Don't depart without consulting the Web

Don't depart without consulting the Web

JAKARTA (JP): It has never been easier to prepare for a
vacation.

Today, it would be ridiculous to arrive at your destination
after a 12-hour flight without carrying the right type of
clothes, for example, as you could have easily found out what the
local weather would be like before you even started packing your
suitcase.

Not only that, a slew of travel websites, which have been
sprouting like fresh political controversies in Indonesia,
provide all kinds of travel information. Best of all, their
services are usually free of charge.

And, unlike at your travel agency where the agent gets more
and more impatient as you keep asking questions, you can collect
as much information about as many resorts as you wish at your own
pace and time at these travel websites. There is also no pressure
to buy any of the packages the websites are offering.

Two of the most popular travel sites are Travelocity
(www.travelocity.com) and Expedia (www.expedia.com). They do not
only help you plan your next trip, find you the best bargains for
flights, rooms, rental cars etc., but also offer useful advice on
the dos and don'ts when you visit a particular place.

What about local travel websites? We have some, too.

Indo.com (www.indo.com) is certainly a must-visit website for
serious vacationers. It provides a lot of information that might
help you in planning your holiday in Bali or Jakarta -- well,
perhaps nobody would really want to spend their time vacationing
in Jakarta! If you have never been to Bali, Indo.com also
provides a 360-degree panoramic view of popular places on this
heavenly island such as Tanah Lot, Ubud, Kintamani and Bedugul.
Try them out and you will be surprised to see the responsiveness
of this website.

If you want to visit other places in Indonesia -- particularly
if you are thinking of going further up to Northern Sulawesi,
your best bet will be goIndo.com (www.goindo.com). Currently it
features destinations such as the Bunaken sea garden and Thalassa
diving center. The sites still need a lot of work, though.
Another travel website for Indonesia is access bali online
(http://baliwww.com).

By the way, as to finding out what the local weather is like
at the place you are heading, you can even check the Webcam sites
at a number of places. Just download Gazer from Crescent Vision
Interactive (CVI) (www.crescentvision.com/download.html), and you
can access dozens of recent pictures taken with Web cameras in
various places like downtown Santa Cruz, Amsterdam and even the
island of Madeira. You can add more Webcam sites to Gazer's
collection as you come across good ones.

Keep in mind, though, that as of today, you will have a lot of
problems visiting Maui from the comfort of your living room, as
the connection still times out all too often. However, as the
technology matures and broadband connections become more widely
available, you may not even need to leave your computer to embark
on your travels. (Zatni Arbi)