Day 55: Jakarta
We woke up very early for our flight to Jakarta this morning, caught our flight, and arrived in a very nice airport in Jakarta. We were told there was only one safe taxi company we should take so we grabbed a cab to the city, and got stuck in a crazy amount of traffic on the way: welcome to city life! Before we arrived, we had booked a hotel and checked forums that told us how to get there, and we were very thankful we did because it was hidden on a back street that we would never have found otherwise! We were surprised when we saw the hotel because it was very big and like hotels back home, and we had become used to staying in bungalows everywhere! We checked into our room and then asked about what there was to see in Jakarta, but got no recommendations!
The receptionist recommended we go to a mall to eat lunch (!) so we walked over, ate there (since communication was next to impossible), and walked back! We decided we couldn’t just be here one day and not see anything, so we got a taxi and went to see Istiqlal Mosque in town. We arrived at the mosque and a security guard escorted us inside and told us about the mosque, which had actually been built by a Catholic architect and was the largest mosque in Southeast Asia. It was nice, and as we left, we stopped and listened to the melodic call to prayer. Then, we went to see a nice church across the street, and listened to some of the hymns there, before grabbing a cab back to our hotel.
We ate at our hotel and then relaxed in our room. We leave Jakarta tomorrow, which is fine because there is nothing much to do here!
We woke up very early for our flight to Jakarta this morning, caught our flight, and arrived in a very nice airport in Jakarta. We were told there was only one safe taxi company we should take so we grabbed a cab to the city, and got stuck in a crazy amount of traffic on the way: welcome to city life! Before we arrived, we had booked a hotel and checked forums that told us how to get there, and we were very thankful we did because it was hidden on a back street that we would never have found otherwise! We were surprised when we saw the hotel because it was very big and like hotels back home, and we had become used to staying in bungalows everywhere! We checked into our room and then asked about what there was to see in Jakarta, but got no recommendations!
The receptionist recommended we go to a mall to eat lunch (!) so we walked over, ate there (since communication was next to impossible), and walked back! We decided we couldn’t just be here one day and not see anything, so we got a taxi and went to see Istiqlal Mosque in town. We arrived at the mosque and a security guard escorted us inside and told us about the mosque, which had actually been built by a Catholic architect and was the largest mosque in Southeast Asia. It was nice, and as we left, we stopped and listened to the melodic call to prayer. Then, we went to see a nice church across the street, and listened to some of the hymns there, before grabbing a cab back to our hotel.
We ate at our hotel and then relaxed in our room. We leave Jakarta tomorrow, which is fine because there is nothing much to do here!
Istiqlal Mosque
Church across the street from the mosque
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