GETTING
TO INDONESIA - Time Difference: Indonesia
is 1 hour behind Singapore
Unless
you have plenty of time on your hands and don't mind taking a slow
boat to Indonesia, I'd say the best way to get to there is by air.
To
get to either Sumatra or Java by ferry, you must first travel to
Batam, part of the Riau Islands of Indonesia. From there, there
are PELNI ferries to Belawan (port in Medan, Sumatra) and Tanjung
Priok (port in Jakarta, Java). PELNI stands for PT Pelayaran Nasional
Indonesia, a state-owned sea transportation company. They have a
website where you can check
schedules and fares.
The
ferry ride from Singapore to Batam is about 45 minutes, and the
one-way fare costs about S$25. There are several ferry operators,
one of which Penguin Ferry Services
has been receiving good reviews for their reliability. You can catch
their ferries to Batam from World Trade Centre Ferry Terminal in
Singapore. For more information, contact their sales counter at
(65) 6271 4866.
A
PELNI ferry by the name of Kelud departs Batam at 5.00 p.m. once
every 4 days for Belawan (port in Medan). The cheapest one-way fare
costs Rp121,500 (about S$25) and the journey takes about 17 hours
(i.e. you'll arrive at Belawan at 10.00 a.m. the next day).
Take a look below for our friend, Fredrik
Larsen's advice:
""First,
take a boat from the World Trade Centre in Singapore to Batam. S$21
one way. You should take the 7.30am or 8.05am boat to be on Batam
in time for the conncection to Sumatra. After clearing immigration
in Batam, walk right to get to the terminal for the boats to Sumatra.
I
took a boat from Batam all the way to Pekanbaru. It is also possible
to catch boats to Buton on the coast of Sumatra (from where you
can continue by bus to Sumatra), and to Dumai. The trip all the
way to Pekanbaru costs Rp. 186.000 or S$37, and takes almost 9 hours.
After I bought my ticket a guy tried to rip me off by demanding
a S$50 "port tax". The port tax is Rp. 2.500. I think
it is included in the ticket. In any case, don't give them S$50!
Most
of the boats from Batam leave in the morning, so even if you take
an early boat from Singapore, there is going to be a very tight
connection. Because of that, it may be smart to change money before
you leave Singapore. At least you should bring water and perhaps
some food for the long boat trip.
When
you finally arrive in Pekanbaru there is a few minutes ride by minibus
into the city centre. If you share bus with other people, this should
cost you Rp. 2.000-3.000. If you hire the whole veichle, it is more
like Rp. 20.000. In Pekanbaru, there are a couple of places to sleep
near the bus terminal. I was told that Poppies Homestay is good.
From
Pekanbaru you can catch the bus to Bukittingi. This is a slow 5
to 7 hours trip, depending on the bus. The price is from Rp. 22.000
to Rp. 35.000. The bus drives through some beautiful scenery, so
it is quite a nice trip.
You
should probably ask other people for feedback on the information
I have given you here. Conditions change rapidly in Indonesia, so
the next time someone do this trip things may well be different.""
Alternatively,
advice from a well travelled hand, our friend, Jerry Drawhorn:
I
promised to give you a note on whether it was possible to get from
Singapore to Bukittinggi in ONE day! It is...just barely.
If
you catch the first ferry from the WTC to Tanjung Balai Karimun
you will artrive about 30 minutes before the earliest ferry to Pekanbaru
comes in from Batam. Usually clearing cistoms and immigration at
Tanjung Balai is fairly efficient, and one can get the ticket from
the lokets next to the international ferry slip.
If
you miss it there are options to Dumai (as Schelle recommends),
or later ferries to P'baru.
However only
the first ferry will get you to P'baru in time to catch a minivan
on to Bukittinggi. You'll arrive in P'baru around 3 PM and then
have to wait an hour or so for the minivan. Arrival in B'tinggi
is around 11 PM.
A
PELNI ferry by the name of Sinabung departs Batam at 10.00 a.m.
once every 4 days for Tanjung Priok (port in Jakarta). The cheapest
one-way fare costs Rp177,500 (about S$35) and the journey takes
about 26 hours (i.e. you'll arrive at Tanjung Priok at 12.00 p.m.
the next day).
If
you're heading for Bali, you'll have to take another ferry by the
name of Dora Londa from Tanjung Priok to Surabaya. This ferry departs
Tanjung Priok for Surabaya at 1.00 p.m. and 6.00 p.m., and the cheapest
one-way fare costs Rp132,000 (about S$26). Once you get to Surabaya,
transfer to a bus to Denpasar.
Check
www.airfares.com.sg for
airfares for various destinations from Singapore.
You
can also choose to take a domestic flight from Batam to various
destinations in Indonesia. A user-friendly website for this would
be www.travelindo.com/search/flight/. |