Travelling Sentences That You Must Know & Learn

Alright, alright. We love to travel and sometimes language barrier can be a problem. Sometimes we want to ask where's the bathroom? Or how much is a price of something... or sometimes we just want to communicate with the locals!

Indonesia is so beautiful with its nature, foods, cultural sights and many more. Most of the beautiful, unexplored places are often hard to get access and it can be handy when asking questions to locals for direction. You also want to pay attention with foods, Indonesians love spicy food! It is always safe to ask whether a food is spicy or not, or specifically to request food without chili. 

There are many ways to speak in Bahasa Indonesia, sometimes it depends on the region. But here are 10 travelling sentences you need to know - along with the answer - when you travelling to Indonesia to help you prepare when you step foot in the land! 

Making Small Talk with Locals 

I always recommend my friends to get acquaintance with local because the people are so friendly and helpful in Indonesia, especially in tourist places, that's why making small talk is the one thing you can do! You can start, and the conversation, might go like this:

A: Halo! Apa kabar?
A: Hello! How are you?

B: Halo, aku baik. Terima kasih. Kamu?
B: Hello, I'm good. Thank you. You?

A: Aku baik. Terima kasih. Kamu dari mana?
A: I'm good. Thank you. You from where? > where are you from?

B: Aku dari Australia. Siapa nama kamu? Saya (enter name).
B: I'm from Australia. What is your name? I am (enter name).

This is something that the local and you can talk about for small talks, asking where are you from and how are you, sometimes what is your name etc. Then from there, you can ask them for direction, which often is what foreigners would like to know. Therefore, this is how likely the conversation would go: 

Asking Directions 

A: Kamu mau ke mana?
A: You want to go where? > where do you want to go?

B: Saya mau ke ... (insert location). Di mana itu?
B: I want to go to ... (name of the location). Where is that?

A: Ke kiri... lalu ke kanan. Dari situ, lurus terus.
A: To the left... then to the right. From there, keep straight ahead.

B: Ini jalan apa?
B: This is what street? (asking what is the name of the street)

A: Ini jalan Pattimura. 
A: This is Pattimura Street.

Another direction you can ask, is for asking location of something. It's not that hard, you just need to know the name of the "location" you wanna go:

A: Aku mau ke WC/Toilet. Di mana WC/Toilet?
A: I want to go the toilet. Where is the toilet?

B: Dari sini, lurus terus. Lalu ke kanan.
B: From here, straight ahead. Then to the right.

A: Di mana restoran Seminyak?
A: Where is Seminyak Restaurant?

B: Restoran Seminyak 3 blok lagi dari sini.
B: Seminyak Restaurant is three blocks away from here.

Ask for Cutlery 

We only have two things cutlery in dining manner, that are spoon and fork. We sometimes also use chopstick especially in Chinese cuisine. Here what you can ask and say in Bahasa Indonesia relating cutlery:

A: Saya minta sendok dan garpu ya. Saya minta dua.
A: I ask (would like) for spoon and fork yes. I want two (pieces). 

B: Ya, boleh. Tunggu sebentar. Kamu perlu pisau? 
B: Yes, you may. Wait a moment. You need knife? 

A: Tidak perlu pisau. Apa kamu punya sumpit? Terima kasih banyak. 
A: No need for knife. Do you have chopstick? Thank you so much.

Give comments about food/drink

Meal after meal, food after food you try, drink after drink you taste, obviously you have something to say! There are a lot of expression and feelings you can definitely share with your friends, the locals and even the seller. Let's try to put it in conversation, it may go like this, and I'm putting extra expression that you can practice as well:

A: Wah, makanan ini enak sekali! Rasanya pedas dan gurih, aku suka.
A: Wow, this food is so delicious! The taste is spicy and savory, I like it.

B: Aku tidak suka makanan ini, terlalu pedas... aku tidak suka makanan pedas. Jus ini enak, manisnya pas. 
B: I don't like this food, too spicy... I don't like spicy food. This juice is delicious, the sweet is perfect. 

A: Daging ini lembut sekali dan baunya wangi. Aku mau pesan lagi.
A: This meat is very soft and the smell is so good. I want to order again.

Asking for Prices and Bargain! 

While now that we know several things about bahasa Indonesia and how to say 'em, how about now we learn the most useful and the-one-thing-u-should-know in Bahasa Indonesia? Yap, prices and bargain. 

You may know Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam are so cheap, be it for foods, clothes, or even places to rent. Now we gonna learn on how to ask prices and bargain a little bit for the things we wanna buy.

A: Berapa harganya? (look/point out the things you want to buy)
A: How much is it?

B: Ini harganya seratus lima puluh ribu. Kamu mau? kamu mau berapa?
B: This is one hundred and fifty thousand. You want? You want how much (how many do you want?)

A: Aku mau ini, dua. Berapa harganya untuk dua ini? Jangan mahal-mahal ya.
A: I want this, two. How much is it for this two? Don't give expensive rate ya. 

B: Ini murah, dua hanya tiga ratus ribu. Ayo ambil. 
B: This is cheap, two only three hundred thousand. Go take it.

A: Ah, ini mahal. Aku ambil dua, harganya dua ratus ribu ya. Kalau tidak kasih, aku tidak ambil.
A: Ah, this is expensive. I take two, for the price two hundred thousand ya. If you don't give it, I don't take it.

For prices, you can bargain a bit and ask for better deal of course, but you should remember to also support the local especially if you buy foods or fruits from stands or small seller. You can almost guarantee that the products are fresh and new, and the local won't fooled you. 

Once you practice these sentences, hopefully it would be easier for you to express what you want and need when you step your foot into our land. Hopefully this article would help you better when travelling to Indonesia and you enjoy visiting us.