Island Hopping Indonesia Audley Group Tour 5th October 2012 Sunrise over Mount Bromo, Java We are proud to have received a number of awards over recent years. We have been the Daily Telegraph Ultra Travel Best Small Tour Operator winner and runner-up in the last three years and have been in the top five of the Guardian and Observer’s Best Small Tour Operator award for the past five years as well as featuring in Wanderlust magazine’s Top Tour Operators for the past nine years. The readers of Condé Nast Traveller magazine have also voted us their Favourite Specialist Tour Operator and we were included in the Sunday Times Travel Magazine’s 2011 Value for Money Awards. These awards are widely recognised as being the most respected in the travel industry as they are professional surveys of the publications’ readerships. With over 500 tour operators for you to choose from in the UK alone, we hope you find these awards are an additional reassurance of the quality of service you can expect from Audley. Contents Introduction, meet our specialists, climate ______________ 4 Flights and visas 5 Day by day summary of travel arrangements _____________ 6 Quotation 8 Tour Information ________________________________ 9 Why travel with us? ______________________________ 10 Photographs of the region _________________________ 12 Itinerary in detail ________________________________ 14 Accommodation information _______________________ 28 General information _____________________________ 33 Terms and conditions _____________________________ 36 Booking form _____________________________ back page Borobudur, Java An introduction to our Island Hopping Our Indonesia group tour specialists Indonesia group tour Sarah Howard With years of experience operating in Indonesia, we 01993 838 119 have designed this tour to take in some of our favourite sarah.howard:@audleytravel.com places from over the years. Indonesia is so vast that even visiting the four main places this tour takes in, you will Jack Tydeman still travel some 1,200+ miles once in the country! 01993 838 118 [email protected] You will start with a visit to Yogyakarta in central Java, the cultural heart of the island. Visit the Sultan's Sarah and Jack have both been with Audley for over five Palace before escaping the city with a gentle cycle ride years and are incredibly knowledgeable about travel in down through small villages surrounded by paddy fields Indonesia. They have both encountered orang-utan in and arrive at the gates of the ancient Hindu temple Kalimantan, visited Borobudur and Mount Bromo at complex of Prambanan on your bike. Move on to sunrise; and travelled through the island of Bali on Borobudur, the largest Buddhist relic in the word, where numerous occasions. you will see the sunrise from this 8th century monument. For anyone keen to add on more time in Indonesia post Sure to be a highlight is Tanjung Puting National Park in tour, you are in very good hands as they have also been southern Kalimantan, home to over 5,000 wild orang- to more far flung islands including the jungles of Sumatra, utan and numerous other animals. You will spend three funeral ceremonies and diving in Sulawesi, and tracking days exploring here, making your way through the down the prehistoric Komodo Dragon on Flores. narrow backwaters under the rainforest canopy. Climate Moving on to eastern Java you will visit the spice markets and mosques of Surabaya, wide leafy boulevards and Indonesia straddles the equator and thus has the benefit Dutch architecture of Malang and the awe-inspiring vista of warm weather year round. October is the tail end of of Mount Bromo's smoking volcanic crater at dawn. the dry season and you will hopefully only see a few showers in the day and hear the odd thunderstorm at Flying on to Bali you will end the trip in the beautiful night. As a topical rainforest, Tanjung Puting does town of Ubud, known for art, music, architecture and generally see a little more rainfall and generally speaking dance. Explore the quieter north of the island from here, in Indonesia, the further east you go the longer the dry including the stunning Lake Bratan. season lasts. 