Plan Your Schedule

Idul Fitri

Vesak

Nyepi

Christmas in Church

Now you know your purpose to go to Jakarta.  Pick up a calender and choose the date of arrival, schedule your daily activities, and time of departure.  View major holiday will be brought into your consideration:

1. Idul Fitri Holiday and Fasting Season

More than 90% of Indonesia citizens are Muslim. They embrace Islam as their religion.  So that, Idul Fitri holiday has more effect to the Jakarta and other cities activity than Christmas holiday, or Nyepi (for Hindu), or Vesak (for Buddhist), or any religious holiday.  Even more effects will start 30 days before the Idul Fitri, which is the fasting season for all the Muslim.  Idul Fitri or Eid Mubarak Day will be several days faster from year to year consecutively.  Actually it will be decided by the Moon Calender by Indonesia local authority each year, so I just give you an average timing.

So what usually happens in those days ?   When you come to Indonesia in Fasting Season, if you are not Muslim and don't do fasting, you might have some trouble finding fully opened restaurant or hawker from early in the morning until around 18.00 after the fast-breaking. Fast breaking means that people who are fasting, stop or break their fasting activity precisely after they heard the Adzan-Magrib prayer.  They start to fast again after Sahur time at dawn. It is a daily ritual for Muslim.  But please don't worry, Indonesian people are very tolerant to other religion.  I'm a catholic and I'm happy to live in Jakarta, as long as we could respect and honor to each other, it will be no problem at all.  In the cities other than Jakarta as a capitol city, including suburb area, it is possible to be harder to get food or eating places in the fasting season.

Jakarta will have no traffic jam in 2 days of Idul Fitri, and lighter traffic in Fasting Season.  There will be crowd usually concentrating in the Malls and Shopping Center especially those who are non muslims.  Transportation will not be as many as normal days, many workers will go back to their hometown +/- 7 days before and after Idul Fitri. Many traditional stores will be closed for days.  Bali and other famous tourist spots will be flooded with local tourists.  

Regarding the above information, some of you might not have problems with those circumstances if you have already known about it before.  But to those who have never come to Jakarta, it will be a good knowledge to consider about the timing.  I enjoy Jakarta very much when Idul Fitri comes because the roads and streets are very empty.  Some others are not happy because they will take care of their house by themselves, since their housemaid are all going back to their hometown for days.  In Indonesia, most of middle-up class family use to have housemaids.  In summary, I will not suggest you to go or not to go to Jakarta in Idul Fitri and Fasting season, because each person will have his/her own preference.  But I cannot help myself not to suggest you to go outside Jakarta by car at +/- 5 days before and after Idul Fitri because you would possibly caught in very very long queue of traffic jam between cities especially in Java Island.

2. Christmas Holiday Season

Christmas Holiday always happen in rainy season in Indonesia. Meanwhile the peak of rainy season in Indonesia usually happens in December to February every year.  As I mention before that Christmas Holiday in Indonesia doesn't carry a massive mobility of people and also doesn't have a preceding religious activity such as fasting, instead of advent weeks in Christian and Catholic religion.  So that, in the mean time, you will get normal activities in Jakarta and also any other cities in Indonesia.  Even you will feel the Christmas atmosphere since the early of December, although no snow falling down around. Sale and discount programs are everywhere in the department stores and shopping center.   People who spend this holiday season, usually attach the new year holiday in a row.  If you have specific places like hotel, or other commercial place to witness the new year's count down, please book the spot long before your arrival to Jakarta, by Internet.  In the central of Jakarta (National Monument to Sudirman Street to Thamrin Street), there will be a very dense convoy starting at 21.00 until around 02.00.   The other mass concentration will be Taman Impian Jaya Ancol.  This is not kind of dance parade in Brazil or Woodstock Music Festival, although there will be one, but this is more to public entertainment for every layer of Jakarta citizens.  So my suggestion, if you have plan to go down the road to experience the convoy directly or going to see entertainment in Ancol, please prepare your transportation and map to go back to your hotel, don't bring any valuable things including your passport around, wear a proper clothing (I mean t-shirt, sandals, and short pans is still find), and bring adequate Rupiah.  In my opinion,minimum 500.000 - 1.000.000 Rupiah per couple should always be in your pocket or wallet all the time, including your secondary credit card with maximum of US$ 2.500 (this will cover the emergency of hospitalization cost, just in case something happen, or any of the unthinkable).  You should also bring mineral water in your bag in order to avoid dehydration.  So will go to Jakarta in Christmas and New Year Season ? 

3. Vesak and Nyepi Holiday

The other 2 religions, which is official in Indonesia, are Hindu and Buddhist. However each of these two religions don't have disciples as many as Islam or even Christian and Catholic.   Hindu religion holiday such as Nyepi, mostly concentrate in Bali Island, meanwhile Buddhist main ceremony of Vesak usually focuses in Candi Borobudur in Magelang, Central Java.  Of course, the ceremonies also take place in all Buddhist Monasteries (Vihara) and Hindu temples too all over Indonesia.  So that, Jakarta gets no significant effects of any temporal migration activity, if those holidays happen.  

4. Chinese New Year

Just like Idul Fitri, Chinese New Year also happens 2 weeks faster every year.  It has more effects rather than Vesak and Nyepi holiday, but this is not a religion holiday.  It is a culture holiday.  It is no doubt that Indonesia contains a lot of ethnics too, including chinese, since hundreds of years ago when kingdom like Sriwijaya, Tarumanegara, Majapahit, Mataram, etc. are sill ruling parts of the country.   Chinese people somehow have a vital position on moving the economic wheel in Indonesia, although they are just another minority.  There for, in the era of Megawaty as the President of Indonesia, Chinese New Year was established as a national holiday starting year 2003. 

In Mainland, China, Chinese New Year holiday effects are similar like Idul Fitri Holiday in Indonesia.  It has huge people temporal migration.  In Indonesia, the atmosphere of Chinese New Year holiday will be concentrated in some remote cities where Chinese people are originated from, such as: Semarang, Pontianak, Singkawang, Medan, Bagan Siapiapi, etc. I'm sure it is ok to choose this time to go to Jakarta, but please watch out for the peak of rainy season too.  If floods are every where, you cannot go anywhere too.