Need a lift?

don't see an angkot? wait just a second...

The angkot is the most popular method of public transportation here in Bandung. Actually, there are only 2 forms of public transportation in the city. One is on the back of an individuals motor scooter (ojek) and the other is the angkot. Each has its pluses and minuses. 

The angkot is a small public minivan with the side door removed, making it easier for passengers to hop on and hop off. The seats have also been removed and replaced with a narrow bench that lines the sides and back so that the passengers sit facing one another. 

shotgun is the most preferred seat

free entertainment is often provided while you ride

typical traffic with angkots

lots of options outside Bandung Hyper Mart

Angkot drivers are always looking for passengers and will often honk to let you know they are there. Rides are very cheap, anywhere from 10-50 cents, depending on how far you need to go. They are also convenient, as they are literally everywhere you look! Unlike a bus that makes predetermined stops, angkots may pick up or drop off passengers anywhere along their route. However, you can’t hop on just any angkot; you have to be sure to get on one that will take you where you want to go! Each angkot has its own route. You must know your drop point in order to catch another one and continue working your way to where you need to go.

many women use this form of transportation

 

When traffic slows, it is common for young men with guitars or ukeleles to hop into the open door and begin serenading the passengers. Like all street musicians, they are hoping for some change but in this case, they actually have a captive audience vs playing through closed car windows.

some are more souped up than others

Angkots come in a variety of colors - green, blue, orange, etc. Some are a combination of these, depending on their age and how many times they’ve been painted. It’s a good idea to have the exact change because chances are you won’t be getting any back! It’s also good to keep your hand on to your wallet, as these vans are often overcrowded (hopefully no more than 10 passengers but there can be as many 18!) The cramped seating inside an angkot can easily turn into Pickpocket Heaven.

 

this one runs at the end of our street

Once you’ve figured out which angkot to get on, just hop in through the open side door. Don't expect air conditioning. Being  Caucasian in an angkot guarantees you more than a few stares! People here don’t even pretend to be discreet about it; apparently they just can’t help it. When you’ve reached your destination, yell “kiri” (kee-ree) which means you’re ready to get off. Pay the driver as you exit. Thank God that you're off!

Nu Art Gallery

entrance to gallery

Last week my friends and I discovered a hidden gem right here in Bandung – the Nu Art sculpture park and gallery. Normally I’m not over-the-top excited about art galleries, but this was one really quite interesting. Located in the northern part of the city and opened in 2000, the sculpture park employees about 50 local residents. The artist Nyoman Nuarta grew up in Bali but moved to Bandung where his large home overlooks the almost 7.5 acre sculpture park.

face of a Balinese deity awaits the rest of his body

job description -  hammer material into cube shapes for later use

depicts speed, represents one biker

Many large sculptures are displayed throughout the grounds, while the inside gallery houses Nuarta's earliest paintings up to his most current sculptures. His works are very diverse and he addresses a wide range of subjects, with one even depicting the attack on the World Trade Center. Unfortunately, photographs were not allowed inside so the only ones shown here are from the park grounds. The complex also houses a restaurant along with a craft boutique that offers the artist's miniature artworks as well as a variety of local and international crafts. Nuarta uses many interesting materials to craft his creations including wire, mesh, copper, bronze and porcelain.

discarded and forgotten

castaway sleeping among volunteer impatiens

The most surprising part of our visit occurred when we meandered around behind the gallery building and found many artists hard at work, creating the visions of the artist himself. Some of the projects were unbelievably large in scope!

angel sculpture

retired but still beautiful

royalty in for repair

what if your job was to hammer all day?

Behind the work area is a river and a waterfall that cuts the park in two. As we continued toward the river, we discovered a number of discarded works, deteriorated by exposure and time.

What a talented man Nyoman Nuarta is! Can you imagine having  so many creative ideas that you need the help of 50 people working full time to bring them to fruition?

 

young Indonesian girl dancing/singing

one of many large sculptures in the park 

mossy walkway

 

 

Here and There

sidewalk sales

Sometimes (often) I'm really not in a blogging mood. I am not a writer, because writing doesn't come easily for me. But as I'm sure you've noticed, I do like to take a lot of photographs. I rarely go anywhere without my camera over here. However, I often end up more frustrated than not because a large percentage of the photos I take are from the back seat of a moving car. There's nothing more frustrating than missed photo ops and they are everywhere!

At right, sidewalk merchants are putting out their wares early in the day. The woman in the back is selling fake hair, the style that Muslim women wear under their hijabs. It strikes me as funny that they would need a particular hair style since it is going to be covered up anyway. But there is a definite "look" that can be achieved by attaching one of these hair pieces to one's own hair.

pharmaceutical, consumer and health care distributor (wonder what's in there?)

