Overall I spent about RM1050 for the trip, including everything and airfare (more on the airfare later). This is considered cheap if compared to some of my other trips. Some breakdown:
Airfare
- Our original plan is to fly from Kuala Lumpur to Solo and back. The round-trip ticket costs RM170 including taxes and fuel surcharges. But later when we were doing some research, we noticed that it is wasting time to travel back from Solo to Kuala Lumpur, as some of the locations that we've planned, like Mt. Bromo, is ~8hr bus trip from Solo. We later bought another one-way ticket from Surabaya to Kuala Lumpur, which costs RM170 too. So total airfare is RM340.
Entrance Fees
- Mt. Bromo Entrance: Rp 25k
- Kawah Ijen: entrance fee is already included in the transportation package that we bought in Probolinggo (see below).
Hotel Rates (total 6 nights, another night in bus)
- Hotel Indonesia, Yogja (just off Malioboro): Rp45k, twin sharing, fan, double beds, cold showers, so so condition. Put up here 3 nights.
- Hotel Tampriato, Probolinggo - Rp 242k, quad sharing, A/C, has swimming pool but not properly maintained, and with breakfast too.
- Homestay, Sempol - Rp 50k per person, with breakfast.
- Hotel Padang, Surabaya - Rp 35k, twin sharing, fan, queen bed, tiny room.
Transportation Rates
- intercity bus: Rp2k, except in Surabaya, which is Rp3k
- Betcha: Rp5k~15k per trip. Need to bargain hard! and the betcha riders are stronger than they looked!
- Solo -> Chandi Prambanan (bus): Rp7k
- Yogja -> Probolinggo (bus): Rp50k [17:30~02:30 the next day, save one night of hotel charges!]
- Probolinggo -> Cewang Indah/Mt. Bromo (chartered minivan @ 2:30am): Rp150k/van, one-way
- Cewang Indah -> Probolinggo (shared minivan): Rp15k/person
- Probolinggo -> Surabaya (express bus): Rp40k (we got ripped off by agent, normal price is Rp30k. Just go straight up the bus and paid)
- Mt. Bromo Jeep Sharing: Rp75k/person. This includes transport from Cewang Indah up to Mt. Bromo sunrise viewpoint, and then back down to the foothill of Mt. Bromo, and back to Cewang Indah. From 4:15am to 8:30am.
- Horse ride at Mt. Bromo: Rp10k~20k one way. Some of the horses are really handsome:
Tour Package Prices
- Kawah Ijen transportation package: Rp250k/person. This includes transportation (Mitsubishi Panther) from Probolinggo to Cewang Indah and back.
- Borobudur + Dieng Plateau tour packag: Rp100k/person. Ex Yogja in early morning for sunrise view of Borobudur (spent 2+ hrs here), and the off to Dieng Plateau (~3hrs drive in undulating roads). Total ~12hrs package. Using Panther too.
Misc (food etc)
- food is relatively cheap, ranging from 10k~25k per person per meal. The cheapest one that I can remember is Nasi Pecel (white rice, some vege, a tofu, and loads of bubur Pecel) at Malioboro St., as breakfast at a road-side stall - Rp4500 for that and a nice cup of tea. And it was delicious!
- Mineral Water 1.5L:Rp2.2k ~ Rp4k. Supermarket sells the cheapest water.
- Cola: Rp2k~Rp4k.
- T-shirts at Malioboro: Rp12.5k each (list price: Rp25k). Sandals are around Rp10k. Bargain hard here.
- KFC: almost similar price as in Kuala Lumpur. Taste similar too.
More photos from the trip:
http://travelgaia.com/gallery/Java2007/content/
Expenses
Transnational Bus: RM60/pax for 2-way KL->KT, 33-seater, comfortable reclining seats. Do wear long shirts/pants or a jacket as the night journey can be very cold as the aircon is quite strong. It is recommended to buy bus tickets (2ways) few weeks ahead at Putra Bus Station.
KL->KT: We bought the night bus on Thursday night 11pm and bus arrived at KT on 5:30am. 1 stop at Chenor.
KT->KL: Sunday 2pm starts but the bus was damn slow and arriving at Putra Station, KL at 10pm. 2 stops, one at Chenor and another at Termerloh R&R.
Redang Holiday 2D1N Package: RM180/pax (including 2-way boat transfer from Merang<->Redang Island). 2 Stars.
Redang Pelangi 2D1N Package: RM120/pax. 2 Stars.
Taxi from KT -> Merang: RM40/car (i.e. RM10/pax)
Bus ride from Merang -> KT: RM10/pax (see item#1 below)
Diving package @ Redang Pelangi: RM200 for 3 dives. Normal pricing is RM50/dive w/o equipment rental. Equipment rental is RM25/dive, and flat rate RM50 for 2 or more dives. Nice people here (our dive master is Jan Shir).
Total Cost for the trip: ~RM600, which I think is pretty reasonable considering this is the super peak season (starting of school holiday and at weekend). A few other friends booked Laguna Redang Resort and that set them back almost the same amount like us, but they were snorkelling package (3 snorkelling trips) while ours included 3 dives and we sneaked in a snorkelling trip as well. Of course, Laguna is more luxurious.
General Information
1: if you don't have pre-arrangement (well, just like us :p), just go
to the end of the Merang Jeti area where you can spot many tour buses
stopping on roadside waiting for pre-booking clients. The drivers
mostly will be having tea and 'lepak' at the gerai there. Approach any
of them for a bus ride back to KT, it should set you back for RM10/person.
2. Most of the Redang resorts offer 3D2N package, which includes all the 3 meals plus a tea break, 2-3 snorkelling trips and 2-way boat transfers (Merang <-> Redang). Snorkelling gear rental normally is not included in the package price and it ranges from RM20-30 per set. Fin is not recommended to be used especially for shore snorkellings to avoid damage to the coral reef. There is no discount to the package price even if you opt to not go for the snorkelling trips (well you will save the equipment rental cost, of course). Most tourists have booked tour package before coming to Redang. 4 of us probably were the only ones that didn't have any packages and do walk-in.
Breakdown of Cost of the trip: (I've wanted to do this for all my trips but laziness managed to fail me everytime. I am gonna pick up the slack from now on and get my act together... I hope!)
- Petrol: ~RM150 (from Kuala Lumpur to Kuala Besut and back)
- Toll : ~RM40 (Genting Toll, Kuantan Highway Toll)
- Overnight at Dungun (Mayang Resort, 5km from UITM): RM140 for 2 rooms
- Kuala Besut Parking (3D2N, with cover): RM15
- Boat to Perhentian Island: RM60/person, 2 way.
- D'Ayumni House on Perhentian Besar: RM160/room for 2 nights - 2 double beds, aircond and shower but electricity runs only at night.
- Dive with Universal Diver: RM250 for 4 dives (I did 5, Hiu did 3, so all balanced out)
- A super-duper expensive dinner at the New Coconut Hut: RM107!
- And some drinks/breakfast/lunch at Nia Cafe: ~RM50-100 for 4 persons total
- A BBQ dinner by Universal Diver: Free (thanks guys)
That's about it. Averaged out about RM470/person for the whole trip - probably one of the cheapest trips that I've had! And we all have great fun! And lastly, borrowing a phrase from MasterCard,
A Dive Trip with a few buddies on Perhentian Island: Priceless.
More trip photos:
HTML: http://travelgaia.com/gallery/perhentian_html/
Flash: http://travelgaia.com/gallery/perhentian/
This is Ayumni, the cute little girl of D'Ayumni House ->
