Carnet duration in Indonesia - how long can we stay?
 

We are currently in Indonesia after crossing the border from Timor Leste.
It appears that our Carnet's have been stamped in correctly but with no dates apparent.

As we plan to apply for a visa extension to stay in Indonesia for an other 30 days (our original visa is only 30 days), does anyone know if we need to apply for a carnet extension too. It would seem strange to do so if there are no dates on the carnet.

BTW - the ride through Flores was spectacular.
The traffic in Bali a little chaotic :thumbup1:

Cheers,
Ro
:funmeteryes:

Hi Ro,

I had similar problem in Iran, but only got a 10 days stamp. So I called my automobile club at home, who issued the carnet. The guy said for every country there is a certain amaount which is fix and he can search this in his papers. For Iran it was 6 months, in our case and he never heard about the story, which I was telling him before.

What I wanted to say is. Contact your person at the place where your carnet is issued. The should know about it!

Cheers

Alex

As far as I know teh bike can stay up to 6 Month with your carnet in Indo. You should have applied b4 for the 2 Month visa because this you can extend up to 6 Month. The 30 day visa on arrival you can only extend for another 30 days. thats it...

Wait till you get to Java and another Xtreame is Sumatera. They drive like there is no tomorrow and you are at the end of the food chain... good luck! :rofl: Dont go to slow, othervise they just push you from the street...

Safe ride!

Cheers from Tasi!

Thanks for the reply guys. I will check with my automobile club, but will assume the default is that the carnet will be for 6 months

We applied for the 2 month visa in Dili, with all the correct paperwork, sponsor and request letter, but were still only given 30 days. I asked about this and it seems that this is the instruction that they are given at the Dili embassy at present - so no 60 day visas :(

We will apply for an extension in Jakarta and hopefully that will not be a problem.

And I was hoping that the driving in Sumatra might be a little better than Java - oh well, when in Rome...

Cheers,
Ro

Many things could have changed by now.. but I went through Sumatra & Java 5 years ago, and for me, traffic in Java was much worse, though Sumatra wasn´t like a walk in the park either. Road condition was something to be wary of everywhere, huge chunks of road sunken into a gorge, or enormous potholes without a warning on an otherwise good road, etc.

But I rode mostly on the plains in Java, and took a more hilly/mountaineous route in Sumatra (Lake Toba-Sipirok-Bukittinggi-Lubuklinggau-Bukit Kemuning-Bandarlampung)... felt to me like it was a good choice, because first of all, it wasn´t as oppressively hot as on the areas right at sea level. And generally there wasn´t an impossible amount of traffic, and on a bike you were able to easily leave the trucks and buses behind on the curvy sections, much safer than having them breathing down your neck there – on the plains it was more like a videogame, everybody passing everybody. But on some big hills, the road was extremely steep, and rains had washed away its surface, so sometimes it was like off-road hill climbing, tricky on a heavy bike, but luckily there weren´t too many such hills on the way. They were actually using bulldozers to pull the buses and trucks up those hills!

(...Oh yeah, NOT getting the 60-day visa, just a 3-day visa-on-arrival, was one of my biggest mistakes in Indo!)

Not entirely sure how long you are actually allowed to have the bike in the country officially, but I stayed about 8,5 months in total, bike never left the country during that time and there was no problem at all at the Timor Leste border crossing.

Was stamped in Medan.


Enjoy Indo, and give java a pass if your pushed for time as sumatra is way better riding imho, also the extension in jakarta is a bitch, the smaller the city you do it in, the less neves will be wrecked.

And maybe pack a day or two for south-wester sumatra beach time, deserted perfect beaches with loads of space for camping and nobody for kms either way.

Have fun!

My bike was in Indo for nearly 10 months, under cover of a valid carnet of course: from September-10th, 2011 --> to July-5th, 2012. It wasn't a problem.

The traffic around Java really started to wear me down towards the end of my time on that most populous island on Earth.

Java traffic = hard work! :mad3:

All the best

Keith

If you think Bali traffic is chaotic, I recommend you go nowhere within 100 KM of Jakarta.

Thanks for all the info and advice. I do feel more comfortable about the carnet now. And I certainly get the feeling that I am not alone in my thoughts about the traffic in Jave. :( Mind you, I am getting more used to it as time gores on.

As for the visa, I will extend that in Jakarta.
Yes, I have to go to Jakarta - to see friends and for a little work too, along the way. I am doing a little work related to my work back home. Facebook page below.

We are now still in Java and have been riding up in the mountains hunting for volcanoes. Fantastic! The cool air is a welcome change as well. So strange feeling cool.

Wil head to Solo tomorrow and spend a work day there and then keep going west via Jakarta. I am looking forward to Sumatra, although I have to say, people here in Java have been absolutely fantastic. Friendly and helpful all the time. Very excited about the BIG DRZ400 with the translucent fuel tank.

Cheers,

Ro

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