Jakarta is a massive place with huge neighborhoods varying wildly from block to block. It is hard to really get a grasp of the place in a short visit. Starting out near the Kota Tua or Old Batavia district (old town), make sure to get up to the amusement parks and seaside boulevards of the north. Check out Chinatown and central Jakarta with its monuments and mosques. And maybe get out of town to the islands off the coast or the jungles further inland. Whatever you find, try to cram in a little history, a little culture, some music, a bit of wandering, and a lot of food.
Where to stay:
Jalan Jaksa
Near Gambir Station, Jalan Jaksa is the backpacker street in the giant, ever growing city of Jakarta. This is a strange oasis with a familiar southeast Asian feel to those who have been hostel hopping through the region for some time. A few backpacker bars, western restaurants, and tour operators are scattered up and down the block, but mainly this is the street for cheap accommodation. Here, you can get very very basic rooms with shared bathrooms starting from as low as 50k rupiah or close to USD$3. A few bucks more can really improve the living situation though so ask to see a couple of rooms and maybe check out what a splurge of $5 could get you.
How to get around:
“Busways” System And The Extra Lane
Traffic in Jakarta is an absolute nightmare. Having been all over the world to some of the largest cities on the planet, none seem more trouble than trying to get through the smog of Jakarta traffic anywhere near rush hour. But, there is hope. It is a little complicated and usually takes a university student with some English skills and goodwill to teach you how to operate the machines for the public transport, but the bus system is by far the best way to get around. In fact, taking a public bus for a few pennies across town will probably yield a shorter trip than hiring a cab or calling an uber. This is because the buses get their own lane! A marvelous idea that exists in many cities, but here it makes just oh so much difference in covering ground in traffic. Hop on a bus and watch it cruise past standstill gridlock block after block after block. This is definitely the way to go.
The Government Tour Bus System
Have you ever done one of those hop on hop off double decker city tour bus things? If you love these, you are in luck. If you never do these because they are expensive, you are luck. If you just need to get around the city and aren’t in any rush to do it, you are still in luck. In Jakarta, the government actually owns these buses, and they provide them free to tourists wanting to explore the city. Any tourist office should be able to give you a map. Or any hostel should be able to tell you the nearest stops. There are several routes with different themes that show different sides of the city. They are named Jakarta history, modern, arts and culinary, skyscrapers, open space, heritage, and shopping. Figure out what might interest you and find your way to the nearest route to hop on.
Where to eat:
Street Food At The Mall At Plaza Semanggi
Indonesia’s street food culture is nearly unrivaled around the world. Old favorites will keep reappearing, but many of the dishes you see one day, you will never see again because the options are so incredibly varied and regionally specific. The choices really seem endless Jakarta can be an overwhelming place to start out though, and if you are new to the scene and not quite ready for the crowd, the noise, the unrecognizable dishes, or (let’s face it) the potential cleanliness of eating on a plastic stool right next to traffic and worrying if the meat ever saw any kind of refrigeration, try the malls. The food court at an Indonesian mall is not quite the same experience as back home. These places are great to try out many of the street food options with the same quality as outside, just with a more controlled environment. Readable menus, air conditioning, a place to sit, plates and silverware, restrooms, these food courts have many luxuries the street markets do not. You do need to get to a street food stall soon, but if you want an easier start, try out the mall food courts. My favorite, with all the restaurants on the 10th floor, is the Plaza Semanggi.
Murtabak And More At Sabang Street
Sabang Street is the site of one of the best night food markets in Jakarta. There is food here all day of course, but it is more of an evening scene and more and more options will show up as the sun goes down. Some stalls will be set up by 5pm but usually it does not get into full swing until at least 6 or 6:30. It is difficult to tell you what to get here as nearly any dish produced in any of Indonesia’s 18,110 islands will be represented by someone on this street. If you are new to the country, definitely start with some wonderfully grilled satay in peanut and chili sauce. Mutton dishes, mainly curries or soups, are also very popular in the region. Or, one of my favorite cheapie, street food options in Indonesia, try out a murtabak. This is basically an omelette with all the fixin’s made inside of a pancake which is then folded into a neat envelope and fried in a wok. Wonderful greasy walking food for sure.
