Maura Elizabeth Cunningham

The biggest trip I took in 2024, in terms of distance traveled, was to Indonesia, where I spent a week in July. Since I traveled there for work, however, I didn’t have much of a chance to play tourist—I flew in a day early at the beginning, then took off a few hours one afternoon.

My free day at the start of the trip was in Jakarta, where I began by walking from my hotel to Merdeka (Independence) Square, home of Monas, the National Monument.

I joined a semi-queue of people waiting to get into the National Monument—it was a Sunday, and the site was crowded. Once we shuffled through the tunnel that led into the monument area, everyone made a beeline for the National History Museum, a large square hall below the monument. While many people (including me) did walk around the perimeter of the room to check out the dioramas of Indonesian history, many more were there to relax and socialize. In my notebook, I wrote:

On the marble stone floors of the tower, groups of people sprawled out—chatting, snacking, sleeping. It had the comfortable feel of being the National Living Room. I staked out my own patch of space and took a break.

After seeing all there was to see at Monas, I boarded a bus and sat through one of Jakarta’s renowned traffic jams before arriving in the Kota Tua neighborhood. To tourists, Kota Tua is Old Batavia—the port area where 17th-century Dutch merchants and colonizers established their foothold in what they called the Dutch East Indies.

At Taman Fatahillah (Fatahillah Square), I watched people rent bicycles to ride in front of the old City Hall and other colonial-era buildings. Women wearing long dresses and sun hats offered tourists the opportunity to have their photo taken with someone dressed “Dutch-style.” It was well into the afternoon, and I had skipped lunch: tired, hot, and hungry, I decided to stop at Café Batavia for cheesy bitterballen and a plate of fried rice.

With the sun already beginning to set at 5pm, I walked along one of the neighborhood’s old canals and found my way to the Jakarta Kota train station, where I managed to navigate my way onto the subway and get back to my hotel for the night.

On Monday morning, I rose early and ate breakfast at a small open-air restaurant near my hotel before taking a taxi to the train station and boarding my ride to Yogyakarta, six hours away.

For the next three days, I spent most of my time at Universitas Gadjah Mada, the host institution for our AAS-in-Asia conference.

On the final afternoon, my boss took over our exhibit table so I could have a couple of free hours in Yogyakarta. My original destination was the Sultan’s Palace, but it turned out to be closed for a special event that day.

I walked to my next planned stop, Taman Sari, the Sultan’s Water Palace, and entered the 18th-century bathing complex.

I was surprised to see that the Taman Sari architecture reminded me of Roman baths, until I read that the architect had traveled in Europe and took inspiration from the designs he saw there.

My time away from the conference growing short, I heeded the advice I had received from another attendee and headed to Malioboro Street, a vibrant shopping area in downtown Yogyakarta. I stopped in at a few souvenir shops, then consulted the extensive list of flavors at Malio Gelato and ordered a cup. Thus fortified, I headed back to campus for the final few hours of the conference and the conclusion of my brief trip to Indonesia.

Featured photo: Jakarta, Indonesia, July 7, 2024.