While sitting still in traffic, I noticed this sign nailed to a tree advertising Al-Lathif Islamic International Preschool. It says (and I quote) "Expand Children Talent To Be Generation Who Behave and Thinking Globally." Yes, that's what it says and yes, it is a preschool.

Yesterday while stopped in traffic, I was thinking it odd that laundry was hanging outside this tiny sidewalk kiosk. Then it dawned on me that the owner (and family?) lives inside the adjacent quarter, thus the laundry hanging out to dry. Unfortunately, this photograph doesn't show much of a sense of scale, but the room on the far left is (generously) 4x5.

At left is the ever popular street food which Indonesians love. We have been warned not to eat it, mainly because of the unsanitary conditions under which it is prepared and kept. Most of it is not tempting anyway.

boiled somethings

All of these are random shots that I've snapped as I've been out and about in Bandung this week. None could be considered great and few are even keepers, but hopefully together they give you an idea of what life is like on the streets of Bandung - a glimpse of average people going about their normal day.

The guy at right tried his best to sell me some type of boiled legume (front left). When removed from its shell, it looked and tasted like a very large, undercooked pea.

Too many people in this city are handicapped and must resort to begging to survive. One cannot go anywhere without seeing them. Some are able bodied enough to move about in stopped traffic; others must lie on the sidewalk in hopes someone will drop money in their cup. To be honest, I rarely photograph them because most of the time it is too painful to see their plight, much less record it.

 

Barbie fan

This darling little "Barbie" was waiting with her mother outside a restaurant we visited today. Yes, Barbie is popular with Indonesian girls too. Last week I even saw a Muslim Barbie (Barbie dressed in Muslim attire). 

blind leading the blind?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Usually blind people are led by a partially sighted (?) friend or family member, helping them hold out their hand to stopped motorists. This was different, as these people were nicely dressed and appeared to just be going somewhere together. The woman in front (using cane) is leading 3 blind persons behind her, each with their hand on the shoulder of the person ahead of them.

 

musicians playing traditional instruments as they walk past market

how many soccer balls can you carry on one motor?

friendly becak driver

 

 

Traffic, as Usual.

Jalan Dago

To say that traffic in Bandung is challenging would be an understatement. A more accurate statement might be that traffic in Bandung is INSANE, especially to a westerner who comes here for the first time. I’m not even talking about weekends or holidays when people flock from surrounding cities to shop Bandung’s outlet malls. I’m talking about regular traffic on a regular day. I know I’ve mentioned it before but I've decided that Bandung traffic deserves to be my subject of the day. I want to make sure you've got the full picture.  

women getting ready to cross the street

cars, motors, angkots

As you can see from the photos, the streets are filled mainly with cars, trucks, angkots and motors (what Indonesians call scooters) carrying multiple passengers and all sorts of other items. Add to that men pushing loaded carts and throw in a few becaks (the local version of a bicycle rickshaw or pedicab).  You’re beginning to get the picture. Traffic moves at different speeds, depending on what part of the city you’re in. The white stripe down the center of the road serves only as a mere suggestion, not a law to be strictly adhered to. It is more common to drive across the white line than not. It really just depends on what traffic is doing up ahead.

bananas and mangos on back of motor

The best way (except in rainy season) to get around is the "motor" or scooter. However, if there are more than 5 persons in your immediate family traveling together or if it is raining hard, motors have their drawbacks. But aside from either of those scenarios, they are the quickest way to get around the city. Obviously, cars can only move as fast as the cars in front of them are moving. Motors, on the other hand, rarely stop moving. They continue to flow around any stationary objects (non-moving cars) even when it means a tight squeeze between vehicles or lopping over onto the "sidewalk" (footpath).

passenger carrying newly purchased tree

If you are a pedestrian, good luck. The one big warning given to us upon our arrival at Fulbright headquarters in Jakarta was to be careful crossing the street. It didn’t take long to understand why. There are no real places designated where the traffic stops to allow pedestrians to cross. People just cross wherever they need to. There is an art to crossing traffic. First look for a tiny gap or opening, then proceed s-l-o-w-l-y with an arm outstretched as you go, while attempting to make eye contact with as many drivers as possible. In other words, you are your own traffic monitor as you navigate your way across the street. This usually works better if there are several people trying to cross together.

becaks with passengers, motors and cars share road

out the rear view

I am constantly amazed that there aren't more accidents than there are. In our time here, our car has either hit or been hit by 3 motors - thankfully very minor. Our newest driver is light years (experience wise) ahead of our previous one, who seemed to prefer riding the white stripe and was constantly getting honked at. At first he was always killing the engine and I thought something was wrong with the car but as it turned out, he really just didn’t have any experience driving a car with standard shift. He was a very aggressive driver, probably because he was used to driving a motor. Our current driver is much more defensive in his driving and we've yet to be honked at. Whew!

i always wonder where everyone is going?

