Indonesia is often confused with Malaysia however you can sometimes tell them apart by license plates. The most common Indonesian license plate has three white sections amongst the black, whereas the most common Malay plate has two white sections amongst the black. Indonesia tends to look poorer in general than Malaysia. There are obviously exceptions but in general, Malay roads are better maintained, there are more road signs in Malaysia and the houses and general landscape is more affluent. Indonesia is a very tropical country with a range of landscapes and scenery depending on how remotely located you are positioned. Black and white curbs are a common sight (they are also fairly common in Malaysia). Houses with terracotta tiles as their roof are abundant in Indonesia. Rural houses tends to have corrugated, metal roofs. Indonesia have a number of company signs that begin with the letter ‘PT’, which is unique to Indonesia. Motorbikes are a common form of transport in Indonesia and vehicles drive on the left side of the road. Indonesia has various forms of black license plates (as does Malaysia). Many parts of Indonesia have black and white markings on their curbs. Malaysia can also have these black and white curbs. The majority of utility poles in Indonesia have three bulbs facing upwards with two of the bulbs being on one side of the vertical utility pole itself. In addition, these Indonesian utility poles tend to have a diagonal supporting bar stemming from the utility pole and connecting to the horizontal bulb holding bar. The Lesser Sunda Islands  can be determined thanks to their utility poles which contain a long support beam that runs from the very end of the horizontal crucifix bar, diagonally, to the main pole. The Lesser Sunda Islands are essentially all of the Indonesian islands located directly east of Java.  Central Java (and the Special Region of Yogyakarta which is just south-east of Central Java) often use various forms of ‘t-shape’ utility poles in which the horizontal pole is placed half-way across the vertical pole. Motorcyclists are particularly common in Indonesia. Indonesia is a rare place in Asia that requires license plates on the front of motorbikes. Despite being blurred, you should be able to notice the presence of these front plates. The country has lots of vegetation and buildings that typically skirt the roads. A type of ‘spiky’ palm tree, known as an oil palm, is more of a common sight on Sulawesi, Sumatra and Borneo - the more remote islands. Indonesian houses most commonly have terracotta/brown coloured tiles on their roof. Some of the more remote Indonesia houses/businesses have corrugated iron roofs. These are more common on Sulawesi, Borneo and Sumatra. The larger, built-up, modern and more developed areas of Indonesia are mainly found on the island of Java. Java is the most populated island in the world. Indonesian road lines can vary however the most common lines are white, featuring continuous edge lines and a dashed, line in the centre. Vehicles in Indonesia drive on the left of the road (although much of the region does, including Malaysia). This left driving contrasts Indonesia from the Philippines and South America which both can look vaguely similar to Indonesia. Indonesia can be distinguished from Malaysia as Indonesia tends to look poorer in general. TV satellite dishes in Indonesia (and much of the world) point to the equator. Using this information, you can often determine your longitude in Indonesia (or distinguish your guess from Malaysia) by looking at the angle that the satellite dish is pointing as the equator runs through Indonesia. TV satellite dishes are everywhere in Indonesia and this is one of the best ways to recognise the country. Parts of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi and neighbouring smaller islands contain these small fences comprising narrow vertical sticks. Whilst these fences can be found elsewhere in Indonesia, they are most common in and around Sulawesi. North Kalimantan has a white fog, which is a camera artifact, across most the regions coverage. Yellow diamond warning signs are used in Indonesia. These same signs are used in much of the region including Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Sri Lanka. Ads on shops tend to feature only the three colours- red, white and black. The abbreviation ‘Jl.’ appears on many signs in Indonesia (it means ‘Jalan’ which is the equivalent of road or street). Indonesian has the letter ‘a’ appearing in almost every word and often several time within words. ‘kan’, ‘an’ or ‘i’ are common suffixes. Indonesian resembles Malay. Finding the exact location within Indonesia can be tricky. Indonesian shops will often have their address on them. The province name is sometimes listed on shop/building signs. On occasions a direction accompanies the province name indicating where in the province the shop is located e.g. north, east south, west or central. These directions are written in Indonesian. In brackets are my memory tricks for recalling these directions. North = Utara East = Timur (sounds like East-Timor) South = Selatan (both begin with an ‘s’) West = Barat (Borat actually comes from the western world in the form of Sacha Baron Cohen) Centre = Tengah (Tengah sounds like centre) Signs right across Indonesia have the word ‘KABUPATEN’ or ‘KAB’ written on them. This means regency (like a district). The word following KABUPATEN or KAB is the regency you are in. Instead of KABUPATEN, certain signs in some parts of Indonesia will display ‘KOTA’, which means ‘city’. The word following KOTA indicates the name of the city. It is often possible to work out what Indonesian island you are situated on based on the roofs. Whilst most houses won’t have roofs that are that distinctive, sometimes you’ll quickly see an island-specific roof.  Some roofs in Sulawesi have a form of ‘bull horns’ in their top. These roofs are often found elsewhere such as on Borneo. Many roofs in Java have tiles with each tile having a bump in it- like a wave. Although these roofs can be seen on other Indonesian islands, they are most common on Java.

