The Jungle Book: Jakarta, Indonesia, August 8-12

Jakarta

With over 9 million people, Jakarta is certainly a change of pace from Borneo. With that being said though the city has a bunch to offer. On Wednesday, my first full day here, I headed to Kota or Old Jakarta Town via local train (whose doors did not close and during rush hour there are so many ppl on the train that some just sit on top of it) for an initial historical view of the city. In the 1500's when the Dutch first arrived here they named this part of town Batavia. Based on a recommendation I first hit the Batavia Cafe for a drink before exploring some of the museums and viewing the Dutch architecture. My first stop was the former town hall and what is now the Jakarta History Museum. The museum wasn't anything spectacular, you could barely read the descriptions cause the lights weren't on, but most notable was the fertility cannon that in the past women who struggled to give birth would sit on and myth had it that they would become fertile.

From the Old Town I roamed more streets of Jakarta, coming across many friendly locals who were eager to talk and lead me in the right direction (at times they even helped me cross the street as the traffic here is insane so it can take up to ten minutes to get across a 4 lane road). I next came across the oldest church in Jakarta that was built in the 1600's for Portuguese slaves who were freed if they joined the Dutch church. After a full days worth of walking around I took a bus back to the Jaksa area I was staying at. I was certainly happy to have a go at two different modes of local transportation here; both of which were an adventure in itself.At night, Sarah and I went out to the local bar area of town which was a site to see. Because of Ramadan the bars were pretty quiet for a Friday night, except for the countless prostitutes. In an attempt to find a different area to go out, we tried to get a taxi but none would agree on the price we wanted and should pay. Fortunately, a nice local on a motorcycle stopped next to us and said he'd take us for whatever price we'd pay. The bar we were trying to go to was close by but for some reason took 35 minutes to get to. We later found out that he didn't want to drive on main roads because he was worried about the police seeing us. By the time we got to the bar it was closed though.

On Saturday, Sarah left for Bali so I was back on my own. I decided to head to the National Monument, a 422 foot tower located at Merdeka Square (Freedom Square) which was built in 1961 by President Sukarno and represents Indonesia's fight for independence. Apparently the locals joke and call it "Sukarno's last erection." The views from the top were the best in the city and was certainly worth the wait in line to get up there. Following that I headed to the largest mosque in Jakarta as well as the National Church. For dinner I hit the street stalls (so far every night I've had dinner there) for some more chicken satay and nasi or mee goreng, followed by some of the best pineapple ever from the friendly street vendor.

Even with Ramadhan taking place, Jakarta is quite lively. I think the only noticeable difference is that food stalls are not open during the day and that bars are a bit quieter. Jakarta certainly has many friendly people who I've either had random discussions with or jumped on the back of their motorbike for a free ride somewhere. Also, Independence Day approaches on Tuesday which I'm looking forward to. All the streets are now lined with the flag and everything is colored red and white.