Jakarta

Jakarta is the beating dynamic heart of the Indonesian nation, home to such a plethora of cultural influences that it’s at once daunting and exhilarating in its madness. Today it’s hailed as one of the fastest growing business centres in all of Asia, a place where new skyscrapers are a regular occurrence and shiny shopping malls dominate the suburban outskirts, not to miss its famous traffic sluggishness. But there’s also a lingering taste of the traditional in Jakarta, and visitors can still enjoy some of the city’s best museums and historical cultural centres at the Kota Old Town, while a day can easily be spent visiting Indonesian history at the National Museum and Monument nearby. Jakarta has done well to shun the uber-traditional vibe of many other cities in the country; Hedonistic types and party-goers can look forward to a culture of heady raving and timeless nightlife that often proves chaotic in the extreme. And food-lovers and culinary tourists should be sure to ask their Jakarta tour guide for information on the city’s various mall halls, where it’s possible to sample local produce and specialities to boot, or, head straight to the Chinatown district, where steamy cooking pots of Tom Yum soup and much more await.