TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - ‘Traveling is not only about going on a spending spree or shopping, but it is also a way to sharpen one’s social sensitivity’. The idea was spilled by the founder of Jakarta Hidden tour, Ronny Poluan.

“The concept of our tour is to take people to meet other people,” said the 62-year-old to Tempo when met on Jalan Pasar Ikan 1, Penjaringan, North Jakarta.

According to Ronny, tours in Jakarta are nowadays identical with shopping in large and luxury malls, which can not increase people’s interaction with each other to grow social sensitivity. In Jakarta Hidden Tour, domestic or foreign tourists is taken to see the other side of life in the capital city of Indonesia.

“Moreover, foreign people are mostly know about Indonesia from the television, and they only know about the good things,” said the man from Manado.

Tourists who want to join the tour mostly know about Jakarta Hidden Tour from the internet, while the others receive information from friends who have taken the tour. According to Ronny, the price for the tour is US$50 per person.

“For domestic tourist, we charge only half of the price.”

Tempo took the tour together with Veronica Manson from Italy and James Obata from the United States. That day, we strolled down the wooden path, less than 1-meter wide, on Jalan Pasar Ikan 1, Penjaringan, North Jakarta. We walked pass laundry that were dried under the sun and a family who cook their meal on the front yard.

Instead of getting disgusted, James and Veronica looked enthusiastically following the tour. They busy interacted with people around. Some children confidently approach James and Veronica to greet them in English. Somtimes they took pictures together.

“This tour shows Jakarta like two sides of a coin. The glamorous Jakarta and the slumpy Jakarta,” said the employee of the Singapore Institute of Italian Culture.

GANGSAR PARIKESIT