Indonesia Info?
 

We are currently in Thailand heading to Aus. via malaysia and then possibly Indonesia. Is anyone in Indonesia now, or have any up to date travel news concerning motorcycle travel there?
Thanks cameron

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Hi Cameron. We have been in Indonesia for 6 weeks making our way from Sumatra to Timor where we can cargo the bikes to Australia.

To get the bikes into Sumatra we had to send them over in a small boat from the port of Kuala Lingi (50km north of Malacca). 400 Ringit a bike. We had to take the passenger ferry from Malacca, after that its a day spent in Dumai (Sumatra) sorting out paperwork with police and customs.

Sumatra - roads are hellish in places and to be honest we didn't like the place too much. It being ramedan didn't help. Lots of tropical vegetation if thats your scene.

Java - badly congested in the west but gets really nice the more south/east you go, some fantastic mountain roads to do here and its lovely and cool up high. Riding round the Mt. Bromo crater was out personal highlight

Bali - well not much to say except that its a great place to relax for a few days before heading on. Thats where we are writing from.

Advice. You only get 2 months visa and its not much time for the size of the country. suggest blatting through Sumatra and taking your time in the more interesting places.

Locals ? Very friendly indeed, no hassles at all. Petrol extrememly cheap and seems to be of reasonable quality.

Visa extensions: we have tried here in Bali and got nowhere fast.

Hope the above helps.

Hi Kirsten,

I plan to ship from Timor to Darwin as well (am in Thailand right now) so I would apriciate any good info...

Enjoy your travel
Maarten

I also travelled from Malaysia, through Indonesia and shipped to Darwin from East Timor and have the following comments to add.
Firstly it is possible to travel through Indonesia without a Carnet de Passage (I have an Enfield Bullet 500cc so cannot get one now). I threw myself on the mercy of Customs and the police in Jakarta having arrived by catamaran after a voyage where I swore if I ever made it to Jakarta alive I would get me and my bike off. I refused to continue the planned journey by boat. The authorities could not have been more helpful once they understood my plight and issued me with permits, letters and maps and sent me on my way.
I had a GREAT TIME and eventually arrived in East Timor where I was told by the shipping agent I would have to have the bike thoroughly cleaned before shipping. Here is my second point.
Kirsten had also advised me about the stringent check from quarantine on the Darwin side so I went to CB Logistics Pty. Ltd. at Hera Port where Kirsten had had her bike cleaned. She received the service for a slab of tinnies (pack of beer) but the outfit had changed hands by the time I got there and I was charged a staggering US$50 (not AUS$50 as originally agreed) for the service which took me 12 hours to complete as they insisted on me practically stripping the bike and then power hosing each part.I was lucky to have any paint left on it. When the bike arrived in Darwin, it got a brief check from the quarantine officer and was passed. I am convinced that a THOROUGH wash would have been sufficient and warn anyone else not to go to Hera Port for this procedure.
Hope this helps someone else. Best wishes,
Jacqui Furneaux (UK) jacasia@hotmail.com