Contrary to its name, there are 128 islands scattered throughout Jakarta Bay offering an abundance of activities, from wreck diving on Pramuka to observing turtle breeding on Kelapa. Tours are available at Thousand Island Tours (tel: +62 21 3302 9759; www.thousandisland.co.id).
Things to do in Jakarta
Explore Jakarta’s 1000 Islands
Indulge your sweet tooth in Chinatown
Jakarta’s Chinatown reveals a very different side of the city. You can trawl for electronics at Glodok market or for traditional Chinese décor at Petak Sembilan Market. For the sugar hounds, though, a visit to Gang Kalimati and its ‘sweet street’ should be top of the agenda.
Bogor Botanical Garden
Travel 60km (37m) out of Jakarta and you will land in Bogor, a city known for its botanical garden spread out across 87 hectares (215 acres). Bogor Botanical Garden (tel: +62 251 832 2187) can be easily be explored in a day, but don’t forget your umbrella as the area is famed for its prodigious rainfall.
Hang with Indonesian hipsters in Pasar Santa
For years Pasar Santa was a local indoor market, the likes of which exist all across Asia, but in 2014 a collective of the city’s entrepreneurial folk got together and decided to make it a place where the city’s start-ups could rent cheap stalls. Nowadays its full of coffee lounges, vinyl stores and street food stalls and has a reputation as the city’s hipster hub. Expect beards, tattoos and snapback caps by the dozen.
Visit all of Indonesia in an afternoon
The Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (tel: +62 021 8779 2078; www.tamanmini.com) is based over in East Jakarta and bills itself as ‘the whole of Indonesia in one park’. Set across an areas of approximately 250 acres, its main attractions are the 26 replicas of traditional houses that represent different areas of Indonesia. You’ll also find museums, theatres, fauna parks and an IMAX theatre.
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