Hi All,
We flew back from Borneo to Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia, for a quick one night stop over. Luckily our flight, unlike all those with another airline, wasn’t cancelled! Jakarta was an extremely busy, smog filled city but with an understated charm. Based in what lonely planet describes as the ‘backpacker area’ we thought it would feel a bit touristy but were very wrong. These streets were buzzing with activity and street food stalls. We joined locals for lunch and sat on plastic stalls with smart businesses men/ women, high school girls and dust covered men in hard hats. The satay kebabs had the longest queue so we decided it had to be good - the barbecued peanut chicken served with pandan sticky rice did not disappoint! Ross also couldn’t resist trying his favourite dish of Beef Rendang (a slow cooked, dark caramelised coconut curry) not once, not twice but at three different stalls throughout the day!
We had planned to spend the afternoon exploring so were disappoint to find that all government attractions are closed on Mondays. This meant that we couldn’t visit the National museum or monument as we’d planned, although we did manage to get a good view of the 60m high tower through the military patrolled railings. The military and police presence throughout the city was prominent. Trucks of soldiers whizzed through the parting traffic with sirens blaring to clear their way. Much more peaceful was the colossal Masjid Istiqlal, Indonesia’s largest mosque capable of holding 61,000 people! Although it somewhat resembled a concrete car park (with a domed roof) from the outside, the inside was really impressive. We were shown around by a lovely man who shared with us the many inclusive beliefs of Muslims and gave us an insight to their prayers. The prayer hall was split into two sections (men and women) and the beautiful dome was adorned with a passage from the Quran. Arabic symbols for Allah and Mohammed also shone from the front wall. Following our tour, we ended our time in Java by enjoying a strong, robusta Java coffee.
Only a short one from us this time, next we are off to Singapore to meet up with Ross’ parents during their stop over on their way to Australia.
Love R and D xxx
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