After around seven hours of travelling through Java from Yogyakarta heading towards Jakarta we left the rice fields and started to enter urbanisation. Jakarta is a big place and has a population of around 10 million people and looking at some of the housing adjacent to the railway it certainly makes you appreciate just how well off we are in the UK.

Arriving bang on time at Jakarta Gambir station in the capital we ordered a Grab taxi (for IDR 14,000 or 76p) to take us to our hotel. It wasn't too far, but with the heat and humidity dragging our bags for 20 minutes or so seemed a bit too much . . . . . we probably spent nearly that in the taxi instead.

Arriving at the Mercure Hotel Sebang it was clear that we had left the homeliness (or simplicity) of Yogyakarta for the far more corporate world in Jakarta. Meeting rooms, seminars and international room standards seemed to be the order of the day. It was a very nice hotel, but probably lacked the warmth (in more ways than one, especially as the air-conditioning was top notch) of Java Villas in Yogyakarta.

We headed out for dinner having seen a good recommendation for an Indian restaurant about a mile away. The walk to the restaurant gave us a decent appreciation of Jakarta, and it seemed just fine. An international city, that was busy, had lots of life and felt very safe. Crossing the roads was fairly easy - standard Asian practice (except in Singapore/Hong Kong) of walking steadily across the traffic flow seemed to work quite well - and was far less daunting than Vietnam.

After grabbing a drink at the Grand Hyatt Hotel (50% discount during happy hour) overlooking the Selamat Datang Monument and fountains, we headed to the Queen's Tandoori. Honestly the entrance to the place could have been more inspiring, but once through the office block reception area and into the basement the restaurant itself was actually very nice - as was the food. Prices were certainly higher than we experienced earlier in the trip, but probably as expected given this was the capital city.

After a rather lazy get up we headed to the National Monument located just a short walk from our hotel in the Wednesday morning. We were again asked to pose for photos with some Indonesians during our walk through the park environment. Maybe we really are a novelty?

We continued to walk towards the old Dutch settlement of Batavia and after calling in at an old Chinese house (Candra Naya Building, now housing a small museum) we then stopped at the Museum of the Bank of Indonesia. What may have been a bit of dry subject was actually quite interesting. There was too much to read and too much to fully understand/take in. Clearly Indonesia, like many countries, had suffered a fair amount as a result of bad financial planning or bad luck as a result of worldwide slow downs, but they also seemed very progressive too.

After the museum we wandered into Fatahilla Square which was the centre of the original Dutch settlement of Batavia. We called by an old Dutch swing/lifting bridge and finished off with a drink at the Batavia Café. This place has a true colonial feel about and had great views over the main square of Batavia.

Our final evening meal was at Shanghai Blue restaurant which was just a short walk from the Mercure Hotel. The food was very good - as was the Chilean wine - and it lived up to its billing of an opium den feel. We could still smell the incense sticks (or what we believed to be incense) on our clothes when we got back to the hotel. Over the last few days we have done Vietnamese, Indonesian, Indian, Thai and now Chinese food . . . . and a B (beef) LT sandwich and a beef burger. We have covered a few culinary bases in the last few days.

Our trip to Jakarta Airport took in the new(ish) railair link from the city centre, before we joined Air Asia flight QZ256 to Bangkok Don Mueang departing at 12.45. The train seem very lightly used and had us at the airport in 45 minutes which was a much better option than sitting in a taxi for anywhere between 60-90 minutes. The fare of just IDR 70,000 (or £3.80) which was great value too.

Our flight to Thailand departed from Terminal 2 (International Departures) which had a fare range of eateries and shops to keep you entertained before the second round of security at the entrance to the gates. Once through to the gate area however there was nothing, not even a coffee shop, and as our flight was delayed by well over an hour a drink would have been welcomed.

With a 90 minute flight delay and a bit of a queue to get through immigration, we managed to get to the railway station adjacent to Don Mueang Airport at 18.38 and just in time for the 18.40 train to Bangkok Hua Lamphong. This train ended up being 30 minutes late so by the time we checked into our hotel opposite the terminal station our journey had taken pretty much 12 hours. It had been a long day . . . . time for a beer and some food.

*Don't forget to check out the photos section of this blog (see below), if you can't see additional photographs within this entry*