Jakarta was a good trip. Not the best place we have visited, but interesting none the less. Of all our Asia-Pacific destinations, Jakarta is by-far the dirtiest, most unfriendly, and unorganized place we have visited so far. The Indonesians are not wild about Westerners “bules”, and they are not shy about showing their contempt.
Funny when compared to other places like Vietnam, a communist 3rd world country that has only recently begun to realign itself with the rest of the plant, Indonesia is a democracy (so they claim), with plenty of resources, as well as being a major oil producer who was, until recently, a member of OPEC. Still one gets the sense that until the Indonesians learn that outside investment and tourism helps bring money into their economy, they seem doomed to living just outside the stone-age.
As an example.. I read an article in the local paper which talked about less tourists due to the current world economic issues. The article asked locals about their thoughts… 100% of the replies touted it as a “good thing” that tourism is down. The consensus was, if all the “bules” stay home the hotels will have to lower their price and we “Locals” can take a cheap holiday. Amazing…. To think you will get free rooms when the hotel industry crashes. Not one person expressed worry that hotels (and other tourist focused industries) would close or put tons of Indonesians out of work.
As for the pictures.. like the trip, not my best stuff. I was able to capture a few things but all-in-all we spent most of our time in the Hotel compound. We arrived on the day of the “Bali Bombers” execution and tensions were high (or higher than normal), but overall there were only a few protests and such. We were able to get out to a few places.. the Port, a fisherman’s market, the Botanical Gardens, and a wildlife reserve. But most of these places were the typical tourist traps… but hitting the streets alone, as a “Bule” with $10,000 of camera equipment hanging around my neck just wasn’t an option.
Enjoy!
Categories & Keywords
Category:Travel and Places
Subcategory:Asia
Subcategory Detail:Indonesia
Keywords:Hippo, Jakarta Indonesia, Monkey, Port of Jakarta, Tea Farm, Wildlife