Indonesian licence plates are black with white letters. The letters usually appear as three white sections through the blur.

Commercial vehicles use yellow licence plates.

Plates in newer coverage can be white too.

Malaysian licence plates are also black, but generally have two white sections.

Indonesia uses white or yellow centre lines. Outer lines will always be white. The centre lines will be solid or dashed.

Malaysian road lines are always all white.

Poles in Indonesia are typically round and made out of either steel or concrete. Many of the steel poles are painted black, and also feature the Indonesian flag colours on them. The pole tops are usually either even or uneven, depending on the region.

Indonesia commonly uses these black-and-white square or circular bollards, as well as these yellow-and-black ones, which can also have a red reflector. Other designs can also be found.

UK-style bollards are mostly found in Kalimantan.

Usually yellow waystones that are angled towards the road, and have a cutout close to the top are unique to Indonesia. They include shorthand for three cities or towns, with the biggest one being on the top in the cutout section.

Waystones in the Philippines are perpendicular to the road and have the text facing away from the road.

Indonesian can look very similar to Malaysian, however Indonesian has been influenced by Dutch, and Malaysian by English. These small changes in spelling may help differentiate the two.

You can find rows of red and white banners or colourful flags all around Indonesia.

Cigarette ads can be found all over Indonesia, usually with a black or red colour scheme and around a price of 18,000 Rp. Keep an eye out for illustrated graphic pictures, and the word ‘PERINGATAN’.

Motorcycles in Indonesia have front licence plates, as opposed to other south-east Asian countries which do not.

The official Indonesian currency is the Rupiah (Rp).


The double centreline in Indonesia is found only on highways, unlike Malaysia which often uses it on 2-lane roads.


Directional road signs in Indonesia are usually found only at important crossroads.

Indonesia uses the yellow diamond-shaped warning signs, like the rest of Southeast Asia.

The turn arrows are black with a yellow background.


Location information can be found in many places in Indonesia (boards, billboards, shop fronts, etc.). The meaning of certain important words found on these boards and other places can be found below in the “Alphabet/language” section.
Indonesian flags can be found everywhere, and in many forms.

Prayer flags on the side of the road are very common too, each colour carrying a meaning.

Sometimes there are ornamented structures by the side of the road, usually when entering or exiting a settlement.

The license plates in Indonesia have 3 parts, while those in Malaysia have 2, and that can be sometimes seen through the blur.
Motorcycle plates:

Indonesia has front motorcycle plates too, in contrast with Malaysia.

Ads:

Cigarette ad banners and boards are everywhere in Indonesia:

Indomaret is one of the most popular convenience store chains in Indonesia.

Bank BRI is one of the largest banks in Indonesia.

If you find a Sumsel Babel bank, you know you are in the provinces of South Sumatra (Sumatera Selatan) or Bangka Belitung.

Oil palms are very specific agricultural planted trees which are mostly found on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo in Indonesia.

Another agriculturally planted tree species is the rubber tree, which can be found here and there all over Indonesia.

It is characterised by thin whitish bark trunks and is planted in an arranged pattern, just like oil palms.
Rice is also grown all around Indonesia.

Trees in Indonesia can sometimes be painted with the flag colours on the trunks:


Classic Indonesian houses:

Houses with brick tile roofs can most frequently be found on the main islands (e.g. Java, Bali), while the metal roof ones are more frequent on the other, less populated islands (Sumatra, Borneo, Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggaras). However, this is not always fool-proof and both house types can be found on all the islands.


Religion/Mosques:

Indonesia is predominantly a Muslim country, although some parts of it are Christian, Hindu or Buddhist:

So, by finding a church or a Hindu/Buddhist temple you can usually tell in which part of the country you are.