4 Meet our specialists Flights & visas Flights Singapore Singapore Airlines are considered to be one of the best airlines in the sky. Their economy class recently Airlines took first place in the Guardian and Observer Travel Awards 2011. You can enjoy a 32” seat pitch and 1,000 on demand entertainment options are available on KrisWorld, presented on a 10.6-inch personal screen with the highest resolution in the sky, and the largest in its class. In business class their seats offer unrivalled comfort with angled lie flat seats or fully flat seats (depending on the aircraft). In suite class you have the ultimate flight experience with a private cabin. If you need to fly with a different carrier for any reason (eg airmiles, preference, route) we can arrange alternative flights for you. We can also operate the trip without international flights if you prefer. Domestic flights It is worth being aware that flights within Indonesia often do not follow their schedules leading to delays on the ground. In a worst case scenario amendments to the airline and route you are travelling will be necessary. Our representatives will be there to assist you if you encounter any of these problems as they are best placed to help you at the time. For domestic flights in Indonesia, Audley will always endeavour to use EU approved airlines - Garuda Airlines, Mandala Airlines, Airfast and Ekspres Transportasi Antarbenua (operating as PremiAir), Metro Batavia and Indonesia Air Asia - where appropriate as all other airlines in the country are subject to an EU operating ban. Many of the non EU approved airlines have in fact passed the strict safety requirements of neighbouring countries they fly to including Singapore, Australia and Japan and the operating ban only prevents them from flying in to EU airspace, of which none of these airlines have ever had routes. On this tour you will fly from Java to Kalimantan on a non EU approved airline as none of the airlines listed above fly this route. We recommend you read current FCO advice and ensure you are comfortable with this. Please check your travel insurance for validity if flying on these routes - Campbell Irvine Insurance Brokers are happy to provide coverage starting from £99pp for an annual multi-trip policy. Your specialist will send you an email on booking that states that we have given you this information and we need you to reply to this in order for us to process your booking. Please feel free to ask your specialist any questions as they are well versed with the situation. Visas Indonesia UK citizens can obtain a 30 day visa on arrival for US$25 per person. All other nationalities should check with the Indonesian Embassy. As with most countries your passport must be valid for six months after the date of departure from Indonesia (this is strictly enforced), you may also need one unstamped double page free in your passport. If you are staying longer than 30 days in Indonesia it is possible for us to arrange a visa in advance for you - please speak to your specialist for more details. Important Note: We cannot under any circumstances guarantee that your visa application for any country will be accepted. However, in our experience refusals are extremely rare. Visa information is given in good faith and is accurate to the best of our knowledge. Flights & visas 5 Day by day summary 1 Friday 05 Take an overnight flight from London to Singapore with Overnight on aircraft October 2012 Singapore Airlines. 2 Saturday 06 In Singapore you will connect on to your short flight to Solo Phoenix Hotel, Yogyakarta October 2012 in central Java. 1 x Superior room – (L, D) You have a 90 minute transfer to your hotel in Jogja where you have lunch at the hotel included and a welcome dinner at a local restaurant. 3 Sunday 07 Enjoy a city tour of Jogja this morning, the highlight being the Phoenix Hotel, Yogyakarta October 2012 chance to explore the Kraton. 1 x Superior Room – (B, L, D) This evening you will see the famous Ramayana ballet. Hopefully performed with a backdrop of Prambanan temple. 4 Monday 08 Head up to the foothills of Mount Merapi today where you Saraswati Borobudur, October 2012 will see the lava fields that tore through the village of Yogyakarta Kaliadem. You will then take a gentle bike ride down the 1 x Standard room – (B, L) slopes of the mountain, past small villages, beautiful paddy fields and unearthed temple ruins. Arrive at the temples of Candi Plaosan and Prambanan for a tour of these ancient sites. You will be taken over to your hotel near Borobudur this afternoon will probably have an early night ahead of your sunrise excursion tomorrow. 5 Tuesday 09 Wake up before dawn for the short walk to Borobudur Saraswati Borobudur, October 2012 where you can find yourself a quiet spot on the relic to Yogyakarta simple enjoy the moment. You will then be taken on a guided 1 x Standard room – (B) tour of the relic and learn more about the detailed carvings. After Borobudur you will go to the village of Candijero for a short tour. 6 Wednesday 10 Another early start as you drive to the north coast for your Rimba Lodge, Tanjung Puting October 2012 flight to Kalimantan. Flights times are notoriously unreliable 1 x Diamond room – (B, L, D) so please make sure you bring a book! You will be met by your team in Kalimantan and taken the short distance to your boat for the journey in to the rainforest and Tanjung Puting National Park.