Java (Surabaya)
 

Hey guys,

just wont to know if somebody is traveling thru Indonesia in June this year? Me and my wife start our trip on the 4th of june on our own bike! Would be good to catch up with someone to join in to the trip or so... we start in Surabaya and head to Bali first for a week or so and after that we go back to Java and want to travel all the way up to Thailand... exiting :-)

Regards, Mario & Yvonne :scooter:

I've heard bad things about traffic in Surabaya, and indeed all major Indo cities. We avoided them like the plague. My advice for Java and Sumatra is to stay away from all major roads and cities.

thanks for that! I know that but the thing is I have to ship it somewhere in Java to get the bike there :-) first idea was Jakarta, but that is even a bigger nightmare with traffic I think! Have you done Java?

Cheers, Mario

Let us know how you get on shipping into Surabaya. I think you might be the first here to have succeeded.

Yes, we travelled from Thailand to Timor Leste. Click the link below.

don't tell me that... my bike is getting shipped with alpha cargo from Cairns (Australia) into Surabaya!
he gave me the option to get it to jakarta or surabaya. Because we want to go further to bali I said to him to ship it to surabaya. Will be closer then to get to Bali from there... takes about 3 weeks and the bike goes out of Brisbane the 1 week of May and arrived aprox. 4th of june in Surabaya

It's not just Surabaya. If you read here what others have written you will not like it, now that your bike has been shipped.

May I suggest you contact the Indo embassy and ask them for a letter authorising you to ride your bike in Indo. This goes back a few years when apparently it was illegal to take vehicles into Indo and we did need this permit. It appears that this has stuck with some customs people. You may not need the letter, but if you do and you haven't got it... :funmeterno:

If you run into difficulties you could try to take some food into the customs office. A friend of ours did that when he (illegally) imported his bike into Philippines. Worked wonders. :innocent:

Hi Peter,

first thanks for the information! The bike is not shipped yet... we are currently in germany and the bike is still in cairns (Australia) It is already in the crate and getting shipped in the first week of May!
we fly basicly from here to Surabaya andpick the bike up there. Of course I have the carnet documents is well and filled out all the paperwork with the shipping agent before we left.
I asked him 3times if there is anything else he needs and he said everything is fine. What exactly is that paperwork you said what I maybe need to clear customs there and where can I get it?
we go to the indonesian embussy in Berlin anyway to get the extended visitor Visa for 60 days insted of 30 days at the airport.

Thanks for your help so fahr

Mario :scooter:

I can't help you any further, I'm afraid. I have read in several places from people who had a letter of authorisation either from customs HQ in Jakarta or from an Indo embassy. Then there was my old friend Linda who shipped her bike to Dumai and had it confiscated on arrival. She had to go to Jakarta to get the authorisation, although the staff there told her she didn't need it.

The only port where I am aware of people entering by sea without this letter is Belawan and that's where we entered, too. (Without letter)

Hi Peter,

I just sent the shipping agent an e-mail and changed the shipping into Malaysia (Port Kelang) I hope that is a better place???

Cheers, Mario

As long as you have a valid carnet you should have no problems with Malaysian authorities. You need insurance and I suggest you contact local Malaysian bikers ahead of time to help you arrange this. You could start here http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/com...tEnglish.shtml and here Bikers Lounge

To get to Indo search HUBB for Cakra Shipping. This is a fairly painless way to cross and from there Bob's your uncle.
:funmeteryes: