Explore Jakarta: Back to Classic in Kota Tua (the Old Town)

Pose with the old building as the background

Going to Indonesia’s capital city is not always about business, economic conference, or government summit. I had a chance to visit one of the most populous urban areas on this planet for second time and I had seized the moments despite of the shortage of time.

Our destination now is Kota Tua Jakarta (the Old Town). Kota Tua is located in north Jakarta and do not worry to get the access there as many options to take. We can take cab, Transjakarta (bus rapid transit), metromini, and train. Just be patient with the traffic jam, that’s all. Lol.

There’s Wayang Museum, Café Batavia, Fine Art and Ceramic Museum, Stasiun Jakarta Kota, and of course the iconic Fatahillah Museum. We could take photo-shoot of as many as our camera’s memory can cope with. Simply, as it’s a beautiful place.

We arrived there at around 10.30 am and we right away went around the complex despite it was like 34 degrees! We went around for sight-seeing as the time was so limited; however, we got some good snapshots.

Sure we took pictures of the neoclassic Fatahillah Museum. Then we moved to Wayang Museum. The area in front of Wayang Museum was the best spot to take a close-up. The building as the background, the colonial streetlight and bicycle was like yin and yang for vintage. Clicked! We turned to take pictures of Café Batavia. The 200-year old building was located right across Fatahillah Museum. This’ one of the must-visit places if we go to Jakarta especially Kota Tua.

Kota Tua offered something different than Jakarta itself. It was exciting as we could feel the nuance and ambiance of Dutch colonial in the modern Jakarta. It was like Manila’s Intramuros but more blended with the modern surrounding. Maybe it was not the right time to enjoy fully the place as it was hot like hell at daytime. We recommend you to visit in the afternoon or evening. Many things to do  such as photographing , skateboarding, going around with bicycle (rent for USD1.48 per 20 minutes), learning history, or just simply doing nothing.

Maybe some part looked carelessly abandoned and the presences of Doraemon clown, Marsha clown, Frozen’s Elsa clown and any other movie character clown were spoiling and annoying and distracting, but, anyway, nothing’s genuine if that’s what we’re looking for today. So, here it is; the classic part of the modern Jakarta.