We touched down in Jakarta, Indonesia around midnight, and didn't make it out of the airport til at least 1am. This was of some concern to us as a few ex-pats contributing to online travel forums had some safety tips including 1) do not walk around after dark and 2) only take bluebird or silverbird taxis... or else your taxi driver just may possibly violently rob you. We were slightly on edge when we walked out of the airport.
The first guy who approached us had a Bluebird Taxi Group badge. Lovely, we thought. We followed him as far as the unmarked, un-metered sedan he wanted us to toss our bags into before realizing that everyone out there had a bluebird or silverbird taxi badge, and they were all fake. I turned tail, and Ben had a hairy moment with about 10 guys shouting at him that we'd made a "verbal agreement" (we hadn't) before he too made it back to the relative safety of the airport portico. Eventually finding a real taxi, we went to the single street of budget hostels, aware that it was a shabby part of town but hoping we could find a room without too much difficulty -- afterall, it was the low season. Hah.
The first guy who approached us had a Bluebird Taxi Group badge. Lovely, we thought. We followed him as far as the unmarked, un-metered sedan he wanted us to toss our bags into before realizing that everyone out there had a bluebird or silverbird taxi badge, and they were all fake. I turned tail, and Ben had a hairy moment with about 10 guys shouting at him that we'd made a "verbal agreement" (we hadn't) before he too made it back to the relative safety of the airport portico. Eventually finding a real taxi, we went to the single street of budget hostels, aware that it was a shabby part of town but hoping we could find a room without too much difficulty -- afterall, it was the low season. Hah.
After asking at at least 6 different places who turned us away, and Ben almost walking into some sort of gang related altercation swirling down the street, we found a wonderful desk clerk who started calling other hotels for us. At this point we were afraid we'd be paying a fortune for whatever place he found us, but eventually the Setiabudhi Hotel came through for $35, a small fortune compared to our usual $3-6 rooms, but worth it for a hot shower, a comfortable bed, A/C, safety & security at 3am.
That kindly desk clerk turned the tables for us, because everyone we met the next day was incredibly nice and helpful. We breezed through the purchase of train tickets thanks to a few of the station staff, and I was able to mail in my ballot thanks to an old taxi driver who helped us locate the Fed-Ex center, and thanks to the program Express Your Vote which whisked my ballot overnight and for FREE back to Virginia. Thank you Fed-Ex!
Jakarta is a gritty, traffic-filled city, with this as it's sole tourist attraction/landmark.
Ben, who bore the brunt of the previous night's stress in ushering us to a safe haven, does not think on the city fondly, though I feel like I have a special connection with it since I was able to vote there. We BOTH, however, were very grateful for one of the city's newest residents, Stella, who worked last year with Ben in China, and now works at a private school just outside Jakarta. After our day of running errands around the city, she came in and swept us out to the subburbs where we had a fabulous Indonesian meal and spent a very special evening with her and her friend Santiago, comic genius and host extraordinare. 
Ben, who bore the brunt of the previous night's stress in ushering us to a safe haven, does not think on the city fondly, though I feel like I have a special connection with it since I was able to vote there. We BOTH, however, were very grateful for one of the city's newest residents, Stella, who worked last year with Ben in China, and now works at a private school just outside Jakarta. After our day of running errands around the city, she came in and swept us out to the subburbs where we had a fabulous Indonesian meal and spent a very special evening with her and her friend Santiago, comic genius and host extraordinare. 
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