Day 11 Fri Sept 8
Flight. PLM to Pontianuk, Kalimantan. Super Air Jet @08:45-14:05 via Jakarta. US$122
Taxi to the hotel 100,000IR, but this was by far the cheapest.
INDONESIA – KALIMANTAN WEST AND CENTRAL (Pontianak, Palangkaraya)
PONTIANAK (pop 669,795) is the capital of the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan, on the delta of the Kapuas River and on the equator. The city was founded as a small Malay fishing village, became the seat of the Pontianak Sultanate for several centuries, and was then incorporated into the Dutch East Indies. In WWII, between 1942-43, many Malay aristocrats and sultans as well as people from other ethnic groups were massacred by the Imperial Japanese Navy, especially in the Massacre of Mandor (Holocaust of Mandor).
Pontianak is a multicultural city, with Dayak, Malay, Bugis people, and Chinese and many languages.
Well-paved roads of the Trans Kalimantan Road connect Pontianak to all Cities in the Kalimantan, and to East Malaysia and Brunei by land.
Museum of West Kalimantan. Has ethnography (clothing, masks, weapons, brass, baskets), traditional houses, archaeology (Stone Age to Bronze Age), much pottery, rocks, and historical documents. Not much of interest. 10,00IR
I hired a Gojek to go to the mosque, buy groceries, and get a pizza (I didn’t realize it was a Pizza Hut as I hate them and even foolishly ordered a large one as I was hungry). Mojahidin Grand Mosque. Impressive from the outside with its four tall minarets and huge dome, the inside is OK with a huge dome supported by columns on the outside, a gold mihrab, and gold capitals.
ON Borneo Hotel, Pontianak. US$18.03.
Day 12 Sat Sept 9
The same taxi picked me up at 09:30 to go to the airport.
Flight. Pontianak to Balikpapan Lion Air @11:35-18:35 with a stopover in Susahaye.
Tentative WHS: Betung Kerihun National Park (Transborder Rainforest Heritage of Borneo) (02/02/2004)
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Day 12 Sat Sept 9
Flight. Pontianak to Balikpapan Lion Air. PNK – SUB (Sirrabaya) @11:35-13:10 JT839.
SUB-BPN @2:50-17:25 JT730.
The taxi driver was hopeless – he didn’t know where the hotel was and I had to turn on Google Maps to locate it.
INDONESIA – KALIMANTAN SOUTH, EAST, NORTH (Balikpapan, Banjarmasin)
BALIKPAPAN (pop 696,00) is a seaport city in on the east coast of Borneo, the city is the financial center of Kalimantan. The Port of Semayang was the second busiest seaport in East Kalimantan, after that in Samarinda. Balikpapan is the second most populous city in East Kalimantan, after Samarinda. Balikpapan has been consistently ranked as one of the most liveable cities in Indonesia.
Balikpapan was originally a fishing village built by Buginese people in the 19th century. The first oil drilling began in 1897. Numerous multi-national companies came to Balikpapan to invest in the oil industry. This resulted in the economic boom of Balikpapan and attracted many migrants and expatriates.
During World War II, Japan occupied the city in 1942, and was bombed by the Allies in first Balikpapan Battle in 1942 and second battle in 1945. The battles impacted critical infrastructure, including the oil refinery stations and seaport which were completely burned to the ground. Upon Indonesia’s independence, BPM extended its activities in Balikpapan until 1965 when Pertamina, the Indonesian state-owned oil company, took control over the ownership of BPM and its oil exploration activities.
Balikpapan Botanical Garden.
Museum Kodam VI/MLW. Military, War and Police Museums
ON Good Sleep, Balikpapan. A bare-bones hotel. Very simple room with no hot water available, no bedside table.
Day 13 Sun Sept 10
It was a crazy morning. I woke up at 04:20, rapidly packed, the driver wasn’t there, so I walked out to the street and luckily quickly got a Gojek car at 44,000IR. I arrived at 04:50 not realizing there was an hour time difference between Balikpapan and Jakarta. The staff rushed me through and I boarded at now 06 am.
Flight. Balikpapan to Jakarta Citylink Air @06:15-07:20 2’15”.
