Escape from Jakarta (part 1)

Heavy traffic queuing at the toll booth at Cililitan 2, Jakarta

Indonesia is very prone to environmental problems and natural disasters.


Tsunamis, earthquakes and volcano eruptions are a normal occurrence in many parts of the country, some of which erupt and torment its people without warning or mercy.  


In many parts of Indonesia, these environmental disasters has taken away many lives and many more are left poor and homeless.  


Flash floods, landslides and widespread flooding also happen regularly during the rainy season which usually strikes from December to March.


Even in cities like bustling metro Jakarta, Bogor and Bekasi where incessant heavy rains usually hit the hilly terrains of Bogor (known as the city of rains), the upstream downpour would strike the low lying areas around the river basins and flood the whole valley in a day with ease.

Traffic jams in Jakarta are worse than Kuala Lumpur

Couple that with the bad drainage system and the traffic woe infamy in central Jakarta, the matter would get even worse. The real problem to many city dwellers is, whenever these flash-floods occur, the ever increasing traffic gets into an almost standstill.


But be that as it may, the people of Jakarta are a patient and likable lot. Many seems to be casual about the matter and carry on with their everyday lives as if nothing unusual is happening.


When we were in Jakarta last week, my wife and I never thought that the Jakarta traffic could be that bad. Never had we experience a standstill traffic for so long that we could even walk faster than the vehicle stuck in the jam.

Flash flood is a common occurance in Jakarta

Quoting Indonesiapics.com: It is a sheer test of patience and heat. You are literally sitting in your motionless vehicle; waiting for what seems like hundreds of vehicles ahead of you to move forward. You are sandwiched between cars, trucks, buses, motorbikes and street peddlers. The only way out is to follow the herd in front of you, moving slowly in a timeless motion till you are out of this vicious traffic congestion.


We initially thought the traffic jam in Kuala Lumpur was the worse in this part of the world.  Or maybe in Bangkok, but I am not sure as I have only been there once, sometime in the late 1990s.


But wait till you get to experience Jakarta and its infamous 'jamming session'.



Bajais waiting in line at the Jakartakota Train Station


You can even get a full-days sleep in this terrible jam if you are traveling in a comfortable air-conditioned 'Kijang' or taxi. You can even get roasted in the hot sun or bring home a 'royal' back cramp if you're traveling in a lesser comfortable vehicle.


Worse still, you can even get a heart-attack if you travel in one of those 'Bajai' or 'Angkutan' and are not accustomed with how these drivers 'mencilok' around the slow moving traffic.


But on a hindsight (and considering that you are brave enough), moving around on the Bajai is faster and more practical in the congestion. And that's what we did, when we were caught in the rain and flood in Jakarta on 14 February.



Wife & me braving the Jakarta traffic on a Bajai 


Well, maybe that is why many Indonesians do not give much bother about traffic jams, torrential rains or flash floods when it happens. The side-walk stalls and street-peddlars would carry-on their business as usual as if nothing is wrong with the weather or traffic.

Jakarta street-peddlers showing off their products in the jams

For example, read what this blogger commented on why Indonesians do not bother much about the jams: Indonesians blame the current traffic woes on many factors - red tape, corruption, poor implementation and controls, poor urban and development planning, etc. Many people just don’t care anymore and simply adjust their lives to this misery.


Heavy rains, flash-floods and the ever increasing traffic jams are to them a mundane, everyday matter that they have to live with, whether they like it or not. To some of them, like the street-peddlers and beggars, it is where their business and living rely upon.


I can't imagine, how these people would conduct business in a jam free city.


So, to them the irony of a standstill traffic means it is good when people stuck in the traffic would have no choice but to look and consider buying what they are offering.