Finding Planet Bekasi

Every year, I stay with my Indonesian in-laws in Bekasi for a few months. This densely populated and polluted West-Javanese city, known mainly for its industry, concrete and traffic jams, is sometimes mockingly called 'Planet Bekasi', partly because it would be so remotely far away from the capital Jakarta (in reality, 20 minutes without traffic).

But for me, coming from the Netherlands where every square millimetre is clinically managed, the urban jungle of Bekasi is all about adventure. In my spare time, I wander with my cheap, water-resistant Fujifilm XP140 through the residential areas, mainly in Jatimulya, driven by the inexplicable pull of Planet Bekasi, trying to find and capture the essence of this ‘planet’.