So, yesterday, Andrew and I organised a trip for the new staff at school to go to Old Batavia (Kota - the old city of Jakarta) a city that was once ruled by the Portuguese and then the Dutch before Indonesia gained their independence once again. Also known as Fatahillah Square, this was the main public area and the administrative heart of Batavia in the 1700s.
Weekly fairs, market days and public executions were once all held there.
The buildings are quite magnificent and we decided to hire a tour guide for the day and he led us through the whole museum and then the Wayang Kulit Puppet museum.
It turns out he is the sole archaeologist and museum curator and besides being incredibly informative and a great tour guide, he also had amazing stories, some of whom came from his own family who have had much to do with the area - including his Great Grandfather who is still alive who was imprisoned by the Japanese during WWII in the horrific dungeons you see in the picture above.
I am hoping Andrew will write with all the historical blurb as I always manage to find other things more fascinating than facts and figures of history, but I was actually blown away by his stories.
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