Stuff in and around Jakarta that we enjoyed
by prudence on 26-May-2010
As well as the little jaunt to Bogor, we also did a few other enjoyable little trips in and around the capital.
Going up Monas is a must, especially if you have a nice blue sky. (We were lucky enough to have lots of blue sky.) We also really enjoyed the Wayang Museum. Go on Sunday morning when they put on a performance. There are some very beautiful old buildings in the square where the museum is situated. Also fascinating was the National Museum, the building with the elephant. It's neither hip nor interactive, but it is chock-full of beautiful stuff, and its huge ethnographic gallery is a good reminder of the extraordinary diversity of Indonesia (and how little of it we've experienced!).
We had to abort our trip to Sunda Kelapa because we got caught in the mother and father of all traffic jams. Everyone will tell you that the traffic is a trial in Jakarta, and "macet" (traffic jam) is an item of vocabulary that you very rapidly master. A couple of years ago, they introduced a new bus system, and this has helped, but the number of vehicles on the road is still high. Let's hope someone has some inspiration before all those motorbikes turn into cars... Like in many Southeast Asian cities, the traffic is hooty (all of it), pushy (the big ones), and opportunistic (the small ones), but it's not at all chaotic. It follows its own logic, and I saw far fewer near misses than I routinely did in Melbourne or Auckland.
Jakarta, again like many Southeast Asian cities, is full of contrasts. Trundling through the city on the train gives you glimpses of crowded and extemporized housing. But many suburbs are highly leafy, with beautiful gardens, tree-lined roads, and extensive parks. Small roadside push-carts contrast with highly glitzy malls and upmarket coffee shops. The view from our window took in high rise, as well as a host of red-roofed houses and a thicket of little mosques.
We hired a car and driver one day to visit some sights in the vicinity of Bandung. The itinerary, suggested by the helpful lady in the tourist office, took in Tangkuban Prahu crater, Ciater hot springs, and Puncak Pass. Too much, too much! It was a long, long day for our long-suffering driver, who had to contend with heavy traffic and heavy rain in places. And by the time we reached the pass, it was dark. But we enjoyed the crater (whose sulphurous odours transported us instantly back to New Zealand...), and had a great lunch at the hot springs (we didn't have our own towels, though, so missed out on the wallowing experience).
The scenery all that day was fantastic. Rice terraces, tea plantations, strawberry fields, misty mountains, and loads of little towns all with their own specialities -- stone carving, wood carving, pickle making...
I would happily go back to the Bandung region, and explore it more slowly (the story of my life...). The weekends are not the time to do this, though, it seems, as these scenic areas right on Jakarta's doorstep understandably get pretty crowded.
Going up Monas is a must, especially if you have a nice blue sky. (We were lucky enough to have lots of blue sky.) We also really enjoyed the Wayang Museum. Go on Sunday morning when they put on a performance. There are some very beautiful old buildings in the square where the museum is situated. Also fascinating was the National Museum, the building with the elephant. It's neither hip nor interactive, but it is chock-full of beautiful stuff, and its huge ethnographic gallery is a good reminder of the extraordinary diversity of Indonesia (and how little of it we've experienced!).
We had to abort our trip to Sunda Kelapa because we got caught in the mother and father of all traffic jams. Everyone will tell you that the traffic is a trial in Jakarta, and "macet" (traffic jam) is an item of vocabulary that you very rapidly master. A couple of years ago, they introduced a new bus system, and this has helped, but the number of vehicles on the road is still high. Let's hope someone has some inspiration before all those motorbikes turn into cars... Like in many Southeast Asian cities, the traffic is hooty (all of it), pushy (the big ones), and opportunistic (the small ones), but it's not at all chaotic. It follows its own logic, and I saw far fewer near misses than I routinely did in Melbourne or Auckland.
Jakarta, again like many Southeast Asian cities, is full of contrasts. Trundling through the city on the train gives you glimpses of crowded and extemporized housing. But many suburbs are highly leafy, with beautiful gardens, tree-lined roads, and extensive parks. Small roadside push-carts contrast with highly glitzy malls and upmarket coffee shops. The view from our window took in high rise, as well as a host of red-roofed houses and a thicket of little mosques.
We hired a car and driver one day to visit some sights in the vicinity of Bandung. The itinerary, suggested by the helpful lady in the tourist office, took in Tangkuban Prahu crater, Ciater hot springs, and Puncak Pass. Too much, too much! It was a long, long day for our long-suffering driver, who had to contend with heavy traffic and heavy rain in places. And by the time we reached the pass, it was dark. But we enjoyed the crater (whose sulphurous odours transported us instantly back to New Zealand...), and had a great lunch at the hot springs (we didn't have our own towels, though, so missed out on the wallowing experience).
The scenery all that day was fantastic. Rice terraces, tea plantations, strawberry fields, misty mountains, and loads of little towns all with their own specialities -- stone carving, wood carving, pickle making...
I would happily go back to the Bandung region, and explore it more slowly (the story of my life...). The weekends are not the time to do this, though, it seems, as these scenic areas right on Jakarta's doorstep understandably get pretty crowded.