Jakarta Jakarta Jakarta… I hit this city feeling low and it didn’t get any better.
My last night in Makassar was a shocker. Complaining sinuses from a persistent head cold and indigestion for the second time in my life made sleep hard to come by. If it wasn’t for previous experience of indigestion I would have thought I was having a heart attack. No drinking water anywhere so I had to go down 11 floors to the loby to trouble someone for enough to pop some paracetamol relief. No money for the taxi to the airport and of all times, had my first fight with the ATM. Fortunately some guys servicing a nearby ATM helped and even rushed out to my taxi after I left my card behind. My flight went seamlessly thanks to Sriwijaya Air (must fly with them again).
Arrive at Jakarta airport around 3pm thinking I had plenty of time to get to hotel and settle in but a bumbling taxi driver robbed me of that. He had no idea where the hotel was or how to find it. We finally get there and he asks for a tip. “Be good to your mother” was my reply but he didn’t understand. My phone is low on battery and the power points in the hotel are different to Sulawesi but I manage to rig up a workable solution without electrocuting myself. The hotel promises wifi in the rooms but it doesn’t work. I can’t communicate at all and it’s choking me. I go for a walk. My low mood maybe be contributing but my first impressions paint Jakarta intimidating. There is security everywhere and I feel guilty of something but I don’t know what. Metal detectors guard the entrances of shopping centers. And there isn’t a comfortable friendliness here that I’ve experience elsewhere. Perhaps a good night sleep and some functional wifi will change my view of things.
I’m staying in a region central to Jakarta known as Thamrin, for no other reason than it has a concentration of hotels with competitive prices. Jakarta is huge and doesn’t really have a typical city centre to focus on.
angusmccoll 