Indonesia day 17: from Lombok to Jakarta.

Submitted by maria on Mon, 22/06/2015 - 18:36

Our flight has been cancelled! After dawn... Our flight left at 6 in the morning (from Kuta it takes half an hour by taxi to the airport), and as they haven't filled the seats they have cancelled it, so we go to the complaints desk, after about twenty minutes arguing we manage to get on a flight that leaves at 10 and makes a one hour stopover in Denpasar Bali. We try to get on another flight that leaves before Garuda but as it is more expensive they excuse themselves saying that it is cancelled (it is a lie we see them board) and that we should wait for the Wings Air flight with a stopover and change to Lion Air.

 

Jakarta

Jakarta

 

 

We arrive at the Airport of Jakarta and it is a chaos, after discussing with the commissioners we get a taxi, it is rush hour and the trip is very long. We decide to stay at Hostel 35 that Lonely Planet recommends, located in the backpackers area in the center of the city, a little bit fair but well situated.

 

Yakarta

Jakarta

 

 

We go out for a walk and eat. We eat at a street stall for 13,000 IDR each (nasi goreng).

 

Street food

Street food

 

Street food

Street food

 

Street food

Street food

 

Shoeing

Shoeing

 

 

Jakarta is a megalopolis of more than 10 million people, the traffic is very dense, dirty, noisy, chaotic and full of contrasts. We arrived at the Freedom Monument and a huge mosque. The crossings are scary, hundreds of motorcycles climb up the sidewalks waiting to cross, the noise is deafening, a traffic guard helps us cross.  We are in the embassy area, in the United States you can't even take pictures in the street.

 

Rush hour

Traffic

 


Finally we arrive at Merdeka Square, a huge closed park with large gardens in front of the Gambir train station. There is an Asian-style flea market, with very poor quality items.

 

Horse cart

Horse cart

 

Street food

Street food

 

 

Back at the hostel it gets dark and trying to shorten, we get into a fascinating maze of streets one meter wide where we can enjoy the reality of Jakarta. We see how they really live, preparing the dinner, fixing the motorcycles, peeling carrots with a machete... people are very nice.

 

Merdeka square

Merdeka market

 

Jakarta neighborhood

Jakarta neighborhood

 

 

We have a few beers in a rundown pub and have an early dinner. This is our last night in this fantastic country, but at 4 o'clock the taxi is waiting for us.

 

 

Accommodation: Hostel 35 500.000 IDR double rooms with bathroom.
Taxi from Kuta to the airport: 120.000 IDR
Taxi from Jakarta airport to Hostel 35: 190.000 IDR.