Driving for Dummies

After two days of long mini-bus rides, I have been able to figure out the best driving strategy for Indonesia..........drive as often as you can in the passing lane. And since every road seems to be two lanes, that means you are driving directly into oncoming traffic. We experienced some wild rides in South America but Indonesians know how to take it to a new level, Java in particular. It is the most populated island in the world with almost 150 million people covering a surface that would only make up 20% of Alberta. So there is plenty of traffic and everyone seems to be in a hurry. Since there are no passing lanes, or long stretches without oncoming traffic, the plan of attack is to draft closely behind the vehicle in front of you (1-3 feet seems appropriate). Then you pull out to pass when you sense weakness in the eyes of the oncoming driver who will always slow down and pull over onto the shoulder if necessary. People on motorbikes (50% of the vehicles) seem to be the least of anyone's concern so they are clearly at risk in these situations.......but then again we have seen families of 3, 4 and even 5 people on one bike, so they obviously enjoy the challenge. We encountered more than 10 near misses but all had successful outcomes, and we have witnessed no road carnage to date, so one can only conclude with 100% certainty that being beyond aggressive is the way to go. Size also matters, as our most recent uber driver 'turtled' a few times when confronted with large transport trucks who were hurtling towards him while passing slower vehicles.

When not closing our eyes and praying on the bus we have done our best to keep both feet on the ground and use that as our mode of transportation. We had a good hike in the mountains, going up to the Mount Bromo crater. Unfortunately it was a foggy and misty day so our view was limited but at least we got some exercise. Almost everyone else came on 4x4 jeep tours (to within a kilometre of the crater), or on horseback to within two hundred metres of the final steep incline.

We are currently in Yogyakarta. Today we toured the Kraton, the Sultan's palace grounds, where a group of girls politely asked if they could have their picture taken with us........we assume that they thought we were Brad & Angelina. Then we tempted fate and took a non-motorized ride in a becak (even lower on the road safety totem pole than motorbikes) to a batik workshop (a fabric dyeing technique) where we purchased a nice piece of fabric art to bring home. Tomorrow we are taking a short trip to Burobudur to view an historic Buddhist temple and then on to Prambanan to see a large Hindu temple. On Monday we are going to give the bus ride a rest and travel by train to Jakarta (7 hours)......we have been told that trains always have the right of way and everyone gets out of their path so we should be able to enjoy the scenery along the way :)