24 Hours in Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia

Getting our visa extension (in Seoul) before our Indonesian trip was going to be a tight finish. Fortunately, we got our cards renewed on Tuesday and left for Indonesia on Saturday morning. The minute we boarded the flight to Jakarta from Hong Kong, I was amazed by the cultural diversity of the people onboard and felt welcome by their smiles. We clubbed our trip with Basil’s conference (in Bogor) and our route would take us through an exploratory journey of Java (from Jakarta to Surabaya via Yogyakarta). 

My Indonesian friend, Yuna, warned me about Jakarta’s heavy traffic congestion. Our flight landed at 8 p.m. on a Saturday evening and we got lucky with our timing. Getting a visa on arrival is pretty fast/efficient at the airport and the security officers will guide you to the designated counter if you’re confused. Carry the exact fee (35 USD), because the officer won’t give you change. We took a prepaid taxi from the airport to our hotel, but I’d suggest walking out and taking a Blue Bird Taxi (Taksi) instead. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).