Jakarta, Indonesia...

Well, it's our last day in Indonesia, and it's 2010. Although we originally planned to spend New Years Eve in Jakarta we were actually in Yogya. We met an English guy at our hostel who had tried to get a train ticket the previous day and everything had sold out, and we were also a bit concerned about rocking up to the capital city on new years eve and finding a bed, and were really enjoying it in Yogya so we stayed put.

On the big night we went for dinner, then to a Ramayana ballet at Puriwisata (they've performed it every night for the last 37 years) accompanied by traditional Gamelan music. Then we started to make our way back to Jl Maliboro, the main drag, to see the fireworks but it was so so so so busy (Java is one of the most crowded places on earth with 950 people per square kilometre) you could barely move on the streets. Thankfully a group of young Indonesians about our age took pity on us, guiding us through the throngs and stopping us from getting our limbs burnt on all the moped engines.

I've been really impressed by the warmth of the Indonesian people, they're incredibly smiley and friendly, and although they are all excellent salesmen (they're so persuasive you have a really hard time working out how to say no) when you do say no, they thank you and smile and are very gracious. I mentioned to Danny one day that I had never seen anyone raise there voice or get angry or be rude the entire time we've been here and he told me about the concept of 'face.' Keeping face means never displaying anger, which is seen as the ultimate humiliation. Even the teenagers are polite and friendly and genuinely interested in you and where you are from. We've had young kids snapping our picture in the streets when we ride past on a tuk tuk, interviewing us for school projects and even asking shyly if they can have their picture taken with us. They're a stark contrast to what I was like as a teen! Pretty much everyone speaks English too, which says a lot in a place where the educational system and work opportunities aren't what they should be.

Where was I? Yes so we took in some fireworks on the streets of Yogya, and then headed back to Sosrowijian to see in the new year and have a drink before hitting the sack to get some rest before an early start on new years day when we caught a train to Jakarta at 8am. The train took eight and a half hours and wasn't too shabby, and I loved watching the lush, green scenery - all palm trees and paddy fields - whizzing past, but it wasn't air conditioned, just cooled by several fans and open windows so we were pretty flustered by the time we arrived. We took a taxi to Jalan Jaksa, the budget hotel centre of Jakarta, and then checked into Hotel Tator before having a much appreciated cold shower (I haven't had a hot shower for three weeks now, not that it matters one iota in this heat) before heading out for dinner and a drink. As usual we had a wrestling match with the mozzie net when we got home (Jakarta has dengue outbreaks in the wet season).

Today we explored the city (which is the fourth biggest in the world), walking first to Soekarnho's National monument in Freedom Square. The locals call it 'Soekarhno's last erection' thanks to it's phallic shape (there's another statue south of the city of Soekarnho with a flaming dish which they call 'Pizza man.') But it is rather impressive, a huge column topped by a flame that you can travel up to get magnificent views of the city, or, as Lonely Planet puts it you can 'whizz up the shaft.' Snort, snort.

Then we walked through the street kitchens of Glodok, which is Jakarta's rundown Chinatown area, before finishing up at the old Dutch Square in Kota with it's pretty colonial buildings and the famous Cafe Batavia which opened in 1805. We popped in there for a cocktail, incredibly grateful after such a long, hot walk, for the cool, air conditioned surrounds and deep sofas, and took in the rather bizzarre spectacle of a very friendly old Indonesian singer accompanied by a grand piano and various karaoke singing tourists belting out everything from Sinatra to old Thai folk songs. Even more bewildering was that on sitting down at this very well established, fancy place with immaculate, smiley, waitresses, we were presented with two menus and a heavily framed picture plucked straight off the wall of a celebrity from the 70s in leather underwear. Neither of us have any idea why. Maybe that's just Jakarta for you!

After that we hopped in a motorised tuk tuk back to the hotel, which brings me to a few facts for all you eager fact fans out there (I know there are alot of you): Since we started this trip we have travelled by plane, car, bus, train, bike, moped, boat, horse, cyclo and tuk tuk, slept in 29 different beds and on 17 different buses. We're flying to Saigon (or Ho Chi Minh city as it's now known) tomorow, so will report next from Vietnam. Until then!