Another factor that adds to the overall driving picture is the maintenance (or lack of) of the roads here. The freeways are decently maintained, although Ronnie did see a motor with driver disappear down into an unmarked hole in the street in Jakarta! In addition to the sheer number of vehicles on the road at any given time, the city streets are often riddled with pot holes, some of which simply cannot be avoided. Given these factors, along with the sheer number of people traveling on Bandung’s streets, it’s amazing that there are as few “incidents” than there are. We rarely ever see people lose their temper and for the most part, drivers don’t appear to be frustrated or angry. They just understand that this is what getting around in Indonesia’s third largest city is like.

negotiating an intersection

Traffic in Indonesia moves on the opposite side of the road from what we are used to in the US due to the Dutch influence and later the British. Few motorists carry insurance. These factors, overlaid with with the scenario above are the reasons we (and expats in general) hire someone to do our driving. In addition to getting us where we need to go, our driver is also great about picking up and dropping off laundry and other quick errands. As you can see, having a personal driver does have its advantages!

typical view from the back seat

Addendum: When I started this post, Ronnie left to get a much needed massage at a place not far from our apartment. After sitting in traffic for one hour, he abandoned his idea and returned to the apartment. He did stop and pick up some bottled water on the way back; at least it was not a totally wasted trip. Sigh...

Kids in Uniforms

elementary children wear red and white

One of the things I really enjoy seeing here in Indonesia are the school children. It's very common to see them walking in groups or gathered around food vendors near their respective schools.

One of the first things you notice is that they are always dressed alike. You can determine their age based on what color uniform they are wearing. For example, elementary aged kids (Grades 1-6) wear dark red and white. Middle school kids (Grades 7-8) wear dark blue and white and high school kids (Grades 9-12) wear gray and white.

high school girls in gray and white

In Indonesia, the first 6 grades are free and mandatory. Supposedly education is compulsory through Grade 9. But beginning at Grade 7, families have to start paying for their children to go to school. It’s probably not a lot by US standards, but it's my understanding that here in Indonesia it is enough that many children do not go to school past Grade 6, simply because their families cannot afford it. From what I am told, the amount parents have to pay for High School aged kids is more than for Middle School. Thus many children have to drop out before they get through all 12 grades. I have mentioned before that the boys that work here at our apartment complex are a constant revolving door and none of them are in school, though they are all of school age. So it is not uncommon to see kids wearing no uniform at all, and one can assume that these children come from poorer families that cannot afford to keep their children in school.

Guidelines for school uniforms require the boys shirts to be short sleeved and the girls skirts to fall below the knee. Muslim girls are allowed to wear long sleeve shirts, longer skirts and jilbab to cover their heads. Occasionally I see checkered vests or shorts. I suppose they are just accessories or additions to the basic uniform colors (ability to mix and match). Students involved in PE wear matching sports outfits as well.

more elementary boys (note checkered vests)

middle school girls on batik Friday

Some private schools have different colored uniforms, although they are still the basic blouse/shirt and below-the-knee skirt or slacks. Most often, younger kids wear black or white tennis shoes with the school uniform, while High School children wear mostly black shoes. Some uniforms have a particular schools emblem on the front or sleeve of the shirt. Students are not allowed to color their hair or have tattoos anywhere on their body. Males are not allowed to have long hair.

elementary girls on batik Friday

elementary school children performing at local mall

high school girls in batik on Friday

mandatory scout uniforms worn on Saturday

In addition to their regular school uniforms, all school children Grades 1-12 must wear their respective batik shirts and blouses (sometimes short sleeve, sometimes long) on Fridays. Children go to school here 6 days a week, including Saturday when all students must wear their scout uniforms (both girls and boys, Grades 1-12). School buses are non existent. Children can be seen walking with  parents, in groups or piling into angkots (Indonesia’s most popular form of public transportation).

Kids who do not attend school can be seen working the streets, trying to sell trinkets or food, entertaining with monkeys or strumming guitars for a few coins at busy intersections or any place that traffic tends to back up. If I am walking I always speak to them and often ask if I can take their photograph. Most are very shy and do not want their photograph taken by a bule, though occasionally I will come across a ham.