INDONESIA
Communications
Most post offices (Kantor pos) open Mon-Thurs 8am-2pm, Fri 8-11am
& Sat 8am-1pm; aside from the usual services some also offer
email and fax facilities. Indonesia's poste restante system is
fairly efficient, but only in the cities; poste restante is officially
held for a maximum of one month, though often it's held for much
longer. Overseas letters to Western Europe and America take between
seven and ten days to arrive.
In larger post offices, the parcels section is usually in a separate
part of the building and sending one is expensive and time-consuming.
The cheapest way of sending mail home is by surface (under 10kg
only). Don't seal the parcel before staff at the post office have
checked what's inside it; in the larger towns there's usually
a parcel-wrapping service near the post office. A parcel weighing
up to 3kg airmailed to Europe takes about three weeks and costs
around Rp170,000; a 5-10kg parcel costs Rp425,000 (by sea it will
cost Rp170,000 and takes three months).
There are two types of telephone office in Indonesia: the ubiquitous
government-run Telkom offices (open 24hr), and privately owned
wartels (usually 7am-midnight), which tend to be slightly more
expensive, but are often conveniently located. Both also offer
fax services, though the wartels rarely have a collect-call service.
Public payphones are useful for local calls and take Rp100 and
Rp500 coins. Put the coins in only after someone picks up the
phone and starts speaking. Many payphones now take telephone cards
only (kartu telefon), available in various denominations from
20 units (Rp2000) to 680 units (Rp68,000). Cards can be bought
from most local corner stores. In the big cities there are also
new kartu cip phones that take the new microchip cards. Long-distance
domestic calls (panggilan inter-lokal) are charged according to
a zone system, with different rates; it's cheaper between 9pm
and 6am.
Rates for international IDD calls are fixed, though the premium
charged by the private wartels varies: Australia, Japan, New Zealand
and the USA cost Rp8500 per minute; Canada and the UK, Rp9300;
Alaska and Western Europe, Rp10,500. You get 25 percent discount
between midnight and 6am and at weekends. To call abroad from
Indonesia, dial 00 + IDD country code + area code (minus the first
0) + number. For international directory enquiries call 102; the
international operator is 101. Some Telkom offices and airports
also have home-country direct phones, from which you can call
collect (reverse-charge calls), or settle up after the call; they
cost more than IDD phones.
Internet access is becoming increasingly widespread in Indonesia,
and there are now tourist-friendly Internet offices and cybercafés
in many towns and cities; prices vary widely from Rp3500 to Rp40,000
per hour. Email can make a good alternative to post office postes
restantes - even if you're not on the Internet at home.
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