First Time Asia, First Time Jakarta!

The flight went all well, I guess. No getting lost in the Southern Indian Ocean, no getting shot down over Ukrainian airspace. Thank the lord.

Nevertheless Sri Lankan Airlines seem to overestimate the average European stomach capacity. It seems the feeding times are neither connected to European time nor Sri Lankan but both combined. So food on the Airplane is plenty, more than enough.
Transit in Colombo Bandaranaike to Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta gets sweetened with some kind of Guru-Disco-Singing-Channel on TV.

Finally after quite some time we arrive in Jakarta. I´ve never been this far away from home, I think to myself. Not knowing what to expect, I step out of the Jet onto Indonesian soil. Reconsidering my distance from home, one could easily think the tropical warmth would be a welcoming host.

My first breath. I struggle. As if someone is trying to grab my airways and squeeze. A heavy heart throb pushes me into, what feels like a wall. I have arrived anguished yet eager to explore.

Jakarta, the beat of Southeast Asia, home to nearly thirty million souls. This is going to be my starting and finishing point. A city so far from any place I´ve ever seen before. A metropolis, where the small shacks, bamboo and plastic huts of the pavement dwellers not even remotely scrape the same skies as the high-rise of the rich and powerful. Multi billion dollar companies, just a few hundred paces down the same street as the poor families eating plain rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I only later realize that I have fallen for this city. Fallen in love. Street merchants from all over come to praise their goods. Colourful Chinese markets, electronic super stores, worn down bazaars combined with the stench of millions of scooters and cars. Prehistoric bajaj - three wheeled taxis sounding like chainsaws mingle with expensive European supercars.

Spending three days in Jakarta as an asthmatic sure make me feel like a severe chainsmoker. We head off in the direction of Yogjakarta via Train.

Follow the full story with all the photos on: http://wine-and-jazz.blogspot.de/

[caption id="attachment_348159" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Rumah Makan"][/caption]