Learning to get around town


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Asia » Indonesia » Java » Jakarta
August 13th 2005
Published: January 22nd 2006
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Anything goes!Anything goes!Anything goes!

When I think of Jakarta this impression usually comes to my mind.
Today Vanessa and I have planned to continue the waterfront tour in the old town of Kota and the Sunda Kelapa harbour area. This is an area where you can find colonial architechture and I am hoping to catch a few ships too. First though I need to run some errands in my own part of town. I really enjoy my stay at the Acacia and want to add some more nights. However, due to what seems to be a common source of annoyance in Jakarta I cannot lengthen the stay at the hotel counter since I have a discounted rate. Extending my stay can only be made at 70 USD per night, about twice as much as I pay now. A bit frustrated about this I need to find a branch office for the Kata agency. At first I am worried it means I will have to travel across half the city when the receptionist informs me that they have a small counter in a restaurant over at jl. Raden Saleh, not too far from here. A quick glance at the wall clock tells me I need to hurry up to meet my appointment schedule.

I rush out in
50% of jl. Kramat Raya50% of jl. Kramat Raya50% of jl. Kramat Raya

Taken from the sanctuary of a walking bridge
the noon heat and since I do not have a death wish I take the extra precaution of using the walkway bridge across the 12-laned jl. Kramat Raya outside. Walking down jl. Raden Saleh I take the opportunity to scout for any travel agents. What I do find are mainly lots of cars, noodle stalls, bajaj drivers, small shops and a tiny mosque. This is a decidedly muslim area of Jakarta, there are lots of headscarves around, and a number of foreigners from what I would guess mainly India and Arab countries. After some more careful inspection I come across a travel agent and pop in to try and set up a daytrip somewhere courtesy of Batavia. The flights I have picked however do not follow the time table I hold in my hand which is a bit annoying. Not having really studied the other time tables I picked up at Ngurah Rai airport I find I need to do some more planning. Back to the drawing board! Outside again I keep walking eastwards over a bridge past a dirt filled canal and now the buildings are more of the office/residential style, so I must have walked too far. Backtracking along the other side of the road I finally find the small restaurant and the ticket counter. I am happy to see a price list for a range of hotels and the prices are still the same rates as at the airport so I extend my stay for a couple of nights. Vouchers in hand I then head back to the hotel to meet up with Vanessa.

Going to Kota, she explains, the best way will be to catch a bajaj to Sarinah station and then transfer to bus. Bajaj translates to a 30 year-old orange Indian tricycle, kind of like a smaller version of a Tuk-Tuk. Bargaining is necessary, as this is one of the "one country-two systems" pitfalls where you will be overcharged. Amusingly we ride down past jl. Raden Saleh again so I can make some insightful comments...

After a quick ride we are at Sarinah. This area is just to the west of the MONAS monument of independency which sort of serves as a focal point to orient yourself around the city. Looking around I am really surprised at the different environment. This area has none of the gritty feel of the other places I've visited so far and with its broad paved roads and its slick skyscrapers with expensive looking shops in the bottom floors remind me more of your typical Asian city biz district. And the first person to bother me isn't some random fruit vendor or newspaper man, but a slick dude with sunglasses on a big stage outside some shopping mall yelling out at us through a P/A system "Hello Sir, what a nice day Sir, where are you going Sir?" Blah blah blah... something like that, I think they wanted to sell Pepsi or whatever, I cannot really remember.

A much more pleasant surprise is our onward mode of transportation. The bus station is situated in the middle of the road, on a shiny platform with manned tollbooths reached by walkbridge. You buy a fixed price ticket at 2.500 IDR which enables you to travel anywhere along the line. The Transjakarta Bus System (or "Busway" as it is also known among the locals) is a fairly new experiment and something which was not covered in my 1.5 year old LP. It works like a tram system, in that special buses run frequently back and forth between two stops in a special lane dedicated to the buses only. And it works like a breeze! Currently there is only one route open but I am very happy to learn that the system is planned to be introduced in much greater scale. The Jakarta monorail project also extends some hope to the weary commuters tired of the Jakarta gridlocks (two days and I already had my fair share of them).

