Yesterday I woke up very early-around 4:00 am, simply because I had a free walking tour of Jakarta that started at 9:00 am, and I wanted to ensure I got there ontime. Just to make sure I had the correct starting point I left the hostel at 7:30 am. ( i didn't want to overlseep, that is why I woke up so early).
It was another drizzly, cloudy, very humid day. I walked through all the motorcyle and different types of traffic to the starting point, and found the guide, Chandra, there.
It was just the two of us. Chandra told me that Indonesia was a Dutch colony for 350 years until 1945-1950(it was a long break up period) when it proclaimed independence. As it proclaimed independence, many islands (there are 17,000) became part of the new Indonesia. I also learned Jakarta originally went by the dutch name of Batavia.
We walked past many of the government buildings. He explained that there was a lot of corruption, and as we passed the court house, he explained that since lawyers made more money then judges, judges we're easily bought off. I also learned about Islam in Indonesia, and how the population, originally Hindu and Buddhist converted to Islam via puppet shows. The leader of Indoneisa converted to Islam, and since there was no tv or radio, they had puppet shows the people watched, which "Bent the truth" showing that the Buddahist and Muslim religious leaders wanted them to convert to Islam.
I saw the national monument, which was built in the 1961, a large monument in the middle of town-sort of like the Indonesian answer to the Eiffel tower, built with Italian marble. I also saw the mosque, the 4th largest in the world, and went inside. As the call for worship went off, lots of people inside we're praying. I went to the Catholic church across the street as well-It looked pretty much like the many Catholic churches I have seen in Europe, except the seats we're made with bamboo, and the celilings we're made of teak wood.
During the tour, we stopped for ice cream at an Italian place (founded by Italians but now run by Indonesians).
Three hours after starting, the walking tour ended, and I started to walk back to the hostel (roughly a 45 min walk), but the constant heat, humdity, and walking took a tool on me, so I took a cab back to the hostel.
Going back to the hostel, I looked to make reservations for Yogyakarta, my next stop. The trains we're full-so I tried to make a reservation online for the plane, which was hard because many sites either don't except American credit cards, or credit cards within 48 hours of flying-so I had issues. But eventually I found airfare and went right to the airline's website, and while my Visa was declined it worked with an American Express.
I then went to lunch at the place across the street, the same cafeteria I went to the other day and had some more fish, rice, and a lot of stuff I didn't know, and I slept the rest of the afternoon (for about 5 hours).
After dark, I went out for a walk, and a guy here at the hostel who lives in Indonesia saw me walking, and said he was going to an interesting area on his motorbike-so I rode with him on his motorbike, (which I have never done before). I It was a little scary grabbing on to the back of the seat, but it was nice feeling the breeze-We went to some area with lots of restaurants, and I had something on a stick, (I don't know what) for dinner. After 1/2 an hour ride back, we went back-and I went back to the bar on the roof and had some drinks again, with the guy with the motorbike, and friends, and went back to bed about 3 am again.
