10 FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE TRAVELLING TO INDONESIA

Indonesia is one of the countries with so many popular tourism destinations for travellers all around the world. World’s largest archipelagic country stretch from Sabang to Merauke, Indonesia offers various tourisms ranging from beautiful beaches, breath-taking mountains, mesmerizing cultural heritage sites, and even places for those who seek glitzy and luxurious vacation. For those of you who want to put Indonesia to your travel destination, it is better to read these 10 facts about Indonesia first to help maximize your travel experience of Indonesia.

1. Indonesia is so much more than just Bali

It is not a secret if Bali is the number one tourist destination in Indonesia. Even many foreigners confused and mistaken Indonesia as part of Bali instead of Bali is a part of Indonesia. Bali is indeed a beautiful place that worth a visit, but Indonesia is so much more than just Bali. There are so many others destinations that you can discover in Indonesia aside from visiting beautiful beaches in Bali.

You like to go diving and snorkeling? There are 600 dive spots scattered from Sabang until Merauke (my recommendations try to search for Raja Ampat in Google). You like to go hiking? Indonesia has 400 volcanoes, of which 130 of them are still active and become the belle of the hikers until now. What about cultural heritage and historical tours? Indonesia has lots of them; you must not miss the Borobudur Temple, the largest Buddhist temple in the world. For those of you who want to have tour while enjoying the fauna diversity, Indonesia also have the answer for you. Start from Orangutan sanctuary, Javan Rhinoceros conservation, and not to mention Komodo Island, the only place where you can see Komodo Dragon, the last and only living dinosaurs on Earth.

2. Visa-free visits to Indonesia

If you think about visiting Indonesia but worried of being bothered with long visa-application process, do not worry, there might be a chance you can visit Indonesia without visa. So far, there are 169 countries with visa-free visits to Indonesia; below is the list of the countries:

South Africa, Albania, Algeria, United States of America, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Netherlands, Belarusian, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Czech, Chad, Chile, Denmark, Dominican (Commonwealth), Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Fiji, Philippines, Finland, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Hongkong (SAR), India, England, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, German, Cambodia, Canada, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Comoros, South Korea, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao (SAR), Madagascar, Macedonia, Maldives, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Morocco, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Egypt, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Nicaragua, Norway, Oman, Palau, Palestine, Panama, Ivory Coast, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, France, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Dominican Republic, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Navis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and Grenadis, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, New Zealand, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Cyprus, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spanish, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Vatican Holy See, Cape Verde, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunis, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, China, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnamese, Jordan, Greece, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

3. You do not need big budget to have vacation in Indonesia

For those of you who want to travel with limited budget, Indonesia is the right choice for you to get maximum and memorable travel experience with low budget. Recently, the World Economic Forum (WEF) released a biennial report on travel and tourism competitiveness based on the country's security, infrastructure, health and cultural resources. Guess what? Indonesia is ranked the top 5 countries that present competitive prices for tourists along with Algeria, Malaysia, Egypt and Iran! You will be very satisfied with your vacation time and experience in Indonesia and even still be able to set aside some money to buy souvenirs for your friends and family at home with also cheap and reasonable price.

4. The sun shines all year

Number one questions that arise when planning to visit a region for a vacation is “When is the right time to come?” In Indonesia, the right time concept is not exactly exist because in here the sun shines throughout the year. Weather in Indonesia is very friendly so you can visit almost at any time of the year. There are only 2 seasons in Indonesia, summer and rainy season, but even when rainy season, the rainfall is not too big and often, so the sun still shines most of the time. However, for some tourist activities such as diving, snorkeling, or hiking, you still have to monitor the weather forecast, okay?

5. Most hospitable country in the world

One of the very first impressions that will arise in the minds of tourists who have come to Indonesia is about how friendly Indonesian people are. Indonesian people are very generous with their smile especially to foreign tourists. Greetings and shrill to an unknown person can also be a fun thing you will find in Indonesia. Not surprisingly, Indonesia ranked 6th for the most friendly countries in the world. You will find Indonesian people very helpful as they are very easy to talk to while you are travelling around Indonesia even if they understand so little of English.

6. You will be called as ‘Bule’

Indonesians have their own designation for foreign tourists who visit Indonesia. They will call you 'Bule'. Bule is a commonly used word in Indonesia to describe a foreigner, especially people of European descent with light hair color, light eye color and pale skin. However even if you are not looking like European descent at all, they will usually refer you to it as well once they realize you are from outside Indonesia. So, do not be surprised if many Indonesians you never know before immediately call you 'Mr. Bule 'or' Mrs. Bule’.

7. Indonesian people do not use toilet paper in toilet

Do not expect to easily find toilet paper in Indonesian toilets, especially in public toilets. Indonesians are not used to use toilet paper to ‘cleanse’ after completing their business in the toilet. Generally they will use water from hose available beside the toilet. Then where will you find toilet paper? Do not be surprised because in Indonesia toilet paper is used as tissue. As much as you find it odd, but it is a common thing in Indonesia to use it as regular tissue. So, make sure to bring your own toilet paper wherever you go just in case you cannot find one in the toilet.

8. Rice is everything for Indonesians

Rice is the staple food in almost all parts of Indonesia. The average Indonesian eats rice 2 or 3 times a day. Do not expect to see Indonesians abide the 40% carbs rule, for them rice should occupy 60% of the total food portion. There is a joke among Indonesians that they will never be full before eating rice, even if they already eat noodles, a box of pizza, or a bucket of chicken wings. Therefore, do not be surprised if you will find so many foods which come with rice start from breakfast, lunch, to dinner in Indonesia.

9. Do not forget the ‘sambal’

Sambal is designation for traditional hot sauce of Indonesia. Another culinary facts in Indonesia is Indonesians will feel any meals won’t be complete without sambal. Indonesians love sambal and spicy foods. For them, any food will taste delicious if it is accompanied by sambal, started from eating meat or fish, pizza, Indonesian traditional fruit salad called rujak, even eating crackers, all will be suitable paired with sambal. No wonder in Indonesia alone there are at least 322 types of sambal that have been identified. For those of you who are not accustomed to eating spicy food, it is good to check the food you will eat first and if necessary please carry charcoal tablets as medicine if you got stomachache after eating spicy food.

10. Host of the 2018 Asian Games

For you sports enthusiasts of the Olympics and planning to have vacation, this year is the right year for you to visit Indonesia because you will have the opportunity to witness the Asian Games 2018. Asian Games is a multi-sport event held every 4 years between athletes from all over Asia with a total of 51 sports in 39 different disciplines contested for every period. This year, Indonesia will host the 2018 Asian Games to be held in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia from August 18^th to September 2^nd, 2018.