We get off the bus at the Kota Railway station which is also end of the line. From here we continue a few blocks on foot to Taman Fatahillah, the old cobblestone square from the pre-Jakarta days when this was downtown Batavia, the Dutch colonial city. Much of the old city is no more but there are some colonial style buildings to be found in this area, although nothing really that spectacular to the eye. Vanessa gives me a tour of a cool derelict and run-down bank office building next door to the old Hapag & Lloyd shipping company office. We finally finish the last leg to Sunda Kelapa by yet another bajaj. It has been a long trip here but boy was it worth it! We casually stroll past the guards and into the busy harbour. The long quay disappears into the horizon and it is lined with countless merchant vessels, a type of motorized sailing vessel that is so typical of this region, known as Perahu Layar Motor (PLM for short). There's an interesting read about its history to be found here.

As we stroll around past the ships loading and unloading there are impressions coming from all directions. Sights, sounds and smells all compete for attention, and I imagine this is a very typical thing of Indonesia. Vanessa is not as impressed as I am (presumably because she is not a weirdo) and we make a smaller circle of the complex, as the heat is quite exhausting. I will write this place down for a more thorough inspection on my own. Instead we continue to the nearby Maritime museum and the classic fish market, Pasar Ikan. Apparently fish sales are carried out here in the early morning, at this hour it mainly resembles any type of marketplace. The museum has some interesting models of historical sailing ships, city models of the colonial days of Batavia and what seem a bit out of place; photos from early 20th century cruise ships.

After having cooled down a bit from the heat we find a bajaj to take us back to Kota railway station and then jump on a Busway coach and ride it south along jalan Thamrin to its southern end of the line, Blok-M bus station. The journey is smooth, quick and blessed with A/C. Blok-M is neither. The terminal is comprised of several platforms where the blue and orange mini buses constantly drop off and pick up passengers. Pedestrians cut their path between the buses and amazingly noone is getting run over. I get sweaty just by observing it. Vanessa guides me through the busy marketplace and everywhere we go the clapping hands of merchants can be heard. Hello mister! Hello mister. Getting a full round of applause and I haven't even begun practicing picking the proper greeting, aren't these people simply the kindest...

Speaking about greetings, unlike a simple one-size-fits-all ni hao which works so well in China the Bahasa language does it the same way Tetum does; time of day decides what to say. From selamat pagi in the morning, selamat siang in the day, selamat sore in the late afternoon to selamat malam in the
Busway, I love you!Busway, I love you!Busway, I love you!

Transjakarta Bus System operation at Sarinah.
evening. On the other hand, I rarely manage to say anything but ni hao in Mandarin whereas Bahasa is fairly simple to pick up. And yes, of course you can always go about greeting people with a simple salam, but where is the fun in that?

We follow the example of the American ambassador whose limo is parked outside a big mall, we seek refuge from the noisy sellers inside. We walk through the big departments where handicraft is displayed at quantities leading me to wonder if there will be anything left to consume for the coming generations. Batik cloth, traditional puppets, sculptures of various size and colour and everything else I already forgot about. We rest our legs downstairs at the foodcourt and have some noodle soup and ice tea and a peculiar local treat perfect for cooling down, an icy drink mixed with coconut, jack fruit, mango and milk. When we are done the sun has already come down and the evening air is much more comfortable. We ride the bus back north and get off over at the Welcome Monument, near the southwest corner of the giant Monas monument and follow the example of many other
Why busway is a good thing!Why busway is a good thing!Why busway is a good thing!

Your honour, I rest my case!
people out and about, sitting down at the side of the road to peoplewatch and chat. Finally we walk back to Sarinah where I visit a supermarket before returning to the hotel per bajaj. As the long day finally comes to end I see Vanessa off by Mikrolet and then go collapse on top of my bed.


Additional photos below
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More nice architecture at Taman FatahillahMore nice architecture at Taman Fatahillah
More nice architecture at Taman Fatahillah

Ok, I have no clue what it is, I admit...
The day the moon fell down...The day the moon fell down...
The day the moon fell down...

"And here we have a lovely studio apartment"
Still hangin' in there...Still hangin' in there...
Still hangin' in there...

The old harbour watchtower (1839) in the background
Not so sure you would smile...Not so sure you would smile...
Not so sure you would smile...

...if you knew what was in those barrels


8th October 2010
Snack time again!

Life as it is sometimes is better than its original colors
Nice shots, Bro! You must have spent a heck of time in the densest part of Jakarta. Those polluted rivers, my late dad used to swim in there back in the 1940's. He said the water was cool then, refreshing. Ah, if only the waters condition could be reversed.

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