Links on this site

Indonesia trade and business

Jakarta pubs, bars

Some things to do if you have a day or two in Jakarta

 

General information: Maps, statistics, history, language, culture, etc.

• The Indonesian Language. There is only one official languages, Bahasa Indonesian, and except in remote areas all Indonesians can speak it. It is a close relative of Malay. There are hundreds of other local languages and dialects but generally the visitor need not know about them. English is widely spoken in business in major cities and Bali, but you may need an interpreter when dealing with smaller businesses, etc. Click here for more information from www.expat.or.id

• Pancasila The philosophical basis of the Indonesian state. 

• History of Indonesia www.prica.org/indonesia/general/history.html

• History of Indonesia Wikipedia

• Maps of Indonesia. This University of Texas site has a good selection

• Indonesian weather OK, basically it is hot (typically 30C/85F or so in the daytime) and humid. But, in a country 5000km across and straddling the equator and with mountains over 4000m, there are of course significant regional differences. The wet season in Java and Bali is roughly from October to April (but this can vary a lot, especially in El Nino and La Nina years); in some areas, north of the equator, the seasons are reversed.

• Health. There are good hospitals and clinics in Jakarta and some major cities, but elsewhere, even in Bali, facilities are very limited except for simple ailments.

• Links:

  Joglosemar Online (Yogyakarta-Solo-Semarang, Indonesia) Has lots of very useful data and links. Though it is focussed on central Java, it has much of general interest. It covers culture (very good on Javanese culture), travel, business, etc.

Travel, leisure: transport, hotels, agents, hotels, entertainment

• Travel - international flights. Garuda is the national airline and much improved in recent years I think. Many others serve Jakarta and/or Bali including: Singapore Airlines, Thai, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Air France, Malaysian, Emirates, KLM, Lufthansa, etc. There also international flights from most major cities, especially to Singapore.

• Travel - domestic flights

• Hotels

• Restaurants

• Jakarta Travel - a useful site for visitors to Jakarta

• Jakarta pubs, bars

• Some things to do if you have a day or two in Jakarta

Excursions in the Jakarta area

• Pulau Seribu = Thousand Islands: Actually about 600 islands, the nearest a few km. from Jakarta, the furthest over 100km. About 10 islands are resorts suitable for weekend visits; there are also some private resort islands belonging to companies and individuals. Most offer snorkelling, and sometimes diving, but much of the coral has been destroyed by reef bombing and pollution. One island (Pulau Bira) has a small (9 hole) golf course.

• Beach resorts of Anyer, Carita, etc.

• Krakatoa. Off the coast near Anyer/Carita. Scene of the famous 1883 eruption which was heard in Australia and caused dust clouds and climate disturbance around the world.

• Pelabuhan Ratu.

News

• The Jakarta Post  Indonesia's leading English language daily newspaper - and a pretty good one too.

• Jakarta News Lots of news and includes some useful links

• Indonesian Expat Newsletter This is an excellent and free newsletter with daily (in practise a few issues a week) news clips on Indonesia including politics and business. It is also a newsletter for Bugils pub. You can subscribe on the website at www.bartele.com. Recommended. And so is the pub.

Articles about Indonesia

• Can Indonesia survive until 2050? An excerpt taken from Ahmad Syafii Maarif's speech in a seminar held by The Right Path Movement Forum (Forum Jalan Lurus) on May 20, 2002.

• Mining  A report from the Far East Economic Review, July 2002 "A worrying combination of decentralization, misguided nationalism, higher taxes and new regulations has discouraged foreign investment in one of the region's most resource-rich countries. The result is the steady decline of Indonesia's mining industry"