A Dokar Ride

Each Saturday, we journey downtown to do some shopping for the upcoming week. We try to purchase items that are heavy so our helper doesn't have to carry them home when she shops on Wednesday. Unlike our helper, we don't shop at the pasar or local market. Instead we shop at American type stores, places where the prices are clearly marked and you can get by speaking minimal Indonesian. On one such shopping trip we decided to purchase two "buckets" (gallons)of paint in addition to the usual items. Like other Indonesians without a car or motorcycle, we depend on the angkota, public transportation, to get around. There is an angkota (the light blue van) just to the left of the horse. Like in the U.S., you have to be on the angkota's route to get a ride. With the paint and groceries weighing us down, our usual three block walk seemed like more than we wanted.
So, we decided to take the dokar. A dokar (do-car) is simply a horse drawn two-wheeled cart. We bargained with the driver, actually, we explained where we lived and then agreed to pay what he asked, and got in. It was quite a drive. Sections of Salatiga are quite hilly. This means that the driver must really slow the horse down when going downhill and then have the horse gallop to get up the hill. The trip reminded me of a wooden roller-coaster ride. I don't enjoy roller-caoster rides, especially wooden roller-coaster rides, they're too rough. The speeds weren't as great on our dokar ride but like on a roller-coaster, I found myself wondering why I thought this would be a good idea. In the end, we arrived safely at our house. Since our dokar ride I've heard stories that really make me question our use of the dokar. Of course, if you come to visit us, we will most definitely take you on a dokar ride just to say you've been. Shalom, Jeff