still had not gotten a replacement credit card ever since my wallet was stolen in The Philippines. We were doing fine with some wired money, but having a card again would be nice. Part of the reason that we stayed in Bali so long was to meet up with a friend of mine from Germany that happened to be visiting Bali at about the same time we were there. After ensuring our paths crossed, Puujee asked me why I didn’t have him bring my replacement credit card (another friend in Germany was in possession of my new one, but I had not had an address suitable for him to send it to yet). I had my friend send my new card to him, and then it was brought to me in person. It was also nice to catch up with old friends in the evening. Unfortunately, we forgot to take any pictures!

A couple of days later, we took a bus all the way to Jakarta. We were thinking of hitchhiking to the edge of Bali, catching a ferry across to the island of Java and then trying to get on the next train to Jakarta, but the receptionist at our hostel asked us why we didn’t just take a bus. It takes about 24 hours, but at least it was direct, and we opted for that.

I had heard that the Special Region of Yogyakarta was supposed to be pleasant. It was in the middle of Java Island, but we were now already on the far west side after having driven across the entire island. I also later learned about Ijen Volcano, which has blue flames coming out of the ground, in East Java, but both were way too far back. Maybe another time.

In Jakarta, we went to another couchsurfer’s house, and I hung out there while Puujee went to the South Korean embassy to see if she could get a visa to stay in South Korea for an extended period.

It didn’t work out, so we decided to press onward. I never even went downtown in Jakarta, but honestly, I am okay with that. According to google, although it’s “only” the 17th biggest city in the world, it is the 2nd biggest urban area in the world, with it only being beaten by Tokyo. I have never been the biggest fan of huge cities, and not venturing into the depths of that madhouse was fine with me.

In the meantime, I enjoyed my time at our couchsurfer’s house. We went to a night market, had a few dinners together, and we sang karaoke in their house.

We stayed a few nights, and most nights were fine. Except the last night. There are a lot of mosquitos in the area, and we were always using bug spray and a fan while sleeping, and it kept the mosquitos out of our room. But not on the last night.

I am pretty sure that, with no exaggeration, every single mosquito in the entire Jakarta urban area was in our room that night, feasting on the buffet that was my flesh. The window and door were closed, and we had previously sprayed the room, so I am clueless as to how they were getting in, and in such numbers. We had a fan on, which kept them away for the most part, but my far side was shielded from the wind by my very body (that traitor). My right shoulder was more covered by bumps than smooth skin, and it actually grossed me out when I rubbed my hand over it. My back also got bitten bad since I laid on my side for a while. I have never experienced a mosquito assault like that before, and I hope I never will again.

To end things with a bang, the Indonesian independence day took place on our last day in Jakarta, and our host invited us to join him and his sister at a community gathering where games were played. We joined them and we even played in some games. I got second place in the food-eating competition and won some money!

We then left Jakarta in a shuttle and got to the town of Bandar Lampung on the island of Sumatra. From there, we hitchhiked to the west coast. Our destination was Tabo Lake, in the north, and we were told that the west coast of Sumatra was nice, so we figured we would just go to the coast and then up it.

In one town we passed through, there was a parade of kids wanting to take pictures with me. I guess they didn’t get many visitors. We kept walking down the road, and they would pull up on their scooters and want to take pictures. It was taking forever, though, so we would leave them. Then they would drive up ahead and pressure me for pictures again. It was fun at first, but it very quickly got annoying. I eventually just refused to even stop for them, and then they started driving by and giving us the finger. We just ignored them and kept pushing on.

After a few shorter stints, we got picked up by one guy who was going all the way to the west coast. He had a pickup truck, but it was partially covered, so we got to sit in the shade. To add to the luxury, he was carrying rolled-up carpets, resulting in a fairly pleasant hitchhiking experience despite the sun.

We ended up in the village of Krui, where we stayed a few nights. The village doesn’t get many tourists outside of surfers, so we felt a little out of place amongst all the surfer bros. They were still nice, but we just obviously weren’t “in.”

We went with some of the other hostel guests to Banana Island.

 

The island was nice, but there were no bananas! While boating out there, we stopped to snorkel for a bit, but there were a lot of particles in the water, and you couldn’t see very much.

Since I was in a surfing place, I also gave surfing another shot.

The waves were pretty harsh, but I managed to catch a few waves. In the end, though, I don’t think surfing is for me.

We originally wanted to go to Tabo Lake, but when we discovered that it would take multiple days in the bus, we decided we’d rather enjoy our time at the beach than sit in a bus for the next few days, which is why we stayed there for so long.

We also wanted to take a ferry to Singapore from Sumatra, but it was a similar issue. It would take days to get anywhere where a ferry would go to Singapore, so we relented and bought flight tickets instead. We would fly out of Palembang, which was still about 8 hours away in the bus. But we still had a few days before our flight.

On the map, there was a nearby lake, so we just decided to go there before Palembang since it was on the way. Before leaving the town, I pulled out some money from the ATM. I got out the max amount even though we were leaving soon since I figured I could just exchange it before we left. We hitchhiked to Lake Ranau, and despite the short distance, it took us all day.

With our last ride, with the aid of Google translate, we managed to get to a village close to the lake. We hung out with the family for a little bit at their house, and then we eventually went to the village English teacher so we could more properly understand each other since there was no internet access in the town and therefore no Google Translate.

