OJEK

Ojek is basically a motorcycle for hire. The owner/operator or whatever sit in the front while the passenger sit in the back. They go wherever and whenever you tell him (if there is a woman operator, I haven't got the fortune to meet her yet)to go. Once you agree on the cost, you get on, say you prayer and off you go. Well, by law you are supposed to wear helmet. Law also tell you to pay taxes. This is the law that not universally enforced in Indonesia. There are places where the operator, once you agree on the price, will hand you a well worn helmet which is probably has been worn by zillion of people with different state of skin or hair diseases. The thought of the previous wearer could have been escapee from a leper colony sometimes enter my head enough for me to risk any possible head injury. Now, where to find them. Don't worry, most cases they will find you. Just look lost and bewildered which is not really hard to do. Sometimes they wave at you, yell, whistle, jump up and down, call, clap their hand, send smoke signal or whatever means available at their disposal. No, they don't have VHF radio. Riding ojek can be relaxing but at times nerve wrecking. I've ridden ojek whose mother never told him about traffic law or rules of the road. He who probably think he was Valentino Rossi, run against the traffic, on sidewalk, run through the red light and did anything against what I call safe driving. I would be surprised if he is still with us in this living world. Due to the lousy state of public transportation and road conditions, they are by default, one of the most popular mode of transportation in Indonesia. They are can be found almost anywhere. Yes, some of them can be found where at places they are not supposed to be like at International airports. Or you can find them in the jungle of Borneo. I kid you not. Unless you are blind, any body can become an ojek operator. What you need is a bike. At remote places if you see one without a licence plate, you can be sure that the bike is a stolen from somewhere.Driver licence would nice to help. If you ride one and somehow he spot a traffic cop a mile away and he start to look for a short cut, you also can be sure that he does not have a driver licence. I got plenty story about ojek, but I am getting hungry. Maybe I would go out, get an ojek and find something to eat. Yes, will say my prayer.