Is Indonesia safe to travel to?

Tim Hancock · 01-03-2013, 04:49 PM

My employer might need me to visit some remote gas/oil fields in Indonesia in a week or two. I am not sure of the exact location yet. In general, is it safe to travel there?

Hugh R · 01-03-2013, 04:59 PM

We use this, in part.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/

Tishabet · 01-03-2013, 05:05 PM

Depends a lot on where, but overall yes it is safe. I would put it on par with most Caribbean nations in terms of personal safety and crime concerns.

I had no qualms about sending my pretty blonde pregnant wife there with one of her girlfriends, for example.

Nostril Cheese · 01-03-2013, 05:07 PM

Bali is nice.

Dottore · 01-03-2013, 05:07 PM

Not a problem at all from a people standpoint.

If you are in some of the outlying islands the flying can however get pretty dodgy.

stuartj · 01-03-2013, 07:13 PM

Bali is quite different to the rest of Indonesia, the Balinese are Bhuddist, Bali is beautiful. Indonesian culture varies dramtically across the archipelago, there are some wild frontiers- probably the sort of places youre going to.

Indo is the biggest Islamic country in the world. Its highly corrupt. Jakarta just sucks, I avoid it like the plague.

Unless youre going to surf......

Shaun @ Tru6 · 01-03-2013, 07:16 PM

I can put you in touch with a friend of mine there, fellow Pelican, has a few 911s.

Tishabet · 01-03-2013, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stuartj

Bali is quite different to the rest of Indonesia, the Balinese are Bhuddist, Bali is beautiful. Indonesian culture varies dramtically across the archipelago, there are some wild frontiers- probably the sort of places youre going to.

Indo is the biggest Islamic country in the world. Its highly corrupt. Jakarta just sucks, I avoid it like the plague.

Unless youre going to surf......

Bali is Hindu, but what you are saying is definitely true... Don't read a bali guidebook and think you know Indonesia.

I thought Jakarta was not bad, not great.

Tim, where in particular might you go?

stuartj · 01-03-2013, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tishabet

Bali is Hindu, but what you are saying is definitely true... Don't read a bali guidebook and think you know Indonesia.

I thought Jakarta was not bad, not great.

Tim, where in particular might you go?

Youre quite right, mental blank of my part. In my defence the flavour of Hinduism practised in Bali is unique and mixed up with Bhuddism and all sorts of other things. I think I have a Bali guidebook, but Ive spent quite a bit of time in Jakarta, and know Java, the Mentawis and ofcourse Bali. Its a very diverse place.

911boost · 911boost's Garage

Tim, I was in Jakarta for 6 days at the end of October. PM me and I can give you some pointers.

Bill

BlueSkyJaunte · 01-03-2013, 11:38 PM

I spent 2 months working in Semarang (central Java--not the bustling metropolis that Jakarta is) back in the late 90's. It was interesting, to say the least. Drop me a PM if you'd like to chat about it.

mph911 · 01-04-2013, 12:36 AM

Being Australian and with our close proximity to Indonesia, i've been on numerous occasions. Mainly Surfing trips, Bali, Lombok, and Sumbawa. I have many friends living in Bali and they have the usual problems (theft etc). The rest of Indo, as stated is Muslim, and I know of people having some issues in certain areas. That being said, many westerner's do work and travel throughout the area so I would not be overly concerned.
The thing that I would be most concerned with is flying throughout the region. It can be dodgy to say the least.

Tim Hancock · 01-04-2013, 02:34 AM

Thanks guys.....

We manufacture the mechanical portion a new style of gas/oil rod pumps. Several of them were recently installed somewhere in Indonesia and one of them apparently has a problem. Depending on how bad the problem ends up being, I may have to go.

I may contact some of you guys if I indeed end up having to go as I have no clue about planning/executing this type of travel.

cashflyer · 01-04-2013, 06:53 AM

When I was in Jakarta, I felt it was the most dangerous city I had ever visited.

At the money exchange office, the armed guards locked you inside to conduct your transaction. You had to stow away your currency before they would let you out of the building, and a guard would walk you out to the road - then you were on your own.

Lots of typical city stuff... beggars, drunks, people pissing in random places, etc.

Helps to know which taxi cabs are safe, and which will rip you off.

I was there in the wake of the 1998 riots, and there was still a lot of violence against the Chinese-Indonesians.

It's probably changed a lot since I was there over a decade ago. I'm sure its a lot safer now - have fun.

