Jakarta, Java

There is no escaping Jakarta, Indonesia's overweight capital. At first glance, this hot, smoggy city, which sprawls for miles over a featureless plain, feels like nothing more than a waiting lounge for the millions queuing up to make their fortune. Beneath the veneer of glass fascias, concrete slabs and shabby slums, however, this is a city of surprises and a city of many faces. It's possible to rub shoulders with Indonesia's future leaders, artists, thinkers, movers and shakers, and to see first hand the deep-seated desire so many Indonesians have to rise above the poverty they were born into. Jakarta certainly isn't a primary tourist destination, but parts of the old city (Kota) offer an interesting insight into the capital's long history, and there are a handful of good museums scattered about.

To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.
Bill Bryson