Jakarta, Indonesia - June 2012

It’s a long way from Vancouver to Jakarta.  We opted to break the journey up with an overnight stay at the airport in Narita.  Wise idea but it certainly did nothing for jet-lag as we are awake very early mornings trying to settle in.

Jakarta – we can certainly define the climate as to the number of showers needed per day.  Lows are in the 2 showers/day range with highs reaching up to 4 to 5/day.  Yes – it is hot, humid and sticky but as expected.  Still we find it amazing how some of the locals can be wearing jackets – we tend to perspire just looking at them.

Our first order of business was a trip to the train station as we organized ourselves for the next few days.  We decided to walk – that in itself seemed to be a feat as Gilbert so aptly described the city – it’s an ‘urban jungle’ out there.  It’s the usual buses, cars, motorcycles, bajas (tuk-tuk) and just about anything that has wheels all jockeying for a position on the road and at times, sidewalk.  There really is no method to the madness – with the usual belching of fumes, noise and incessant traffic jams choking the streets (and us too).  In comparison, Shanghai is now quite tame.

And did I mention they drive on the opposite of the road?  As Gilbert reminds us – Be sure and watch cars coming from both directions – and then steps into the street without watching and is almost taken down by a speeding motorcycle.  How he didn’t lose a body part is beyond comprehension.

Fortunately the guesthouse where we are staying is a quiet haven away from the chaos.  And the proprietor, Elizabeth, is extremely friendly and helpful – which is a good characterization of the people here in general.  I can’t remember the last time I have heard so many hello’s just walking down the street.  And the Indonesian breakfast at the guesthouse is delicious as well as the fresh mango right off the courtyard tree.

The highlight so far was the trip to see the Botanical Gardens in Bogor, one hour south of Jakarta by train.  Arriving in Bogor, we are greeted by a bee hive of activity – people, markets, yelling, offerings of rides in bajas, taxi’s, motorcycles and becaks (3 wheeled bicycle rickshaws) – you name it and it was happening.  Trying to make sense of it all and then there, right before my eyes were 2 of ‘our people’.  That’s right, white Caucasians that looked like they might speak English.  They did and I realized we were now in business, especially since they were also going to the gardens as well.

This pair were South African Dutch and could understand and speak the Indonesian language, which they told us is a close relative to Afrikaans.  They negotiated our ride for us in 3 of the becaks.  Why 3 you ask? - one look at Gilbert and his build and they immediately decided he would barely fit in one of the rickshaws and would have to go solo.  The strongest looking driver of the bunch was the ‘lucky’ elected individual to cycle him to the gardens.

I wish we would have had more time to spend with this pair as their bios were interesting.  He was a writer and working on a book about the history of the South African Dutch and their importation of Indonesians as slaves to Africa.  She was a former history teacher now turned free lance travel writer who has been visiting Indonesia for 14 years.  She knew the ins and outs of the country and was helping her friend with some research for his book.  Unfortunately they were on a strict time schedule so we said our good-byes at the garden gate entrance.

But we still had our friend, Lady Luck, with us as we walked around the gardens.  I say luck as there was a dance/ethnic performance in the park.  We missed the actual Chinese dragon performances but did catch a parade of warriors and their leaders as well as some dance performances by girls  ages 7-12.  Needless to say, they were really adorable and priceless in their traditional costumes and make-up.

Of particular interest to us, as we strolled through the gardens, were the enormous tree trunks and extended ‘fingers’ (roots) from trees dating back to the 1850’s.  We also checked out the orchid display although there were not too many in bloom.

And then the gardens became a bit of a zoo for us.  We were asked numerous times to have our photos taken with groups of individuals.  The icing on the cake? – two different groups of girls (15/16 years of age) asked if they could interview us on their video camera for their school project.  Of course we gladly obliged.  The girls were so intent on their English script that after I pointed out that Gilbert was my husband, I was immediately asked if I had a boyfriend.  This, of course, elicited much in the way of giggles and laughter.  So somewhere in Bogor we are part of a high school humanities project with Gilbert telling the teacher the girls are working hard and deserve an A.

After the long haul to get to Indonesia, a massage seemed the perfect way to work out any kinks from the ‘comfortable’ airline seats.  I was given a choice of either a soft or hard massage and opted for the soft.  It was wonderful.  Gilbert, on the other hand, was given no choice.  I guess the girl figured since he is a big guy he’d want the hard massage.  So he endured an hour of a girl walking all over his back, shoulder and legs with toes digging in to him.  There’s that luck again as in ‘I’m lucky I went for the soft massage’.

That’s all for Jakarta as anyone who drops into the city is usually out of here within a day.  We can give ourselves credit as we lasted for 3 days.  But just long enough to stumble across a delicious Dutch bakery, the only sign of Dutch colonial influence so far.  We are now off on an all day train ride, executive class, to Yogyakarta in central Java.  We’ve seen a bit of the cheaper, ‘cattle’ class trains where the people are packed in like sardines and a seat with a view means riding on top of the train.