While not being known for its natural
exploration activities most people expect from Indonesia, Jakarta is—at least
for me—packed with just the right dose of culture, galleries, museums, and
delicacies we might as well try. Always pretending to be a tourist in my own
city, Jakarta never ceases to surprise me. When you first land your feet in
here, the unstable heartbeat of the city, the never-ending honks, the hustle
and bustle; they probably turn you off. But just slow your pace, and afoot and
lighthearted, follow the rhythm. You can find peace too among its crowdedness.
I am disoriented. That means I have low
spatial intelligence: I hardly remember faces, shapes, and streets. It takes me
one week in general to memorize my route back home from a fixed location. I
can’t read maps either. But here’s the deal: I love solo traveling. I love
getting lost and discovering something new and something old hidden from plain
view. As much as I love trace back history and the same effective road, it
doesn’t bother me that I have to search a way to crawl out from the maze of
disorientation. When you solo travel,
you’re utterly alone in a space full of people, and it automatically forces you
to save a room for interaction with strangers. But it’s okay, I promise you. You can be on your own pace, you don’t have to compromise to your travel
buddy’s needs since there is none, you’re completely free. You embrace the
sense of being your own man. Solo travel is my way to heal and regenerate.
Anyway….
Truth is a virtue, so I am going to be
upfront about it: road sign is a galore to find in Jakarta, especially when you
travel in less-known area framed in smaller streets. Getting lost in Jakarta is
normal. The key is to ask locals along the way. Indonesian people are known for
their easy going and sociable nature, so take a deep breath and just ask.
Getting lost in Jakarta can be fun, too.
There are some places you can wander, places in road less traveled by, places
so good to get lost. Since some places are close to one another, I put them
into routes and make some categorization.
P. S. The places mentioned below are based
on my personal rating, so please browse further since I can’t guarantee my
taste suits yours.
ROUTE
#01
For the old-fashioned
Just because you’re old fashioned doesn’t
mean these places are obsolete on your Instagram feeds. In fact, for me these
places are among the most massive, historic, and beautiful landmarks in the
city. Welcome to Kota Tua or Old
Quarter of Jakarta!
Let’s begin this route!
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| Bicycle rent on the square |
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| Museum Bank Indonesia |
You can start from these four of either one
of them: Museum Bank Indonesia (recaps
Indonesian economy through ages, the building is white and has colonial feels,
rooms inside have AC and full of pretty lamplights—highly Instagrammable), Museum Fatahillah (it has random and
not-well-managed-collections but it’s spacey and pretty with nice garden and
statuettes; if you’re photograph nerd, you’ll find a safe haven within its
plant fences, marble streets, and wide-opened windows), Museum Wayang (will give you much more cheer because here you can
meet hundreds of traditional Indonesian dolls), or Museum Seni Rupa dan Keramik (if you’re into arts and want to know
how arts developed in Indonesia). The latest three are part of this one big
square where people gather, ride bicycle, or feed stray doves. You can also get
some tattoos (permanent or temporary) or pose with vintage cars. But beware to bring cap since the heat can cause demotivation
in you to explore more!
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| Pelabuhan Sunda Kelapa Source: pegipegi.com |
After you explore and sweat, don’t forget
to buy Indonesian traditional drink such as selendang mayang or es goyang to
freshen you up a bit. When you’re ready, come and get the sunset at Pelabuhan Sunda Kelapa. It’s an old
harbor located around 20 minutes walk from the Old Quarter, and the scene where
gigantic ships park is somehow so magical it awakes the awe in you. You will
pass a bridge namely Jembatan Intan,
which is, supposedly, another historical landmark, but I’m pretty sure the
stinky smell won’t draw you in much longer than necessary. After you’re done
with your aesthetic (or narcissistic) session around the harbor, and if you’re
really into museum, you can also visit Museum
Bahari, which, in a nutshell, contains the history of Indonesian maritime quests.
And, that’s the first route!
GENERAL
INFORMATION
How to
get there: the location of this route is really
strategic since there are both TransJakarta Kota shelter and Jakarta-Kota
train station. Good news:
both of them are final stop so you won’t miss it or be busy checking the name
of previous stops.
Estimated
time you will spend: three hours at minimum.
