Bogor, A Pleasant Escape

After getting our China visa we went directly back to our hotel, packed our bags and took a noonish commuter train one hour south to Bogor and installed ourselves in a hotel with a pool, a volcano view, and an attached swanky air-conditioned mall.

It was time to get the heck out of Jakarta. The foul air from too many vehicles and too many indoor smokers had us both coughing and blowing our noses like crazy. I thought I had pretty tough lungs and sinuses but I was defeated.

Bogor is 800 feet above sea level and feels a tad cooler than Jakarta. It is also home to Bogor Botanical Gardens, high on the standard list of area attractions. However, in our opinion, the gardens are skippable. It is a nice stroll through the more the 1 square kilometers of green space, but the gardens are not much above ordinary; mostly native trees. The much touted Orchid House, "with over 3000 varieties of native orchids", was a big disappointment with only a handful of varieties, and in fact, most of the orchids on display appeared to us to be the usual white and pink Phalaenopsis found in US supermarkets.

Bogor, a pleasant change from Jarkarta, but skippable if your only reason for coming is the Botanical Gardens.

Gongdangia Station (Stasiun Gondangdia) - waiting for our train to Bogor.


Views from our hotel in Bogor of Mount Salak volcano.




The hotel pool.


The entrance to the gardens.


Gigantic trees with buttress roots at the Botanical Gardens.




The over touted Orchid House and its disappointing stable of Phalaenopsis orchids.


Sun-Ling always enjoys a lily pond.


The Mexican Garden was neat. Lots of gravel and no shade trees to keep things as dry as possible.


Surprised to see Bintang Radlers in the local supermarket; thirst quenching and just the ticket to wash down some takeaway street food.


And if you get this far, here's some amateurish bonus video of us at the pool during a very loud call-to-prayer at the very nearby mosque. Link here for the email readers.

Jakarta, Getting our Chinese Visa + Walking Tours

Our number one goal in Jakarta was to apply for Obama's 2nd gift to us (the 1st being the ACA): 10-year multi-entry visas to China. We could have gone through a visa agency in DC before we left, which was too mundane and costly for Sun-Ling....Nonetheless, this mission had both us tied up in knots.

Our first 24 hours in Jakarta were hectic. After a pleasant train ride on Sunday afternoon from Bandung, we exited Gambir Station at about 5:30 PM in exactly the right direction and walked in a very light rain to our hotel of choice in 20 minutes. However it was not until 11 PM that we were installed in a hotel with working hot water and internet. I'll spare you the details.

Monday morning we were up at 6 AM. The hotel's included breakfast was fine and we headed out the door at 7:15 with our double-checked backpack full of documents and computers, ready to tackle the TransJakarta bus rapid transit system on our way south to the China Visa Center. Although Sun-Ling had studied the Trans Jakarta system up and down we barely made our goal to get there before 9 and be first in line. I'll spare you the details; however, the education was worth the price.

First in line at the China Visa Center, yes. First to complete the application process, no. After much to and fro, by noon we were back at the hotel. I'll spare you the details.

By Thursday morning, pros at TransJakarta, we were surprised how fast we got back to the Visa Center, considering the traffic. By 9:30 AM we paid our $310 (total for 2 visas) and had our 10-year visas in hand. Thanks, Obama! In the previous 10 years, not counting the visas our work paid for, we had paid over well over $1300 ourselves.

Our 20 year-old copy of Jakarta - Lonely Planet City Guide has 4 walking tours. We did three over the next two days. All excellent. Walking and taking local transport is surely the best way to get to know Jakarta.

Waiting for the down elevator at the hotel


I swear I'll never again taste gorengan (deep fried veggies) as good as the ones from this husband-wife team.


Women (wanita) get their own section on TransJakart buses which SL thought was very civilized.


No eating, drinking, or touching your neighbors skirt on the TransJakarta.


Typical TransJakarta stop with an enclosed station between opposing traffic lanes, with raised platform. Advantages: The same station serves both directions; you pay before you get on the bus; you walk right on/off the bus - no steps.


And a bus pulls up while SL studies her transit map.


Inside a station wating to catch a southbound bus


Chinatown is gearing up for Chinese New Year.




We checked out several family temples in Chinatown. One was particularly serene and well tended, and we chatted with a man who shares SL's father's family name; Lin.


Chinatown back lane.


Oldest temple in Chinatown.


From Chinatown we walked north to the Kota District where the Dutch first "settled" in the early 1600's.


Kota Train Station.


With Starbucks and 7-11.


The Dutch-built Post Office faces the old square.


As does the old City Hall, now a museum.


Yes, the rental bike comes with a hat.


And then farther north along the canals to the old shipyards, docks, and fish market. Lots of poverty in this area. Sun-Ling felt like she was in a movie.






Then a rest stop for some "es campur" an Indonesian shaved ice, mixed fruit treat. Yes, that's avocado.


Beautiful old whitewashed mosque near our hotel.


Dinner at a resto near our hotel.


Surrounded by a vast park, the National Monument (Monas), rises 432 ft with a museum at its base and an elevator to the top.


New friend - an elevator usher who was brave enough to ask to practice her English.


Looking south to the new business district.


A view to Istiqlal Mosque and Catholic Cathedral.


Students at the museum. Typical of most Indonesian students on field trips, they are writing furiously in their notebooks.


The interior of St. Emmanuel's (Protestant) Church.


The Catholic Cathedral across the street from Istiqlal Mosque is pretty big.




But is not in the same league as the mosque which can hold 200,000 people (including outdoors).....The barrier separates the men and women.....We were lucky to arrive during noon prayers.


The women put on extra coverings for the service, which they put on and take off right on the carpet.


There is also regular school and Koran School (seen here) at the mosque.


Jarkarta is hot but there are many shaded sidewalks like this one that making walking bearable.


And each walking tour ends with some shopping, this time at Pesar Baru.




Finally, looking south to the new business district.