Westhill Consulting Travel and Tours Singapore one of our most popular destinations Chaotic, crazy and crowded. But that’s what makes Indonesia’s capital so unique.

1. Go and Travel to Jakarta
Westhill Consulting Travel and Tours

2. Westhill Consulting Travel and Tours Singapore one of
our most popular destinations Chaotic, crazy and
crowded. But that’s what makes Indonesia’s capital so
unique.
There are places you will fall in love with at first sight and
some that you won’t. It’s usually the first impressions that
makes us love or hate a place. But cities are like women.
Some will throw themselves at you, and some will make
you chase them. Which woman would you go for?

3. Jakarta, Indonesia is an example of the
latter, you have to dig a little bit deeper to
get to know her. She may seem hesitant at
first and is happy to let you wait, until you
take the time to properly understand her.
Then, she’ll give you everything you need.
To me, she might even be the unofficial
queen of Southeast Asia.
Jakarta is not Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur or Singapore. Some
people say “If you don’t like her, she won’t like you”.

4. After a few days I understood why. To be honest, after
landing in Jakarta I had no idea what to expect. You
don’t hear much about it and as soon as you exit the
terminal you already feel lost. It is big and hot and busy.
Not to mention the traffic. I didn’t really get the vibe at
first. Although soon enough, I understood what the
magic of Jakarta was. It is truly Asia, more so than many
other Southeast Asian cities you will discover on your
journey.
So here are a few reasons why you should experience
Jakarta for yourself.

5. Jakarta traffic is more symbolic of ‘Asia’ than
Bangkok and Saigon put together
Three million cars, nine million motorbikes and
inadequate public transport. Experts predict that in 2014
the whole traffic in the city will collapse. During rush
hour the average speed in the inner city is around 10
km/h and if you’re lucky, it will only take you three
hours to get to work. The average citizen of Jakarta has
his breakfast in the car on their way to work.

6. Yes the traffic in Jakarta is full on and you need superhuman
patience and nerves of steel to survive it. But it can also have
positive effects. During rush hour there needs to be at least
three people in the car otherwise drivers get fined, and a lot
of Indonesian mothers who normally would have trouble
finding employment have taken this fact and used it to their
advantage. They offer their presence to wealthy businessmen
and sitting in their car with them during these peak hours to
help them avoid the fine in exchange for some income.
Genius.

7. Find a rooftop on any evening
and listen to adzan, Islam’s
call to prayer
My CouchSurfing host lived somewhere in the middle of
the city in a typically tall building. I explored its rooftop
which overlooked the surrounding areas and on the
horizon was a beautiful view of Jakarta’s skyline. It was
around 7 p.m. when the sun was going to rest, when the
call to prayer occurred. It was such a unique experience in
this city. You could hear it from many mosques all over the
city. It is hard to explain what I felt at that moment, but it
really left an impression.

8. Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim-majority
nation with 87 percent following Islam as their religion.
If people are talking about going to the ‘stadium’ they ain’t
talking about football
No opinion in Jakarta is more divided than those about the
Stadium. Some people love it, and others hate it. You hear
many, many stories about it and it’s up to you whether you
believe them or not. One thing is for sure, whenever you
ask about Jakarta’s nightlife someone will mention the
Stadium.

9. What is this place though and why is it so popular?
Well, one thing that is heavily associated with it are
drugs. Sure, you will find drugs in any night club in the
world but at the Stadium it seems to be a continuous
issue due to the fact that because most Indonesians
don’t drink alcohol due to their religious beliefs, they
might substitute it with a pill instead.

10. True or not, most of world’s top DJ’s have performed
or will most likely perform at Stadium at some point in
their careers. It is a great place with awesome acts and a
great audience. Otherwise people wouldn’t talk about it.
I reckon it is a must see and if you like good techno,
then the Stadium is definitely worth checking out.

11. You can experience Indonesia in just one day in
Jakarta
How can I see a whole country in a day by just staying in
Jakarta, that doesn’t make sense. Yes that’s what I thought
too. My local friends took me to a park called Taman Mini
Indonesia Indah, which essentially translates to “Beautiful
Indonesia Miniature Park”. The park was opened in 1975
and unfortunately doesn’t really look well maintained. The
lizard house especially looked a bit sad and I felt sorry for
the animals. But once you’re there you get the chance to pat
a Komodo dragon, even though it probably hasn’t moved
since 1975.

12. You get to learn about local habits, look at different
architecture, clothing, food and many more aspects of
Indonesia’s culture. There is a big lake in the middle of
the park with a little island in the shape of the country.
If you have the guts to take the cable car you can enjoy a
stunning view of it from above.

13. Indonesians will make you feel like a star
First of all, Indonesians are super hospitable people and
they are very friendly towards foreigners. But there aren’t
as many foreign tourists in Jakarta as you might think.
You will get a lot of attention and the locals will genuinely
be very keen to get to know you. That’s in fact amazing
to me. In Thailand a lot of the locals seem to get easily
bemused and simultaneously annoyed by the mass
tourists, and this won’t be the case in Indonesia.

14. The most surprising thing was the local CouchSurfing scene
though. I’d received about a hundred various emails
offering help, recommendations and hosting offers. I was
blown away by the kindness of those people so I decided to
meet as many as I could. We organized a big CouchSurfing
meeting and many local Indonesian travelers attended.
Their enthusiasm was unbelievable and I made a lot of
friends that day. Even a crew from Metro TV came and
filmed a little documentary for the national channel about
CouchSurfing.

15. But it’s still a great way to get to know the local culture
of each province in Indonesia.
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