Estimated
cost: for transportation and museum tickets only, I
recommend you to bring Rp40.000 at the very least.
Life
hacks:
- Take care of your belongings and watch out for pickpockets
- Decide exactly the time you want to arrive, since Jakarta traffic is horrendous
- TransJakarta ticket can be used as CommuterLine (train) ticket, but not other way around. But, keep in mind, you can only commute using the CommuterLine if the balance in your ticket is Rp12.000 at the minimum
- Always, always bring cap and wear sunblock!
- Sneakers will be comfortable. Highly recommended not to wear heels
ROUTE
#02
For the landmark-seeker
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| The top observation deck of Monas |
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| Outside the gate of Monas |
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| View from the observation deck of Monas |
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| The art piece of Galnas |
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| Galnas is exactly this cool! |
Now, you’re tired from walking. Time to calm yourself at either or both: the Istiqlal Mosque and Katedral Church (it was named that way, don’t ask me). These two are so big people with different religions and nonbelievers come anyway. They are located facing one another, which is very amusing and stressing how Indonesian live in peace with its diversity.
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| Ragusa foods and ice creams! |
After you recharge, stop a bajaj (Google it!) or ojek to transport
you to Ragusa, a vintage ice cream
parlor famous for its traditional Italian recipe. Walking there from
Istiqlal/Katedral can be exhausting. Anyway, if you prefer coffee than ice
cream, I suggest you to enter Newseum Café
in the same neighborhood. Finding this place can be problematic since you won’t
find a website on Google. Newseum is small and with dim light, from the outside
it’s glowing bright red with stacks of books that welcome you. When I visited,
this place was about to close, so I can’t taste the coffee, but one customer
service took pity on me and explained that Newseum was neither a bookstore (which
was my first thought I sounded to her) or museum. She let me wander around for
some minutes, explained more as we went, “Sometimes we also held a small forum,
discussing politics or other topics, or small live music concert, or book launch,
or art exhibition. It depends on your luck, really.” I gathered the information
and made small note: this place was meant for the intellectuals, just like
cafes-philo in Paris. What amazed me that night, however, was when she told me,
“Newseum used to be Le Chat Noir, a club where you can meet Westerling the
butcherer, or Mata Hari the secret agent.” I never, ever, felt so lucky to find
a place and never, ever, felt so unlucky for my disability exploring more. If you’re
determined to visit, this place closes at 8 pm. Good luck!
GENERAL
INFORMATION
How
to get there: depends on your first stop, really. If
you mean to visit Ragusa or Newseum, you can stop at Juanda
train station (it’s on the Jakarta-Kota line, not Tanah Abang-Duri or
Jatinegara). If Monas is the first place that comes to your mind, stop at Monumen Nasional TransJakarta shelter. If you stick to
this route, stop at Harmoni Central shelter, then move to another line which
includes Gambir shelter in it (I forget which
line, sorry).
Estimated
time you will spend: prepare at least one free day
if you want to satisfy yourself!
Estimated
cost: bring at least Rp60.000 if you want to taste
the coffee or ice cream.
Life
hacks: it’s advised to wear appropriate clothes
(long trousers, sleeved top) if you want to visit the holy places like Katedral
and Istiqlal. The rest, you can cheat from the first route.
ROUTE
#03
For the morbid
“Two roads diverged in a yellow road… and I—I
took the one less traveled by…”
… and that makes you a morbid! And that
makes this route perfect for you!
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| Source: nyunyu.com |
From this street, you can either walk (because
you just have to walk straight) or grab an ojek (recommended) to move to Taman Suropati. This park is a beauty
in the morning, and often used as a site for some photography communities to
practice. In the afternoon, though, the heat can stroke you literally. There are
some arts installations whose name I forget, but they are not very special. If the
god of time blesses you, there will be a concert or exhibition in this park, so
better check the time! But if this park doesn’t spark an interest in you, feel
free to skip this to Galeri Seni
Kunstkring. It only has one floor, located above a restaurant, and the
collections are limited, but worth visiting if you call yourself a morbid. I was
lucky to visit this gallery once because when I was about to visit for the
second time, Google informed me this gallery only opens for one hour everyday,
from 11 am-12 pm. (My plan was ruined but well, that was quiet an information.)