Glodok – Indonesia’s Largest Chinatown
Glodok is one of the best neighborhoods in Jakarta to wander aimlessly, especially if you are at all hungry. This is the Chinatown section of the city and it is filled to the brim with wonderful curiosities. There are fresh markets for seafood and produce. Each alley has another mysterious antique store or shop selling eastern medicine. Religious buildings crop up around every corner and are often surrounded with little stores selling candles, incense, offerings, relics, calligraphic scrolls, and tokens. But the best part of the neighborhood is the food. Delightful and enticing smells waft out of backroom kitchens with unassuming facades. Stalls line the streets hawking anything you can fry, boil, stew, or barbeque. But the best place to really feel engulfed by the local cuisine is Petak Enam. This is a food court in the Glodok neighborhood that will have anything you could possibly want from Indonesian to Chinese, even Western options will be around someplace. Try out the soto betawi, a coconut milk beef stew. Or maybe get started with one of my favorites, rendang curry from Sumatra. If nothing else, you cannot go wrong with fresh nasi goreng, Indonesia’s incredibly popular fried rice dish mixed with chilis, meat, vegetables, and spices.
Things to do:
Ancol Dream Park
Ancol Dream Park is a strange conglomeration of several different theme parks rolled into one. It spans a huge area with many self-contained theme parks inside including the largest theme park in all of Indonesia, Dunia Fantasi or “Fantasy World.” This is just part of Ancol Dream Park but has its own themes, rides, games, arcades, and strange mascots running around. There is also a water park called Atlantis Water Adventure. Next to that, there is an aquarium called Sea World which I am fairly sure has no association with the Sea Worlds of the USA. But then two more nautical themed operations called Ocean Dream Samudra and Beach Park show up on the map as well, but I don’t really know what they have to offer. Once again, it is a lot of territory with many different options so you have ample choice.
Best View In The City And Indonesia’s National Monument
Easily the best view in the city, the 137m National Monument in Jakarta is just north of the backpacker area in the giant Lapangan Merdeka or “Freedom Square.” The tower literally towers over everything else and offers a largely unobstructed view for 360 degrees. To climb the National Monument, you have to find the entrance on the north side of the park and drop into a subterranean tunnel that leads under the plaza and to the base of the tower. Here, elevators will take you up to the observation deck. These elevators are tiny, and way too many people are crammed into every load so just be ready for a violation of your personal space. The view at the top is worth the discomfort though. Take the freshest breath of air you will have this close to the city center before another close quarters ride back down to the tunnel to escape.
Palaces Of Jakarta
There are two palaces in Jakarta. The Merdeka Palace which is the official palace and currently functioning as a palace in the sense that the President of Indonesia actually lives there. Then, the Istana Negara or “State Palace” is the original palace but has now become more of a museum and is just used for big political party types of events that we probably will not receive invites for. However, with a little planning, the Merdeka Palace can be visited, and what’s more, it’s free. Go on the government website and book a free visit through their system for one of the weekends they offer public tours.
The Grand Mosque Of Istiqlal
This is right to the east of Freedom Square so makes for a perfect next stop after the National Monument. The Grand Mosque of Istiqlal can supposedly hold up to 120,000 people. This is one of the largest mosques in the entire world. All visitors are welcome, but you need to be dressed appropriately and always remember your shoes need to come off before the door. If you walk around the outside of the main hall, you will find a desk that offers a free English tour, or you can explore the area on your own. I think the most interesting trivia I learned on the visit was that the architect of this huge Islamic structure built about 70 years ago was a Christian.
“Is Jakarta in Indonesia worth visiting?” by Creed Evans was originally published on Wanderdash (follow Creed @creedevans)