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INDONESIA – GREATER JAKARTA
JAKARTA (pop 10,679,951, urban 35 million) formerly Batavia, is the capital and largest metropolis of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world’s most populous island, Jakarta is the largest metropole in Southeast Asia and serves as the diplomatic capital of ASEAN.
Jakarta is the economic, cultural, and political centre of Indonesia. It includes the satellite cities of Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, South Tangerang, and Bekasi, and has an estimated population of 35 million as of 2022, making it the largest urban area in Indonesia and the second-largest in the world (after Tokyo). Jakarta ranks first among the Indonesian provinces in the Human Development Index. Jakarta’s business and employment opportunities, along with its ability to offer a potentially higher standard of living compared to other parts of the country, have attracted migrants from across the Indonesian archipelago, making it a melting pot of numerous cultures.
Jakarta is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Southeast Asia. Established in the fourth century as Sunda Kelapa, the city became an important trading port for the Sunda Kingdom. At one time, it was the de facto capital of the Dutch East Indies, when it was known as Batavia.
Jakarta’s main challenges include rapid urban growth, ecological breakdown, gridlocked traffic, congestion, and flooding. Jakarta is sinking up to 17 cm (6.7 inches) annually, which has made the city more prone to flooding and one of the fastest-sinking capitals in the world. In response to these challenges, in August 2019, President Joko Widodo announced that the capital of Indonesia would be moved from Jakarta to the planned city of Nusantara, in the province of East Kalimantan on the island of Borneo.
Airports: Halim Perdanakusuma (HLP), Soekarna-Hatta (CGK)
I rented a scooter for 120,000/day to see as many NM sites in Jakarta as possible in two days. Distances between sites were often large. Jakarta is a great place to drive a scooter as traffic is not terrible and a scooter can bypass the few congested areas.
A motorcycle is not allowed on any of these toll roads but I drove under most of them.
Ir. Wiyoto Wiyono Toll Road viaduct
Cikampek Elevated Toll Road
Merak Toll Road
TransJakarta Corridor 13 is the TransJakarta bus rapid transit route that serves from CBD Ciledug, Tangerang to Tendean BRT station, South Jakarta. It is primarily an elevated route, running via a 9-kilometre-long, 8-metre-wide, dedicated elevated bus lane, with heights ranging from 18 to 23 metres above ground level launched in 2017. The two main route variations are regular routes, operating all stops for a 20-minute end-to-end journey, and the TransJakarta Express route, stopping only at CSW and Velbak stations, taking 10 minutes end-to-end.
Sumpah Pemuda Museum. Museum with exhibits related to the Youth Pledge movement & Indonesian independence. All in Indonesian, I got little from this museum. Many busts, dioramas, photographs, and personal items of presidents. 10,000IR
Kebangkitan Nasional Musem (Museum of National Awakening). Opened in 1999, this history museum features exhibits related to the Indonesian National Awakening. Most of the rooms have information on education and decry the Dutch disinterest in educating native Indonesian children. There is also a large section of medical education with many medical exhibits and a huge hospital ward full of beds. 10,000IR
Lenggang Jakarta. Many clothing and knick-knack stores surround a large area of large restaurants.
Museum Taman Prasasti. In the NM Dark Sid series, this is a historic Dutch cemetery featuring old tombs, statues & a museum with local history exhibits. All the graves are different but none are monuments. Almost all date from the 1800s with a few from the early 1900s. Free
Istana Merdeka is one of six presidential palaces in Indonesia and is used as the official residence of the president of the Republic of Indonesia. The palace was a residence for the governor-general of the Dutch East Indies during the colonial era. In 1949, the palace was renamed Merdeka Palace, meaning “freedom” or “independence”.
The Merdeka Palace is part of the 6.8 ha (17 acres) Jakarta Presidential Palace Complex, which also includes the Negara Palace, Wisma Negara (state guest house), Sekretariat Negara (State Secretariat), and the Bina Graha building. It is the center of the Indonesian executive authority.
Istana Negara (State Palace) is one of the six presidential palaces of Indonesia and part of the presidential palace compound. It is used as a state guest house and the office for the Ministry of State Secretariat of Indonesia. Istana Negara faces north towards the street, while the Merdeka Palace faces Merdeka Square and the National Monument (Monas). Neither of these can be entered and are just viewed from the street.
