Jakarta? No she walked!

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The hotel had a gym, so at the crack of dawn when Toby woke up, he headed down there. The girls tried to sleep in but the thought of soaking in a deep bath lured Fiona out of bed. Laundry was our first priority and we set off on foot to an address Toby had found on the net. We walked down some small alleys and saw a different side of Jakarta to the usual tourist routes. The address for the laundry was wrong but an auto driver found one for us. Then we jumped in a taxi to take us to the mall.

The mall was called Grand Indonesia shopping Plaza and was huge. Harriet found loads of shops she loves including her favourite Forever 21, which isn't in Australia. We shopped hard with everyone coming away with something. As we left the mall we passed a girl with a sign which a policeman was reading and copying. We had no idea what it said so just carried on.

We walked several blocks to the national monument and even though it was very hot and humid we were sure we were better walking than going in a taxi. Typically for Jakarta, the traffic was at a stand still lurching forward 200 meters each time the lights changed. You can take a lift to the top of the National Monument, but it had closed early due to Ramadan. We decided our 19th floor hotel room had a better view anyway and left to catch a bus to the old city, Kota.

The Dutch colonized Indonesia and Kota still has many of the old buildings. On the square in front of the town hall, hawkers were setting up stalls. There were bikes to rent and a real bohemian atmosphere. We went to the famous Batavia Cafe for cocktails overlooking the square. The cafe was a beautiful building and had retained the colonial feel of the 30's and 40's. We almost didn't get a drink because of Ramadan but they made an exception for us as we were tourists. We looked at the oldest bridge on the canal and then spent an hour trying to go 2or 3 kilometers. The auto was squashy and all the pollution from it and other autos came straight in at us. Harriet has a cough anyway and it wasn't a pleasant journey. The driver didn't know where he was going so it took even longer than it should. By the time we got back we were too tired and lazy to find somewhere else to eat and went back to the buffet.

The auto driver had driven past a load of stalls selling durian. As we were leaving Indonesia, Toby and Harriet had one last chance to try it. So we flagged an auto and tracked some down for dessert. Fiona had eaten it before and likes it. Not many foreigners like durian. It smells really bad and puts people off. There were loads of stalls to choose from and we randomly sat down at one that looked busy. The boys at the stall open a durian for you as they are spiky and need a good knife. The outside doesn't even begin to hint at the fruit inside which is creamy and rich. Harriet took one small taste and proclaimed it disgusting. Toby wasn't knocked out but the more he ate the more he seemed to like it. One was enough and a fitting end to our last night in Indonesia.

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