Wednesday, December 31, 2008

I spent 17% my year in Indonesia


Indonesia is the 4th most populous country in the world. There are 17 thousand of islands on the archipeligo, 300 different ethnic groups, glorious glorious food. Jakarta is home to around 10% of the population and on the island of Java.

I wish I could say I saw more of Indonesia in my 2 months here but I really spent my time between work, the hotel and in a taxi among the mass of humanity in this enormous, pulsating city. The people feel like they come from another time, yet thrive in our modern world. I cannot fully explain it, only that the spectral footprints of those who came before, the ancients, the arabs, the khmer, the chinese, the dutch--these all seem to infuse the consciousness of the society like incense. And time wafts between the tendrils of smoke and mirrors, and shadows and lights.



Now, the mystical aspect aside, Jakarta was a challenging experience, workwise, environmentwise and being away from Courtney. I have even fewer pictures from my time here, all are random.


There is a safari near Jakarta. We were trying to get to the botanical gardens. Got to love these tour guides....

Nothing really stops here. I didn't capture the motion blur but those vehicles are speeding towards the pedestrian crossing at full speed. Life is cheap here. Especially for the fool who crosses and takes a picture in the middle of the road.

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