City Rating: Jakarta

Population of Jakarta: 9’600’000

Date of visit: December 2013

Attractions & sights: 1/5
Nightlife: 4/5
Safety: 3/5
Infrastructure: 1/5
Low budget factor: 2/5
Total: 👍/5

The city in a nutshell:

Jakarta is one of the largest but also one of the most terrible cities in the world. There aren’t many attractions in Jakarta, some areas are even unsafe. The only reason to go there is the good nightlife, or if you want to experience a terrible city out of curiosity.

Where to stay:

I am not sure if there is a “best” are in Jakarta. My best advice is that you take a 4 or 5 star hotel, which gives you the opportunity to recover a bit from the hassles in the streets. Moreover, hotel brands like Sheraton, Hilton etc don’t place their hotel in the worst areas. That can be a hint that these areas are a bit better than the others.

The Good:

Not everything is bad in Jakarta! Nightlife is just fantastic! There are plenty of bars and nightclubs, where you can have parties until the early hours. The locals are friendly too. So, if you’re a party animal, you will have a good time in Indonesia’s capital at night.

The Bad & The Ugly:

Jakarta is an awful city. It’s dirty with a lot of trash everywhere and pollution is also very bad.  Even the better districts look a bit like slums. Indonesia’s capital is probably the worst place of the country or even in Southeast Asia.

(sorry for the bad video quality, but the view of my hotel balcony was like that:)

Infrastructure is among the worst in the world (beyond bad roads are almost non-existing sidewalks). This city is not pedestrian friendly and you have to take a taxi all the time. That wouldn’t be a problem if traffic jam wasn’t horrendous. If you have bad luck, you might be stuck in traffic jam for hours.

Jakarta is very demanding and not a traveler-friendly destination. Moreover, some areas are not safe and should be avoided, although the city is generally considered safe.

All in all, Jakarta city ranks among the worst I’ve ever visited. The only city I’ve been to that was even worse was Lagos.

 

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