Have Perut Will Travel...: MONAS: National Monument

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Friday, 11 October 2024

MONAS: National Monument

Monas!

We picked you up again after we left Thamrin City and hailed a Bluebird taxi to our next destination: Monas.

The National Monument (or Monumen Nasional, Monas for short) is a 132 m obelisk in the centre of Merdeka Square, Central Jakarta. It is the national monument of the Republic of Indonesia, built to commemorate the struggle for Indonesian independence.

Pieter the Bluebird taxi driver was a very friendly and knowledgeable person who was fond of sharing little nuggets of information about going around Jakarta. We had a great time chatting with him, and by the time we arrived the fare was IDR41, 200. We gave him IDR50,000 (approximately MYR14/USD3/EUR3) and asked him to keep the change.

Pieter gave us instructions on how to get to the main gates, and after consulting with a kind security personnel reached it. Here we rode a free shuttle cart to the main tower.

At the main tower we walked down to the ticketing counter. We paid IDR50,000 (approximately MYR15/USD3/EUR3) and were issued a card.

We then walked across a tunnel and at the other end used the card to gain entry into Monas. We emerged at the surface level and after skirting around the monument walked down again into its museum.

We spent a fairy bit of time here at the Museum Sejarah Nasional (Museum of National History) capturing footage of each diorama dedicated to the history of Jakarta and Indonesia. There are a total of 51 dioramas around the walls and in the centre of the hall.

We then walked up to the surface level and back to the free shuttle cart back.

We disembarked and walked out to the front gate along Jalan Medan Merdeka Selatan. Pieter the Bluebird taxi driver suggested we catch the free Jakarta Explorer bus back to the Sudirman district, close to where the Airbnb was.

Be sure to catch our upcoming video of our lunch at Kopi Luwak!