Jakarta

After speaking with other travellers in Indonesia I was expecting the worst, when I boarded the night train to Jakarta. They said the traffic would be horrific the pollution extraordinary and attractions scarce. They were right with the first two things. But first things first. The train was surprisingly OK, with service personnel running up and down the alleys to sell just about everything you could want. The backside is that people are allowed to smoke and they take advantage in an unparalleled fashion. Then I arrived in downtown Jakarta at 3.30 PM. I messed with the TukTuks and got a ride to Jalan Jaksa. There I slept on the porch of an hotel to safe the bed for the night.
The first day I spent at Kota, a rundown district of the Dutch Colonial empire. There are about two buildings worth mentioning, otherwise the people make this place memorable. A lot of high school students had to take interviews with tourists as a homework. First you hear "HELLLOO MISTER" then you see giggeling teenies and then they ask some really tough questions and the interview ends with an photo session. Without doubt I gave about 40 interviews in 3 hours and got flashed by cameras over a hunderd times. Then I walked to the harbour it self where to museums are located about the maritime history and the "Dutch East India Company" - the first multi national company of the world.
The following days among other things I visited the "National History Museum", took rescue in malls, visited the "Freedom Memorial" and visited the third biggest mosque in the world. I had to wear a long coat because my knee long pants could offend some people. The building was truly amazing, mainly because of the size. I even may sponsored the Jemaah Islamiah with a half a buck donation for the guide, who was pissed in the first place because I proudly said that I am an Atheist and then only gave some Rupiahs for his service.
In Jalan Jaksa things get confusing. Muslim people sell their Nasi Goreng next to the bars where prostitudes in defiance of the social rules sell their bodies and young Jakartans get drunk before heading to the clubs to take Extasy. I even met an Indonesian girl that said that she was also an Atheist. Thats as rare as it gets in a country where you by law have to choose one of the main religions.
Hard to imagine that Barack Obama grew up in a place like that.