Budget for visiting Jakarta

Batavia - Jakarta

 
God bless all of the visitors ! Indonesia is a very cheap country.  Having a ratio of 1 US$ : 11.000 Rupiah (average in September 2013), makes Indonesia especially Jakarta  a paradise to every tourist nowadays.  If you come from a country which has an average lowest salary of US$ 10-20 per hour, still single, have no mortgage liability, and not a criminal in the run, I'm sure you can safe a lot from your income to spend at least two weeks in Jakarta; to become a king or queen.  


This is an illustration of how much money in US$ you will need in a day in Jakarta for a 4 star china town hotel: (excluding the shopping budget, night life budget, and any tertiary budget)

1. Novotel Mangga Dua Square Hotel starting US$60 per night = US$85 (assuming the moderate rate per room for 2 persons)
2. Meal for lunch and dinner per person = US$25 (more than enough for local  Indonesian food)
3. Mineral water = US$ 1.5 (buy on mini market around you instead of the hotel and you will get 2 bottles of 1.5 liter of mineral water)
4. Taxi, Trans Jakarta Bus, Ojek, or any transportation = US$60 per day (assuming you use 80% of your trip with standard taxi with heavy traffic jam)
5. Entrance fee to any tourist objects if applicable = US$30  (per person in total 3-4 places) 

Approximately you will need to provide US$ 200 per person per day (including hotel sharing for 2 persons and Taxi sharing).  You can press the cost lower if you just need a 3-star transit hotel for sleeping only, and using Trans Jakarta Bus and Ojek as your transportation, up to 40% of US$200. In addition, if you would like to go to Jakarta night life like discotheque or bar, the cost will follow the common international cost like in US, Europe, Japan, or Australia, or even more.  And for anybody hiring any escort service, please prepare another double-double and precaution.  All US$ above are meant to make you easier to calculate, but please prepare all in Rupiah for real, instead of your reserve budget.

Indonesia Currency: Bank Notes

These are valid Indonesia Bank Notes (September 2013):

Indonesian Rupiah Bank Notes (valid in 2013) - from wikipedia image

Indonesia Rupiah Coins (valid in 2013)

Indonesian Rupiah new coin Rp 1,000.- (valid in 2013)

Due to the existence of Rupiah counterfeit distribution, especially for Rp 100.000 and Rp 50.000 bank notes, it is good for you to recognize both sides of the bank notes.

Beware of counterfeiting

Look at the line mark, it is special

If you have the chance to prepare the proportion of Rupiah bank notes, I advise you to prepare as follows: 

100.000 : 50.000 : 20.000 : 10.000 : 5.000 = 1 : 4 : 5 : 7 : 5

Most transaction in Jakarta that not using a Credit Card, will usually use Rp 50.000, Rp 20.000, and Rp 10.000 bank notes.  Meanwhile you can use Rp 20.000, Rp 10,000, and Rp 5,000 for paying public transport (usually other than Taxi or car rental), tipping, and buying snacks or mineral water. I use Rp 1.000 bank note or coin only for street singers, beggars, or smaller snack in small stalls. Of course, Rp 100.000 bank note is used for transaction that definitely greater than Rp 100.000. 

I suggest you always prepare your reserve budget in term of Credit Card master or visa plus US$ Bank Note or Travel Check, just in case emergency things happen, like hospitalization, changing departure date that require a cancellation fee, unpredictable Taxi cost because of the heavy traffic jam, shopping, tipping, etc.  For your information, although you might have health insurance or able to communicate with your embassy to cover  a health condition in hospital, some hospitals always ask you to deposit some money first, before they can handle you.  And also, some health insurance need a little of your time to process the administration requirement.

In summary, like other advanced cities in the other continents, Jakarta is a very flexible budget city that can facilitate a wide range of traveling budget.  Just bring up your adventure side to Jakarta, I believe your 6 months saving even as a diligent Janitor or a Pizza boy will be more than enough to deliver you to every corner of Jakarta city.  So, what are you waiting for?