In Reply to: Advice re: travelling through Indonesia posted by Jemma on Sunday, 10. February 2008 at 19:48 Bali Time:
My first advice is DO IT.
I've found Indonesia to be the most interesting country I've ever visited and each area offers something new.
Your first thought of Lombok and on to Rinca and Flores is great. I flew into Labuhanbaju, went out to Komodo, and then hired a car to take me cross Island over a 3 day period-- the scenery is great, and of course you finish with Maumere and the nearby multi-colored lake at Mono.
Other top choices for me have been visits to Tanatoraja in Sulewesi, The Central javanese sites of Yogyakarta (for Borobodur and Prabanan) as well as the city itself; and the area around Lake Toba.
The further you get from the main tourist area of Bali, the more helpful a bit of Bahasa Indonesia, and picking up a Kamus (dictionary) before leving Bali will certainly make you popular and make things a litle easier for communication.
The JBR from Camille was great and also captures a lot of the excitement of the country.