The first stop on the trip was Jakarta...

Jakarta, Indonesia – Diving into The Big Durian Part 1

Many tourists when they think of Indonesia will often associate it with the island of Bali, one of Indonesia’s main tourist hot spots and tropical island getaway to around 3 million foreign visitors each year. I’ve visited Bali 7 times so far and I’m schedule to go again mid 2014 as I find the people so friendly, the prices reasonable, the activities abundant and the short 3.5 hour flight from Perth, Australia where I live is also a big plus.

However, last year I booked a trip to Europe for April 2014 and for a few reasons the stars aligned and I chose Jakarta, capital of Indonesia, as the starting point and so was able to spend several days in the city nicknamed the ‘Big Durian’ (a play on the Big Apple) and gain another perspective of Indonesia.

For a start Jakarta is BIG with a population of some 10 million people, and 28 million in the Greater Jakarta area, it is the largest city in South East Asia and one of the largest in the world and it also has a long history having been established in the 4th century and gone through several name changes including Jayakarta, Batavia (during the Dutch Colonial era) and finally Jakarta in 1945 when Indonesia declared independence.

The city also provides an assault on the senses to visitors with that many people (and cars, mopeds, ojeks etc) crammed into such a small area. You can experience the whole range of living circumstances from quite well off residences to small, dirty, cramped passageways, exotic scents to sometimes choking exhaust fumes from the ever increasing traffic jams caused by 10 million vehicles on the city’s roads and amazing food on offer, including diverse regional specialties from Indonesia’s provinces.

I chose to stay in a hotel in the Central Jakarta area of the city close to the Monas (National Monument) as that seemed to be where a number of the city’s attractions were located, which would make for easier access in a city that I had often heard about how hard it was to get to places because of the unpredictable traffic situation.

I had originally booked a direct flight from Perth to Jakarta on Jetstar Airlines, but was then told that they were cancelling that route with the last flight some 4 days before my departure necessitating me flying up to Singapore first and then down to Jakarta, with a trip time of 9 hours instead of the original 3-4 hours. I made it a little more enjoyable by visiting a couple of airport lounges in Perth and Singapore, but still those overnight red eye specials can leave you feeling a little flat on arrival.

After booking in and getting squared away at the hotel and freshening up it was time to hit the city and see what it had to offer. First off, under some grey threatening skies, was a visit to the National Monument. Nicknamed Monas, the monument includes a 132 metre tower in Merdeka Square built to commemorate Indonesia’s struggle for independence. Construction started in 1961 under former President Sokarno (founding President of Indonesia) and took until 1975 to complete.

The tower has a gold coated flame on its top and under it is an inverted pyramid holding the Hall of Independence which has a number of elements within it including a large bronze-covered coat of arms of Indonesia and the original of the Proclamation of Independence. The coat of arms is the Hindu bird Garuda with 8 tail feathers, 17 feathers on the ends of its wings and 19 feathers on the body below the shield and 45 feathers above the shield to represent the date of the proclamation of independence – 17 August 1945.

The shield on the national coat of arms is meant to represent the 5 Pancasila principles laid down by President Sukarno:

* Belief in One Supreme God;
* Just and Civilized Humanity;
* The Unity of Indonesia;
* Democracy that is Guided by the Inner Wisdom in the Unanimity Arising Out of Deliberations Amongst Representatives; and
* Social Justice for the Entire People of Indonesia.

The monument is also designed to represent a rice mortar and pestle from traditional Indonesian culture.

After the visit to Monas there was time for a brief visit to a street market close to the hotel before heading back to get dinner and plan for the rest of the visit.

The next day I decided after breakfast to make my way down to the Kota area, or Old Batavia or Jakarta Old Town, by taxi. This is the part of the city that was built by the Dutch in the 1500s when Jakarta was a much smaller city and contains several older colonial buildings that have now been converted into museums. Unfortunately some of this area is deteriorating quite badly and could do with some love.

Although now looking a bit dilapidated Batavia was actually a major trading port for the whole of Asia during the days of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Fatahillah Square is the main open area here and is where several museums are located including the Jakarta History Museum (located in the former city hall of Batavia which also housed the the office and residence of the VOC governor general), the Fine Art and Ceramic Museum, the Wayang Museum (dedicated to puppetry) and the Café Batavia.

A bit further up a road that has been closed to traffic and now houses an open air market are a couple of museums dedicated to some of Indonesia’s banks. I visited the Bank Indonesia Museum which actually provided quite a hi-tech audio/video cataloguing of the rather turbulent times Indonesia has experienced monetarily throughout its history.

After getting a meal from a restaurant I went to the train station located in Kota and caught a train to Juanda Station and a quick walk brought me to the National mosque or Masjid Istiqlal (the third largest mosque in the world and the largest in South East Asia). Non-Muslims can enter and get a guided tour of the mosque, but can only stay inside for 15 minutes. After leaving the Mosque I walked across the street to look at the Jakarta Cathedral.

By now it was starting to get towards dusk so I walked back over to the Monas to take a few night photos before heading back to the hotel to call it a night.

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