Indonesia: good to know
The general-information half of trip planning: how expensive Indonesia feels, what is considered polite, what is not, and the everyday practicalities - alongside our 335 written places.
Seventeen thousand islands and hundreds of cultures; Bali's Hindu rhythm is one island's story.
✓ Considered polite
- Use your right hand for giving and receiving
- Dress modestly at temples - sarongs are usually provided at Balinese ones
- Step around canang sari offerings on Bali's pavements, never over or on them
- Bargain gently at markets with a smile
✗ Better avoided
- Touch heads or point with your index finger - use an open hand
- Enter temples during menstruation where signs request it - it is a real custom
- Drink tap water anywhere
- Underestimate scooter risks - rentals need real experience and a helmet
Worth knowing
- Cash for warungs and villages, cards in resorts and malls
- Tipping is not traditional; 5-10% appears on tourist-area bills
- Ramadan changes rhythms in Muslim regions - eat discreetly by day
- Inter-island flights are cheap and often the only practical link
Plugs and voltage: Wikipedia, «Mains electricity by country» (after the IEC World Plugs list), read 15 October 2026.
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Keep planning
Customs are living things - regions differ, cities relax, generations shift. Take these notes as a friendly head start, watch what locals do, and when in doubt a smile and a greeting in the local language cover almost everything.