Jakarta, Indonesia, Asia

This morning started out with a stupid 5:30am alarm wakening. The hostel called a cab for me and I left at 6am to head to the airport. I checked in and got through security without an issue, and it occurred to me how different it was than going through security anywhere else. I didn’t have to take my laptop out of my bag, I didn’t have to put liquids and gels in a clear little bag, I didn’t even have to take my watch off or phone out of my pocket. The worrying thing was that I didn’t even beep going through the metal detector, so it got me wondering if it was even working. Ah well.

The flight took off and I enjoyed my last Lion Air flight in the comfort of an exit row seat. It really made a world of difference because the last Lion flight were some of the smallest seats I’d ever been in. The flight was only one hour long, but at least I was comfortable. I had a window seat so I was able to see what people had told me about Jakarta, that it is one of the dirtiest and smoggiest cities in the world. I could only see about half of the city from the air through the very thick layer of smog. From the air, it didn’t look like there was anything beautiful about this city and I was pretty happy that I am only going to be here for tonight.

I took the DAMRI bus into the city from the airport for only 20,000 Rupiah ($2.50) and met a very nice man named Dodik. He used to be a tour guide around Java so he gave me a few tips on the best way to get around town and the couple of things worth seeing. I got a taxi, the white Ekspress taxi, to my hostel and that was another 15,000 Rupiah ($1.75), so all pretty cheap ways to get to where I needed to be.

I checked in at Hunny Hostel and met the owner Linda. She is a very nice Jakartan woman and she showed me to my room. It isn’t the nicest hostel I’ve stayed at on this trip, but it’s certainly not the worst either. The room was good in the fact that it had an ensuite bathroom and air conditioning. I also had a four person mixed dorm room all to myself. That always makes things a bit easier, just not to have to worry about taking up too much space or anything like that. Also, a bottle of mouthwash had leaked all through my backpack on the way from Jogja, so having the whole room allowed me to hang clothes all over the room for them to dry and air out a bit.

I headed out into the city and found the National Museum next to the National Monument. I had a wander around the museum for about an hour and a half and then tried going to the National Monument. Unfortunately, because it’s Ramadan, the monument had closed early, so I was unable to go up. I walked around Tharim and found that it was just a bunch of shopping malls, nothing else. I was happy to find that there was a Hard Rock Cafe in one of the malls though, so I treated myself to some chicken fajitas. I’ve decided that’s going to be my one treat when I’m away, that if I am in a city with a HRC, I’m going to have a meal there.

It was excellent as usual, and once I was finished, I hopped in a cab and went back to the hostel. There wasn’t much more I wanted to do in the sweltering heat down here, so I thought it would be a good chance to go sit in the A/C and relax. Jakarta is way too hectic for me! I have most of the day tomorrow to venture out if I feel like it, but I spoke to a couple of Swiss girls here at the hostel and they said there’s nothing else worth seeing really. We’ll see how I feel.