Driving to the Main Post office in Jakarta -- Part A

Would you like to go for a drive? Remember to stay on the left-hand side of the road!

Today we took a trip to the Main Post office in Down-town Jakarta, Indonesia. The bad news is, the Post office in the downtown area of Jakarta handles the incoming mail for all of Indonesia. You could easily get lost in this building if you don't have a map, or at least speak some Bahasa Indonesia. The good news is that our driver speaks Indonesian, and is a very patient person. Another bit of good news: we located two packages that have been missing for three months. It was good to have an experienced driver that knows the area well. We used the University President's car and driver, so all we had to do was ask him to take us to the Post office, and he know right were to go.

On Sundays, my wife and I go to church at JICF in Jakarta, with our friends Gary and Paula Miller. They have a car and driver, but give the driver the day off on Sunday. Gary has had his Indonesian license for several months now. He's been driving on Sundays since it is a bit quieter on Jakarta's roads and he's been doing great.

I was reading about a young lady that decided to learn to drive in Jakarta, and she found that her well-engrained American driving habits showed up during a funny incident on the way to the practice driving area; this is her story.

"We came to an intersection and my husband made a right turn into the inside lane." Passing a truck in the intersection on the right side, I said, "I guess we're driving the Indonesian way." My husband said, "I don't know why that truck was going the wrong way."

I said, "Is this a one-way street?" to which he responded, "No". As a car was coming toward us I said, "Aren't we supposed to be on the other side of the street?" He says "Oh yeah!" and quickly maneuvered into the left lane. "What am I doing?" he said with a big sigh. It's obviously harder to undo habits than we thought, especially when it comes to driving on the other side of the street.

Jakarta drivers are famous for their ability to drive in a zigzagged manner down the street, joyously swerving around all other traffic, ignoring all the lines marking lanes on the street.

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[kerenbgtgue1]

when i see u say "Jakarta drivers are famous for their ability to drive in a zigzagged manner down the street, joyously swerving around all other traffic, ignoring all the lines marking lanes on the street " well i think that's right!.