Travel to Indonesia: Jakarta

The Dutch saw Batavia grow to a city a half a million; sixty years after their reluctant departure, Jakarta has become a city of 13 million people, with an average annual per capita income (1993) of about $400. That's a recipe for an unhappy place. In this chapter, however, only a few pictures of the wealthier and maybe happier parts of the city are shown.

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When Governor-General Daendels moved his capital inland from the old Kota, he laid out a great square, the Koningsplein, now the Medan Merdeka. It's one of those oversized, pedestrian-hostile blocks of unused space that bedevil capital cities around the world. In the center stands the MONAS, or national monument, built by Sukarno to commemorate independence and, indirectly, himself.

Nearby, the Supreme Court (1848), still serving in that capacity, as the name indicates.

Another of Sukarno's megaprojects: Jalan Thamrin, the thoroughfare that runs north-south past MONAS. The view here, from the Pan Pacific roof garden, is northwards. Normally jammed, the street is shown here early on New Year's Day, 2001.

From the same roof, the view southeasterly is over the old but pricey district of Menteng, beyond which lie more towers of the new Jakarta.

The view northeasterly has a chaotic mixture of vacant land, simple buildings, and highrise towers.

Out for a walk through Menteng. Suddenly, a shower!

Might as well fold the umbrella; the only thing it does is keep the rain from pounding directly on your head. Your clothes are drenched.

Half an hour later, the rain stops. Houses spring up, new ones and...

...well, you guessed it.