Two worlds separated by one wall. On one side, luxury high rises and the privileged few. On the other side, the real Jakarta. Neighborhoods full of sights, sounds, and smells (lots of smells) and the nicest people you will ever meet. Behind the wall is the building I live in, The Wave also known as Coral and Sand Apartments.  It is one of many high rise apartments in Kuningan, South Jakarta.

Today, my friend Melissa and I decided to explore the other side of the wall.  This is the side we see from our balconies.  We started walking toward one of the malls nearby and just took the first left. This road led us behind another large apartment complex but we were still on our side of the wall.  Finally we found a narrow hole in the wall and just like Harry Potters leap through the wall at the train station, we entered a whole new world.

We stopped at this cart that made fruit salads. They made us sit on chairs while they cut up the fruit. We got a quick lesson in the Bahasa names of different fruit which I no longer can remember.

This man is a tailor.  The shop is open along the street and he probably lives in the back or upstairs.

We found a great produce market that just kept going, around corners and down alleys. Many people wanted to talk to us and know where we were from.  These children are riding on moving animals (like the coin operated rides at Walmart or Meijer) except this is powered by a bicycle in the back. When we asked to take their picture they all jumped up on the ride and started hamming it up. Here is my shopping from the market.  Rice, onions, carrots, lemon grass, and an interesting fruit that I am undecided on.  Cost: about $1.00

We just continued on down streets and alleys, winding, some times narrow passage ways, around corners. The people were so friendly.  Some wanted us to stop and talk. Some wanted us to buy what they were selling.  Especially curious were the children, who would run up to us with shouts of ‘Meestir, meestir’  🙂

We came across one of the mosques we can see from our apartments.

  There is even a playground for the children.

These children below almost brought tears to my eyes.  Each one ran up, took my hand and kissed it. It was so sweet.

All along the way we met so many people.

  It was a beautiful experience to be so welcomed and greeted so warmly by complete strangers.

Coconut vender

We bought some fried chicken and chicken satay for lunch.

Passed a gas station.

And began circling around to where we thought our apartment should be.  We found the mosque that is nearest our apartment.  These two guys stopped to make sure they were in the picture before continuing on to prayers. That is our building rising up in the back.

We knew we were on the street that we can see from our balconies.  But we had to find a way through the wall.

 

With no end in sight we just turned right and started walking.  We found an alley to the left and just kept following it until it ended at a field. We knew we were near where we wanted to be so we headed down a dirt path.

Turned down a dirt dirt road, and came out at the entrance to our building.

Here is one of the gate guards.  He always has a smile for us..and was happy to pose for a picture.

It was a beautiful day and such an experience.  I will definitely be spending more time on the other side of the wall.