Anyone been to Indonesia?

[saltysam]

Right,my best mate of 40 yesrs is currently planning to marry an indonesian girl in Bali next July and he's asked me to be his best man...i have doubts it'll happen but if it does,and i go has anyone been here? expensive,weather etc...i'm used to Spain don't normally go that far lol.

[gasteropod]

Right,my best mate of 40 yesrs is currently planning to marry an indonesian girl in Bali next July and he's asked me to be his best man...i have doubts it'll happen

[Yi-Long]

I haven't been there, but I'm sure it's dirt-cheap in Indonesia, considering many girls come to Hong kong to work for next-to-nothing as housemaids...

[bradavon]

If it's anything like Thailand (which I've been to several times) it'll be cheap as chips, obviously touristy and central cities are more pricey. The thing about Thailand, is you can stay in a pricey swanky hotel or sea the real Thailand and stay in perfectly reasonably priced hotels too, certainly when you get outside of Bangkok, inside it tends to be cheap and nasty, fairly pricey (hard to find), to bloody expensive.

The weather very tropical. Around April it's stinking hot (the hottest Thai month), around August it's their rainy season meaning it's likely to tip it down 1-2 times a day and can be cloudy but otherwise pleasant, the sun isn't guaranteed. November time it's their cool season, meaning it's still warm (sun for sure) but not stinking. It's the best time to go.

What time of year is the wedding?

I've also visited Malaysia and Vietnam, where the same basic rules apply (Vietnam is poorer than Thailand, Malaysia). I imagine Indonesia is fairly similar. It's a Muslim (instead of Buddhism) country though, so is likely to be stricter about certain things.

Marriage is very important in South East Asian culture. If they've been together awhile, it's only a matter of time before they get married. If you're over 30 and not hitched, it's assumed there's something wrong with you. Few dare buck the trend.

p.s - You've not been further afield than Europe? Dude, you're SO missing out .

[saltysam]

p.s - You've not been further afield than Europe? Dude, you're SO missing out .

sometimes small matters like raising a family and working to keep them get in the way of travelling the world.

[bradavon]

You're not dead and you've got your health right? Then you've still got time .

Besides, who's saying anything about travelling the world for long periods. You take a 2 week holiday a year right? Just pick different location, even young kids will find something fun further afield . Sure it's more tricky with more opinions to take on board but the world's massive, there must be somewhere everyone would like to visit.

Except once (where I travelled for just over 6 months), that's all I do. I take a 2-3 week holiday a year (occasionally 2 holidays a year but that's rare, it's much to expensive) but I don't sit on a beach or the bar for all of it. Call me weird but that seems like a total waste of time and money to me.

I try to alternate between somewhere new and somewhere I've been to before (if I'm made friends there or especially like it). The past few years I've been alternating between Europe and further afield. We're incredibly lucky to live so close to such a diverse continent, given it's landmass compared to other continents it's gotta be one of the most diverse.

Next year I'm planning to go back to China and Japan. I've especially barely touched the surface of China, so will be spending roughly 2/3 there and 1/3 in Japan. I feel I'm about then done with Asia for the time being (having concentrated on it a lot the past decade), other than wanting to re-visit India at some point. I've recently put a map on my bedroom wall with stars where I've been, it looks great but South America and Africa are entirely blank. I must fix that over the next few years, starting in 2013.

[saltysam]

Looks like this'll happen and i'll be off to Bali in September. Anyone see the programme last Sunday night where the cockney binman went over to Indonesia to do a binman's job there...the poverty there is unreal

[gasteropod]

Just beware of the floating heads they have over there: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q_0Ol3RYyU

[bradavon]

the poverty there is unreal

Don't concentrate yours thoughts on that, with poverty also always comes so much life and oddly stronger family bonds . It is a tough thing to be around but what can you do? I gave some change in India and before you know it, a dozen kids want change.