| Properties |  |
| Currency Rupiah | Population 16 million (low estimate) | Language Bahasa Indonesia | Time Zone (GMT+07) Bangkok, Jakarta, Hanoi |
| Top Contributors |  |  |
| With the vibrancy of Bangkok, diversity of Kuala Lumpur, and size of Mexico city, Jakarta forever dances the line between harmony and chaos.
There are over 740 unique dialects spoken throughout Indonesia's vast archipelago and people from virtually all 300 native ethnicities make the capitol city their home. Every Indonesian citizen is required to learn the national language Bahasa although most speak several, if not dozens of languages, each with varying shades of differentiation.
A bustling, bouncing, discombobulated mega city, Jakarta drips with a residue and texture that is unlike any other.
Visible smog acts like a blanket laying over the city, trapping the pungent and often intriguing aromas of roadside vendors, animals, and people. This ever expanding cloud of sensations seems to blend with the humidity, creating a tangible layer which given enough time will cake everything, even your clothes. Luckily torrential downpours and spectacular thunderstorms are almost a daily occurrence during the Monsoon season, so most of the 'fog' is subdued, or at least managed naturally.
Traffic. In any sense of the word traffic holds only vague meaning when applied to the scene here.
A non-existent urban development plan resulted in a metropolis riddled with narrow side streets and unpaved back roads, so much so that many sections of the city are impossible to map accurately.
One way streets quickly become multi-directional. Two lane roads transform into a five lane free-for-all at the drop of a hat. Many intersections are completely unregulated, like braving class five rapids one sees them coming and hopes for the best.
Indeed comparable to a wild kingdom, Jakarta is host to a wide range of hybrid automobile specie that never have been, and never will be for sale. The Bajai are like clever Jackal, part motor cycle,three-wheeler, and tent. These puttering little creatures are often the only thing moving during gridlock. Which is as expected and unpredictable as the Monsoon rain.
To the unaccustomed western mind this may sound like a nightmare.Well it is this exact sense of unpredictability that gives Jakarta its distinct and beloved character. Absurd, at times ugly, but intensely alive.
For while the smog may be inescapable, the food being prepared at the countless roadside Warungs is utterly delicious. While the traffic is sporadically horrendous, drivers navigate the narrowest of margins dodging the most certain of head on collisions without breaking a sweat.
While the energy level parallels that of Indonesia's unforgiving rain-forests, the residents are genuinely some of the most friendly, accommodating, kind hearted people on earth. Although Poverty is extreme and the division between rich and poor wide, it is woven into their cultural fabric to act polite and treat complete strangers like family.
So come on and let's explore the method behind all of this madness.
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 |  Map and Photos for Jakarta |  |
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| Overall Recommendation: | | 42% |  |
| | Scenery: | | 58% | |
| | Popularity: | | 75% | |
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