Jakarta’s Skyline

A lot of us knows that Jakarta is a large metropolis that has grown quite a bit in popularity in South East Asia, but to assess and understand it’s true size and power, one has to be in Jakarta and see and feel it from inside. Apart from being the capital of Indonesia, Jakarta is also the largest and the most crowded city in Indonesia.


But, that is not where it stops. While the rest of the country has not really exploded in size, Jakarta has grown all around as can be seen by the length and breadth of its spread. And it has also grown vertically, which can be seen through its skyscrapers. To see how many people live in this mighty metropolis, look at the daily traffic snarls during peak hours.


In spite of all the high population, it still is a great city to explore and has a lot of Indonesian character to it while moving towards the style of the Western world. To get a good idea of Jakarta’s size and spread, one can climb the Monument Nasional (Monas) building in the center of Jakarta. As a foreign national, you need to pay 15,000 rupiah to climb up to the very top.


The top floor gives you panoramic views of the entire city, its skyscrapers, its harbour, its train stations, its key buildings, its dense greenery and the sheer density of this city. It takes quite a bit of wait to reach the top as there is only one lift to ferry all the people up, but the view is definitely worth the wait.


This place is very popular with the local Indonesians who come from different islands to Jakarta to climb Monas and see the view. Foreign tourists also come and visit, but a lot of them do not end up waiting to climb to the top.


If you are staying on Jalan Jaksa or at Jalan Cikini Raya, a 15 minute walk can take you to Monas. You can also hire a ojek or taxi to reach here. The timings for monas are 7 AM to 3 PM. It is better to go during week days and before 12 noon as it gets crowded at other times and especially during the weekend.


This place is one of the top attractions in Central Jakarta and should not be missed if you want to see Jakarta’s skyline view.

I hope these pictures entice you to go to this place, understand Indonesian history and see Jakarta’s dense and packed skyscraper view from the top of Monas.