Consulate General of The Republic of Indonesia in Vancouver

(Information on Indonesia Standard Time and Climate, please see Indonesia in Brief )

ACCOMMODATION AND TRANSPORTATION

Every region in Indonesia has its own unique culture and attractions, ranging from historic monuments through up-market holidays to jungle river trips and trekking. The government is constantly developing new areas, increasing hotel accommodation, developing conference facilities for business visitors, and improving all infrastructure’ facilities, including roads, transportation, and telecommunications.

Indonesia offers plenty of luxurious hotels and resorts. For those traveling on shoestring budgets, clean and friendly home stays or losmen s are available in Jakarta, Yogyakarta and Bali.

Besides the Jakarta Soekarno Hatta Airport, which serves both as gateway to the country and hub to all provinces, international flights also arrive at and leave from Bali and Surabaya. There are direct flights from Singapore and Malaysia to several destinations including Medan, Padang, Pekanbaru, Solo, Lombok, Ujung Pandang, and Manado; and from Australia to Kupang and Bali.

Roads on Java, Bali, Lombok, parts of Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi are sufficiently in good conditions for inter-province travel by car or coach. Traveling by train is available all across Java, and short distances in North and South Sumatra. Metered taxis or cars can be hired in all big cities. For a leisurely and quaint sight-seeing drive, try andong or becak in Yogyakarta, or other types of horse-drawn carts.

PELNI shipping lines operate inter-island ferries which offer deck-class to first- class fares. For short hops there are local perahu s with or without outboard motor.

International certificates of valid small-pox, cholera and yellow vaccinations are required only from travelers coming from infected areas.

Cameras, video cameras, portable radios, cassette recorders, binoculars, and sport equipment are admitted provided they are taken out on departure. They must be declared to customs. Strongly prohibited are fire arms, narcotics, drugs, pornographic materials, Chinese printing and medicines, transceivers and cordless telephones. Films, pre-recorded video tapes and laser disks must be screened by the censor board.

There is no restriction on import or export of foreign currencies and travelers cheques. However, the import and export of Indonesia’s currency exceeding 5 million Rupiah is prohibited.

Long distance calls within Indonesia are by direct dial. International Direct Dial (IDD) is available from major cities and hotels to 240 countries.

Long distance, IDD and facsimile services are also available at the telecommunications offices (Wartel-Warung Telpon) in major cities and hotels.

Internet service is still limited to major cities and hotels, although there are few Warnet (Warung Internet) in few places, mostly around universities.

Rice is Indonesia's main staple except in Maluku (the Moluccas) and Papua where sago palm flour, sweet potatoes and cassava reign supreme. As in the rest of Southeast Asia, other dishes are eaten in extremely small quantities. Meat, fish and vegetables are condiments designed to flavor the staple. Sauces such as fiery sambals lend added character. Westerners, accustomed to eating much larger portions of meat and fish, find much of Indonesian food scorchingly hot.

Natural resources include rich volcanic soils and endless coastlines as the islands arc through both the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Although some coastal areas are fished out, fresh water possibilities include lakes, rivers, ponds and flooded rice paddies. Not surprisingly, fish and crustaceans, fresh and dried, play a major role in the Indonesian diet.

Flavorings indigenous to the islands establish strong family ties between Indonesian food and that of its Southeast Asian neighbors. Coconut milk (santan), plays a critical role here as well as in Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, Malaysia, Singapore and parts of Vietnam, Laos and the Philippines. Indonesia shares the flavors of galangal, lime leaf and pandan with Thailand. Lemon grass and dried shrimp appear in the Philippines and Thailand both. Shrimp paste permeates the flavors of all three and Vietnam as well. Meanwhile delicious fruits and vegetables are common to the entire region.

But Indonesia's culinary ties are closest to those Southeast Asian countries strongly influenced by India. In fact, if there are ancient Buddhist or Hindu sites to be found on a country's soil, you can almost bet its cuisine will include ingredients such as cumin, coriander, ginger, and/or caraway. And you will find curries -- highly spiced sauces often diluted with coconut milk and served with bite-sized bits of meat, fish and vegetables to enliven the blandness of rice.

Arab traders ultimately converted Java from Hinduism to Islam and exercised their culinary influence as well. Kebabs, marinated meat cubes threaded on skewers, were reinterpreted to become sate. Dill and fennel entered the repertoire of spices. Today Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world. Not surprisingly, goat and lamb are important meats, while pork is forbidden. It is eaten only in Hindu Bali and within the Chinese community.

Chinese merchants and traders meanwhile added their own indispensable contributions to the cook pot. Indonesian food would be unrecognizable without the wok, stir-frying, the soybean and noodles which thread their way throughout the cuisine in countless ways.

The Dutch, attracted by the nutmeg and cloves of Maluku, waged wars over the Spice Islands and ultimately colonized the entire archipelago. Colonization caused much suffering, but added the finishing touch when it came to flavors. Chili peppers from Mexico added their unmistakable sting. Peanuts from the Americas provided sauces for sate and gado-gado. Cassava from the Caribbean and sweet potatoes from South America furnished Maluku and Papua with their staples.

In this exotic world, Dutch colonizers sought the flavors of home. They imported cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, string beans, potatoes and corn, adding to the already vast array of vegetables. They also created an entertainment institution designed to present scores of different dishes at a single sitting. Rijsttafels might contain up to a hundred different dishes. Servants stood behind the chair of each guest ready to provide soothing morsels when necessary to cool a burning palate.

Today soybeans provide not just nutritious beans for cooking on their own, soy sauce, tofu and sprouts, but tempeh, toasted soybean cakes fashionable in Western health food circles. Chinese soy sauce plays a role similar to fish sauce in Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines. But Indonesians enrich it by the addition of sugar, star anise, salam leaf and galangal to become kecap (pronounces same as “ketchup”) manis or sweet soy sauce, a key ingredient and a dynamite addition to any cook's pantry.