Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Posted: **Tue Jun 17, 2003 7:14 pm**

Indo Jeep and Toyota pics

Posted: **Wed Jun 18, 2003 5:35 pm**

Sometimes rivers are the only way through certain areas - no roads - thats why my Jeep ends up in water a metre deep for half an hour or so.

The locals don't seem to mind - soemtimes a whole village will come out and cheer us on !

I love this photo - it is taken in East Java a 17 hour drive from Jakarta

Made a few friends during my stay in this village

One day when things settle down the dream is to have a fleet of 5 + Jeeps for rent to do 2 week guided trips through Indonesia for foreign tourists/off road enthusiasts [I have 2 at the moment]

Posted: **Wed Jun 18, 2003 7:50 pm**

How safe is it realy traveling around these areas of Indo?

Posted: **Wed Jun 18, 2003 8:01 pm**

I speak the language and know a fair bit about the culture and the temperaments of the various Javanese ethnic groups [ there are basically 5 different cultures - East, Central and West Java, Batawi and Banten - all different values and 'hot buttons' ] so I can get around ok.

I have only EVER had one problem in 3 years - generally the Indo's think its great that I am getting out and seeing the real Indonesia.

The photo with the Jeep in the water under the bridge was probably my worst experience AND I WAS TRAVELLING ALONE. The was a feud between the 2 villages on either side of the river and the opposing village came across the night before I drove back to Jakarta and undid my steering arm castle nut where it connects to the pitman arm. The next day I was driving along and the steering felt a little wierd, then before I could pull over the bloody thing came apart and I had no steering at 70km/h - luckily the brakes are set up pretty well and I was on a straight bit of road with (for that moment) no traffic - I pulled up a few metres short of a tree with no injuries to me or JavaBabe and no damage to the Jeep.

As I was carrying a lot of villagers around my guess is they were hoping it would come apart when I was carrying a lot of passengers like in the photos. The village I was staying in were people who had mostly moved from Central Java 40 or 50 yrs ago to work at the local sugar processing plant and platation. The opposing village were the much more extreme East Javanese. The feud had killed 7 people in the previous year and was mostly political and ethnic in nature, they were trying to force the local lads to join a very left wing party.

If I did the tour business I would have a military guide as part of the team and then no-one would mess with us.

If I was in a GROUP I wouldn't have had this problem.

East Java is the 'Wild Wild East' of Java. This wouldn't of happened in Central or West Java - the people are much more easy going.

Speaking a few words of the local dialect really goes a long way to making the locals at ease - I can speak a little Javanese and Sundanese which is different to Bahasa Indonesia, the national language [basically Malay]

Posted: **Thu Jun 19, 2003 11:08 am**

JavaJeep wrote:I can speak a little Javanese and Sundanese which is different to Bahasa Indonesia, the national language [basically Malay]

I remember years ago when I'd been studying Bahasa Indonesia for a few years and headed over to Bali - I'd start speak a basic sentence in Indo, and all of a sudden they'd figure I could speak fluent Indo....I just stood there with a stupid look on my face, as I scrambled for the dictionary :roll: