Indonesia: Jakarta, the doomed city
- Where To Go Next By I&P
- Dec 20, 2022
- 3 min read
As we were heading towards the western part of Java island, we took the train once again (this time for "only" 6h) and went from Yogyakarta to Indonesia's current capital city, Jakarta.
Jakarta is the biggest city in Java and it is overpopulated (there are over 11M people in metro Jakarta 😳), over polluted, prone to earthquakes and floods and it is sinking at a fast rate. Therefore, the Indonesian authorities have decided to move the capital to a new city on the island of Borneo, which is also geographically more central than Java. It will take time and money though so Jakarta will remain Indonesia's capital for the time being.
We only had a short day in Jakarta so we had to figure out the transportation system very quickly.Â
They have a bus system called TransJakarta with modern, air conditioned buses. These buses are high deckers and you would need a station to reach 2 of the 3 bus entrances. Mind the gap as it can be very wide and people could push during rush hour. The front door allows entry at street level, but only at certain stations.
You will also find minibuses and microbuses, which are very small van-like "buses".Â
Finally, there is a commuter train, the KRL Commuter Line that connects the main train stations in the city. It is very efficient as it allowed us to avoid the high volume of traffic in the city. But we noticed a huge gap at least 30cm high between the train and the platform - not very friendly for older people or people with disabilities.Â
This transportation system is convenient and, as usual, you need an Indonesian prepaid card to get in, except this time, it's one per person. As we already had one, we had to buy a second one at an Indomaret. Quick and easy but expensive (28k IDR for the card but top up was minimum 50k IDR).
Each fare, bus or train, is between 3k IDR and 4k IDR, which is still much cheaper than taking a Grab.
With the ability to move around the city, we went to see the National Monument.
This 132m obelisk tower in the center of the Merdeka square symbolizes the fight for Indonesia's independence (Merdeka means independence in Indonesian).
The square was closed that day (it's closed on Mondays) so we could only take pictures from afar.
Near the square, you'll find the biggest Mosque in Indonesia, the Istiqlal Mosque.
It is the third largest mosque in the world, after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia, in terms of capacity to welcome worshippers.Â
It can host 250,000 people (yes 1/4 of a million people!) when you include the indoor and outdoor space and balconies. The whole place is 9.5 hectares!
Tourists can visit the mosque outside of prayer time but need to enter through gate 5 and be accompanied by a guide. It is free and takes about 15 mins. And, if you're not dressed adequately, they provide very colorful djellabas.
After the Mosque, we took the train to Kota, Jakarta's old town where you can see colonial Dutch buildings, surrounding a square in front of the Jakarta History Museum. There, people were renting blue and pink bikes and riding around the square. Very kitsch!
From Kota, we walked down one of the main streets to see Glodok. It's a type of fish but also the name of Jakarta's Chinatown. We only saw a lot of old buildings and two big empty shopping malls, which didn't really make us want to visit the area further.Â
Then, we went for dinner in the Jalan Wahid Hasyim area. This street is known for its street food where, those who dared to try it, probably had an iron stomach!Â
Just before leaving the country, I had the opportunity to try a new fruit called Salak, also called snake fruit as the skin seems to have scales like snakes.
The scales can be peeled and you will get 3 white cloves underneath. Those are crisp like apples but taste a little like durian (without the smell). Very tasty! 😋
Our one-month trip in Indonesia has finally come to an end!Â
We appreciated most of the places we visited, and even if we were not fond of some, we definitely have a very positive overall view of Indonesia.Â
The nature, the cities, the people and the food in Indonesia transport you to a world that's very different from what you see in Europe or North America. We will remember the charms of this country and hope to come back to visit the other 16 995 islands.Â
We also hope that the new and yet very old and conservative laws recently introduced by the government banning sex outside of marriage and the steep fees that they want to implement for some attractions (3M IDR for Komodo Island, for example) will not be the first of multiple prohibitive laws for tourists.
Terima kasih dan selamat tinggal! 👋
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