Jakarta

Jakarta, Indonesia

The Jakarta History Museum, a former Dutch city hall with an ochre facade, glows in low golden sunlight across Fatahillah Square in late afternoon.

Jakarta is a hot, loud, generous capital where Dutch-era streets, glass towers and Betawi street food sit within a short ride of each other.

The place

Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia and its largest city, home to about 11 million registered residents. It has the status of a province in its own right, the Special Capital Region, and sits on the north-west coast of Java, facing the Java Sea. The official area is modest, about 664 square kilometres, but the built-up city spills far beyond that line into neighbouring West Java and Banten. Locals use the shorthand Jabodetabek for the whole sprawl. That sprawl is the first thing to grasp: Jakarta is less a single centre than a string of districts, each with its own character. Kota Tua, the old colonial quarter, lies in the north near the harbour. Around Jalan Thamrin and Jalan Sudirman, towards the middle of the city, glass towers, malls and flyovers set the pace of a modern capital. Between them lie kampung neighbourhoods of narrow lanes, small food stalls and mosques, where much of daily life still happens. Honest expectations help. Traffic is heavy at almost any hour, the air is hot and damp all year, pavements are patchy, and heavy rain in the wet season can flood streets. Yet the city rewards patience. The food is excellent, the museums are many, and the population is a mix of Betawi, Javanese, Chinese and many other communities who have arrived over the centuries. Most travellers give it a few days, either on the way to Bali or Borobudur or as a place worth knowing in its own right.

Its story

Jakarta's story begins before the name existed. Pottery makers of the Buni culture lived along the northern Java coast for several centuries around the start of the common era, and a stone inscription found at Tugu, near today's Tanjung Priok, shows that by the fifth century a ruler was having canals dug here. Later the area fell under the Sunda Kingdom, whose harbour at Kalapa, today's Sunda Kelapa, was a busy pepper port by the early sixteenth century. In 1527 Muslim forces took the port, renamed it Jayakarta and placed it under the Sultanate of Banten. In 1619 the Dutch East India Company, the VOC, seized the town and rebuilt it as Batavia, with walls, canals and a Dutch street plan. It became the company's main administrative base in Asia and a major trading harbour, a colonial city built for profit and control. During the Japanese occupation in the Second World War, Batavia was given the name Jakarta. On 17 August 1945 Sukarno, with Mohammad Hatta beside him, read out Indonesia's declaration of independence in the city. Years of revolution followed, and by 1950 Jakarta was the seat of the new republic. It has grown quickly ever since, drawing migrants from every island. Traces of each layer survive: a replica of a stone pillar marking an early treaty with the Portuguese, Dutch-era buildings in Kota Tua, and the monuments of the independence years.

What to see

Culture

Jakarta's culture is shaped by long migration from across Indonesia, so the city feels like a meeting place of regions rather than a single tradition. The indigenous Betawi community supplies much of what is thought of as local heritage. Betawi performing arts include tanjidor, a brass and percussion ensemble with a street-parade feel, lenong, a lively form of folk theatre full of jokes and improvisation, and ondel-ondel, the towering puppet figures that are carried through the streets at celebrations. Lebaran Betawi is a public festival meant to introduce and keep alive Betawi customs, and it is a good time to catch music and food together. Condet in East Jakarta was named a Betawi heritage area in 1976, though the status was withdrawn in 1988, which says something about how fast the city changes. Daily life runs on a mix of faiths, with mosques, churches and temples all in use, and the call to prayer is part of the soundscape. Hospitality is warm, small talk is friendly, and people often ask where a visitor is from. Dress and manners lean polite and modest, especially outside the malls. Visitors should take off their shoes before entering a mosque or a private home, and use the right hand when giving, receiving or eating.

What to wear

In Jakarta, traditional dress draws on many regions, and batik is the textile that ties most of them together. Batik is cloth patterned by wax-resist dyeing, usually on cotton or silk, and its motifs vary by place and occasion. Women wear the kebaya, a fitted blouse, with a batik wrap skirt for weddings, official events and national days. Men wear long-sleeved batik shirts that count as formal wear. Betawi dress adds its own touches, such as embroidered kebaya styles and a black peci cap, and ondel-ondel figures show the bright costume colours at festivals. Day to day, most Jakartans dress for heat and for the office: lightweight shirts, trousers, long skirts, headscarves for many women, and a great deal of batik at work and at ceremonies. Young people in the malls follow regional streetwear trends, with sneakers and layers kept for air-conditioned interiors. Visitors should pack breathable cotton or linen, with shoulders and knees covered for mosques and for the quieter neighbourhoods. A light scarf is useful, and so is a thin jacket, because shopping centres and trains can be icy. Wear sandals or comfortable shoes that slip off easily and cope with wet pavements, and carry a compact umbrella, since rain can arrive suddenly.

What to eat

Plan it

Best time. May to September is the drier part of the year and the easiest for walking and sightseeing. The wet season runs roughly from November to March, with heavy downpours and occasional flooding, and Jakarta is hot and humid at any time.

How long. 3–4

Getting there. Most flights land at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, west of the city, with an airport rail link, DAMRI buses and a toll road into town. Halim Perdanakusuma Airport, in East Jakarta, is smaller and mostly handles domestic flights. Allow generous time for the last leg, especially at rush hour.

Budget. mid

Tips

Etiquette

Nearby

Sources