Getting Here
There
are 3 ways of getting here. Most visitors fly in to either Jakarta airport
or Bali airport.
Air
The main gateway is Soekarno Hatta International
Airport. It was recently renovated and boasts the usual collection
of duty free shops and tasteless international restaurants. It is
fairly efficient but beware of the transport touts outside the terminal.
You can change money and do remember to use a proper licensed taxi
service into Jakarta.
Other popular air gateways include Ngurah Rai in Bali and Polonia
airport in Medan. Ngurah Rai is perpetually busy with arrivals and
departures from all over the world as it is an international hub
as well as a domestic hub for air travel to the smaller islands
east of Bali.
International airlines have flights to Indonesia, including Garuda
Indonesia, Air Asia, Air France, Cathay Pacific, China Airlines,
China Southern Airlines, Continental Airlines, Eva Air, Japan Airlines,
KLM, Korean Air, Lufthansa, Malaysia Airlines, Philippine Airlines,
Qantas Airways, Silk Air, Singapore Airlines, and Thai Airways International.
The cheapest flights usually originate from Singapore.
Air Asia and Lion Air have cheap flights from Singapore to Jakarta.
Sea
It
will surprise you that there are few international ports that allow international
entry into this vast archipelago. The most favorite sea-crossing would
be from Singapore to Batam. Cheap and handy if you need to do a visa run.
There is also a popular Penang Medan ferry.
Within Indonesia domestic travel is generally by PELNI which is the National
shipping agency.
There are Yachts and Cruise Ships that cross Indonesian borders, but
none of them come from the Philippines. Indonesia and Philippines have
never opened an international crossing.
Land(Border Crossing)
There are 3 land crossings. Kuching (Malaysia) to Pontianak (Kalimantan),
Motoain (between East Timor and West Timor Indonesia), and the last one
is in Papua, between Vanimo (Pappua New Guinea) and Sentani (Papua Indonesia).
All of these roads are open, but are sometimes closed for political reasons.
Do check before you try to pass the border as these are remote places.
