Taman Mini is an amusement park situated in East Jakarta - approximately 25km of the city centre  - which consists of 26 replicas of traditional chieftain houses that are found throughout the different regions of the Indonesian archipelago.

Each of these pavilions represents the unique architecture, costumes and arts of that specific region bringing all of these together in one location to celebrate and showcase the diverse range of Indonesian cultures.

The idea for the theme park was inspired by the former First Lady of Indonesia Ibu Tien Suharto with construction beginning in 1971 until its official inauguration on April 20th 1975.

Taman Mini

Entrance to the theme park is by road:

Be warned, after you gain entry to the theme park you might spend an appreciable amount of time just trying to find somewhere to park due to the volume of visitors cars that are already present!

There are a number of features, in addition to the regional pavilions mentioned above, that are located within the theme park including:

• Various museums and theatres
• Bird park
• Chinese temple
• Taman Mini Indonesia Indah Castle
• IMAX cinemas

Due to the size of the theme park (and after having arrived there during the mid-afternoon thanks to the crazy Jakarta traffic and the ever wonderful macet to deal with) I only had a few hours with which to explore the site.

This meant I only got to see a small fraction of the sites and features contained within what is a huge location (roughly 250 acres) - maybe I’ll return the next time I am in Jakarta and catch up on as much of the rest of the attractions as I can.

Of the attractions I did manage to visit I started with the Kalimantan pavilion:

Kalimantan is the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo (roughly 73% of the island - the remaining parts belonging to East Malaysia and the country of Brunei). This is also the region of Indonesia that President Jokowi has proposed relocating the capital too (although there are concerns about the viability of this proposal - not least of which is the impact on the island's ecosystem).

This pavilion features, as you might expect, traditional carvings and cultural artefacts relating to that specific region of Indonesia - along with sculptures depicting the traditional life of the native islanders:

As I was walking around the Kalimantan Tengah pavilion a local Indonesian group were playing various Elvis Presley songs from the stage located there which I found amusing due to how unexpected that was. Of all the places....traditional Kalimantan architecture/cultural artefacts meets 1950's -1970's iconic American music - now there's unusual bedfellows! 

Just across the road and a short distance from the Kalimantan Tengah pavilion was the Kapulauan Riau (Riau Islands - which are located to the east of the island of Sumatra) pavilion featuring architecture and cultural artefacts from that region of Indonesia:

Nearby is the Bangka-Belitung Islands (which lie to the west of the coast of South Sumatra) pavilion featuring the architecture and cultural artefacts of that region:

Next up was a visit to Taman Burung - the bird park - which costs 20,000 Indonesian rupiah to enter (roughly £1.11 GBP/$1.43 USD - I kid you not).

This was a self-enclosed theme park within the Taman Mini theme park that, as you might have guessed, housed a variety of different bird species and featured a beautiful internal landscape of streams, winding paths and Buckminster Fuller-like geodesic domes:

I found Taman Burung fascinating and was impressed with the design of the internal landscape and the easily navigable and distance friendly layout of the various bird colonies. 

The variety of bird species housed there is quite extensive (although I'm never easy with the sight of animals being caged - no matter how well cared for they might be).

Be warned though - don't get too close, even with the protective fencing, to the cassowaries as these birds are super aggressive and not afraid to attack:

Given their size it's not inconceivable that one of these birds could, at the very least, easily maim if not kill a human being when attacking them.

Just outside the bird park is an area where visitors can buy refreshments and souvenirs (and you might want to stock up on that water as dehydration is all too common when walking around under the heat of the Asian sun):

Oh...don't forget to watch out for the obligatory Indonesian lazing cat too!

I finished off my visit at Taman Mini to the Bali region which housed replica buildings displaying the balinese style of architecture along with a hall where a traditional dance from that region was being performed:

Getting here

I’m led to believe that it’s possible to reach Taman Mini by public transportation although, in all honesty, due to the distance involved I would opt for travel by car instead as it’s far more comfortable and convenient.

Choose a reputable taxi service such as Bluebird or GoCar or, if you’re feeling more adventurous, you might want to travel by Gojek or Grab motorcycle instead. If you have spent even a limited amount of time in Jakarta (and other parts of Indonesia) you will know just how invaluable those services are.

If you’re fortunate enough to have local Jakartan friends/relatives who don’t mind driving and accompanying you for a day out at Taman Mini then you’re very lucky indeed!

Fees

Entry to Taman Mini is fairly cheap, costing - if memory serves me well - 10,000 Indonesian rupiah I think (equivalent to £0.55 GBP/$0.71 USD - which is ridiculously cheap for foreign visitors from the UK/US). Subsequent features, such as the bird park, may well entail further costs for entry however (the replica pavilions of the different regions of the Indonesian archipelago are free to visit).