Historic Jakarta

One of the incredibly generous women in my office invited me to come on a tour of historic Jakarta during my second weekend in Indonesia. She's a member of a history group and the event was a holiday related to Chinese New Year. The tour focused on Chinese parts of the city--the Chinese have seemingly always played a big part in the business world of Jakarta and have little gems of temples tucked away in corners of the city. Seeing these places was a treat, but even more amazing was the ability to walk around downtown Jakarta. The city is totally overwhelming in terms of heat and humidity, noise, smells from street vendors and the sewage and trash filled canals, and chaotic traffic on narrow, "organic" streets. It would be impossible to learn anything about it in the short time I'm here without having these guides--especilly Nelly from the office!
Busy downtown street filled with bajaj--rickety motorcycle taxis that I'm afraid I never tried...


Buidling wall--patched together like much of the old city


Street artist creating charcoal portraits from photos


Mending cans that are used to sell water--many people in Jakarta have no access to potable water or sewage systems


Chinese temple roof


Alter in the Chinese temple


Sejarah Jakarta or Jakarta history housed in the old Dutch town hall. This old colonial part of town is known as Kota (used to be Batavia)


Dragon dancing in the colonial plaza


Typical folk art from Jakarta