Sleepless in Jakarta © Bambang Wijanarko

JAKARTA - The sleepless city

Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia. Inhabited by 12 million people, this city is among the most densely populated places in the world. It is a hot and dirty city. Every attempt of town planning seems to have failed. But on the other hand, Jakarta also possesses many historical places and cultural heritage. And as a modern and booming mega city it provides a modern lifestyle with shopping centers and a paradise for gourmets as it has a variety of restaurants with meals from all over the world. For those who travel to Jakarta, the city provides many tour opportunities inside and outside the city.

Jakarta is located at the Ciliwung river delta, which is inhabited for thousands of years. Since the end of the 12th Century there ruled the West Javanese Hindu dynasty Pajajaran. End of the 15th Century the main port of Pajajaran empire was built at the mouth of the river Ciliwung . At that time the city was called Sunda Kelapa. The Portuguese landed there in 1522 and set up a fort to protect the port for the spice trade. 1619 Dutch East India Company took possession of the port city and made it his headquarters. Soon she was called to the Fort Batavia and capital of the Dutch East Indies colony. From Batavia the Netherlands controlled at the early 18th Century in whole Java, Sumatra and parts of the Spice Islands (Moluccas). During the Second World War, Japanese forces occupied Batavia and forced the Dutch to surrender. The three hundred year colonial rule was over. With the Japanese surrender on 15th August 1945, Indonesia was granted independence. Jakarta was over thousands of years always a focal point of Indonesian history.

National Museum © Rahmat Subhagyo | Dreamstime.com
Sunda Kelepa Schooner in old harbour © Worldpics
Indonesia's national monument © Mosista Pambudi
Slums in Jakarta © Kzenon
Jakarta street salesman © iStockphoto.com/Øystein Lund Andersen

Sights to see in Jakarta

Though some people only visit in transit to another destination in Indonesia, there are still many tour opportunities which are worth exploring, from the modern and metropolitan lifestyle city to the old corners of the former city of Batavia.

In Kota, the old town of Batavia, travelers can take a tour to the relicts of Dutch colonial Indonesia. Many old colonial style buildings and museums can be found here.
Museum Wayang is a puppet museum with the best collection of Wayang pupets in Indonesia.
When you travel to Jakarta, don't miss taking a tour to Museum Sejarah Jakarta, also called History Museum, is located in an old Dutch colonial building in the old town of Batavia.
Monas is the National Monument, a 132m landmark and the biggest building project of first Indonesian' president Soekarno
The National Museum is located near Monas and hosts an enormous collection of cultural objects from the various etnic groups in Indonesia.
Taman Mini Indonesia Indah is a 100 hectar sized park, which exposes the form of the miniature Indonesian archipelago, and the land profile and regional pavilions.

Getting there & Around

Jakarta can be reached best by the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, or you travel by train from any other larger city on the island of Java.
Jakarta offers many transportation services. For your tour in Jakarta you can choose between taxi, bus, city-bus and bajaj, which is a very little tricycled vehicle. While buses tend to be overcrowded, taxis are more compfortable but also quite expensive. An alternative are the unique Indonesian bajajs, which can be used very flexible and cover every distance in Jakarta.