Jakarta, Indonesia

 

Children playing their instruments

Today we did the half-day tour of Jakarta. Jakarta is the melting pot of Indonesia with most of the ethnic groups represented in its 20 million people. We began the tour at the grade school that Barak Obama attended for 2^nd and 3^rd grade. He lived in Jakarta those years after his mother married his stepfather, an Indonesian. The children there played traditional instruments, others danced for us, and of course we were asked questions so they could practice their English. I was asked my name, where I lived, what work I had done, my hobbies, and how old I was. They were surprised that I was 75.

Praying in Istiqlal Mosque

Our next stop was the Catholic Cathedral of Jakarta, built in 1901 on the site of the previous cathedral that burned in a fire and eventually collapsed. For a cathedral, it was a very simple church. We then walked to the Istiqlal Mosque across the street. A friendship tunnel under the street connects the two. The mosque is the largest in Southeast Asia holding 120,000 worshippers.  It was designed by a Catholic who won the architectural competition. It was built between 1961 and 1978. We were able to tour the inside of the mosque.

Altar in Chinese Temple

Then on to a walk of Chinatown and a visit to some Chinese temples. For about 50 cents a bird, you could release the birds for your good fortune. Our guide demonstrated the ritual to ask the gods about an important choice in your life. It involves the selection of a numbered stick and then receiving the interpretation for that stick. Her result was "Her wish would be quite costly".

Port of Batavia

Our final stop was the old port of Batavia, the former name of Jakarta. Here there ere wooden boats loading up for trade among the local islands. The entire dock area had flooded only two days earlier so we saw quite a lot of debris and mud. The dykes were about 4 feet high. Parts of Jakarta are sinking at the rate of 20 to 30 centimeters per year. This is one of the reasons that the country is considering the move of its capital to a different island.

We spent a lot of time in traffic today. While that has been a problem in most large cities here, this was the worst. The average commute time from the suburbs to the city is 2 hours, twice a day.