Posted by Pak Kece on Monday, 26. October 1998 at 21:11 Bali Time:
In Reply to: Has anyone rented a car for self drive? posted by Liz on Monday, 26. October 1998 at 11:12 Bali Time:
I lived for some years in Indonesia and I enjoyed self driving when I was there. In fact whenever I'm in Bali I always self drive too, it's part of the adventure. Many claim that you can hire a driver cheap enough but I just love to drive. I learnt this simplified system for successful driving in Indonesia and I hope you can get some use from it. I will once again be hitting the highways of Bali in January 1999 so …………LOOK OUT!!!!!
FLOW: it does not matter how many white lines are painted on the road or how many lanes of traffic there should be – go with the flow. Flowing could be eight lanes of traffic all going in one direction on a four lane two way traffic street.
PICK: the basic principle of pick is, whoever can place a portion of his vehicle in front of the other has achieved the right of way. Because all Indonesians are aware of this, there is incredible squeezing and jostling and pushing for position at crossroads.
BIG: this is easy. Size rules, however as you master the principles of 'flowing' and 'picking' you can compete more equally. When in doubt however size wins. Be especially gracious when dealing with large garbage trucks and let someone else get in behind them.
NO-SEE-CHICKEN: this is a great game of dare played with peripheral vision. The unwritten rule is that if you do not acknowledge that you have seen the other vehicle, most probably you will achieve or retain the right of way. If the conflict becomes one of fender-to-fender confrontation, you can affect great surprise that the other vehicle appeared. Honking horns in this situation does not count ; blinking lights, however gives you great power.
Road courtesy does not exist for Indonesians. No one is on the road to drink tea or make small talk; therefore why be courteous?