Two trains, two plane trips and we got to Jakarta in one piece. Fate played a cruel game with us after we managed to organise emergency exit seats on the plane from JHB to Dubai. Upon boarding we were informed that the one seat was broken and we would be re seated, which for two 6 foot odd travellers is never pleasant. However, we did ensure that we only had one the bad trip and managed to organise emergency exit seats on the trip to Jakarta.

Arriving in Jakarta and getting out into the city was not as daunting as I had expected, I think the last 8 months in Egypt has made sure that no city will ever surprise (read shock) me again. Getting used to the currency has been the most challenging, always having to knock 3 noughts off the end (Rh 1000 = R1 - roughly) and this caused some concern in the first taxi and it looked as though we would have to pay almost $200 (we will excuse the trip for our rather bad maths skills) but I was seeing more zeros than there really were. $23 later we were setup in our accommodation of choice 6 degrees hostel, a cold beer in hand and all set for our adventure in Indonesia.

Jakarta is a massive city with a population of almost 10 million so we had no illusions of trying to see the whole city in one day. Instead we made new friends (Peter and Henrietta, UK) and visited the old Dutch centre called Kota (North Jakarta). This area is centred around a cobbled square (Taman Fatahillah) and crumbling colonial buildings. However, it was a bustling centre full of locals, young and old, all of whom had come out to spend the day in and around the square. As South Africans it is always nice to be exposed to this type of culture which we miss out on at home. People just were happy to chill in the square watching the local performers, riding one of the brightly coloured bikes or just sitting on the steps with their friends. It is a great way to cheaply enjoy your community with your friends and I am certain builds the community spirit and pride of where you live.

We also had our first interactions with the locals who have turned out to be very friendly, polite and not pushy as I have come to expect. Sadly tourism touts in Egypt have made me sceptical of anybody who talks to me, I am always waiting for the inevitable baksheesh (tip money), but this has turned out not to be the case so far. One man saw us on the street looking a little lost (I was certain I knew where we were and only had to go down that street to get where we needed to go) and lead us all the way to the station, showed us the ticket desk and which ticket to buy and amazingly no baksheesh :) Even Daniel from the Wayang museum (Shadow puppet) who kindly showed us how they make the puppets did not push us to buy his wares.

Late afternoon saw us head to the Monas monument in the centre of Jakarta. This is surrounded by a massive park (Merdeka Square) that was once again full of local Indonesian's who were enjoying the warm (thankfully dry) Sunday afternoon playing soccer, flying kites or just chilling out on the grass. The monument (sometimes called 'Sukarno's final erection) is a key landmark in the city and celebrates the countries independence struggle against the Dutch and very little to do with the former president (Sukarno).

Jakarta highlights:

- street side orthodonist fitting braces
- working public transport system
- Mangosteen fruit (amazing)
- friendly locals - we were even given a lesson in how to squat on the platform properly
- duck and rice lunch
- Cobra tank
- lady boy

As I write this we are on the train to Yogyakarta (pronounced Jog-ya-karta) in the 'eksekutif' class we aim to see the famous Borobudur temple and then hopefully head to Mt. Bromo to climb our first volcano.