Passing through Jakarta

National monument

Jakarta was exactly how I imagined it: a sprawling city with chaotic traffic and with nothing much to see or do. That's why I only passed through, flying in from Singapore in the morning and taking the night train to Yogyakarta in the evening.

It was a scorching hot day that I planned to spend reading in the shade in the park that surrounds the National monument. But then I should have known that in Asia, you can't sit and read. So many touts pestered me with their services that I finally retreated into a museum. To get to the museum I had to cross a road and that was a huge ordeal: I had to remember again how to survive in traffic buzzing with motorcycles and where traffic lights exist only for decoration.

Jakarta

Jakarta lies on the island of Java and I was eager to try my first cup of java coffee. It was real coffee, with dregs at the bottom of the cup! It's good coffee.

And it's good to be back in Asia. Yes, I hate the traffic and not being able to get around on foot. But the people are nice and I feel welcome.