Jakarta Tours

Love history and the visiting old parts of cities? Then read on....

I spent the day touring the historical sites of Jakarta, mainly around Kota, Sunda Kelapa and Glodok.
I never went to Cafe Batavia of the museums. Instead I saw 17th century warehouses, the standing parts of the Dutch fort in Batavia, stood where the English fort once was and wandered through Glodok in search of real and still standing Chinese houses.
The photo speak for themselves. I would however point out, this was no trip organised by the tour guides and touts in Kota Square and so if you are interested in doing this tour then leave me some comments and I will see what I can do. It took about 3 hours by foot and we skipped quite a lot.

This is mainly a photo blog


The tour started out in Kota Square

and then we headed out of the square towards the tollway into a truck stop. From there I have really no idea for a while but it was amazing.









No one really seemed bothered with us wandering around

 The warehouses are not in good condition but they are still standing and look amazing

 The door was heavy and stiff and it was nice and cool inside

 It did not feel safe to go upstairs as it is so old and run down yet families were in there living. The rent must be low

Thats Andy, he is the tour guide. He found all this by just wandering around the old city.

More views of the warehouses. They were cool and very thick walled, idea for storing things that were needed to be kept cool.
What is important to remember that 300 years ago the harbour and the coast line was a little more inland than it is today.








Then from there we headed around the corner and found the smallest of streets and to the left was a huge wall. The wall is what is sadly left of the Batavia Fort, forgotten and largely ignored by all.

The walls were about 4 metres high and very imposing

Not sure whats in the hole but you can see how thick they are.
Plenty of life still in the walls with the trees and nature reclaiming it.

Just a view between houses

The archway is still there and accessible to the grounds inside....

The walls still have the original look outs and you can see where the holes for the wooden floor would have been.

The well is still intact and in use by the looks of things, although maybe to water the lone banana plant

The locals are using it as a playground and a truck stock but there was very little rubbish here

A big space and the original windows really make the place look old and imposing.











The last shot is of the archway back out into the little street

From there we headed out in the Kampung which was lovely and very tidy. The people there made us welcome and were very friendly. 

 Walking through to the river

 This was really nice despite the poverty

 That's the river taxi

 The river is dirty, dark gray and those little buildings over the river are the toilets, no flush...

 Found lots of anchors. Made me smile, they are all chained together just in case some one comes and steals one. How heavy are they?

The cream pillar in the middle is to identify that there was a English Military garrison there

 This tower is actually leaning over and is part of the maritime museum. Had no time to visit it, next time.

Museum Bahari and the old fish market. Lovely, though never saw the market or any fish

 Lots of canons

 Behind the museum and in another area, these old wooden warehouses

 The boards to the right of the picture actually go to someones house, it was too unsteady for me. The water comes from the sea I guess.
There were fish and kids fishing, though not big fish.

 This man was making bolts by hand using this machine. Not sure how many he had made, looked like 30 by the time I got there.

 21st century and we still accept people living like this

 This around the corner and we had to be very quiet as the residents were sleeping

 Inside the old warehouse

 Totally derelict but the opportunity to make into a tourist area is huge.

 Looks nice from a far

 Ferry boat

 Glodok is also known as chinatown and this a huge area full of everyting. The buildings are either old or 1970's or 80's and look bad.
But there are still glimpses of past times and pride in the buildings if you look closely enough

 This was being torn down. The stained glass was really nice. Such a shame.

 Inside Glodok's streets the bustle was great and so much to see and smell.
Food Food Food and cheap wallets!!!!

 Massage tools?????????

There will be other tours I sure of the old areas of the city. I am trying to pluck up enough courage to do a river tour but that will take some guts and injections but I am sure it would be awesome. Also to visit the old Arab quarter and see what that has to offer. 

Jakarta is full of surprises really, you just have to make that step out and be brave to walk down that little lane full of noise, smells and people and see what is there. 

I will visit these areas again and hopefully spend more time in Glodok exploring.