Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Kami menginap dua malam di wisma yang sama sambil menikmati suasana desa. - We stay two nights in the same guest house while enjoying the village atmosphere.

In Kami menginap dua malam..., the speaker is talking about their own group and not including the listener in that group, so kami is correct. If the listener had also stayed there with them, you would use kita.

What does menginap mean, and how is it different from tinggal or bermalam?

menginap means to stay overnight / to spend the night somewhere, usually at a hotel, guesthouse, friend’s house, etc.

bermalam is very close: to stay overnight, a bit more formal / literary.
tinggal is broader: to live / stay (for a longer time) in a place.

So menginap dua malam = stayed there for two nights (temporary stay), while tinggal di sana dua tahun = lived there for two years.

Why is it dua malam and not selama dua malam? Are both correct?

Both are correct, but slightly different in feel:

Kami menginap dua malam... – natural, simple; the duration is clear from context.
Kami menginap selama dua malam... – explicitly emphasizes the duration (for two nights).

In casual everyday speech, Indonesians often just say dua malam without selama.

What exactly is a wisma? Is it the same as a hotel?

wisma is typically a guesthouse / lodge / small inn, often simpler and cheaper than a hotel. It can also refer to a kind of dormitory or official guest housing (for employees, government guests, etc.).

So wisma overlaps with guesthouse, inn, or lodge, while hotel usually suggests a more commercial, possibly higher-standard place.

How does yang sama work here in wisma yang sama? Why not just wisma sama?

In Indonesian, yang is used to link a noun with a description, similar to that/which is in English.

wisma yang sama ≈ the guesthouse that is the same (one) → the same guesthouse

You cannot say wisma sama in this sense; without yang, sama would sound incomplete or unnatural as an adjective here. The pattern is:

Noun + yang + adjective/description
- orang yang ramah = the friendly person
- rumah yang besar = the big house
- wisma yang sama = the same guesthouse

What does sambil mean, and how is it different from sementara or ketika?

sambil means while, and it’s used when the same subject is doing two actions at the same time.

Kami menginap... sambil menikmati...
→ We stayed there while (at the same time) we were enjoying the village atmosphere.

Differences:

sambil – same subject, two simultaneous actions, often one is the “main” action and the other is “accompanying”.
sementara – can mean while / whereas; often contrasts two different subjects or situations.
ketika – means when (time point/period), not specifically simultaneous multi-tasking.

Example with different feel:

Kami berjalan sambil makan es krim. (We walked while eating ice cream – multitasking by one subject.)
Sementara saya bekerja, anak-anak bermain. (While I worked, the children played – different subjects.)

Can the order of sambil menikmati suasana desa be changed in the sentence?

Yes, there is some flexibility, as long as it stays clear and natural. For example:

Kami menginap dua malam di wisma yang sama sambil menikmati suasana desa. (original)
Kami sambil menikmati suasana desa menginap dua malam di wisma yang sama. (possible but sounds a bit awkward / literary)

Most natural in everyday speech is to keep sambil with the second action at the end, as in the original sentence.

What does suasana desa literally mean? Why isn’t it suasana di desa?

Literal breakdown:

suasana = atmosphere, ambiance, mood
desa = village

So suasana desa literally means village atmosphere or the atmosphere of a village.

suasana desa is a noun + noun phrase, where the second noun (desa) functions like an adjective describing the type of atmosphere.

If you say suasana di desa, it’s more literally the atmosphere in the village, focusing on location rather than type. Both can be correct; suasana desa sounds a bit more general or descriptive (rural vibe), while suasana di desa points to a specific village’s atmosphere.

Is menikmati always followed by a noun? Can it be used without an object?

menikmati is a transitive verb (it takes an object). It usually means:

to enjoy (something)
to savor / take pleasure in (something)

So you normally say:

menikmati suasana (enjoy the atmosphere)
menikmati makanan (enjoy the food)

Using menikmati with no object is usually considered incomplete or incorrect in standard Indonesian. If you just want “enjoying ourselves”, Indonesians might say bersenang-senang, menikmati waktu kami, or menikmati liburan, etc.

How do we know this sentence refers to the past, since Indonesian verbs don’t show tense?

Indonesian verbs do not change form for past, present, or future. Tense is understood from:

context (earlier sentences, time expressions)
optional time words like kemarin (yesterday), tadi malam (last night), besok (tomorrow), etc.

If you want to make the past clearer in isolation, you could say:

Kami sudah menginap dua malam di wisma yang sama sambil menikmati suasana desa.
(sudah adds the idea of “already / have (done) it”.)

Without context, the bare sentence could mean past, present (habitual), or planned, but in realistic use, context would tell you.

Could you drop kami and just say Menginap dua malam di wisma yang sama sambil menikmati suasana desa?

You can drop kami in some contexts, because Indonesian is often pro-drop (the subject can be omitted when clear from context).

In a diary, travel notes, or captions:
Menginap dua malam di wisma yang sama sambil menikmati suasana desa.
would be understood as (We/I) stayed two nights...

However, if the subject is not obvious from context, including kami keeps the sentence clearer.

Could you say menginap selama dua malam or tinggal dua malam instead of menginap dua malam?

Yes:

menginap selama dua malam – completely correct; emphasizes “for a duration of two nights”.
menginap dua malam – shorter, very natural.

tinggal dua malam is understood, but tinggal usually suggests a longer stay or living somewhere, so for a hotel-type overnight stay, menginap is more idiomatic.

So the most natural for this context is still menginap (selama) dua malam.

Can di in di wisma be replaced with pada, and would that sound natural?

Grammatically you could say pada wisma, but in modern everyday Indonesian:

di is the normal preposition for at / in / on places:
di wisma, di rumah, di hotel, di desa.
pada sounds more formal and is more often used with time expressions or abstract nouns:
pada hari Senin, pada kesempatan ini, pada kenyataannya.

So di wisma is the natural, standard choice here.