Jakarta, Indonesia
Indonesia is an archipelago straddling the equator to the southeast of India and north or Australia. I traveled to Jakarta on the island of Java.
Being a string of islands makes it fairly difficult to see on a business trip. However, they have a park that portrays, or at least touts to portray, Indonesian culture. Taman Mini Indonesia Indah, Taman Mini for short, has housing and representations from across the country.
Jakarta has been a city since the 4th century, and was colonized by the Dutch in the 17th century. Indonesia gained independence after the second world war.
Modern Jakarta
Jakarta today is a big city that reflects all the different cultures and religions of Indonesia. One of the most striking aspects is how Christians, Muslims, Jews, and others live and work together seamlessly. About 70% of the population is Muslim, yet non-Islamic activities are conducted without any issues. This is a wonderful model the rest of the world should look to for guidance.
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| A view from the Menara BCA building |
Taman Mini
Taman Mini was built in 1975 and is really showing its age. Most of the buildings are in decent shape, but there doesn't seem to be any organiztion to the place. Entry was 10,000 Rp,or about 86 cents. It's unclear why they bother with an admission except to keep eveyone from squatting in the place. Taman Mini struck me as needing that "Disney Magic". It could really be something special, but it's not.
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| The Monkey King - He seems to be everywhere in Asia. |
Taman Mini is built around a central lake. The islands are represented by the housing types.
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| A typical sign showing the area being represented |
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| A South Sumateran home. It seems to be a palace of sorts. |
In the building are displays of furniture and clothing. These buildings seemed to be more of the palace type than what a typical Indonesian would live in.
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| Clothing display |
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| Traditional weapons |
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| Royalty on display |
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| A carved and painted warrior |
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| The reptile house. |
I paid the 15,000 Rp (about $1.20) to walk around what I knew was going to be a quite tragic scene. I wasn't disappointed. The Reptile House really should be reported to the World Wildlife Foundation. Keeping these large reptiles in such sparse and small places is very inhumane indeed.
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| A crocodile in about 6 inches of water. |
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| A Komodo Dragon. He looks really sickly. |
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| The Reptile house is in the shape of a Komodo Dragon. |
It took about an hour or so to go halfway around the lake. I decide to take the cable car back to where I started. A bird's eye view of the park.
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| The religions of Indonesia are well represented |
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| A monument outside the park |
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| People come to picnic |
Colonial Jakarta
A trip to Jakarta is not complete without a visit to the Kota district. Kota is the Indonesian word for "city". This areas was the heart of the Dutch colonial city of Batavia . Jakarta was Batavia from 1619 to 1949.
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| Colonial Jakarta |
The central square is Fatahillah Square. This is the site of the old state house, which is now a museum.
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| People selling all sorts of items and food around the square |
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| The Wayang Museum |
Jakarta is worth the trip. I never felt unsafe as I walked around these major attractions. Just be careful what you eat.
Some of those food stands looked really sketchy.
Until next time :-)
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