Jakarta

Jakarta street monuments

Came with Cheche to Jakarta for a visit to see local sights and also to pick up a watch from my friend Edwin. To be honest I had no idea what to expect despite having been to Jakarta only 3 years prior with Lilibet but those days I was more preoccupied with work than tourism so I had no time to go ashore anywhere, I only managed a short sojourn to Mall of Indonesia and back onboard. Anyway, we landed and got stamped in good order, also managed to get a taxi and not being fleeced too much we checked in. The hotel apparently in a posher part of Jakarta was ok but badly in need of a refurb, eventually we requested another room as the bed was horrendously bad for our backs so we got another with a newer bed. From there we took advantage of their concierge and booked short outings to sights outside of Jakarta, unfortunately after the visit to Chinatown I was 3 days with a gastric, I think from contaminated ice (it's always the ice) that eventually passed whilst Cheche scoured the pharmacies for remedies she tested on me. Below are pictures of some of the highlights we managed to visit.

Cathedral of Jakarta opposite the mosque

The main mosque of Jakarta

National monument on Merdeka square

Declaration of independence

Declaration of independence

Seiko 6139 "Sunrise" from Edwin

Snowglobe

Posh mall

Posh mall

Also Xmas decorations

Must see Seiko shop

After days of Indon food it was time for a break with Hainan rice

Street monument

At the restaurant with puppet motifs

Lunch time

Indonesian Cendol (halo-halo in Philippines)

Jakarta national museum

Entrance

National museum

National museum

Most exhibits on display were of the Hindu history from when the Indians had been trading in the area and introduced their religion. There was not much else of the actual history of the country, no posters or other exhibits displaying the timeline. The statues were interesting but only related to hindu deities and their qualities that are another chapter in itself but not really related to the national identity. Interesting museum but could have so much more to tell of the country and its history.

Tribes of Indonesia

Tribes of Indonesia

Bogor botanical garden

Entrance for ticket office

The Bogor botanical garden was a drive away from Jakarta and as we arrived we got put into a buggy tour of it so it was high speed through the whole venue. The area of the garden is huge with so many rare trees and plants all over. Sir Stamford Raffles had her wife Olivia Raffles buried there in Buitenzorg (today Bogor). Below are some pictures of carnivorous plants that we saw in a dedicated glasshouse. This venue could warrant a much longer visit than ours.

Carnivorous plants the size of a hand

Carnivorous plants

Carnivorous plants

Massive tree roots

Bogor

This day we drove again to Bogor to see the Nangka waterfall, I was still feeling ill from the gastric but thought I could make it. Unfortunately I was not a very sunny apparition and the guide I think tried to get out of his way to make our trip bearable. I did tell him it is not him, it's me and he got me some herbal remedies from a mini market. 

I did endure the whole trip but I could not eat the lunch offered and only had hot tea. The entrance to the nature park had plenty of monkeys standing by and we saw one monkey up in a palm tree ransacking somebody's wash bag and the monkey was squeezing toothpaste all over and then brushing his teeth with the brush he found in it. After a while the game lost interest to him and the bag was thrown onto the ground. The owner could not be seen so I guess it might have been stolen from their hotel room nearby.

We had to buy flipflops from a local lady as the trail we took went along the bottom of the creek leading out of the waterfall. The walk was not hard or very long, the water felt very refreshing compared to the ever pervasive heat and humidity. Soon enough we heard a lot of screaming and hollering that kept going and as we approached the waterfall we saw a group of Indonesians abseiling from the top of the waterfall down whilst a photographer was shouting instructions to the girls being lowered from the top. At critical points the girls screamed at the top of their voice out of excitement until they finally got down on the ground. Looked like great fun. I saw the trail leading further up the mountain so I think there were several floors to the waterfall but I was in no condition for a long hike and the tourguide also wanted to get us back to Jakarta by dinner time.

Master of Puppets

Also visited a puppet studio selling traditional puppets made of leather and also wooden masks, the gentleman selling the souvenirs displayed for us the techniques the puppets and masks were manufactured and showed how they looked when used for shadow plays. The figures have their roots in hinduism.

Old Batavia

Old city hall and Governor's residence

Locals outing

Ex administration buildings

Old car

Old Dutch buildings

Hotel

Ciliwung river

Cafe' in old Batavian building

Display of how much Jakarta has sunk since the 1970's

Display of how much Jakarta has sunk since the 1970's, 

the land level was at the height of the blue marker

Local port Sunda Kelapa

Sunda Kelapa is the old port of Jakarta, located on the estuary of the Ciliwung River. "Sunda Kalapa" (Sundanese: "Coconut of Sunda") is the original name, and it was the main port of the Sunda Kingdom. Today the old port only accommodates pinisi, a traditional two-masted wooden sailing ship (and by the looks of it also mastless ones with engines) providing domestic freight services in their archipelago. Although it is now only a minor port, Jakarta has its origins in Sunda Kelapa and it played a significant role in the city's development. 

I think I was offered to go here alongside when I was here few years ago with Lilibet and after seeing the port I am glad I declined as I don't think we'd achieved solving any technical issues there.

Port entrance with a model pinisi

Pinisi junks alongside

Maintenance

Loaded pinisi

Because of how much Jakarta has sunk the jetty had a wall built to enable working

Loaded pinisi

The seawall with the pinisi on one side and cargo on the other

Bit of highwater

Chinatown

Chinatown

Local coffee

Seiko for sale

Chinatown gate

Departure

It was time to pack up and get ourselves to the airport, it was quite special from other airports I've experienced, not so busy and noisy as the larger ones but quite low key with restaurants and occasional shops, like walking in a green mall with lot of plants. We managed to find our gate and soon enough we were in the air and on our way to Kuala Lumpur. Below a few snaps of Indonesian islands north of Jakarta that I could see from the plane windows. Our visit had been nice apart from the bout of gastric and I think I'll return another time to see more of Indonesia and not just the surroundings of Jakarta.