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 .