Indonesia backpacking 5 weeks advice!
 

Hi
I am a solo traveller going to be travelling around indonesia for 5 weeks from the 7th of september. I am flying in and out jakarta and was planning on doing yogya-bromo-ijen-bali-lombok-gili. I dont want to feel particularly rushed as I know how large indonesia is but once I enter bali I dont have much planned at all, but I definitely want to go to Ubud and the gillis as I've heard they are amazing. I was wondering if I have enough time at the beginning once I fly into Jakarta to go to sumatra? Fly to medan and then to lake toba and bukit lawang then back to jakarta then across java.
Do you think this is feasible in 5 weeks? Are there any recommendations anyone has about java and bali/lombok/gilli> I will also need to extend my visa to 60 days once I am in bali so if anyone has any information about visa extension that would be great! I was trying to extend it before I go but the embassy in the UK requires a sponsor.
Any advice is muchly appreciated!

Couldn't you just do a stopover at singapore or malaysia and reenter with 30 days visa? IMO, XXX-KUL/PEN/SIN-KNO or the reverse should work. LCC is very cheap there.

I think your plan is feasable, and the comment about very cheap LCC flights is true.

I would personally say - in Sumatra, fly into Medan, see Bukit Lawang, and then Lake Toba, but then continue onto Lake Meninjau, Bukittinggi, then you can fly out of Padang.

What you can do is fly something like Padang-Kuala Lumpur and then Kuala Lumpur - Yogyakarta on Air Asia to a) get around the the visa rules, and miss out on the boring bits (like Padang to Yogya) and you can do it for peanuts!

Then from Yogya overland via Borobudur, Bromo, Ijen into Bali and across to Lombok & the Gilis. Perfect!

Yeah AirAsia flights to KL are extremely cheap. It might be worth considering visiting Aceh in Sumatra (the only place in Indonesia where Syariah law is implemented) where 'tsunami tourism' can be quite interesting.

Personally, I would skip Medan and Lake Toba - the former is a large city which is hard to get around and Lake Toba I found extremely underwhelming though Sam Bee's suggestion of Bukit Lawang (to see the orang utans) and Bukittinggi (to visit the Minangkabau highlands (large matriarchal community) could be interesting too.

great thanks so much for the advice! i think i am going to miss out sumatra for this trip as i would like the opportunity to stick around somewhere if i like it! yes i will definitely look into flying to KL thanks so much im so excited!

Good choice! Indonesia is a marvelous country for a number of reasons. The beaches, the cultural monuments and the people themselves would make for one awesome holiday. Ever considered making a stop at Nusa Dua? You would have plenty of space in which to enjoy the Indian Ocean and white sandy beaches. The Laguna Resort & Spa Bali would be my choice of accommodation from where you could be based at during your time here.

Am a huge fan of Indonesia. Greatest trip I ever did was slapping together something on easySABRE out of Jakarta with air and boat hops, pre-LCC. Last seat on a Sempati flight that stopped at Bali, Balikpapan, Ujung Padang and finally Ambon. Three days there and then the PELNI boat (NOT a cruise ship) with short stops in Manokwari and Biak and finally Jayapura (charming sorta city, BTW). Then the wait for a cargo plane into the Baliem Valley, three unforgettable days there, and Merpati back to Ambon by 2 stops just in time to catch PELNI to Bandaneira and the other great destination (center of the old nutmeg trade, lots of ruined forts, old cannon barrels just lying by the streets). Three days there and Merpati back to Bali, for another 4 or so before flying Royal Brunei to BKK via BSB. Total time including Jakarta was 4 weeks.

The Baliem and the Bandas were both totally unforgettable, though neither had so much as an ATM and very few restaurants. By today's rational standards the whole thing seemed a bit crazy, as I had only the flight framework pre-booked. English speaking also really drops off a cliff east of Lombok.

Today you can do weird moves like fly back to SIN or KUL to get someplace else in Indonesia, as it's probably cheaper that way. I was inspired by being a bit bored in Jakarta and reading ahead in the Lonely Planet Indonesia tome. Was lucky NOT to have someone around to talk me out of it, as it was a bit seat-of-the-pants and some areas would later become unsafe.

Your plan is very do-able, though you get to share the places with a lot of people. I liked Yogya and there's even a scenic Indian Ocean beach not too far away (can get chilly and windy, though), and of course you've got sites like Borobudur, Pranamban and the Dieng Plateau. Bali can be done very cheaply but all the hawkers trying to eke out a living in Kuta, Sanur and Besakih can be annoying (Nusa Dua basically fences 'em out). Would bet on Bali for the culture and Lobok or the Gilis for the beaches.

Skip gili and go to Karimunjawa from semarang or Jepara