November 20 was a sea day (travelling southeast through the Java Sea towards Jakarta) which gave us the opportunity to check out the ship’s amenities including travel lectures, bridge, sun on our private top deck of the ship and evening show.

November 21 – Jakarta

We boarded a full day excursion which took us to see an overview of Jakarta (heavy traffic, slums and smog) not my favorite city in this world. Our first stop was the original port of the city – looking at the cargo operations and the ships I think they are original to the 1800’s.

Next stop the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Jakarta (The Church of Our Lady of Assumption). The current neo-gothic building was finished in 1901 after the original building collapsed in 1890.

Across the street is Badan Pengelola Masjid Istiqlal a mosque. The mosque was designed in 1954 by Frederich Silaban, a Christian architect from Northern Sumatra. It was officially opened in 1978. The structure is so large it can accommodate up to 120,000 people. The mosque covers 22 acres and has five levels.

Finally, a walk through Chinatown and its wet market.