Hi Brian and Dana,
What are primarily your interests?
That helps with choosing destinations in Indonesia.
If you are up for adventure, jungle trekking, volcano climbing then Sumatra is probably a great choice.
Bukit Lawang for orangutans but not wild ones- you need to head to Ketambe in Aceh for the wild ones.
Loads of places to stay in Bukit Lawang up along the river where it is all happening these dats like Jungle Inn- 100,000-300,000: Sam's Bungalows-80,000-150,000: Rain Forest- 30,000.
Others include Eco Lodge, Wisma Sibayak etc down in Bukit Lawang.
There are places to play pool and drink cold beer like Greenhill, Jungle tribe for great food and cocktails, Sam's for great food as well and Jungle Inn.
Lots of options to go into the jungle from just a day tour to over night for 1, 2, 3 or more nights.
Besides Bukit Lawang there is another magical jungle place 2 hrs by motor bike from there called Tangkahan. Motor bike is with rider and costs about 150,000 rupiah/person/one way.
In Tangkahan best places to stay are over the river- you get there by small ferry- first place on left is Mega Inn around 65,000+/night, Bamboo River at 85,000 and my favourite Jungle Lodge 75-85,000 where one is near to the hot springs and swimming in the river.
Also in north you have Lake Toba about 4 hrs from Medan and Brestagi for climbing volcanoes.
West Sumatra the home of the Minangkabau culture is worth a visit too and Padang the capital is only a 2 hr flight from Medan in the north. Cheapest airline is Batavia.
Besides Padang you have cooler Bukittinggi up on the hills and the very beautiful Lake Maninjau. One can do a jungle trek from Bukittinggi down to the Lake- 2 days and a stay over in the jungle at Anas Homestay a special rustic place high up in the jungle.
Many guides can take you down, however a really great reliable guide is Hendri.
There is a seires of posts written last year with loads of info' on this forum.
Here is the link http://www.travelblog.org/Forum/Threads/6162-1.html
Java is a lot busier but with a train service travelling is much easier than Sumatra and you will get to see more touristic things like temples etc like Borobudur in Central Java and Gunung Bromo the crater in East Java. Kawah Ijen the sulphur mining mountain is worth a visit too.
In West Java Bogor with the Botanical Gardens and only a 2 hr bus trip from Jakarta Airport. A bus trip from Bogor to Bandung offers wonderful scenery through the Puncak Pass, Cipanas, and Cianjur regions. Just make sure you do not go at the weekends when every person in Jakarta tries ot get out of the city for 2 days- travellers' worst nightmare.
Bali offers a different culture esp outside the main drag of Kuta Legian, Seminyak etc.
Lombok is great esp the south around Kuta Lombok, wonderful beaches, great surfing, relaxing place.
And of course there are loads more islands east but travelling between them with only 6 weeks is difficult unless you drop Sumatra, java and head east and spend your time there.
Whatever you choose you are more than welcome to contact me for more information. I have been to Indonesia 8 times over the last 11 yrs and spent 5.5 months travelling there in 2006. Fantastic country and fantastic people, great things to see and do and it is probably one of the cheapest places to visit in the whole of South East Asia.
Pamela.
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