eSIM for Indonesia

Indonesia now expects you to do some admin on your phone before you even reach immigration: the free All Indonesia arrival card within 72 hours of landing, and in Bali the 150,000-rupiah tourist levy. Our eSIM can connect to Telkomsel, Indosat, XL and Smartfren, with 5G where those networks offer it, so you have more than one network to fall back on.

A first taste of Indonesia combining Java and Bali: three days in Yogyakarta for the palace, Borobudur and Prambanan, then a short flight to Bali for Ubud's rice terraces and temples, a Mount Batur sunrise and the clifftop temple at Uluwatu.

Length

7 days

Bases

3

When to go The dry season from about April to October is best for temple sunrises and the Batur trek; July, August and late December are the busiest in Bali, while the November to March rains bring heavy afternoon downpours.

1. 01

   Day 1 Yogyakarta

   Yogyakarta: the Kraton and Taman Sari

   → Yogyakarta International Airport (YIA) is about 1 hour west of the city by road or the airport rail link; international arrivals usually connect via Jakarta, Singapore or Kuala Lumpur.

   Start at the Kraton, the sultan's palace complex that is still a working royal residence, where morning performances of gamelan or traditional dance are often held. Walk to Taman Sari, the former royal water garden with its bathing pools and underground passages. Spend the late afternoon on Jalan Malioboro and in Beringharjo market for batik, then try a becak or Gojek ride back as the street-food stalls open.

   Signal Strong 4G across central Yogyakarta, with 5G possible in parts of the city where a partner network has it. The eSIM can switch between Telkomsel, Indosat and XL.

2. 02

   Day 2 Yogyakarta

   Borobudur at dawn

   → About 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes by car from Yogyakarta.

   Leave very early for Borobudur, the 9th-century Buddhist monument about 40 km north-west of the city. Climbing the terraces now needs a timed ticket, an official guide and the provided bamboo sandals, and numbers are capped, so book ahead. Walk the galleries clockwise past the relief panels to the stupas at the top. Afterwards visit the small Mendut temple nearby and, if time allows, the Punthuk Setumbu hill viewpoint.

   Signal Reliable 4G around the Borobudur park entrance and on the monument; weaker on the rural lanes up to Punthuk Setumbu.

3. 03

   Day 3 Yogyakarta

   Prambanan and Ratu Boko

   → Prambanan is about 17 km east of Yogyakarta, roughly 40 minutes by car; Ratu Boko is a short drive south of Prambanan.

   Head east to Prambanan, the 9th-century Hindu temple compound with its tall, pointed shrines to Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, and walk on to the Buddhist Sewu temple at the north end of the park. In the late afternoon drive up to Ratu Boko, the remains of a hilltop palace complex with a stone gateway, for sunset over the plain. Return to Yogyakarta for the night.

   Signal Good 4G at Prambanan and Ratu Boko; you can share photos straight away.

4. 04

   Day 4 Ubud

   Fly to Bali and on to Ubud

   → Domestic flight from Yogyakarta to Denpasar (DPS), about 1 hour 15 minutes, then about 1 hour 30 minutes by road to Ubud.

   Fly to Bali and pay or show your tourist levy confirmation on arrival. Drive up to Ubud, then spend the afternoon at the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary, with its temples among the trees, keeping sunglasses and phones secure from the monkeys. In the evening watch a Legong or Kecak dance performance at one of the temples or the Ubud Palace.

   Signal 4G is reliable in Ubud and around the airport, though the roads north from Denpasar can be slow. Inside the Monkey Forest keep your phone zipped away.

5. 05

   Day 5 Ubud

   Tegallalang rice terraces and Tirta Empul

   → Tegallalang is about 20 minutes north of Ubud; Tirta Empul and Gunung Kawi are a further 20 to 30 minutes.

   Go early to the Tegallalang rice terraces north of Ubud, before tour buses arrive, and walk along the terraced paths that follow the traditional subak irrigation system. Continue to Tirta Empul, a water temple where Balinese Hindus bathe in the holy spring pools; you can join in wearing a sarong, following the order of the spouts. In the afternoon visit Gunung Kawi's rock-cut shrines in a river valley nearby.

   Signal Generally good 4G on the roads north of Ubud; it can drop to one bar in the Gunung Kawi valley at the bottom of the steps.

6. 06

   Day 6 Ubud

   Mount Batur sunrise trek

   → Ubud to the Batur trailhead is about 1 hour 15 minutes by road; follow local authorities' advice on any volcanic exclusion zones.

   Get picked up around 2 a.m. for the drive to Mount Batur, an active volcano in north-east Bali. Climb with a local guide, as required, for about two hours in the dark to reach the summit for sunrise over Lake Batur and, on clear mornings, Mount Agung and Mount Rinjani on Lombok. Descend past steam vents, then relax in the natural hot springs by the lake before returning to Ubud to rest.

   Signal Coverage is usually workable on the summit and around Lake Batur, but there are weak patches on the forested lower trail.

7. 07

   Day 7 Uluwatu

   Uluwatu temple and Kecak at sunset

   → Ubud to Uluwatu by road, roughly 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours depending on traffic; Denpasar airport is about 30 to 45 minutes from Uluwatu.

   Drive south to the Bukit Peninsula. Spend the afternoon at one of the beaches below the cliffs, such as Padang Padang or Bingin, then go to Pura Luhur Uluwatu, a sea temple on a cliff some 70 metres above the Indian Ocean. Stay for the Kecak fire dance performed in the amphitheatre at sunset, before your onward flight from Denpasar.

   Signal 4G is reliable on the Bukit Peninsula and at Uluwatu temple, though data can slow when the sunset crowd gathers.