Tuesday, March 14th, 2023 Queen Victoria, Jakarta, Indonesia
Updated: Jul 2, 2023
Yesterday we sailed between the islands of Borneo in the north and Java in the south, heading mostly west. The weather was getting hotter, and seas were calm and dotted with many small fishing boats – the captain told us that Indonesia has over 500,000 fishing vessels. This morning Queen Victoria docked in the large commercial port of Tanjung Priok; we called our daughter Laura on Facetime and showed her the view from our balcony – she asked if we were in Oakland, the large commercial port in the San Francisco Bay. The skies were overcast and, as we headed down for our morning coffee, there was a real threat of rain. From the Chart Room windows we could see the welcoming committee forming up on the dock; a troupe of dancing locals in traditional garb accompanied by a substantial Balinese band – the music started up and the dancing began – all this before breakfast! We were trying to keep an open mind about our visit to Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia on the island of Java (at least until 2025 when it will move to a city on the island of Borneo) – what we had heard and read was mostly negative, with crime and the lack of attractions dominating. So it was with some trepidation that in the pouring rain, we dashed from the ship to the terminal, stopped for a quick photo with the reception committee, and boarded our coach for the excursion. The guide was not so good, his English was very broken and, as with most of the guides, he seemed to feel the need to talk incessantly – the volume of the sound system was extremely loud. At first, I turned down the volume on my hearing devices, then I removed them, then I inserted rolled up tissue into my ears – I’d had enough, I got up and made hand signals to the guide, pointing at my ears, pointing down, and mimicked turning down a volume control. He smiled, kept on talking and completely ignored me! From the port to the city was about 15km but it took about an hour to reach our first destination; Jakarta is a massive, sprawling city with a huge traffic problem. The traffic situation is made worse by a large construction project that is ongoing and will result in a brand-new rapid transit system in a few years. The Dutch came to Java in 1619 and founded the colony of Batavia, the present-day Jakarta. The lure of spices from the east drove the Dutch East India Company to make Batavia the capital of their Asian operations; at that time some of the spices were more valuable than gold. The Dutch built infrastructure to support their business: canals, warehouses, government buildings and roads. Much of the Dutch influence can still be seen, we crossed several canals – now mostly disused, and arrived in the area now known as Old Batavia. Exiting the bus we took a short walk to Fatahillah Square; the square was very large and lined with many old colonial buildings. We took cover under an overhang as the heavens opened and there was a torrential downpour. The storm lasted only a few minutes and as it eased off, we could see groups of school children beginning to emerge into the square. The Puppet or Wayang Museum faces the square and is housed in a building that dates to 1912, the museum was established in 1968. Wayang is a form of traditional puppetry that originated in Indonesia; the puppets are held on sticks and often projected onto a screen – the shows occur at rituals but also for tourists. The museum was on two levels and the arrangement of the items was a bit haphazard; nevertheless some of the puppets were very impressive and it’s easy to see how these puppet shows are an important part of the national culture. By the time we came out of the museum the rain had stopped and the sun was out, the square had also been filled with dozens of groups of school kids of junior high and high school age. Each group had their own matching outfits and they gathered for group pictures and to perform the school chant. Sandra was keen to get a photo with a group of girls and, as she approached their teacher to ask permission, she was if the girls could take a picture with her – much giggling and posing ensued, with the teacher encouraging the girls to talk to us in English. A few minutes later we were approached by a group of boys and asked to pose with them – it was great fun and so uplifting to see the enthusiasm and energy level of these young kids. The Indonesian national monument and the presidential palace are located in the center of Jakarta; the area known as Medaka Square has wide roads, large buildings, and statues – it feels very much like a national capital. We glimpsed the palace, a low white building across a busy road and walked over to the national monument, an impressive 433ft tall obelisk placed on a base to represent a pestle and mortar. The monument was completed in 1975 and includes an observation deck at the top of the tower, but our tour did not include access to the deck. A short drive from Medaka Square brought us to the National Museum of Indonesia for a one hour stop; the museum is huge, and it would really take a couple of days to do it justice. The guide tried to insist that we follow him around in a group, but we ignored him and set off on our own. Wow, the collection is massive and really well displayed – from ancient to recent history the artifacts are thoughtfully arranged, and we wandered around gawping at fabrics, clothing, pottery, statues, boats, and many other amazing things. Soon we realized that we had only visited the original older building as we crossed an adjoining lobby to see another immense newer building. Time was up and we had to return to the bus. The final stop for this trip was at the Sarinah department store for an hour of shopping and lunch. Everyone in our group headed for the many stores located within the building on many levels, but we spotted a restaurant that seemed to very popular with the locals. Dewata Restaurant was a great choice, we were indeed the only non-Indonesians in the place, mostly we saw young professionals on their lunch break – we took this as a good sign, we are always looking to sample local foods. After much pointing and discussing with our young waiter we finally got our order placed; he gave us some strange looks based on the amount of food we ordered – we tried to explain to him our desire to sample many different dishes. As the food started to arrive, we noticed several of the staff passing our table to look at the amount of food these tourists had order, it was very funny. The lunch was phenomenal, and despite our best efforts we couldn’t finish it all – the bill was only $29USD for everything, unbelievable! We had a quick look around the shops, they seemed to be very high-end clothing stores – nothing tempted us. The bus ride back to the port took about an hour in the mid-afternoon traffic. In an attempt to control congestion in the central area of Jakarta the government has introduced a quota system for cars based on license plate numbers; even one day and odd the next – I’m pretty sure it’s not working. Overall we were really impressed with Jakarta, none of our pre-visit impressions were validated – the people we met were unbelievably friendly, the city has a real national capital feel to it, there is a great mix of historical and modern especially once we got outside the port area. Later that night we went out on deck to watch the sail away which was delayed about 5 hours due to the late arrival of our fuel tender. The Queen Victoria was docked in a very tight channel with commercial vessels surrounding her on both sides, she was pointed bow-in to the channel and there was no room to turn – this meant that the ship had to carefully reverse down the channel into open water. The maneuver was supported fore and aft by 4 tugboats and also meant that we could stand at the rear taffrail, and it felt like we were at the front of the ship. The whole procedure was executed flawlessly and concluded with a toot from the tugs as they went on their way and Queen Victoria headed for the open sea, next stop Kuala Lumpur.
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