text: Jakarta long ago, a photo from Jakarta Raya, Java | TrekEarth
  ::: Jakarta long ago by holmertz (91892)
  I received some compliments for my latest low quality photo showing a chaotic street in Calcutta. So I start a new journey today by showing you a low quality photo from a chaotic area of Jakarta.
  This is just about from where I set out on a six week tour of Indonesia in 1976 (followed by another five weeks in Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore).
  It was not exactly from here, but this is somewhere in central Jakarta, not far from the major railway station where I boarded a train to take me across half of Java to Yogyakarta (a city which can be spelled in various ways).
  I have only posted one photo from Jakarta earlier,
  https://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/Indonesia/Java/Jakarta_Raya//photo921921.htm
  the reason being that I found Jakarta a most disagreeable city, the strangest and ugliest major city I had seen so far (now outranked by Kinshasa and maybe one or two others). I didn't feel much need to waste my expensive Kodachrome films on taking photos there, especially not since I was expecting to see several beautiful places later on.
  In my diary I described most major streets in Jakarta as looking like they had been created by bulldozers plowing their way ruthlessly through the slums and areas looking like clusters of villages or small towns. Some modern houses made me think of Potemkin villages, mainly flashy façades hiding the squalor behind them.
  When I returned to Jakarta in 1999 to report from the first democratic elections, the city had been completely transformed. The central slummy areas were all gone (and pushed to the suburbs), the streets were properly paved, there were modern buildings everywhere and nothing left of the extended small town atmosphere. Parts of Jakarta had grown into a totally congested nightmare of honking cars moving at a snail's pace. One kind of chaos had been exchanged for another kind.
  In 1999 I happened one day to be in the area near the railway. I found the tracks moved to bridges high above the streets. The huts once lining the railway, homes to thousands of persons, were of course all gone.
  In the WS is a similar photo and one actually showing a train. All photos were scanned from expensive Kodachrome slides.
  pajaran, Fis2, pierrefonds, ikeharel, jhm, Royaldevon, ricardomattos, PiotrF, papagolf21, jean113, alvaraalto, PaulVDV, COSTANTINO, ktanska, worldcitizen, macjake, adramad ha puntuado esta nota como útil.
  pajaran (101656) 2020-10-22 0:38
  An interesting place, well shown with beautiful colors, contrast, perspective and good text.
  Good work by scanning malts, nice photos in the workshop, well captured moments.
  Fis2 (154273) 2020-10-22 0:43
  Witaj Gert my neighbour today again :) !
  Another interesting set of photos from your archive.
  This picture from daily life makes impression.
  pierrefonds (102364) 2020-10-22 4:44
  The flags are an eye-catcher. The point of view is showing the details of the houses and how people leave in 1976 in Jakarta. The Kodachrome film is giving nice colors. Have a nice day.
  ikeharel (105184) 2020-10-22 5:34
  RR tracks through neighborhood and flags to add beauty to this third world scenery.
  What a contrasting subjects on one photo !!
  living by the rails can be danger to these people - but I believe their livelihood depend upon the passing trains.
  Fine three photos, rightly chosen the main.
  jhm (201739) 2020-10-22 5:53
  Royaldevon (73916) 2020-10-22 8:05
  To some extent, the many, colourful flags distract from the poverty that surrounds the railway lines. I can only imagine that the trains do not go very fast past this point, where people and objects are so close to the lines.
  Your photograph uses the track to act as a guide through this shanty town of people, objects and flags!
  I suppose it is pleasing to learn that the area has improved since this visit but I wonder if things have improved for these people. Were they rehoused in better accommodation or were they compulsorily driven from the land and separated from their neighbours. I hope the former.
  Your w/s continue to reveal how people live by and walk on the railway lines. Perhaps, to some extent, their lives revolved around the railways. I imagine that this practice has changed, too, as trains will have become faster!
  Silvio1953 (204024) 2020-10-22 8:30
  Ciao Gert, lovely composition with a lot of flags, excellent perspective, good clarity, wonderful colors and splendid light, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio
  emka (151053) 2020-10-22 11:06
  I will not be inspired by this picture as I haven't been to Java. and I had no plans to go there. But I was looking forward to seeing Borobudur and Prambanan and just one day earlier I had to break my journey. Why it should be a low-quality picture? It is much better than many new photos we see here.
  And of course, much more interesting. It was fun to see the 'Polish" flags in Indonesia.
  I saw similar scenes in Bangkok. But there the slums were even closer to the rails and there were still the trains. But I have no pictures.
  lousat (128977) 2020-10-22 11:25
  jmdias (101518) 2020-10-22 12:05
  I guess I told you, or to another person, about a fair in north-eastern brazil where they did business above the train track and when the trains pass by the place they move products and stalls and come back after, the area is surrounded by houses like here. nice photos.
  Tue (81170) 2020-10-22 13:37
  Et godt billede med jernebanen og det travle område på begge sider hvor masser af mennesker går og lever så tæt ved skinnerne. De mange flag er også rigtigt godt og giver så mange farver til billedet. Godt fanget.
  Miguel82 (47106) 2020-10-22 15:30
  Gert, the picture shows the hard daily life on the edges of the railway tracks. The regular passage of the train and its passengers help the people living in this kind of slum. They can sell something. The place isn t very clean. I see the national flag of Indonesia near the houses. Fine colors, good sharpness, regards.
  ricardomattos (14680) 2020-10-22 17:08
  This is what makes TE so interesting. The diversity of photos and themes showing different places and cultures. Life as it really is. What is interesting here is that there seems to be a strong feeling of nationality that unites everyone through these countless flags. I hope that today there has been an improvement in the living conditions of these people. I admire his work and wonder how many good articles you generated.
