How does one get to Ujung Pandang, you might be wondering. Ujung Pandang may mean "End of the View", but it's not the end of the world. Here are some useful tips ...
I assume that you already know how to get from wherever you are
(in America, Europe, Australia, etc.) to a major destination in
Southeast Asia; accordingly, the following information will deal only
with the specifics of getting from your Southeast Asian gateway to
Ujung Pandang.
Basically, your ticket to Ujung Pandang will consist of two parts: a transcontinental ticket to a Southeast Asian gateway , and an onward ticket from your gateway point to Ujung Pandang. (And the same in return, if you're not planning to spend the rest of your life in Ujung Pandang.) Most likely, your gateway point will be one of the following four:
(a) Jakarta (the capital of Indonesia)(b) Denpasar (on Bali, in
Indonesia)(c) Singapore (d) Kuala Lumpur (the capital of Malaysia,
and the venue for SEALS). Here are some pros and cons to assist in
your choice of itinerary.
JAKARTA and DENPASAR. Both of these points are
served by transcontinental flights from America and Europe, and both
of these points have frequent daily onward domestic connections to
Ujung Pandang. One advantage of choosing either Jakarta or Denpasar
as your gateway is that the connections to Ujung Pandang will be more
frequent. Another possible advantage is that if you fly Garuda (the
Indonesian national carrier), you might be able to get a good fare on
a through ticket from your point of origin to Ujung Pandang. For
Denpasar, another advantage is that you get to stop over in Bali,
Indonesia's prime tourist attraction. However, a possible
disadvantage of Jakarta and Denpasar is that transcontinental flights
from Europe or America to Indonesia are much less frequent than to
Singapore; also, there is a much smaller choice of carriers, which
means that the fare might end up being more expensive.
One possibility you might want to check out is a special Garuda
"Visit Indonesia" fare for domestic travel within Indonesia. For $300
US (plus an extra $50 if you arrived in Indonesia on another
carrier), you get 3 sectors within Indonesia, wherever Garuda goes
to. Additional sectors can also be purchased, at $100 each. For
example, if your gateway is Denpasar, you could do a loop Denpasar -
Ujung Pandang - Jayapura (in Irian Jaya) - Denpasar for $300; the
regular fare would be over $1000. This is a great deal if you plan to
spend some time in Indonesia travelling before or after the
symposium. (I bought such a ticket myself last year and was very
pleased with it.) A few things you should know: First, this ticket
can only be purchased outside of Indonesia, or within a limited
period of time upon arrival. Secondly, many Garuda flights use
Jakarta as a hub, so if you want to fly from, say, Ujung Pandang to
Medan with a change of planes in Jakarta, does that count as one
coupon or two? Well, it depends on who you ask. In Singapore they
told me it would be two coupons, but in Batam, the Indonesian island
adjacent to Singapore, they gave it to me as a single coupon. (A
friend of mine had a similar experience one year later.) Finally,
contrary to what it says in the latest (August '97) edition of the
Lonely Planet Guide to Indonesia, this ticket is only good for
Garuda, not for their ex-subsidiary Merpati, who fly to many more
destinations. However, as I found out myself, once you're ticketed on
Garuda you can transfer to a Merpati flight, but only to a Garuda
destination. Flight regulations -- like many other things -- are
delightfully vague in Indonesia.
SINGAPORE. Singapore is by a large margin
the most convenient of the four gateway points to get to from America
or Europe, and it is probably the cheapest as well. A further
advantage of Singapore is that if you're also planning to attend the
SEALS conference in Kuala Lumpur, then Singapore to Kuala Lumpur is
an easy and cheap add-on fare, or you can even do it by bus
(approximately 6 hours, US $15), or train (approximately 8 hours, US
$25). The disadvantage of Singapore is that there are "only" 3 direct
non-stop flights per week to Ujung Pandang, on Silkair (a subsidiary
of Singapore Airlines). So you may end up spending a day or two in
Singapore connecting to your flight to Ujung Pandang -- though if you
want to do Singapore that's just about enough time.
