Learning about Indonesian history in Jakarta

I had a flight to Jakarta (the capital of Indonesia) booked for the next day. After nearly missing my flight- I left my book in the hostel, so I had to go back for it!- I finally made it to Jakarta. 

      Sunset arriving in Jakarta 

I was really tired so it was nice to sleep in before exploring the city. As my sense of direction is so awful, I somehow managed to get right back to my starting point instead of to the museum! 

The National Monument - where I was trying to go! 

When I eventually made it to the National Museum, (I had to ask a few people and get a motorbike taxi!) I saw that there was some sort of army parade going on. One man told me that this happened everyday, but I'm not sure how well he understood me. They had lots of army tanks, and men marching.

     Some army soldiers by their tanks

The National Museum was joined to the National Monument- a tall pillar that gives you a view of the whole city.

The museum in Jakarta was very interesting and I learnt a lot about Indonesian history. They spent a long time fighting Western imperialists- first the Portuguese and then the Dutch- and managed to gain independence from the Dutch in the 1960's. 

      One of the models- protests

The Japanese also occupied Indonesia around the time of the 2nd World War.

Unlike other SE Asian countries, the efforts of the communist party to overthrown the government were unsuccessful. It did however weaken Indonesian politically and it took a few years before they managed to establish political stability. 

          The Indonesian Army

I went to the top of the monument after the mueseum. It was interesting to see the view of the whole city.

          View from the top

     The army parades from above

Jakarta as a city, doesn't have too much going on. Full of traffic and quite dirty, I found that even though it is the capital, I only saw one Western tourist outside of the hostel. The museum was interesting enough, however, to make it worth the visit. 

I was able to have a bit of time to relax before catching my flight to KL.