I never checked the reliability of this information, though. Anyway, when I
visited this place, there was a sign to not take photographs, so get ready to
hide your camera.
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| Source: Tribunnews.com |
Now, you’re curious. What is the next place
suitable for your abnormality? It’s Planetarium,
for I know how much you care about otherworldly happenings. Again, if you’re
lucky, you can watch planetary transition every once in a while, or a birth or
death of a star, on some kind of observatory rooftop with telescope that will
make you feel cool. The time to do this kind of thing, however, is usually
around 6-7 pm. And if you’re luckier than ever, you can also visit Taman Ismail Marzuki for there’s often artistic
events.
GENERAL
INFORMATION
How to
get there: train (stop at Cikini
station—on the Jakarta-Kota line) is really advisable.
Estimated
time you will spend: around four hours, because,
believe me, these places are so interesting!
Estimated
cost: it really depends on the events you want to
see, or antiques you want to buy. But for the transportation and tickets, bring
Rp50.000 is recommended.
Life
hacks: wear clothes from light garments that will
make it easier for you to move, and please wear trouser, since skirts and
dresses are uncomfortable to wear on ojek.
ROUTE
#04
For the want-it-all
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| Pasar Seni Ancol Source: panduanjakarta.co.id |
Nothing ever comes in complete package,
once somebody told me. But I guess that’s not true, considering this one route.
Taman Impian Jaya Ancol or better
internationally known as Ancol
Dreamworld perhaps has it all: local beach, Dufan (Indonesian version of Disneyland and Universal Studio—now you
get an idea), Pasar Seni Ancol (arts
market where people sell sculpture and make a cool, framed silhouette for you),
Atlantis (swimming park with many
attractions), and SeaWorld (aquarium).
To commute from one place to another, you can easily use the shuttle bus that
operates as long as these places open. But it comes in such a long time and is always
full.
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| Dufan! Source: infojalanjalan.com |
GENERAL
INFORMATION
How
to get there: train (stop
at Jakarta-Kota station) is ultimately recommended, since it can take
you three hours using TransJakarta. From the station, you can continue your journey using Uber, GrabCar, or GoCar,
the fare is usually Rp10.000 only. You’re welcome.
Estimated
time you will spend: better prepare all day long! Dufan,
especially, will make you do fun.
Estimated
cost: Dufan is expensive, it costed me Rp270.000
the last time I went there. Atlantis and SeaWorld are not cheap either. If you
want to visit all the sites in the block, I recommend you to bring no less than
Rp500.000. if you’re determined to buy art products from Pasar Seni, then it’s
Rp700.000.
Life
hacks: wear shorts, tees, sneakers, and cap, bring
small towel and substitute clothes since some attractions can get you wet. Also,
bring mineral water! Eat at McDonnald’s since local restaurants are stupidly pricey
(at least for me and compared to other restaurants). Finally, bring your whole
squad! The more, the merrier! Woo hoo!
All in all….
Before mapping your itinerary, it’s
important for you to know these pro-tips!
- Some Indonesian people are opportunistic and take advantage of you if you’re foreigner. Therefore, learn to bargain hard and try to Google normal prices before getting everything
- Getting around using taxi or bus can be painful if you’re not used to traffic. Therefore, download Gojek, Grab, or Uber, so you can use motorcycle that will help you to move faster.
- Indonesian foods can be spicy for your taste bud if you’re not used to it, so perhaps you can avoid any food that contains “sambal”.
- If you wear a duffel bag, move it to the front side of your body so it will reduce of possibility of you being pickpocketed.
- Some transportation service (train, TransJakarta), big restaurants, toll, and minimarket such as Alfamart and Indomaret receives payment with Mandiri e-money or BCA Flash card. It will be helpful if you have either. Google further to know their full services.
Of course, interesting places in Jakarta
are not limited to the ones mentioned above. I was just listing places that are
closely located, and places I have ever been before. So if you’re asking me, “Do
you think Museum Proklamasi or Lubang Buaya is worth visited?” I can’t give you
the answer since I’ve never been there before! For me it’s important to keep both
my honesty and subjectivity.
