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Jakarta to Dieng Plateau Central Java
Dieng plateau on Central Java to Bali

INDONESIA

Mar
2004-09-14 16:42:50

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How to collect your bicycle at an airport

We arrange a small van to take us from Ali's Nest guesthouse in Singapore to Shangi airport. Kuwait Airlines brings us to Jakarta in less than two hours, crossing the equator. Arriving in Jakarta we see the preparations for the Visa On Arrival obligation valid from 1 February. Not for us, we have just managed to get into the country three days before. Otherwise we would have to apply for a visa even before entering the country and the application process would have taken ten days.

Awaiting our panniers at the conveyer Raymond is seeking for the bicycles that sometimes are put on a separate conveyer as 'odd baggage'. Knowing the Indonesians, he walks over to the rubber curtain that separates us from the cargo area, pulls away the rubber strips and looks into the cargo area where, as expected, he sees five employees staring and touching at the bicycles. "They are mine", Raymond says, pointing to his chest. Quickly they are placed on the conveyer, accompanied by the everlasting Asian smile.

We push our bicycles and panniers into the arrivals hall and bargain for a small van to take us to Jalan Jaksa, the touristy street where most guesthouses are located. After all the horror stories we've heard about cycling in Indonesia, we study the road behaviour on our way to Jakarta's centre. We conclude that cycling aside the highway, using the emergency lane, should be okay here. One minute later we notice that the emergency lane we had in mind for cycling, is also used heavily as an extra lane for cars. The more we get into the centre, the more dense the traffic becomes; this should be fun, cycling out of Jakarta. On the other hand, we are quite used to dense traffic like in Phnom Penh, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.

Batavia old and Batavia new

We spend a couple of days in Jakarta and visit the old 'Dutch' regions ...