Various modes of Transportation

Here in Jakarta there are several different ways of getting around the city. I have tried to take a few pics of these so you get an idea of what we are dealing with here. To start of course, there are taxi's. There are a bunch of shady taxi companies who won't meter you and then charge you a bunch of money but not the one pictured here. It's a group of blue bird taxi's lined up in the front of our building. They are always there and you are guaranteed honest taxi drivers, which is nice when most of the time I have no idea what they are saying to me.

We have, not pictured here, the trans Jakarta bus system which is an inefficient way of getting to where you need to go. They all meet in central Jakarta and go to various places from there so if you need to get anywhere far away you always have to go to the center of Jakarta. It's good for us because we live here but not good for those who live far away. They have their own lanes on the roads, so they can go a little faster in the gridlock traffic.

Next we have an OJEK, which are best described as taxi motorcycles. I've never taken one because I don't have my own helmet but it's a great way to get through the traffic faster and it is usually cheaper than taxi's.

Lastly, pictured are the orange box looking vehicles called Bajai. They are a great, fast, and cheap way to get around the city but after a long ride in one of these you may still be bouncing when you get out. They aren't ideal for long rides because they are open air and very, very loud. We have yet to take a bajai. Maybe when our Bahasa is a little better. Some of these are very nicely painted in bright, pretty, colors and designs and these ones are supposed to be tuned up and better for the enviroment.

There are plenty more ways to get around here that I may have forgotten about but hey, that's ok, I can always add to another post.

The bicycle pictured is just a random I took while wondering around one day. These guys ride around and sell this type of merchandise. Most of it is a breakfast cereal "drink" called Energen. Jesse and I have tried this and love it. It's like drinking hot chocolate with chunks of yummy sugary stuff in it.