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Getting Around
There are a
variety of buses, mini buses and angkots (mini vans) plying the streets
of Jakarta as well as ojek (motorcycle taxi) and bajajs (three wheelers
like tuk tuks) but most people tend to use the ridiculously cheap taxis.
Bluebird have the best reputation, Silverbird are their bigger and
slightly more comfortable, and expensive brother. One useful bus route
is the Busway, garish orange buses that have dedicated lanes and run
from the historic Kota through Thamrin near Jalan Jaksa along Jalan
Sudirman with its banks and hotels and into Blok M with shops and a
slightly sleazy collection of bars.
Things To See
Start off in Kota,
the historic area in North Jakarta of narrow streets and turgid canals.
Taman Fatihillah has the wonderful Jakarta History Museum in the Old
Dutch town hall overlooking the square that was once the centre of
Batavia. Beneath the town hall are the dungeons where nasty people who
disagreed with the colonial masters were sent. On the other side of the
Taman is the Arts Museum. Near Kota Railway Station there is Geraja
Sion, an old church dating back to 1695 with some old tombstones. Jalan
Kali Besar is where the great and the good lived, check out the Red
House. Walk north, go past the old Chicken Bridge under the expressway
and you go past the Old Watchtower, a reminder of Jakarta, or Batavia’s,
importance as a port. The Museum Bahari is inside old godowns or
warehouses and is dedicated to the seafarers that passed through here.
Nearby is Sunda Kelapa with its modern vessels that traverse the
archipelago.
Merdeka Square is
south of Kota, reached on the Busway and is an empty park with the
National Monument, Monas, which is tall, phallic and uninspiring. The
National Museum though on Jalan Merdeka Barat is well worth a few hours
of your time. The small elephant in front of the museum was presented by
King Chulalongkorn some 100 years ago.
Town Hall in Kota
Kota Railway Station
Both images are ©
www.the-spiceislands.com
On the eastern
side of Merdeka Square is Gambir railway station, a fairly well
organized place from where you can get advance tickets to the major
destinations on Java like Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Bandung and Bogor. Just
opposite the station is Emmanuel Church, a round church dating back to
1893. Just along that side road, across the river, is Gedung Pancasila,
formerly the Dutch Military commanders place but now better known as
where the first president of Indonesia Soekarno expounded his Pancasila
or basic beliefs that form the heart of the constitution.
North east Jakarta
has Ancol, an artificial area of fun parks, aquariums and the occasional
rave. Very popular at the weekends with Jakartans, it’s their equivalent
of Disney World or Alton Towers. For something more cultural try the
area round Jalan Surabaya on Sundays where a flea market sells all sorts
of bumf. It’s in Cikini, a short taxi ride from central Jakarta.
A Bed For The Night
There is no real
middle ground in Jakarta. There is the budget sprawl of Jalan Jaksa a
slightly sleazy run down area of bars and guest houses that does at
least offer a kampong feel for those who get to know it, sitting as it
does in the heart of lower income housing. Accommodation here can be had
for 5 or 6 dollars up to about 20 but at the upper end you don’t really
get much. Jaksa is close to the centre of the city, just south of Gambir
station and within staggering distance of Jalan Thamrin and the Busway
but it is more Soi Ngam Dulpee than Khao San Road. The Ibis hotels on
nearby Jalan Wahid Hasyim are better value at about 30 dollars a night
with all you would expect from a mid priced hotel chain.
Jalan Thamrin
leads south to Jalan Sudirman while Jalan Rasuna Said is to the east.
With Merdeka Square the apex, these two thorough ways form the sides of
Jakarta’s Golden Triangle and here you can find it’s best hotels and
restaurants. The Oriental has a classic location by the Welcome Circle
on Jalan Thamrin as does the swisher Hyatt diametrically opposite. Not
far are Le Meredian, Mulia, Shangri-La, Sheraton, you name it. Check out
Kaha, a hotel booking agency, at the airport when you land good deals
on these places.
Beer,
Beer We Want More Beer
Ah the nightlife.
You name it, its here pretty much, it just takes some finding. Aphrodite
is a well decorated bar cum restaurant cum sporting venue just off Jalan
Rasuna Said, popular with expats and locals. BuGils, an acronym of bule
gila or crazy foreigner, is a Dutch themed bar in Taman Ria Senayan
famous locally for its crazy bar maids and frequent wild nights. Mad
Dogs is way down south on a commercial estate in Cilandak with god
English pub grub. Kelts, near Aphrodite is a Celtic themed hotel bar
worth a visit for its decorations. It’s in Hotel Melia. On Jalan Jaksa
Romance is an air conditioned bar while the drag has a multitude of open
air dives with cheap beer. Check out Ya-udah which breaks the mould
somewhat with their quality food at reasonable prices.
If you want to rub
shoulders with the beautiful people, well those who buy wing collared
shirts from Next; try Blowfish in Kuningan, Cinnabar opposite the
Oriental Hotel, Burgundy in the Hyatt or Dragonfly. If it’s a cover band
with rippling torsos and the chance of some, ahem, company for the night
then try BATS, Shangri-La or CJ’s at the Mulia, both popular with
expats, visitors and lonely ladies. Blok M has some good old down to
earth honest sleaze of the freelance variety. My Bar is a multi storey
affair with loud music that has grown in popularity since it opened. D’s
Place is the granddaddy of them all while Oscars and Top Gun are fraying
around the edges. These bars are heavily male searching female. If you
want to try this area then Everest and Sportsmans have less of the
sleaze while the latter has great food. Everest is one of the
friendliest bars in town.
Feeding Time
Most Indonesian
food can be had from kaki lima, mobile food carts, or warungs,
street side cafes, which offer a variety of different menus. For many
the best Indonesian food is Padang, a spicy affair where waiters pile
your table with plates and you take what you want. The rending is beef
in spicy coconut and tastes great. Look out for any Masakan Padang with
buffalo horned roof and loads of plates in the window. Alternatively if
you are near Jalan Thamrin then try Salero Jumbo, just down from QB
World book shop. Upstairs of the bookshop is GM, a restaurant chain that
offers medium priced meals. Shopping malls have food courts; one of the
best is at Sogo in Plaza Indonesia, next to the Hyatt. Try Spice Garden
in there for a culinary journey through the islands.
For Indian food
try Kinara in Kemang or Hazara behind the Oriental Hotel. Next door to
Hazara is Lan Na Thai, an up market Thai eater. Kemang is a foodies
dream come true. Just walk around, carefully, and see what takes your
fancy. The hotels have quality Japanese, Chinese, Italian you name it
restaurants, for specials look out for a copy of Jakarta Kini, a
listings magazine found in bars or some bookshops.
Getting there and
away
Indonesia recently
introduced a Visa on Arrival system for selected nationalities who
arrive at selected ports of entry, most western countries are covered,
and you pay 25 USD and get a full page sticker that lets you stay a
month. Check the web for sites like the message board on Lonely Planet
as this is pretty fluid and changes frequently.
Most people will
arrive at Jakarta’s Soekarno Hatto International Airport, miles west of
the city. There are airport buses that can take you to Blok M, Gambir,
Bogor etc which cost about 10,000 – 12,000 IDR. Alternatively look out
for a Bluebird or Silverbird. It’s a toll road in to town for which you
pay extra. Costs from Bangkok are about 300 USD return, in theory you
must have an onward ticket when you arrive in Indonesia. A cheaper way
of getting there would be to get a cheap flight to Singapore then get a
ferry from the Harbourfront to Batam Centre which is an Indonesian
island 45 minutes south of Singapore, take a taxi to the airport and
plug into the domestic airline system.
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