Talking with her, we discovered we needed permission from the village elder to stay in the village. We thought that was a little odd, so we opted to just go to Kota Batu, a village right on the lakeside where we wouldn’t need an elder’s permission. It’s hard to explain—I could easily see needing permission in a “wilder” looking village, but this seemed like a perfectly modern village with modern houses and cars and electricity, and it just struck us as odd that we would need elder permission in such a place. The guy that brought us to the village offered to take us through there and then to the village of Pusri for 300k. That was too much, so he dropped to 200k, but really, we just wanted to walk from there. Then he offered 100k to bring us to Kotu Batu, which was “far,” and they were all making theatrics about how far it was and dangerous. According to maps.me, it did seem to be more than an hour’s walk, but that was because it placed Kotu Batu in the wrong spot. We relented, and he brought us the meager 5km, which we could have easily walked in just about an hour, but whatever…

In Kota Batu, we were brought to the village English teacher. We were a little put off at first because he was too friendly. He really wanted us to come to his class. That’s fine, but he was just so overly friendly and touchy and offered us a room in his house and dinner. And when we decided we wanted to camp on the lake, he told us we could stay near his fish farm on the beach, and it was all just a bit much. We did meet him at his fish farm, but we decided to go farther and camp elsewhere where it wasn’t quite known to the others. We did agree to meet up with him the following day to go to his classes, though, just to see what it was like.

We set up our tent in what seemed like an abandoned garden near someone’s house. At night, the call to prayer rang out for the Muslims. It happens everywhere in Indonesia, but I distinctly remember it there because there were 2 calls from 2 separate mosques. One of them sounded normal, I suppose, while the other one sounded like someone was singing karaoke while very drunk. A religious call, and all I could do was giggle in my tent.

The next morning, we went to the appointed meetup spot and met the English teacher before class at his fish farm.

We even rowed out to the island, which was just more fish farms.

We went to the nearby school and just spoke in a classroom for a bit and answered some questions the students had.

Later, we went downtown and hung out and had lunch at his house. After that, it was class time!

In between his classes, he was kind enough to lend us a scooter so we could drive around the lake and check our Pusri, which is the touristy spot on the lake where people like to swim. The water near Kotu Batu village was okay at best, with all the fish farms. We swam around in the lake near Pusri for a bit, which was refreshing in the much cleaner water there.

After returning, we went to his second class. It was pretty fun, and I was actually impressed with how well his students could speak English.

If anyone goes to South Sumatra, I would recommend Lake Ranau. Additionally, Zachary, the English teacher, would love to have any English-speaking guests over to visit his class. Hit him up at +62 82280806916 on WhatsApp if you’re going through there!

After returning from class, we got caught up in a ping-pong game. We lost, but we did better than I expected since I haven’t played in such a long time. After that, we just hung out for a bit, had dinner, and relaxed at Zachary’s house. I had my initial reservations about him, but he proved to just be a (maybe too) nice guy with a real passion for teaching English to his students.

Next morning, we got on the shuttle bus. The anti-smoking bandwagon hasn’t quite hit Indonesia yet, and some of the passengers were smoking. I thought about bringing it up with the driver, but I then saw that he was also smoking. So much for that. As if the 8 hours of rough roads weren’t enough…

We got to Palembang and walked through downtown, but there didn’t seem much to see other than the bridge.

So we just went to our hotel, which was in a cheaper part of the city. We had a good dinner which included fried rice, coconut rice, fried tofu, and some other things, and it was only 14k, so one dollar.

The next morning was our day to fly. I still had quite a bit of local currency. I didn’t see an exchange around our hotel, but I figured there would be one at the international airport. There were none. There were 2 banks, but I am not sure if I could have exchanged money since they were closed (maybe because it was Saturday?).

Loaded with more than 100 USD in Indonesian Rupiah, we boarded the plane and flew to Singapore.

I liked Indonesia. Maybe my opinion is affected by the poor experiences we faced in the previous country, The Philippines, but it was still nice. I want to be dismissive of Bali since it was so touristy, but I have to admit that I did enjoy my time there. Renting a scooter was definitely a highlight. Jakarta can be skipped I suppose, and I practically did that by never venturing downtown and just staying at my host’s place the entire time. But Sumatra is where it’s at. Exotic, but still not too commercialized. It was still easy to find places where a tourist was a novelty, for better or for worse. I don’t feel I need to go to Bali or Java again, but I would definitely like to come back to Sumatra someday—ideally rent a car to get around more quickly instead of relying on busses. I would also really like to go to the island of Komodo. The people of Indonesia are friendly—sometimes too much, but better that than not friendly. The food is also really good and quite vegetarian friendly if you learn some basic Indonesian food-related words. The only gripe I guess I have is the high tax on alcohol making beers to be at least 3 USD each, but you can’t have everything, I suppose.

 

Useful Tips:

Grab (app) is like Asia’s Uber, but Gojek (another app) is a local variant from Indonesia that seems to often be cheaper. Oddly, though, the drivers always seem to call to ask you where to pick you up. In the app, you can pin exactly where you are on the map, yet they still ask. I often wonder if they just can’t figure it out, or if so many people using the app give incorrect pickup locations that they need to always confirm where to pick you up. In any case, Grab and Gojek are prime ways of getting around. Gojek is usually cheaper, but not all the time, so I always checked both and went with whichever was cheaper.

Traveloka is often used for booking bus and train rides. I also understood that tiket.com can be used for booking train rides. We just ended up using the bus and never booked a train ride, though.