Higher prices for foreigners

Higher prices for foreigners

"Foreigners are regarded by many Indonesians as walking bank accounts, from which they would like to make a withdrawal." So says our Lonely Planet travel guidebook to Indonesia. We thought it was quite funny when we read it before coming to Indonesia. After five weeks on Bali and Java we do not think it is so funny anymore.

We can imagine and do not mind so much that a becak driver wants to make some more money by asking a higher price than usual. At least you can bargain.

We do mind though, for example, that an officer of a Post Office charged us nearly twice the price for sending a postcard or that an employee of a government tourist information center lied by saying you can only buy the tickets for a specific bus there, not on the bus. Of course, once on the bus, we found out that you can buy the tickets on the bus and they were only half the price we paid.

The most incredible thing however is the entrance fee for the Borobudur temple in Central Java. Indonesians pay Rp 1,000 and foreigners Rp 4,000. The manager explained that this is to make a visit easier for us, so we do not have to pay separately for a guide (we might not want) and for bringing a video camera (we might not have). So much for freedom of choice!

We are very tired of being cheated all the time and are very sorry to admit it spoiled our stay in Indonesia.

Ellen Baarslag and

Sandra Polderman

Utrecht, Netherlands