Security

Security is a big deal here.  I mentioned there was a small army of workers putting the festival sites together.  There is also a small army of private security, Jakarta Polisi (state police), and well, Army here to provide security.  And for good reason:  in 2009, the Ritz Carlton and Marriott hotels in Jakarta were bombed.

Our hotel has constant security out front.  Every vehicle that pulls up to the hotel is stopped by two guards who give a cursory inspection and use a long handled mirror to inspect the undercarriage.  Taufik (below) is one of the guards.  At the door, there are typically two more guards and a walk through detector.

Just outside the fence of the festival is a police barracks.  Sometimes you'll see 30-40 of them doing drills.  We've had to walk through their space quite a bit but they've been friendly.

Every day, 30 minutes before each show we get a security sweep.  Several guards come through checking for explosives with a visual inspection, wands, and a sniffing dog.

Anyway, it's good to know that people are looking out for us.