Ragusa Es Italia. “Fresh Home Made Ice Cream since 1932”. With a long line waiting to get the treats, there are many chairs lining both walls full of people eating sundaes served in boxes and ice cream in small cups. Old photographs and large pictures of the products are above the seats. Reasonably priced, the two most expensive are spaghetti ice cream and banana splits for 40,000IR. Faces a long canal.
Hotel Sriwijaya. A somewhat dated hotel with an unremarkable lobby and rooms coming off the lobby. Many old photographs of the hotel.
Jakarta Cathedral. A lovely RC cathedral with two towers topped by white iron girder spires. Three naves with large painted Ways of the Cross and a great rose window. There was a wedding going on when I was there and I only got to look through the door.
Pasar Baru. Lively Pasar Baru centers on its namesake market, a maze of alleys and arcades with shops selling clothes and knick-knacks, and tiny eateries offering noodles, fish dumplings, and meatballs.
Antara Museum. Music, Film and Photography Museums. Antara is one of the oldest mass media businesses in Indonesia. The museum shows the history of Indonesian independence to the present. Only in Indonesian. Some nice photography. 15,000IR
AEON Mall Jakarta City. In the far outskirts (a 17 km drive from the museum), this has 4 floors above and one down with a large Ferris wheel in the middle.
GBI Mawar Sharon (Bethel Church of Indonesia of Rose of Sharon). The monstrous modern church is round – a stage sits at the front and the seats form a semi-circle around it. Two balconies. The huge dome has Jesus floating amongst clouds.
Mal Artha Gading. A bustling shopping center offers department stores, boutiques, a food court & a movie theater. Five floors up and one down. Two giraffes with geometric coloured designs are on the facade.
Art-1 New Museum. Commercial gallery & exhibition space specializing in contemporary Indonesian painting & sculpture. Three floors of modern art, most not so interesting. An incredible VW beetle is folded into a perfect ball on the first floor. Expensive at 100,000IR and I don’t think worth it.
Sea World Indonesia. 19 smaller tanks with a wide range of species, a main tank, and the obligatory tunnel. 85,000IR
Dunia Fantasi. Internationally themed amusement park offering roller coasters, interactive rides, flumes & shows. I didn’t go in.
Sunda Kelapa lighthouse. Drive through the port with a lot of standing water on the roads, containers, old boats, and one loading fine gravel. This red octagonal LH tapers to the single platform. It sits in the water at the entrance to the harbour and can’t be accessed.
Central Park Mall. A gorgeous new mall – 5-stories above and two below. Curving lines on all the floors with large open areas. Upscale stores.
Mal Taman Anggrek. Just 200 m from Central Park, this mall is older with mid-range stores. I went to the Decathlon to look for travel pants with no luck.
Wong Fu Kie. Hakka authentic Chinese restaurant. Another long drive to Chinatown. With a whole street of restaurants, this 1925 restaurant is two-story with a classic Chinese menu only in Chinese and Indonesian – I would have had to pick from the pictures.
Pasar Tanah Abang. A four-story market in a fixed building. Lots of clothes, housewares, and knick-knacks.
Welcome Monument (Selamat Datang Monument). In the middle of a very large circle, this Monument is two red square columns joined at the top – a man and a woman have their right arms raised in a wave. A large fountain with many droopy streams fills the entire monument base.
This was my last NM site for the day finishing at about 20:30 for a hard day of riding.
ON Capsule Hotel New Batavia. 102,000/night. Lovely bar/restaurant on the bottom.
Day 13, Mon Sept 11
I was off at 07:00 to drive the 58 km to Bogor.
Christ Cathedral, Serpong. Christ Cathedral is a contemporary Christian church that is part of the Gereja Bethel Indonesia (GBI) denomination. The church was founded in 2008 with an average weekly attendance of 7,500 people. It is a huge metallic/glass church with a massive auditorium with seats in a semicircle facing a stage.
The church believes in being reborn by full immersion baptism and speaking in tongues as a way to communicate with god.
I thought this church was on the way to Bogor but it took me almost 1.5 hours to drive the 38 km, most not on significant roads. It then took an hour to drive to the mosque, so consumed a lot of my morning.
