Jakarta's Old Town

Recently, I went to visit some historical site of Jakarta which is located at central of Jakarta or known as Old Town. We went there by car and part our car across "Toko Merah" or to be exact on Kali Besar Road. The parking fee is around 5k per hour and you can use the ticketing machine that provided by the government or you can pay directly to the parking attendants. The government renovate the "Kali Besar" to become more aesthetic place like in the picture below:

Then we went to visit Jakarta History Museum that is located at near "Kali Besar", around 10 mins walk from "Kali Besar". A long the streets in front of Jakarta History Museum, there's a lots of cafe, street performance, fortune teller, and souvenir seller. The ticket fee for Jakarta History museum in regular price is around 5k, if you bring student card you can get additional discount 2k. So you only need to pay 3k (cheap right??? :D).

The Jakarta History Museum consist of historical relic of Jakarta development since dynasty until the time of independence. At this museum you can find various artifacts, inscriptions replica, tools of war and survival, and arts from previous era. The building it self used to be the town hall during VOC colonialism era in Batavia (previous name of Jakarta). In this building they have underground prison that is located below the main gate and women's prison that is located secluded from the main building.

After that we went to ride bicycle at Fatahilla Square, the rent fee for each bike is 20k for 30 mins. To reduce the cost, you can rent 1 bike and use it together. Moreover, you can borrow more than 2 hats from the rental place.

They said it's not right to go to old town if you don't visit Sunda Kelapa Harbor Dock, so we went there. However, there's nothing to see on the site because there's only big boats and containers that park on the harbor. There's no proper historical site for Sunda Kelapa Harbor Dock. Well, kinda disappointed because we pay 2.5k per person and 5k for car park but don't get anything. :')

To spend some time we also went to Monas (Monumen Nasional) "the icon of Jakarta", it's located at central Jakarta. If you went there using car, you can park your car in front of state library and walk inside. Other alternative, you can ride public transportation and stop at Monas bus stop. There's lots of people went there for exercise, taking pictures, and dating. However, it's not recommended to go there at afternoon (3 to 5 pm) especially on Saturday night, because there's a limit for the amount of visitor for day time and night time. If you want to take Monas picture from State Libary, you need to go there before 5 pm!

We also try to visit Taman Lapangan Banteng (Buffalo's field), formerly known as Waterloo Square during Batavia era. The rename of the sites and demolish statue of Jan Pieterszoon Coen along with lion statue symbolize the revolutions of Indonesia as newly independent republic. Between 2017 to 2018, the site undergo major renovation, where they add half-circular pond with fountains show and open air theater. We wait for the fountain show at Taman Lapangan Banteng that starts from 6:30, 7:30, and 20:30. If you bring car, you can park your car near Borobudur Hotel and cost around 10k at Saturday and Sunday night.

The show is very stunning and blow our expectations about local tourism spot. The overall experience about this trip is worth it, where we can experience a lots of things and learn more about Jakarta's history. Therefore, we're planning another trip to visit other historical sites in Jakarta, especially the one that's located at "Old Town". So, stay tune for more historical place to visit in Jakarta! :)