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If I could name one, and only one, thing about Jakarta that I do not particularly enjoy, it would be the traffic. Notorious for its traffic, Jakarta is a tough place to make plans. You have to have an extremely flexible schedule.It would be easier if I was located more towards central Jakarta, but I am in south, and even then it takes like an hour and a half to two hours just to go downtown. In America, if you drive two hours you are in a different state. In Jakarta, you drive two hours and you are still in the capital, probably very near the vicinity you were in to start off. Spending five to six hours a day in the car is not uncommon. I have to experience that everytime I go out.
But you know what makes it worse? The rain. During spring break when I was in Jakarta, it rained slightly. My family and I were near central Jakarta when it started raining and were immediately caught up in traffic. Two hours later, we were only a block from where we started from. Another two hours later was when we finally arrived home, tired and hot. I have to learn to take naps in the car, something I am not used to doing. However, I will need to start doing that because it takes about an hour to an hour and a half to get to my school every morning.
Oh, another thing that contribute to the heavy heavy traffic is the unbelievable amount of motors( motor bikes.) When you stop at a stop light, a swarm of motors go in between every car trying to cramp into as much space available. Motors here are like bugs, annoying and everywhere. They swerve in and out of traffic and go in between the lanes and cars. The thing is that motors are one of the cheapest transportation means, so there are an abundance of them on the roads. If I open my window, the motorists face is literally only a couple of inches away from mine. Anyway, I have learned to become very sabar ( patient in Indonesian.)
Driving in the states is a piece of cake. Oh, how I miss cruising down empty roads with the windows down and the breeze blowing through my hair. Now, it is bumper to bumper traffic, horns blaring, and me dying of a heat stroke.
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that’s some crazy traffic huh?
Comment by Angeline 07/06/2009 @ 3:53 pmi would die sitting in that heat for hours like that
even i find it really hard to live here in jakarta,,
Comment by red 15/06/2009 @ 9:05 pm