South-East Asia has its own tech ecosystem. If you use apps that are more “tourist-friendly” it is likely you are going to overpay for a lot of stuff, here is my list to prevent that:
- MAPS.ME While google maps is great, I have had some issues with it working in some South-East Asian countries, which have been solved by this app. If you decide to travel to Indonesia it is very likely you will transit in Bangkok (Thailand) where there are multiple airports and you don’t want to have to download the app last minute. In more rural areas of Indonesia and Bangkok I found this app very helfpul.
- Gojek Grab These are the most used apps for grabbing a taxi in Indonesia by a huge margin. Both work well, and personally the drivers were extremely kind and cheerful. In general, the scooter (Gojek by the locals) is the best option for transport for any local mobility, as traffic can get quite chaotic (especially in Bali) and buses or cars get stuck in traffic jams. As an European I can say that the traffic feels very wild for our standards, but having exclusively grabbed scooters driven by a local for a month I can say it is pretty safe.
- Batik Air Fly Garuda Lion Air Air Asia These are all respectable apps for flights in Indonesia, and were you in need of an urgent flight for any reason you can count on them. The prices can widely vary, so if you want the cheapest I recommend you check them all.
- Traveloka Tiket Rome2Rio As general purpose apps for booking both activities and transport. When I was travelling Traveloka was notably cheaper. Of course if you want to ask the local people for advice and you can and should, all the people I interacted with was lovely. But English, specially if you are more on the countryside is completely out of the equation.
- Ferry Service Bali-Java This is the cheap option for crossing between these two islands. You want to pick Ketapang (Java) and Gilimanuk (Bali) as ports. Also Pejalan Kaki (pedestrian).
- Ferry Service Bali-Lombok This is the best option I found to cross between these two islands. You also have to grab the public boat from Gili islands to Lombok, but that is just 1Eur more.