I spent about 2 weeks in Jakarta, Indonesia, one of the most populous urban sprawls in the world. Terrible traffic.

It’s fair to say that Jakarta is not much of a tourist city. Few attractions, most difficult to reach by public transportation.

New subway, LRT, and dedicated bus lanes are definitely helping.

Almost met 😀 President Prabowo Subianto. He drove by us in a motorcade, past his 120-member cavalry guard, with visiting South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

I was here for the World Gymnastics Championships 2025. An excellent event, marred by Indonesia disallowing Israeli gymnast to compete. This means Indonesia won’t be hosting international sports competitions for many years to come.

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I had a good 3 star hotel.

Most mornings I went for a 30 minute run. Sunday morning I joined in the BIG weekly fun run on one of the major roadways which is shut down to traffic. I called it my personal NO KINGS protest. 😀

Hardy booked a site-seeing day tour for a group of us. We enjoyed a guided trip into Istiqial Mosque, capacity over 120,000. Twice a year, with people outside, they have about 200,000.

Across the street is the largest Catholic Cathedral. Religious harmony is the intent.

In fact, I found Islam to be very moderate in Indonesia, at least in the tourist areas I visited.

We stopped at the National Monument. Disallowed going up to the top. This was my 3rd failed attempt to get up for the view from the top. 😀

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Highlight of our day tour was a quick stop at Taman Mini Indonesia.

The park is a synopsis of Indonesian culture, with virtually all aspects of daily life in Indonesia’s 26 (in 1975) provinces encapsulated in separate pavilions with the collections of rumah adat as the example of Indonesian vernacular architecture, clothing, dances and traditions …

Bird park, museums, aquarium, Indonesia Science Center, theatres, monuments, halls, buildings and other exhibits.

If I went back, I’d stay at a nearby hotel and make multiple visits. You could spend a lot of time in this huge park.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.