  PiotrF (52198) 2020-10-22 17:24
  A very nice daily life scene from Jakarta.
  Golorful picture with good composition.
  jemaflor (134208) 2020-10-22 22:59
  Nice view of daily life with a good POV with depth given by the perspective of these railways, impressive all these people so close the railways, good report, nice rendering with sharpness and colors, tfs.
  ifege (30577) 2020-10-22 23:38
  The resolution is much better than my photos of the same era. A good trio from Jakarta where I haven't been (just to the Jogjakarta area). As you say - absolute chaos and totally fascinating.
  papagolf21 (152469) 2020-10-23 0:16
  Merci de nous présenter de telles images d'archives, elles sont parlantes et édifiantes.
  jean113 (21395) 2020-10-23 4:32
  Hello Gert, three informative pictures of life 44 years ago.
  Living so close to the railway must have been so dangerous.
  How often did the trains come through? Seeing the detritus between the rails seems rather precarious!
  The flags are very colourful and add a nice touch of colour; but why are the flags actually there?
  It is very sad that people had to live like this, I hope that things have improved.
  ChrisJ (158408) 2020-10-24 1:11
  alvaraalto (41826) 2020-10-24 3:49
  The chaos of Jakarta,up till now the capital of Indonesia, has only intensified since 1976 and 1999 and, when I look at various reports from this city (which we remember well as Batavia), seems to be drowning in its own waste.
  I wonder if the relocation to a new capital on Kalimantan will take place in 2024 as announced by president Joko Widodo.
  GyurMaster (20861) 2020-10-24 9:31
  Another excellent and typical scene (tracks between the houses, barely letting the trains passing and causing a constant danger thanks to the pedestrians walking along them.) from India, but now in colours, which it deserved beyond doubt! The WS photos are a nice addition!
  Thank you for sharing these gems!
  kasianowak (15564) 2020-10-24 10:03
  The Jakarta I saw was in the second phase of chaos you mention below: made of concrete and full of traffic. And for me too, this is one of the ugliest cities I have seen (close after Dar es Salaam, Bishkek and a couple of others). I must say though that after a not so nice day I did spend an enjoyable evening in the Kota area, just outside my hotel (but even there, the famous bridge was surrounded by a construction site).
  However, you managed to bring much better photos from there than I did, even though I shot inexpensive images on a digital sensor. ;-) It may be slums, but it's full of splashes of colour, even if it's only temporary, like the almost Polish flags. And it's a great reportage, showing the city as it was in it's previous stage of chaos.
  foxy (1953) 2020-10-24 11:55
  A scene like this, as you said , 'Jakarta long ago' is a photograph to be well treasured and remembered for the next next generations to see like a 'Time Capsule'.
  This photo, the tracks littered with garbage and and junk, looks a bit overwhelming but I see the beauty and 'happy-go-lucky' people living in this poor conditions and very patriotic to the country - that's why all the flags are so clean and new.
  On WS1 - those days the makeshift homes or shacks were not heavily congested as we seen in these days. Kind of a bit of fresh air and freedom to move around. The clean and new flags again.
  :-) After 23 years or 44 years, I don't see much different concerning with slums - the slums are getting more and more spread out and thousand times more rubbish too. The old city has becomes mega cosmopolitan city but the disadvantage is the city is sinking. Soon, the entire city will be completely submerged by the sea.
  Thanks for sharing this expensive scanned.
  PaulVDV (53824) 2020-10-25 8:56
  Not a livable home for everyone, but every slum has its flagpole. (I found the explanation for that in the WS)
  The many flags create a very colourful picture but can by no means hide the misery. Living next to a railway I've seen in Aguas Calientes, Peru (a little less miserable than here) and in Hanoi, Vietnam (also slightly more livable than here).
  My experience about Jakarta in 1990 is very similar to your description of your second visit. Not exactly very interesting.
  Now the city is even sinking, so there are plans for a new capital on Borneo. If some of the economic activity moves from Jakarta to elsewhere, the situation will be even worse for those who stay behind.
  Your photos are very good testimonials to life at the time.
  COSTANTINO (102944) 2020-10-26 22:32
  I am feeling so happy visiting
  your gallery and reading useful
  notes...You did your best
  starting a new journey toady
  showing scenes from the chaotic
  area of Jakarta...
  these colorful flags are really an eyecatcher
  ktanska (39535) 2020-10-30 10:04
  A very interesting trio of railway pictures. These tracks really look more like being made for tram traffic. So a WS showing and actual train was good extra. Rows of sheds and piles of trash don't express prosperity, but those flagpoles certainly stand proudly.
  worldcitizen (13998) 2020-11-08 15:47
  This is definitely a chaotic scene, but it's also very colorful. The red bucket in the central foreground really catches my eye. Why were all those international flags besides the tracks? Somehow there seems to order within the chaos...
  macjake (96147) 2020-11-11 1:43
  wow, this is quite something. what a scene this is. I wonder how it is today, about 44 years later. Reading your note, its good to hear they've improved the conditions somewhat. I often shake my head at people here locally when they complain about the Government and such...I think...man, you really need to get out and explore the world and see how most of the world lives, and get some perspective on life. Travelling to these places will do such things. Truly speaking, I don't complain about my life much anymore, travelling has opened my eyes and my mind. Appreciate life, appreciate paying taxes as it pays for education and healthcare (unless you're an American but that's a totally different subject). love this shot Gert.
  adramad (66268) 2020-11-18 10:14
  This image is impressive, the street is the double railroad and the sidewalks with the multitude of small stalls are nothing, although that if it is very colorful with all those flags, I suppose there will be frequent accidents.