Dian Al Mahri Mosque, Depok. There aren’t many mosques with 5 minarets but this one has five plus three gold domes one very large. The exterior is all marble including the floor of the outside. Inside a massive dome is supported by 6 columns with gold capitals. Nice partial stained glass arched windows surround the church. 300IR to park, I had only 4000 and he didn’t have change.
BOGOR
Bogor is a large city to the south of Jakarta but there it is all city between the two. It is 58 km from my hostel here.
Museum PETA. This 18th-century structure houses artifacts & displays documenting Indonesia’s military history. Many guns and dioramas show dates in military history. 10,000IR
Museum Perjuangan Jawa Barat. Military, War and Police Museums. This small museum has many weapons, bullets, helmets, a few uniforms – all rather underwhelming. Free
Indonesian Museum of Ethnobotany. This museum has great displays covering a huge range of topics – tectonics, evolution, plants, and many more but unfortunately all in Indonesian so I got little from the museum. 15000IR
Kebun Raya Bogor (Bogor Botanical Gardens). Tentative WHS. Adjoining the presidential palace compound of Istana Bogor, it covers 87 hectares and contains 13,983 different kinds of trees and plants of various origins. As it rains almost daily, it is great for tropical plants. Founded in 1817 by the order of the government of the Dutch East Indies, the garden thrived under many famous botanists and functions as a major research center for agriculture and horticulture. It is the oldest botanical garden in Southeast Asia.
The garden is divided by the Ciliwung river and has three bridges. There are 288 species of palms along lawns and avenues. 50 birds and bats roost high in the trees. The orchid garden is a highlight. 50,000IR
Istana Bogor is one of six presidential palaces of Indonesia, It is noted for the adjoining botanical gardens. and was opened to the public in 1968
It was favored by the late President Sukarno and became the official presidential residence until his downfall in 1967. The palace remained mostly unused until February 2015, when the new president Joko Widodo moved the president’s office from Merdeka Palace to Bogor Palace. The palace dates to 1745 as a country retreat for the Dutch governors to escape the heat and diseases of Batavia.
In 1811 Britain took possession of the colony until 1816. During Raffles stay he had the garden of the Buitenzorg Palace transformed into an English garden, which became an inspiration for the later botanical garden.
Later the new governor-general Baron van der Capellen (1817–1826) founded the botanical garden next to the palace grounds. In 1834, an earthquake triggered by the volcanic eruption of Mount Salak heavily damaged the old palace, it was demolished and rebuilt into its present form in 1856— this time with only one story instead of the original two.
From 1870 to 1942 the Istana Bogor served as the official residence of the Dutch governor-general, and 44 governors-general of the Dutch East Indies had resided in the palace. The palace became the main residence of President Sukarno but was later neglected by Suharto when he came to office.
The main palace and its two wings contain private offices, a library, a dining room, a theater room, the ministers’ waiting room, the Teratai room (the living room), and the Garuda room (the main reception hall). The eastern wing is used as a guesthouse for foreign heads of state. There is an extensive art collection (448 paintings, 216 sculptures, and 196 ceramics).
Unfortunately, you can actually visit the palace but only view it from outside the gates. It is a stately white building with many columns. Apparently, it can only visited on Bogor’s anniversary for five days at the end of July. Requires a reservation from the local administration.
Museum Kepresidenan Balai Kirti. This museum in the botanical garden is dedicated to the past presidents of Indonesia. Only in Indonesian and not very interesting. 10,000IR
Museum of Zoology. Many stuffed animals. 10,000IR
All the following museums in Jakarta were closed as it was a Monday.
Indonesian Hakka Museum
Museum in the Middle of the Garden (Museum di Tengah Kebun)
Akili Museum
Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art
Listrik Dan Energi Baru Museum
Kopi Es Tak Kie is a long-running cafe for Chinese noodle dishes & iced coffee in a simple, vintage setup.
Museum of Fine Art and Ceramics
Wayang Museum
Jakarta History Museum
Textile Museum
Wayang Museum
Komodo Indonesian Fauna Museum
ON Capsule Hostel New Batavia. For the second night.
Day 14 Tue Sept 12
Flight. Philippines Air. Jakarta to Port Moresby, PNG @12:50 – 07:10 +1. 6-hour layover in Manila.
