City tour of Jakarta

---

Got up early and was picked up to go on my Jakarta city tour. It took about an hour just to get into the city, the traffic can be really bad especially as the population is around fourteen million people. The guide took me to the national museum to see all the artifacts which was pretty interesting. Most of them had been acquired by the dutch during the 19th and 20th century. The exhibits included hindu-javanese stone statues, prehistoric bronze wares and chinese porcelains. There was also a display of treasure of indonesian heirlooms. For such a big museum i was surprised that i was pretty much the only person in there.

We then passed through the financial district passing the famous welcome statue and fountain. Making our way to medan merdeka (freedom square) to see the monas which is a 137 metre tall obelisk. A high speed elevator rises to the observation deck where on a clear day you can see 360 degree views of the city. Went back down to the basement level where there was a history of Jakarta exhibition. This was quite interesting as it detailed the history throughout the years and then documented all important events until the 21st century. I was surprised that for a population of its size there were hardly any people around. The only other people in the park were some young army cadets doing their drills. Headed back to the hotel to get ready for the flight home.

---