Jalan Jaksa
Most South East Asian capitals have a backpacker area, and
Jakarta's Jalan Jaksa district is grubbier than most. Plopped in an
unremarkable part of downtown, it is thick with travel agencies,
laundromats, currency exchange offices and guesthouses. A few bars
and live music venues cater to the travel crowd. The cheapest
guesthouses are bare to say the least, and it is perhaps worth
spending the extra money on renting a nicer room. Jalan Jaksa is a
good place to stay if you want to spend as little as possible on
accommodation in Jakarta, but don't expect to get much real local
flavour.
Jalan Jaksa is actually the name of a single street but a wider
area around the road has started catering to budget travellers. The
street was once frequented by students studying at the Jakarta Law
Academy, which is perhaps the origin of the area's youthful vibe.
It is friendly and cheap, good for those travellers who want to
save their money for attractions and activities and don't mind
simple sleeping arrangements.
Jalan Jaksa hosts a street festival annually to encourage
tourism and showcase local traditions, cuisine, dancing and
music.
Jalan Jaksa
VasenkaPhotography
Indonesia Miniature Park/Taman Mini
Indonesia is a vast place and it would take many holidays to
explore the whole archipelago. A trip around Indonesia Miniature
Park is useful and interesting because it offers samples of the
different cultures and architecture to be found on some of the
islands, including replicas of famous landmarks. Contrary to its
name, the park itself is not small and covers 100 hectares of land.
It includes examples of traditional buildings and cultural
artefacts from all of the 27 provinces that make up Indonesia.
The park also regularly hosts food sampling, dancing and other
cultural performances from each province. For those who like even
more variety the park has a great orchid garden, fauna museum, and
bird aviary - useful for those interested in seeing some of the
wildlife found around the archipelago. Visitors can get a bird's
eye view of the exhibits on the cable car, and there is even an
IMAX movie theatre in the grounds.
Attached to Taman Mini is the Museum Indonesia which exhibits
both historic and contemporary art collections. Visiting the museum
and the park together gives tourists a great overview of the
country and it isn't a bad place to start your Indonesian travels
if you have some time to spare in Jakarta.
Address:
Ceger, Cipayung, East Jakarta City
Taman Mini
Tun Tun Win
National Monument of Indonesia
Visitors will inevitably be pulled to the National Monument
(MONAS) to inspect the enormous obelisk that can be seen from much
of the city. The first president, Sukarno, began to build the
structure as a symbol of nationalism complete with an impressive
weight of gold shaped into the tip's flames. For visitors it serves
as a great landmark in an otherwise confusing city centre. Elevator
rides to the top are available, providing a bird's eye view of the
city. The monument and surrounding park are open to the public and
there is a museum to visit which documents the Indonesian fight for
freedom and independence; there is also a hall of mediation at the
monument's base.
People often gather in the monument grounds at night and it is a
popular meeting place for locals and tourists. The grounds are big
and there is plenty of room for picnics and social gatherings - on
weekends the park can get quite full. Although it is the city's
main landmark, and a pleasant place for a stroll, the National
Monument has little to offer except the views from the top and the
small museum. However, it is still true that a visit to Jakarta
would seem incomplete without seeing MONAS, and as it is situated
near many other attractions you are unlikely to get through the
city without stumbling across it.
Address:
Lapangan Merdeka, Monas, Gambir
National Monument of Indonesia
Midori
Kota
Kota, also called Old Batavia or Old Town Jakarta, is the only
surviving piece of the Dutch colonial district. The Dutch had their
Indonesian heyday in the 16th century when Jakarta was at the
centre of Asia's trade with the West. Today, many of the area's
colonial buildings are falling into disrepair but the central
cobblestone square, Taman Fatahillah, still invites visitors to
imagine life in the 16th century, when there was little outside the
colonial fortifications of Kota save for orchards and rice fields.
The area is open to roam about in and there is no admission charge
or distinct boundary to delineate the old district. Although
information on what you are seeing is non-existent and landmark
attractions are lacking, exploring Kota still allows for a rare
glimpse into the city's history which has been mostly swallowed up
by new developments.
A few somewhat dilapidated but still interesting landmarks in
the area include the Luar Batang Mosque, the Maritime Museum, the
Jakarta History Museum (housed in the former City Hall building),
the Jin De Yuan Temple, and Sunda Kelapa Harbour. The area is set
pleasantly on the waterfront and gives a quiet and cool reprieve
from the bustle of Jakarta's inner city. There are plans to
rejuvenate this historic area and some of the roads around the
square have been pedestrianised as a first step in this
process.
