Jakarta Transportation

AIR: Indonesia has a good internal air system linking most of the larger towns to Jakarta. Domestic flights from Jakarta depart from Terminal 1 at Soekarno Hatta International Airport (except Garda Airlines flights, which leave from Terminal 2). Domestic operators include: Bouraq Indonesia Airlines (BO), Garuda Indonesia (GA), and Merpati Nusantara Airlines (MZ).

Cheap fares: The Asean Air Pass offers special fares on domestic flights and gives access to varying numbers of cities depending on the ticket bought. Passes must be bought at Garuda Indonesia offices in Europe, USA, Australia and Japan (not available inside Indonesia). For prices and further information contact Garuda Indonesia on (tel: (020) 7486 3011; fax: (020) 224 3971).

Departure tax: Rp11,000 if departing from Jakarta airport. Rp9900 if departing from all other airports (infants under the age of 2 are exempt).

SEA: PELINI, the state-owned shipping company, has six modern ferries serving all the main ports across the archipelago. Foreign cruise liners also operate on an irregular basis. Luxury cruise ships offer trips to various destinations, including the eastern islands (leaving from Bali). For further details, contact the Indonesia Tourism Promotion Office (see Contact Addresses section).

RAIL: Children under three travel free. Children aged three to seven pay half fare. There are nearly 7000km (4350 miles) of track on Sumatra, Madura and Java. In Sumatra trains connect Belawan, Medan and Tanjong Balai/Rantu Prapet (two or three trains daily) in the north, and Palembang and Panjang (three trains daily) in the south. An extensive rail network runs throughout Java.

The Bima Express, which has sleeping and restaurant cars, links Jakarta and Surabaya; there are also other express services. There are three classes of travel, but first-class exists only on principal expresses. There is some air-conditioned accommodation.

ROAD: Traffic drives on the left. There are over 378,000km (234,360 miles) of roads in the country, of which about 28,500km (17,670 miles) are main or national roads and 200km (125 miles) are motorway. Nearly half of the network is paved. There are good road communications within Java and to a lesser extent on Bali and Sumatra.

The other islands have poor road systems, although conditions are improving with tourism becoming more important. Road tolls are in operation on some major city roads and need to be paid for by visitors if using a taxi. Chauffeur-driven cars are widely available, with rates varying according to the type of destination.

Bus: There are regular services between most towns. Bus trips can be made from Jakarta to Bali (two days). Indonesia is the land of jam karet (literally ‘rubber time’) and complicated journeys involving more than