But there are other ways of getting from Singapore to Ujung Pandang. One possibility is a twice-weekly non-stop flight from Johor Baru to Ujung Pandang on Malaysian Airlines: Johor Baru is the Malaysian city right next to Singapore, and if you fly from there, Malaysian Airlines picks you up for free from their Singapore city terminal. Another, more interesting possibility is the $300 "Visit Indonesia" Garuda fare mentioned in the preceding paragraph. This fare is only good for domestic flights, but the Indonesian island of Batam is within view of Singapore, and is a possible and convenient starting point for such a ticket. To get from Singapore to Batam, there are super-modern ferries every 10-20 minutes from the Singapore World Trade Center; the boat trip (about US $12) takes 30-60 minutes, then a 20 minute taxi ride (about US $5) and you're at Batam airport -- it's all quite straightforward. The one possible problem is that Batam to Ujung Pandang, on Garuda, involves a change of planes in Jakarta, so it counts as either one or two coupons, depending on which agent you end up asking. If the first agent says two, just keep on asking around. Finally, yet another obvious way of getting from Singapore to Ujung Pandang is to fly from Singapore to either Jakarta or Denpasar and proceed from there.
KUALA LUMPUR. You will probably only
want to consider Kuala Lumpur as a possible gateway if you're
planning to attend the SEALS conference in Kuala Lumpur, a little
over one week after the symposium. From America or Europe to Kuala
Lumpur there's a wide variety of flights, though less than to
Singapore. And you'll get to see the brand new Kuala Lumpur airport,
which is supposedly going to be the best in the world. From Kuala
Lumpur there are two direct flights per week to Ujung Pandang on
Malaysian Airlines; it's the same flight that stops in Johor Baru on
the way. Alternatively, you can easily make your way from Kuala
Lumpur to Singapore, by plane, train or bus, and proceed from there.
Or there are frequent flights from Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta and
Denpasar, from where there are numerous connections to Ujung
Pandang.
That's it in a nutshell. Of course, there are any number of more
adventurous ways of getting to Ujung Pandang, like flying from Davao
in the Philippines to Manado and then going overland all the way down
Sulawesi, or perhaps crossing from Sabah to East Kalimantan and then
taking a boat. For those who don't like flying, and who have the time
to be able not to, Ujung Pandang is accessible by boat from most
major ports within Indonesia, though if you want the comfort of the
national shipping company Pelni, sailings are infrequent and have to
be well-planned in advance. Thais will find it cheap and convenient
to take a bus or train to Singapore and continue from there; other
Southeast Asians can do the same, though somewhat more arduously. For
example, the Hong Kong to Singapore overland route can be done in
less than a week, via Guangzhou, Nanning, Hanoi, Khe Sanh,
Savannakhet, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. Australians have the
additional option of flying from Darwin to Kupang and then
island-hopping up Nusa Tenggara, or even going via Papua New Guinea
and entering Indonesia via Jayapura -- but all of these routes are
for people with lots of time and energy.
DOCUMENTS. Your passport should be valid for
6 months subsequent to your arrival date. Citizens of the EU, US,
Canada, Australia, and ASEAN countries do not require a visa: upon
arrival, you're automatically stamped in for a 60-day visit. In
theory you're supposed to be in possession of a return ticket, but in
the many dozens of times I've entered Indonesia by ferry from
Singapore or by plane to Sumatra, nobody ever asked to see such a
ticket. However, the one time I landed in Jakarta without a return
ticket I was caught. In situations such as these, a few small
denomination US dollars can usually work wonders. Citizens of
countries other than those mentioned above may or may not require
visas: check with your nearest Indonesian consular
representative.
ONE FINAL SUGGESTION: Book your
flights early. It's usually possible to book many months in advance
without having to put cash down and thereby commit yourself. So if
you think you may be coming to Ujung Pandang, make your booking now;
you can always change it or even cancel it later. Don't forget July
is peak season for northern hemisphere vacationers.
I hope this is of some help. In any case, I'll be happy to answer
any further questions you might have with regard to travel to and
from the symposium.
Looking forward to seeing you in Ujung Pandang
David Gil dgil@udel.edu
Disclaimer: The information provided above is true to the best of my knowledge, as of October 1997; but I can't be held responsible for the consequences of any use that is made of it. Always doublecheck; never rely on a single source of information.