Jakarta Travel Guide: Some Tidbits
2. Customs
Indonesian customs allow one liter of alcoholic beverages, 200 cigarettes or 50 cigars or 100 g of tobacco and a reasonable amount of perfume per adult. Cameras, video cameras, portable radios, cassette recorders, binocular and sport equipment are admitted but must be declared and brought out upon departure.
3. Language
Bahasa Indonesia is the official language. English is understood and/or spoken by most highly educated Indonesians and most people employed in the tourism industry.
4. Climate
Jakarta is hot and sunny all year round. The average temperature fluctuates between 75°F to 93°F (24°C to 34°C) with average temperatures of 79- 82 °F (°F (26 °C-28 °C). Generally speaking, June to September is the dry season and rainy season runs from December to March. During the rainy season, you can expect the rain almost everyday, which usually falls in the afternoon through the night. Occasional heavy rainstorms may also occur in Jakarta during the rainy season. The city of Bogor, near Jakarta, lays claim to having to world’s highest number of rainstorms : 322 times per year.
5. Dress
Dress is informal in Jakarta and Indonesia in general, due to the warm and humid climate. During the day, jeans, T-shirts, sandals and the like are acceptable. Try to wear unrevealing clothes at all times as a mark of respect to the country’s predominantly Muslim values. Beach attire is tolerated around the resort areas but outside these regions bearing flesh is considered inappropriate.
People are generally fashion conscious and neatly attired in business environments. For business meetings, accepted attire is a long-sleeved shirt with tie and long pants. Long sleeved batik or hand-woven shirts are often worn for evening functions. For women, suits, dresses, or blouses with skirts or pants are fine.
6. Telephone
The international dialing code for Indonesia is 62 and Jakarta area code is 21. When making international phone calls to Jakarta, first dial the country code + area code + telephone number. When calling from Jakarta, you need to dial the operator code (001 or 008) before dialing the country code+area code+ telephone number.
If you stay for quite some time in Jakarta, it is advisable to buy a GSM/CDMA SIM card from one of the Indonesian cellular operators. Prepaid GSM and CDMA SIM cards are handily available at cheap prices in malls, street kiosks and grocery stores.