FWIW: Islam is the dominant religion in Indonesia, which also has a larger Muslim population than any other country in the world.

BlueSkyJaunte · 01-04-2013, 07:05 AM

You need to start getting vaccinations now.

Health Information for Travelers to Indonesia - Travelers' Health - CDC

Geary · 01-04-2013, 07:59 AM

Bali has been overrun by Javanese .. the worst of them. The mellow Balinese didn't stand a chance. Keep your guard up no matter where you are in Indo. Have hidden cash on hand to help in any emergency .. and don't even travel there if you're Chinese or Japanese. If Indo didn't have surf, I'd spend zero time there.

Joeaksa · 01-04-2013, 08:06 AM

Its not as bad as it was a while ago. Just keep your nose clean and do not go out wandering alone around the city, especially at night.

Carry a photocopy of your passport and keep it in the safe in the hotel.

Dottore · 01-04-2013, 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Geary

Bali has been overrun by Javanese .. the worst of them. The mellow Balinese didn't stand a chance. Keep your guard up no matter where you are in Indo. Have hidden cash on hand to help in any emergency .. and don't even travel there if you're Chinese or Japanese. If Indo didn't have surf, I'd spend zero time there.

Wow! What a paranoid comment. I lived in Jakarta for three years, travelled all over the Indonesian archipelago and always felt perfectly safe - except for the various dodgy inter-island flights.

Nice people. Even Jakarta is a hidden treasure if you have an inside track and get to know some locals. Great history. Great artistic traditions. Unbelieveably beautiful islands. IMO Indonesia is the most complex and interesting country in SEAsia.

RWebb · RWebb's Garage

https://sites.google.com/site/venomousdangerous/snakes/asia-s-most-venomous-snakes

Geary · 01-05-2013, 09:01 AM

Thanks for asking, Dottore. To be fair, I know a few Hawaii folks who now call Bali home, and they love it down there .. and an old room mate lived in Jakarta for over a decade, overseeing production of his successful clothing company, likewise never having any significant problems.

The Bali I first visited in '75 struck me as a surfer's paradise. This was the Bali described in Star Black's excellent book, "Guide to Bali". I spent about 10 months of my 3+ years traveling SE Asia in Bali. The changes I saw in Kuta during just that short period were pretty astounding. It began with a few pimps/girls cruising Kuta on motorcycles each evening, and by '78 it had gotten pretty bad. (BTW, as a young traveler, I never felt danger at any time during my travels. It's in retrospect that I realize there were times I should have .. especially when I was literally the only westerner for 50 miles in any direction.)

I didn't know it at the time, but 100,000 Chinese had been slaughtered just a couple years prior to my initial Indo visit. Apparently, this level of brutality is not uncommon in parts of the country. My very favorite Kuta shop was owned by the nicest Chinese guy. We kinda hit it off, and I spent hours talking with him. I still have his family's Chinese embroidered altar hanging, which he had replaced with a Batik altar hanging because the original was in a state of disrepair. He and his family disappeared from the scene, and I never did find out where they went.

During one of my stays, I hooked up with a lovely Japanese American girl, who had been traveling Indo alone for a couple months. According to her, every day she would get a few " **ck Yous" from passers by. WWII Japanese occupation forces had been very cruel in Indonesia .. but only approaching a level of cruelty exhibited by the Indonesian military in Timor during the late '70s.

In '78, I was involved in a traffic accident on Bali, which landed me in the hospital for a day. It hadn't been my fault, but I did pay .. I had no choice. At least they waited until the following day to hit me up. I was easy to find. Kuta was relatively uncrowded in those days, and i was the only surfer sitting on the beach with a full arm cast.

It was another 15 years until I visited Bali again with a bunch of Hawaii guys. It took me two days to realize that the huge hotel we were staying in sat on the very spot I used to sleep in a $5/night tent. Our one night out we went to a new two-story nightclub that was THE place to be for Westerners. It didn't even start rocking until 11:00 or so. OMG, what a change from the earlier days. Not my cup of tea, but it kept a lot of the young Aussie surfers from surfing the early sessions. (We headed on to G-Land surf camp the next day, anyhow.) A couple years later, that nightclub was bombed, killing a couple hundred young party-goers. Our son lost a couple good friends that night.

Again, to be fair, my impressions are not shared by most .. but it's smart not to be complacent anywhere in SE Asia.