Jakarta Travel Tips

Since I started this daily blogging exercise, this is the first travel I had undertaken. Seems like the going has got tough, but someone told me that, when the going gets tough the tough gets going ;)

Btw I should be greatly thankful to the kind people who had come up with suggestions for my future blog topics. But you do not have to list them on skype status just send me a mail :P

Jakarta is a nice place, its just that old lady (or is it old fat lady) who might not agree on this. But the people are usually relaxed,  nice and warm. Just remember the following when in here,

Sun rise in Jakarta

1. As soon as you get out of the air port, you can get your money exchanged at the counter just outside the arrival lounge, and then you can find taxi touts there, always use the blue bird(executive taxi service). They are good and reliable. You can get a fixed price to the location you want to goto, from air port, or you can go on the metered rate (yes they do have meter), but when on meter you need to pay for the toll separately. They have the SUVs too, if you want to be a bit posh ;)
2. When you exchange money don't be surprised to find that you all of a sudden become a millionaire. :D. Count it right you need to deal in thousands and lakhs here.
3. Don't expect too many drivers to understand English and specially with an Indian or Sri Lankan accent.
4. Make sure you have 150,000 rupiah left in your hand when you go for departure, you need to pay that as departure fees.
5. The traffic jams are notorious, Friday afternoons , Monday mornings and after office hours can be really bad, and you can get stuck for hours.So if you are going to the airport, locals will advice you to get to air port as early as possible, just do it.
6. The weather changes very quickly and place is known for flooding and the worst that can happen is to get stuck in traffic on a rainy day.
7. Apparently theres alot of shopping malls here and they are pretty up market places offering reasonable prices.
8. btw if you are a vegetarian, good luck, sorry.com, pack your survival kit.

Enjoy!

Traffic building up in Jakarta