Early Saturday morning, after a late, late night of experiencing Jakarta nightlife and a fudge sundae at a classy McDonalds, I headed downtown to Kota. 'Kota' is the Indonesia word for city or town, but the old city from when the dutch colonized Indonesia is referred to as Kota. It was interesting to see, but not necessarily somewhere I would go again:) Here are some highlights and pictures of the trip to get some insight into a piece of history of Jakarta.
Trip Highlights
-getting a sense of direction in the city, and a little more familiar with getting around (public transportation styles)
-hanging out with Amanda, her BF, Emanuel and Deep!
-seeing some of the stark contrasts in Indonesia, modernity and wealth and poverty and rubbish
-getting a sense of Indonesia's colourful history, mingled in with present times
-feeling like a major tourist, and finally accepting thats what I am! (Not in the sense that I am going to be disrespectful or anything, just recognizing my limits as someone new to this country)
This is a picture from the TransJakarta public transportation...as you can see, in the downtown core, the buses have their own lane, and all the traffic is stuck on the main road. Oh how I love efficient public transportation! (It is important to note that though this one system is good, overall transportation in Jakarta is a nightmare!)
Canals run through the city, and they are so polluted, its very sad!
This is inside Cafe Batavia, an old cafe in a European style in the centre of the old city, Kota.
Cafe Batavia, note the dutch flag
In the centre of the old city, the bicycles are a big attraction, also very dutch!
This is the group (most of us) which includes Amanda and her boyfriend who were amazing and played tour guide, and Emanuel, an Italian intern from Italy who kindly showed me the ropes of the TransJakarta in the morning!
The backyard of the old dutch courthouse
Me and something old and ornate...this museum was not too impressive, but still neat to be in the old building!
Relaxing in the backyard of the courthouse
This cannon has some sort of obscene and sexual reference...and it is a belief that if barren women sit astride this cannon they will become fertile! I still don't really get the gesture though...
These were the dungeons/prisons of the courthouse, and they were really dark and scary! Apparently there was a leach pool that they threw ppl in to torture them. The Dutch were pretty messed up!
These are puppets from the Wayang Museum. This is something that I am super interested in, puppetry and shadow puppets are part of the traditional culture and are just so mystical and interesting! A little scary too! I hope to get to watch a live show while I am in Indonesia.
Dutch cannon balls...my goodness how times have changed!
Some delicious food - rice, duck egg, and a whole bunch of yummy spices!
Entertainment while we ate
This part of the city is very old and crumbly, and has some beautiful buildings such as this that are being overtaken by nature again. Its prime location, but I think the government wants to preserve parts of the old city for cultural reasons...or maybe its just too expensive to fix up.
We took a walk up to the port area, where there were thousands of these schooner boats lining the dock - I couldn't even see the water! They are very traditional, working on them looks difficult, and I think some of them were pirates:)
Amanda and myself, I met her the previous weekend and she was so great to meet me in Jakarta again so soon! Super cool and trendy and streetwise...especially compared to me in my tourist clothes:)
Another shot of the city/traffic on the way back to south Jakarta....Jakarta is huge!Observations:
-I'm glad I don't live directly in Jakarta! What a huge and traffic, smog filled city! Having said that, it has its charms for sure, and I'm not bashing it completely. Some amazing malls, some parts are very beautiful and well kept, and I very much enjoyed the TransJakarta metro service! In the end, even though I grew up in a large city, I feel like a country bumpkin here:)
-pollution: It breaks my heart to see a river sooo polluted coursing through the city. It is unhealthy for the people and environment.
-even though my clothes are practical, I feel quite unfashionable in Jakarta! The heat does not stop people from dressing nicely!
-travel tip #1 to remember: in Jakarta, expect to add a couple of hours to anything you do!
-travel tip #2: don't go out on a big day in the city on a few hours of sleep, its exhausting in the heat and with the traffic (I experienced a bit of nightlife in Jakarta the night before with AIESEC, and saw a lot of under-aged drinking among little white kids! haha, and had my first beer in Indonesia!)
So my first big trip in the city, it was followed by several malls and a very late dinner! But my hosts were gracious and let me relax all the next day in their house!
Hope this weekend proves to be as eventful, though more relaxing!
Miss you all,
Kim
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