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It’s 05:00 UK time and midday here in Jakarta. We’re currently kicking back in the lobby of our hotel after a looonnngg journey of over 18 hours. Our flights with Qatar were both excellent. Clean, modern aircraft (a Boeing 787-9 and Airbus A350-900, reg A7-ALS) with great food, good entertainment and lovely staff. As expected, we had no time at all on the ground in Doha. We were straight off one plane and onto another. I binge-watched movies and survived on a couple of hours sleep whilst Dawn did better on the snoozing front.

Landing at Jakarta was an interesting experience as a lot’s changed since I was last here in 2017. Now it’s an airport run by apps and QR controls, Both immigration and customs are done via QR codes. Want a taxi? Download an app. For once, I did. We had plenty of time to get into town as our plane had landed at 07:05, so we made a leisurely exit and had a coffee in a cafe outside the terminal whilst we adjusted to the temperature and plotted our next move. having sussed out the ‘Grab’ app we ordered a taxi whilst we waited at their stand. I’d normally have used public transport but as we were tired, loaded down with luggage nd this was all new for Dee I decided a taxi would be the more relaxed option. Grab staff were both courteous and helpful, even plying us with free bottles of water. Last time I got a taxi to the airport it was in a battered old IC engined thing. Today we had a modern EV with the driver navigating his way through the torturous traffic and diversions due to construction work on sewers and metros by satnav.

Our hotel’s in the Glodok area, not far from the old Dutch quarter and Kota station, I could have sworn I stayed here back in 2017 but I don’t have my records to hand. Reception’s on the 8th for skyscraper. The floors below are packed with little shops selling electronics, steel and engineering widgets. I dunno what our room will be like but I’ve booked an upper floor with a view although the one we have from the bar and outdoor seating area isn’t bad!

Jakarta’s another sprawling SE Asian megopolis an all its vibrant, chaotic sights, sounds and smells…

Once we can get our room my first priority is making sure Dawn (who’s not as used to these long days) does is get some sleep. I might join her for a little while, but after that I’m keen to reacquaint myself with the city.

15:30 (UK time) 22:20 Java time.

We managed to get out for a long walk around the old colonial part of Jakarta, but now jet-lag is catching up and it’s time for a decent night’s sleep. I’ll talk more about what we got up to tomorrow, along with more pictures.

When the roads are blocked, just drive on the pavement! Construction of the new line 1 MRT outside Kota station’s causing a lot of problems for road users, hence scenes like this.,
Kota station’s a fine example of colonial transport architecture. It’s still a busy transport hub today.
In Dutch times the Kali Krukut canal would have been lined with sailing barges and Godowns (warehouses) as it was massive commercial area. Abandoned and decaying for many years the canals recently been restored with the banks becoming tree-lined walkways. Here’s a picture of how it looked in 2017.

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