Itinerary:
- Ferry crossing Merak-Bakauheni (from Java to Sumatra by ferry)
- Bandar Lampung: 1 day
- Krui: 5 days
- Bengkulu: 1 day
- Padang: 3 days
- Bukittinggi: 4 days
- Lake Toba: 3 days
- Bukit Lawang: 3 days
- Medan: 2 days
Costs:
13.4 €/day
… considering traveling solo, eating just local (vegetarian) food, no a/c rooms, sometimes dorms, travel by public transport, no alcohol and no soft drinks, making my own laundry and walking a lot on foot… Shopping and souvenirs are also not included, as well health expenses and communications (SIM card, mobile, telephone, internet…).
Costs in Sumatra:
- room (fan): minimum 60.000 Rp up to 100.000 Rp (one person); in Sumatra the accommodation is usually cheaper that other Indonesian islands. There are many places with dorms in the cities for 60.000 or 80.000 Rp; nearby the beach areas the prices increase reaching 100.000 Rp. Most of the times the breakfast isn’t included.
- meal: less than 20.000 Rp for a meal (local food, street-food, vegetarian meals). The water is usually free at the guesthouses, as also coffee and tea.
- rent a scooter: 70.000 Rp/day or 100.000 Rp/day; a litter of petrol: 10.000 Rp in road side shops (at the pump station is 8.500 Rp/l)
- angkot (small local bus): costs from 2.000 Rp to 10.000 Rp for an urban area trip.
- ojek (moto-taxi): 10 km cost around 15.000 Rp (but the price of the ojek depends on your bargain skills and the needs of the driver, weather, time of the day…).
At Medan the GoJek, Uber and Grab companies offer moto-taxi services, that are an easy way to move around. - There is only one passenger train service in Sumatra (Bandar Lampung to Palembang), so the bus is the most common option but the distances are big and sometimes the plain is the best option as the prices are not much higher than the bus, and a bus trip of 15 hours can be mande in 1 hour by plane. Still… all this Sumatra trip was done by land!!!!
- A bus trip of 680 km costs around 200.000 Rp, in a air-con bus.
- At Sumatra the cost with transportation increase significantly compared with Bali, Lombok or Java) as the distances are bigger. But the accommodation is cheaper than in the other islands that i visit.
Note: this trip was made duriing Jun 2017, which still is still considered the low season, when the prices of the accommodation are lower, that can be significant at beach areas.
