Bapak Ojek of the Jalan Tikus

Keeping with my goal to familiarize the folks back home with day-to-day living, I've posted some short video clips from an ojek (motorbike taxi) ride I took on Friday. Ojeks are great because they can go places where cars can't. Riding them is alternatively terrifying and exhilarating.These guys got skillz. This ride was particularly entertaining because Bapak Ojek (Mr. Ojek) knew all of the Jalan tikus ("mouse roads" = short cuts) to avoid the Friday macet (traffic jam). Hop on the back (we can squeeze one more easy), and I'll show you.

Between the massive sky scrapers of Jakarta, there are little alleys filled with street food stalls, people hanging out on their motorbikes, and drainage systems - or, as I like to call them - bogs of eternal stench. Lean right!

Mind the speed bump at the beginning, and the Ibu (woman), and the high school girls, and the bog of eternal stench (on the right this time), and the dude standing next to said bog, and the other motorbike, and the girl on a bike... 

...and the man on the bicycle-come-merrygoround, and the polisi tidur ("sleeping policeman" = speed bump), and the wall of motorbikes, and the kaki lima ("five legs" = mobile food stalls)...

I made it to my apartment in a remarkable 10 minutes for only $2. The same distance could have easily taken me two hours in a taxi and cost two to three times as much. Thank you, Bapak Ojek. You're a life saver.