Jakarta.... not THAT bad
Oh Jakarta.... the city of broken dreams for many Indonesians... but a nice diversion for Jared and Yamin.
I think we should suggest that to the Indonesian Tourism Board:
Jakarta - Not that Bad.
The city is much different than I thought. I pictured something with dirt roads, gypsy-like children beggars, and groups of touts following us around. I was tainted by the impressions of travelers who had despised this urban sprawl. Yamin and I, not being the true back packers, didn't mind it.
Jakarta is well laid out, has tons of high-end shopping plazas, tree lined avenues, and the touts aren't nearly as aggressive as we had anticipated. Sure the sidewalks were hard to maneuver with frequent broken concrete exposing the sewer. Sure the pollution was disgusting. Sure... crossing the street took a bit of courage.... But we enjoyed it.
After our 14.5 hour (1.5 hours late) train ride which was not too bad we went to the hotel I had booked. It was only about 6USD per night and I was excited to be saving some money. After meandering through the exposed sewer alleys, bitten on the ankles by the mosquitoes that breed in that sewage, and guided by an unsolicited street child we arrived at our "hotel". It was a small house that was converted into a few rooms. The room had a fan, a squat pot, and a shower and was not THAT bad. Yami was not feeling it no matter how much I was trying to point out the positives.
We found "the splurge" in the lonely planet and settled there for the next few days. It had AC (which didn't work too well), cable, and a bathroom (water didn't always work) for 19USD a night.
Days were so hot and humid that we tried to do things in the morning or late afternoon. A lot of it revolved around airconditioning. Mall, supermarket, internet, pizza hut, a museum, etc.
On Sunday we went to a huge amusement park that highlighted Indonesian Culture. Since it was the last day of a long weekend, families came out in droves. Every region of Indonesia has a separate section which highlights it's particular cultural influence. There are also several museums and gardens and a Kimodo Dragon exhibit. It was nice but our tolerance of the heat and crowd was reached in 3 hours.
Monday Yami decided that he needed a pool and some real AC so supplementing my budget we checked into the Ibis for 2 nights which was great, especially since we had both caught a bit of the stomach bug.
Tuesday we went to the Batavia Cafe and splurged on drinks and dinner. The colonial dutch restaurant/bar is in a historical area and has a wonderful 40's feel. The walls are covered in photos of legendary stars which double as menus. Everything is very chic and very grand. We had a cheese platter even.... oh real cheese was such a nice treat.
The city is much different than I thought. I pictured something with dirt roads, gypsy-like children beggars, and groups of touts following us around. I was tainted by the impressions of travelers who had despised this urban sprawl. Yamin and I, not being the true back packers, didn't mind it.
Jakarta is well laid out, has tons of high-end shopping plazas, tree lined avenues, and the touts aren't nearly as aggressive as we had anticipated. Sure the sidewalks were hard to maneuver with frequent broken concrete exposing the sewer. Sure the pollution was disgusting. Sure... crossing the street took a bit of courage.... But we enjoyed it.
After our 14.5 hour (1.5 hours late) train ride which was not too bad we went to the hotel I had booked. It was only about 6USD per night and I was excited to be saving some money. After meandering through the exposed sewer alleys, bitten on the ankles by the mosquitoes that breed in that sewage, and guided by an unsolicited street child we arrived at our "hotel". It was a small house that was converted into a few rooms. The room had a fan, a squat pot, and a shower and was not THAT bad. Yami was not feeling it no matter how much I was trying to point out the positives.
We found "the splurge" in the lonely planet and settled there for the next few days. It had AC (which didn't work too well), cable, and a bathroom (water didn't always work) for 19USD a night.
Days were so hot and humid that we tried to do things in the morning or late afternoon. A lot of it revolved around airconditioning. Mall, supermarket, internet, pizza hut, a museum, etc.
On Sunday we went to a huge amusement park that highlighted Indonesian Culture. Since it was the last day of a long weekend, families came out in droves. Every region of Indonesia has a separate section which highlights it's particular cultural influence. There are also several museums and gardens and a Kimodo Dragon exhibit. It was nice but our tolerance of the heat and crowd was reached in 3 hours.
Monday Yami decided that he needed a pool and some real AC so supplementing my budget we checked into the Ibis for 2 nights which was great, especially since we had both caught a bit of the stomach bug.
Tuesday we went to the Batavia Cafe and splurged on drinks and dinner. The colonial dutch restaurant/bar is in a historical area and has a wonderful 40's feel. The walls are covered in photos of legendary stars which double as menus. Everything is very chic and very grand. We had a cheese platter even.... oh real cheese was such a nice treat.
So Wednesday we left for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We are both looking forward to it. We have some contacts here and Yami has some relatives. We'll blog on it soon!
posted by Jared @ 4:27 PM
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