My first stop in Indonesia was in the capital of Jakarta, and while there is some sort of special cultural pulse to the city I found it almost completely inaccessible. The city is generally very poor, and it exemplifies this by being choked with pollution of just about every kind. Motorbike traffic constricts the roadways (and airwaves) 24 hours a day. The air is filled with the exhaust and smoke from burning trash on the side of the road. There are open sewers in the sidewalk (watch your step). The old Dutch colonial buildings around the harbor, while still hauntingly beautiful, are mostly delapitated and in ruins (with a few exceptions). The water quality in the harbor is… what you would expect.

The two great redeeming qualities of Jakarta that I found are the people and the sate (satay). Within about an hour of arriving I met a man who helped me with some shopping, ate meals with me, introduced me to his family, and gave me a tour of the harbor with his wife. I was naturally very alert the whole time, but after I arrived safely back in the hostel about 8 hours later, I was really just impressed by the hospitality. Compared to what I am used to, it was frankly kind of weird (in a mostly good way).

The best sate I had in Indonesia was from an ancient looking warung (street vendor) owned by some equally ancient looking people. They grilled the marinated chicken on wooden skewers, wrapped them in wax paper with chunks of what I think was some kind of plantain-like fruit, and smothered everything with the classic peanut and soy sate sauce. It cost about $0.90.

The following photos are actually all the pictures I felt comfortable taking in Jakarta.