Thursday 15 November 2012

City Tour of Jakarta

Took out my new teachers for a trip round the city on the weekend and as the map below shows we visited a fair few places.

For those people that say there is nothing to see in Jakarta as it is all concrete and traffic, I say look again.

Every time I have a new teacher join the team at my center, I take them on a Sunday morning joyride across the city to help them settle into Jakarta and to help them see not only how big and varied it is but also that there is more to Jakarta than the malls, Jaksa and Kemang and that with a little bit or rather a big bit of will power there is a lot to be seen here.

My teachers started off in Puri in the west and then headed to my house in Mampang. From there we went to the National Heros cemetary in Kali Bata. We refused to go in as they wanted to charge us (despite it being free) as we were 'bule' and had cameras so we took a quick look from the outside and got back into the car and off we went.

The Cemetary at Kali Bata
Looking into the many towers at Rasuna
from Epicentrum












Next stop was the Epicentrum Walk at Rasuna for coffee and cakes and a little bit of shopping. From there we headed into Menteng for a glimpse of the old colonial housing and then to the Isitqlal Mosque and the Cathedral before zooming past the presidents palace, the American Embassy and the Monas.

The Monas
The Cathedral
Not a recent photo but its still like that
today at Sudirman









Istiqlal Mosque












We never got out here as it was raining so we just stared out the window just like tourists. Moving north, we joined the traffic at Harmoni and then into Glodok to skirt around Kota Tua and Kota Stasion for the trains and headed into Sunda Kelapa passing the old fish market, the obelisk for the location of the British fort and then into Sunda Kelapa harbour to see the old boats.

The Railway Station at Kota Tua
 
One of the museums at Kota Tua









One of the many boats at Sunda Kelapa











After being hit by a truck reversing, we carried on to Batavia Marina for refreshments but they had a private function so we went to Ya Udhas bistro near Jalan Jaksa instead and then headed into Thamrin before I got out and did some shopping in Hero while the rest went back to Puri.

The trip took about 5 hours but it was worth it. There is an awful lot to see here if you are patient enough and had we stopped and got out at all these places it would have taken all day and into the night.



View Larger Map

So here are the letters;

A= Puri, B= Mampang, C= Heros Cemetary, D= Epicentrum, E= Menteng, F= Istiqlal Mosque and Cathedral, G= Monas, H= USA Embassy, I = Harmoni, J = Glodok, K = Kota Tua, L = Sunda Kelpa Harbour, M = Marina Batavia, N = Ya Udahs Bistro, O = Sarinah and P = Puri Indah

If you click on the map you will see the route more complete and more detailed.

There is so much still to explore through out the city and it will take me forever to really look around it. But I will keep going.

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