Welcome back to another installment of Ask the Woods Wednesday.
Today’s question is all about Transportation and it’s brought to you by John S. in Michigan!
What is the travel situation like, both locally and nationally?
Traveling around town is mostly done by car, motorbike, becak or ongkot (minibus). Because of the heat there is not as much walking to and from places. Walking to and from the ongkot stop is most of it.
Going from one island to another there are many domestic airlines. The roads here are in rough shape so it’s often quicker to fly from one part of the island to another rather than driving.
Are stores, church, school, restaurants within walking distance?
As Medan is a large city there are things within walking distance of most places. In every neighborhood there is a school, a mosque, usually a church or two, lots of little warungs (small open-air restaurants), and convenience stores. There are many things to walk to near our house, but unfortunately there are no sidewalks near our house which make it unsafe to walk around as a family with small children.
Is there a lot of bike riding?
Bike riding is not very popular here but there is a small group that we see bike riding in the mornings on the weekend for fun and exercise. It’s a rare occasion to see someone riding a bicycle to work. WIth the traffic patterns here I would fear for my life riding a bicycle on the roads.
Do ride sharing (uber) platforms exist?
We have 2 main ride sharing programs here: Grab and Gojek. You can choose to order a car or a motorbike for these apps. This is what I (Kali) use most of the time since I’m don’t drive the car here. It usually costs about $1-3 USD for a one-way ride, which makes it quite affordable.
Is public transportation highly used?
Many Indonesians use the ongkots here. We have been told as bule (forgeigners) to steer clear of them due to pickpockets.
Being an island nation, do railroads exist?
There are no railroads on Sumatra but they are building a subway system in Jakarta and there are a few railways that go through Java to get people to and from Jakarta from the outlying cities.
Do many of the islands have bridges to connect them, or do you sail or fly to destinations?
There are a couple bridges that connect a couple islands but most of the islands use ferries or planes. The small islands only have access by ferry, and the larger ones have both airports and ferry ports.