Understand

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People visit Jakarta as they visit Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, Milan, and any other economic capital of a country. Jakarta is best described as a bustling and ironic metropolis: a sweltering, steaming, heaving mass of some 10 million people packed into a vast urban sprawl, the contrast between the obscene wealth of Indonesia's elite and the appalling poverty of the urban poor is incredible, with tinted-window BMWs turning left at the Gucci shop into muddy lanes full of begging street children and corrugated iron shacks. The city's traffic is in perpetual gridlock, its air is quite polluted and completed by the peculiar combination of the smells of burning garbage and open sewers.

All that said, while initially a bit overwhelming, if you can withstand the pollution and can afford to indulge in her charms, you can discover what is also one of Asia's most exciting cities. There is plenty to do in Jakarta, from cosmopolitan shopping at Plaza Senayan to one of the hippest nightlife scenes in Southeast Asia. For skyline lovers, Jakarta now boast one of the regions best skyline. Throughout the city, blocks of skyscrappers sprung as the city regained its physical development momentum halted by the 1997 monetary crisis, e.g. the Sudirman Central Business District providing glassy skyline, the Mega Kuningan Block, the Kelapa Gading residential area, and the carefully designed Rasuna Epicentrum. Transportation support dearly needed to support the city's vast expansion is gradually taken care of by a side by side effort of the regional government and the central government. Jakarta now has one of Asia's best bus system, the Transjakarta Busway. The building of monorail and MRT is currently underway.

Keep in mind that rules and regulations are very rarely enforced in all aspects of life in Jakarta. This is not so much an encouragement for you, but an explanation on why many of its citizens act so haphazardly, particularly on the road.

History
The port of Sunda Kelapa dates to the 12th century, when it served the Sundanese kingdom of Pajajaran near present-day Bogor. The first Europeans to arrive were the Portuguese, who were given the permission by the Hindu Kingdom of Pakuan Pajajaran to erect a godown in 1522. Control was still firmly in local hands, and in 1527 the city was conquered by Prince Fatahillah, a Muslim prince from Cirebon, who changed the name to Jayakarta.

By the end of the 16th century, however, the Dutch (led by Jan Pieterszoon Coen) had pretty much taken over the port city, and the razing of a competing English fort in 1619 secured their hold on the island. Under the name Batavia, the new Dutch town became the capital of the Dutch East Indies and was known as the Queen of the East.

However, the Dutch made the mistake of attempting to replicate Holland by digging canals throughout the malarial swamps in the area, resulting in shockingly high death rates and earning the town the epithet White Man's Graveyard. In the early 1800's most canals were filled...