Sunda Kelapa Harbour part 1

This is a very long overdue blog on our trip to Jakarta during school holiday in June. Well, it is better late than never.

We finally was able to visit Sunda Kelapa Harbour! Yaaay! It's been in my (bunda) must-visit list for so long...but we somehow, we never got the chance to go there until then. Mainly perhaps because of the chaotic traffic around Kota Tua Jakarta where the port is located. So on this recent trip, we were so lucky to have a friend who lent us his car complete with its driver to drive us around the city. So....off we went!

A quick recap on the history of the port:
This charming old port in North Jakarta has been around as early as 13th century, according to some sources. It served as a trading spices port for the Sunda Kingdom. Around 16th century the Portuguese was given special politics and economics priviledge by the Sunda Kingdom king, and soon they started to settle-in in Sunda Kelapa. In 1527, the port was taken over by Fatahillah, on behalf of the Islamic kingdom Demak, and was renamed Jayakarta. It was later become part of Banten Sultanate. In 1619, the Dutch East India Company seized the port and took over control of it from the Banten Sultanate, until the independence of Indonesia in 1945.

Today, this port serves as inter-island freight service in the western archipelago. Most ships docked there are phinisi type, a traditional two-masted wooden sailing ship.

These pictures were taken both by Aqila and bunda, edited by bunda.
First round, pictures by Aqila:



Walk the plank sir...walk the plank!



Street vendors, bicycles, trucks and many ships were a good combo.



An uncle worker resting from his work.



Bunda was very happy to be here. Snapping away her iphone to capture the atmosphere.

Below were bunda's version of the port:



The uncle workers and a port official were seen talking nearby a ship. They were shipping constructuin materials to Sumatera Island. I asked them to pose and this was what i get.



A worker moving sacks of cements from a truck to the ship.



Cheek-to-cheek. Very close to each other.



Colour coordinated bicycle and a patch of cloth and the ship's name.



The ships come in different colours...



Lined-up.


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