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Indonesia is a beautiful country, having more than 17k island (with its own local language), many amazing mountains, magnificent beaches, beautiful sceneries, humble people (mostly easy going in many conditions, even in hard time), many cheaper stuff (cheaper than in neighboring countries, because of the currency, lower than US Dollar, Singapore Dollar, and any dollar), many cheap food (rich in spices) and (crispy, sometimes sweet or salty) snack, lots of instagramable post, etc (you name it). Many tourist around the world coming to Indonesia for Bali, Lombok, Raja Ampat.. but Indonesia larger than those place (please see the map, it’s an extensive land!)

This article made in 2018 and I am updating in 2020.

The Latest Data on Indonesia Tourism for Backpacker in Indonesia 2020

Data from Ministry of Tourism above shows that foreign tourist arrivals in May 2020 to Indonesia decreased by 86.90% compared to May last year. The data shows how low the number of foreign tourists entering Indonesia from various routes, the graph looks sharply decreased.

Bali, as one of Indonesia foreign exchange suppliers for tourism, foreign tourists which entered through Ngurah Rai airport in May 2020 decreased by 99.99% compared to May 2019. This is a huge decline for Indonesia and Bali as a region. All backpacker and regular traveler cancelled their trip to Bali due to pandemic and lockdown in some countries.

Backpacker in Indonesia After Pandemic and New Normal Phase

Ministry of Tourism Indonesia hold online training activities for registered City Tour Guides this 7-27 July 2020. This activity aims to create a positive tourism image after the pandemic and during New Normal using health protocols. This is a good signal for backpackers in Indonesia so they don’t hesitate to travel to any other region of Indonesia.

This is local URL for backpacker in Indonesia with low budget but satisfaction guaranteed. As you can see in the homepage, you can directly see many plans for backpackers in Indonesia in the near future.

You can see this website too to see some amazing Itinerary Backpacking in Indonesia. As a backpacker in Indonesia, you can see plan for backpacker to Bali, Java+Bali, Bali to Flores and Indonesia Highlights region and interesting article about backpacking to Bali, Lombok, Java and other island.

So we still need some tips for backpacker in Indonesia?

If you will travel in Indonesia, especially in short time, you should know some tips.

1. Safety first! Bring your own hand sanitizer and always do physical and social distancing.
2. Use hat or umbrella if you’re traveling in noon. The weather is hot especially in 11 AM – 1 PM. Use sunglasses too!
3. Use sunscreen. Any sunscreen with UVA and UVB lotion. Indonesia is very hot in noon, reaching 32 celsius.
4. Use ‘Online Taxi or Online Bikes Driver’ such as Gojek or Grab to get to your destination faster . It’s easier, cheaper than ordinary taxi. If you are already have Grab Apps, you can use it in Indonesia too (you can pay with credit card too). I prefer Gojek (Bike) to go everywhere faster.
5. Use GoFood or Grab Food, if you’re too lazy to hunting for food from you hotel. Gofood is a feature from Gojek apps, Grab Food is a feature from Grab apps. The driver will give your order directly to your door. You can pick many food with reasonable(cheap) price .
6. Ladies, don’t use a tank top or very short shorts or too light outfit. Local people will see it in a weird look (hehe). It’s not very common to wear those kind of clothes, just use T-Shirt and long pants.
7. If you’re buying some stuff from local market or local shop, make a good bid. Smart shopping is necessary for every backpacker
8. Keep your belonging near to your eyes and hand ( preventing from pickpocket or bad guy). Overall the people is very friendly, but you have to pay attention around you.
9. Find little shop like Alfamart or Indomaret near your hotel to find snack or ice cream. It’s little shop for daily needs, like 7Eleven.
10. In rainy days, always bring an umbrella in your bag. Sometimes it’s very hot in noon but it’s a heavy rain in the afternoon.
11. All people will try to help, even they don’t understand English very well. But many young generation can speak English a little. Speak slowly and use body language if needed.

Well, that’s tips from me. Maybe you can add another tips in comment?