Jakarta

Indonesia is definitely a beautiful country. Its culture is the most interesting thing to observe in Indonesia. The cost of travelling to Indonesia will be very reasonable, or even cheap, for average American.

Quick Tips:

There were a lot of demostrations lately in Jakarta. Now, probably is not the best time to go there. However, you can still keep Jakarta as an option in the future.

Best Way To Get Around:

To get around Jakarta, taxi is probably the best option for foreigners.

Grand Hyatt Hotel is situated at the most important street in Indonesia, M. H. Thamrin. A lot of headquarters of national and multinational companies are located adjacent to this hotel. Next to the hotel is one of the biggest shopping center in Jakarta, Plaza Indonesia. Overall, It's a very luxury and convenient hotel. You will enjoy it so much. The hotel is very suitable both for leisure and business travelers. If you're looking for less expensive accomodations, there are a lot of small hotels at Jalan Jaksa that usually accomodate a lot of foreigners. The room rate is about $25 per night. I personally don't recommend it, but I do know that a lot of tight budget foreigners usually go there for cheap accomodations.

Hard Rock Cafe Jakarta offers a variety of American and local foods. The Cafe has a very nice atmosphere and the food is very good, too. Mirroring the cultural richness found in the surrounding neighborhood, the Hard Rock Cafe Jakarta brings its own unique brand of historical significance with its musical artifacts housed in this welcoming two-story building. Like at any other Hard Rock Cafe in the world, you will be able to purchase the merchandise of Hard Rock Cafe Jakarta. Some local foods might be spicy for foreigners, but it's indeed delicious. I recommend you to try some local menu just for getting the sense.

The Indonesian Miniature Park (in Indonesian is Taman Mini Indonesia Indah) is the miniature park that shows the diversity of cultures in Indonesia. Indonesia is a country with 13,000 islands, hundreds of different tribes and different languages. You will be able to see those different cultures in this park. The whole trip to this park will take one full day. In the park, you will find different types of traditional houses, outfits, and traditions of different tribes in Indonesia. You will find a lot of traditional art shows. Please avoid going there during national holidays, because it will be full of people and you won't be able to enjoy it that much. The Park is located slightly far from the center of Jakarta, so making travel arrangement with a local travel agent is probably the best.

If you plan to go to Jakarta, you should also plan to go to Bali and Yogyakarta. Bali with its beautiful beaches has been one of my favorite travel destinations in the world. Bali is an ideal place for people who love natural scenery. Most of native Balinese are Hindunese. So, Hindu is definitely an important aspect of the daily life of Balinese. Yogyakarta is a special territory in Indonesia where the region still has its own King on a throne. The King is still well-respected by the people. When you are at Yogyakarta, you will be able to tour the King's Palace.