Fatahillah Square
Hans Hansson
The climate in Jakarta is a tropical monsoon climate, which is
hot and humid with year-round rainfall. There is little fluctuation
in temperature throughout the year: in summer (June to September)
temperatures average around 82°F (28°C), while winter (December to
February) has an average of 80°F (26°C). The wet season officially
runs from November to June, while July to September is the driest
and is considered the best time to visit Jakarta.
Soekarno-Hatta Jakarta International Airport
Location: The airport is situated 12 miles (20km) northwest of
Jakarta.
Time: Local time is GMT +7.
Transfer Between Terminals:
A free bus connects the terminals.
Getting to the city:
Shuttle buses run hourly to the city centre and various other
destinations in and around Jakarta until about 11pm. The bus that
terminates at Gambir Station passes through the city centre. Taxis
are metered and will be more expensive as a single traveller, but
about the same price if you are sharing with three or four people;
note that road tolls may be added to the fare.
Car Rental:
Avis, Hertz and Europcar are represented at the airport, along
with a number of local car rental companies.
Airport Taxis:
Official taxi booths are located in the arrival terminal, where
a host of unofficial taxi drivers also vie for business with
varying prices. Depending on traffic, the 12-mile (20km) trip to
the city centre will take between 30 and 45 minutes, but can be as
long as an hour and a half if traffic is bad.
Facilities:
Facilities are limited but the airport is clean and the staff
are friendly and efficient. There are shops, banks, bars and
restaurants, and tourist information and hotel reservations at the
airport. There are facilities for disabled travellers; passengers
with special needs are advised to inform their airline in
advance.
Parking
There are more than 2,000 parking bays at the airport, all
within easy access of the terminals. Short and long stays
available.
Travel across Jakarta often requires a combination of many forms
of transport. Commonly used is the Transjakarta, a modern bus
system that is allocated special street lanes to circumnavigate the
often hectic traffic in the city centre. These buses are cheap and
plentiful although going long distances can become confusing when
transferring. Other bus lines are more crowded and less safe and do
not run on a fixed schedule.
Taxis are abundant but can be expensive for longer rides. Blue
Bird taxis are the most trusted, although there are many impostors
with questionable reputations. Many narrow street lanes are better
suited for ojeks, also known as motorbike taxis. Also popular for
shorter trips are three-wheeled vehicles known as bajaj. Be sure to
bargain with both ojek and bajaj drivers before accepting
rides.
Jakarta is a difficult city to navigate through and
unfortunately, as it lacks a coherent city centre, attractions are
spread quite far apart. For this reason walking is not really an
option when sightseeing. Crime is also a problem and if you are
walking from place to place you should be conscious of your
possessions and ensure that they are difficult to access for
pickpockets. It is best to leave valuables in hotel safes when
possible.
Jakarta can be a challenge for travellers as it is sprawling,
dirty and confusing, but it is also interesting: a collision of
people and cultures and religions which may be a bit overwhelming
but can also be entertaining. The city's attractions, for the most
part, are sprawled across varied regions making it difficult to
know where to start as a tourist seeking worthwhile things to see
and do.
A great starting point, particularly if you've just landed in
Indonesia, is Indonesia Miniature Park (Taman Mini), which
showcases the cultures and some of the treasures of the different
islands and regions in the archipelago, giving visitors a good
overview of the whole country. Here you can find recreations of
famous temples and statues and examples of the architectural styles
of different Indonesian cultures. A good way to get a sense of the
layout of Jakarta is to pay a visit to the National Monument of
Indonesia, the city's landmark obelisk, which you can ascend for
impressive views, and which houses a small museum showcasing the
fight for Indonesian independence. This is also one of Jakarta's
main meeting points for locals and is a lovely spot to indulge in
some people watching.
Those interested in the colonial history of Jakarta should
stroll around Old Batavia, the rundown waterfront area surrounding
Taman Fatahillah Square, which was once the centre of Dutch rule in
Indonesia. Although not well maintained this old district still
boasts some 16th-century buildings and other unexpected relics.
Other popular attractions in Jakarta include the Istiqlal Mosque,
the largest mosque in Indonesia, and the Museum Bank, a beautiful
old building that once housed one of Indonesia's first banks and is
now an intriguing banking museum.
If you are travelling with kids in Jakarta be sure to check out
Kidzania theme park which is one of the city's most celebrated fun
zones.