In Reply to: cliff more info on jakarta pleasssse posted by suryono on Tuesday, 9. November 2004 at 06:09 Bali Time:
Whether or not it's worth spending a week there depends mainly on what you like to do and what you are interested in.
In terms of history, architecture and museums, Jakarta has a lot to offer (though some of the history you will learn is biased and should be taken with a grain of salt).
The nightlife is varied... it can be as wild or as relaxing as you like. Similar to Bali, except that you'll see a lot fewer white faces.
If you're a golfer, Jakarta is a dream. Forget paying US$100+ per round in Bali. Jakarta has courses designed by Nicklaus, Palmer, Pete Dye and Peter Thompson, and mid-week green fees start at around US$20.
In general, prices are about 20-30% cheaper than Bali, and the variety is wider. I'm not much of a shopper, though, so I'm unlikely to be answer many questions about that. Meals are as cheap or as expensive as you want them. For 5000rp (sometimes less) you can get a decent meal at a food cart... portions tend to be less than a full meal but more than a snack. I've eaten at heaps of them and haven't been sick yet (watch out for chicken head/claw soup, though -- nothing really wrong with it, but it looks dreadful). 20-30,000 will get you a decent sit-down meal in a nice clean place. A large bottle of Bintang ranges between 13,000 and 25,000, depending on the entertainment provided by the establishment.
Safety concerns? Same as anywhere. Keep you money in a pocket you can button (or one with velcro, if you're wearing shorts -- pickpockets can't open it without you hearing and feeling it). Use Bluebird taxis. (If you can't get one, sit in the back seat -- there have been instances, though I haven't read about any for a while, where a man hides in the boot and comes in via the back seat and robs people). You might not want to stagger around drunk and alone through the back streets at night. I do, though. I just smile and say hi to anyone I meet, and they smile back and ask where I'm going. Smiling is probably your best defense anywhere -- you'll make friends quickly, and if you get in trouble, they'll be there to help you.
As far as the big worries like snipers and bombs go -- I have yet to hear of a sniper attack on a white person in Jakarta. I suspect it was one of those stories that morphed from "we fear it could happen" to "They are planning to do it" without any real research. Bombs have happened a couple of times about a year apart, with about twenty deaths, one white. In a city with about 18 million people, it's not worth thinking about unless you actually see something suspicious happening. The odds are well on your side.
Around Jakarta, the smaller towns and villages seem pleasant and peaceful, though I haven't spent a lot of time in them. In a few weeks I'll be travelling in a loop from Bandung to Yogya, then across to either Surabaya or Semarang and back across the top of Java to Jakarta, so I might have some more info after that.
I thoroughly recommend spending a few days in Yogyakarta on the way to Jakarta. It'll only add about $20-30 to your airfares, and it's well worth it. The temples are amazing. It's the cheapest place to shop for just about anything (except batik -- just say no). The area around Yogya is as beautiful as the Bali scenery. Mt Merapi is awesome.
The people in both cities are friendly and helpful. There's about 10% or less of the amount of "hello meester, let me somehow get some cash out of you" as there is in Bali.
If you are asthmatic, don't visit Jakarta in dry season, because the dust and pollution will get to you. And if you can't swim, don't go in wet season -- it floods every year, and they haven't figured out the pattern yet.
Guys might need to be watchful for "talkers" in some nightclubs/pubs -- usually if there is dangdut music. It works like this... you go somewhere to check out the music or have a drink, and a sweet young woman will come and ask all the usual questions. (If prostitutes operate on the premises, they usually flock in groups and most likely you'll be approached before you even get to a seat.) The upshot is that the woman's job is to talk to men and get paid (50,000 seems the usual rate) for doing so. Why they imagine a white person in Jakarta has any lack of people to talk to is beyond my wit. But it's an awkward situation, because if you say you don't want her to talk to you, she gets offended, and there's always a chance of offence leading to an incident. If you offer to buy her a drink instead, she'll order something imported that costs more than 50,000. And, in many cases, she'll just sit there and prattle on until you leave, and then inform you that you owe her money. And at that point, a refusal to pay is almost guaranteed to end in a big scene. The best way to deal with it is to ask her what she does for a living during the introductory chat. Then she has to declare herself, and you can choose to talk to her, or just make some excuse and go somewhere else.
I wouldn't attempt driving yourself anywhere. The usual traffis madness is there, as well as the city itself being a labyrinth. A trip from one side of the city to another will take you along everything from six-lane highways to tracks that seem to be going through someone's back yard. Let someone else deal with the navigation, and if you suspect they are driving in circles, don't say anything, coz you might be... but there may be no other way to get there.
If you're looking for beaches, look somwhere else. I have heard the boat trips around the bay (starting in Ancol) are pleasant, but for
2-300,000, I'd rather do something else.
They haven't had a really big violent demontration for a while, but keep an eye out if you're there when Bashir is sentenced.
Ummm... that's about all I can think of for now... feel free to ask anything else.