If you're paying more than US65t to US$3 a day for a room, you're being culturally deprived of firsthand experience with the Indonesian people, the rakyat, the masses. You can live in neo-colonialist splendor relatively cheaply in Indonesia, but the more you're spending the more distance is created and the less of an Indonesian experience your visit will be. How good a time you have in a place depends frequently upon the friendliness and location of the losmen you stayed in, so choose your /osmens carefully. It makes quite a difference in expenses if two people travel together and split rooms. A double room could cost Rp750 while a single room costs Rp600; or in many places you pay a flat rate for the room no matter how many people occupy it. Ask at bus or train stations immediately upon arrival in the towns for cheap places to stay. Becak and taxi drivers always know of some. in the smaller villages ask the hansip (district civilian militia) for sleeping quarters. The same person whotells you that a hotel or losmen in this book no longer exists, will also be able to tell you where another cheap one is. Most of the typical low-cost Indonesian style staying places have short beds and low doorways for westerners. If there are prostitutes around it will probably prove noisy at night. Indonesian hotels are good about waking you up early to catch a train, bus or plane. Here are some types of Indonesian-style accommodations, their functions and prices varying from region to region:

a) stay with people, everywhere: Muslims take care of strangers, it's part of the Islamic code. Someone is almost always in the mood to take you home to their family. If you stay with a family in a kampung in the village or city, it's polite to drop in on the kepala kampung or the kepala desa (headmen) to introduce yourself and to register (pay sometimes a charge of Rpl-2001. His house is usually the largest one in the village with a big verandah for holding meetings. If the village is very small and you have no other place to stay, the kepala will fix you up for free or for a nominal charge. Often you're obliged to stay with the kepala desa and not in a less-ranking household. If you're hard up, crash on village platforms or in fields at the side of the road (but never in Sumatra).

b) the police: If places are too expensive or there are none, go to the police explaining that you're a poor student. Some hotels might refuse to put you up even though they have empty rooms because there are too many police forms for them to fill out and too many hassels and even suspicions if they do; plus they must pay the police too much of a cut for putting up tourists. In these cases, since they're causing all the inconveniences, go to the police and request accommodation. In exchange for entertainment and English-speaking practice, sleep for free on their floor or pitch your tent in their yard.
c) penginapan (lodging house): Very basic facilities. Even more basic than the losmen, but often even cheaper. See them all over Indonesia in little back lanes, sometimes with just a sign 'PengX' with the owner's name.

d) losmen: A cheaply run hotel but still quite livable. Often concentrated around train and bus stations. A bathroom is usually shared. Room service depends on the losmen or on the ibu (your hostess). Here's where you find the most interesting people-wandering merhants, students, Indonesian travelers, other travelers. Losmens run anywhere from Rp150-750, but prices differ from Sumatra right on through to Irian Jaya (the most expensive). On Bali, where you even see signs 'Hotel Ex-Losmen', it means living with a family. In Jakarta and other places on Java, a losmen could mean a brothel andt heyare considered somewhat downgrading.
e) wisma (sometimes called pondok): A bit more expensive still. This is an indonesian lodge or small guesthouse. Pretensions of grandeur in the high sounding name. Usually it's one storey, efficiently run, privately owned or owned by a family. The wisma-class hotel is actually the best accommodation for the money in Indonesia. Running usually about Rp1000-2500, they are remarkably comfortable and homey. Wismas often have flush toilets and a simple breakfast is often included in the price of the room. The name wisma is also used for ordinary buildings or for office blocks; could be anything.

f) hotel: Although it could also be quite cheap and dirty, a hotel infers more expensive accommodation with the European connotation. Room service depends on the price. Every room should lock (except in Yogya). The owner sometimes does the cooking, errands, managing and bookkeeping himself. In very cheap hotels, meals are not included in the price. Some hotels are just losmens with another name; the others you'll re cognize easily and avoid. There are mercifully few of the 'international standard' hotels in Indonesian, perhaps 25 in the whole archipelago.

g) YMCA's and Youth Hostels: Though quite comfortable because they have to live up to a standard, these are frequently more expensive than cheaper hotels and losmens. YMCA's run Rp10002500, but are quite centrally located, clean, usually have dining rooms, and are run much like an inn. Youth Hostels, of the few that exist, are small, plain, regimented.

h) asram: Students live here in dormitory accommodation or share a room. Often you can find spare beds, especially during school holidays.

i) pasangrahan or rumah2 kehutanan: Their functions are nearly interchangeable. They are government forestry huts or government lodges in parks, nature or wildlife reserves. You can stay in them if not occupied by government people. Usually they are quite cheap, sometimes even free. Found mostly in the outer islands-Moluccas, Celebes, Kalimantan, Sumatra. There could be several of them in one locale, therefore by asking for a rumah2 kehutanan you may be directed to a different one than the one you're looking for. Pasangrahan could also mean a commercial lodging house, frequently in more out-of-the-way places.