Traffic in Palu...

I have been collecting photos for a while now to try to give you guys a little glimpse into the quite... diverse traffic here in Palu. It is a very strange town, because it is one of the province capital cities, and that means everyone who is rich in this region lives here. At the same time though, it is also the capital city of a quite remote region... and that is something one will notice quickly.

For example is this a relatively common sight; ox carts. 

And on the other end of the scale, we have these. Not as common of a sight, but occasionally you will see a european luxury car like this Mercedes or, more common, BMW's.

To own one of these you have to be very rich, because the import tax on these things, I have been told, is 100% of the original price... 

This is what most people drive, 125cc scooters. These are popular because they can carry up to 6 people, 4-5 sacks of rice, double bed frames... anything basically. They can be rolling food stands, taxies and most importantly, they are easy to drive for drivers from 6-7 years old and up. 

These bikes are less common, because they are a lot more expensive, but they sure are fun to drive. Normally no more than 200cc, but that is plenty, because it is in reality impossible to drive any faster then 70-80 km/h because of the dense traffic.

Old Vespa's are popular among younger people, and they usually modify them quite a lot. 

Here is one with marine camouflage paint and antlers up front.

Having kids involved in traffic, like mentioned earlier, is also normal. Like in this picture, there is a young kid, maybe 10 or 11, sitting on a sack of rice on top of a pile of coconuts, while the driver was driving like a lunatic through town. Oh, and by the way; he was smoking cigarettes.

Pickup trucks are very popular. There's 1000's of them all over town.

Anything from this old clunker to highly modified, brand new Toyota Hiluxes and Mitsubishi Pajeros. People love them because they can be used for anything.

 If you don't have any cargo in the back of your pickup truck, it works well as a people carrier.

And if you do have stuff to carry, a pickup truck is good because you can just keep piling stuff on top until everything you want to bring fits.

We don't have a pickup truck, so this is what we had to do...

They even have motorbike pickup trucks. Very practical, but intensly dangerous! Especially with a younger driver... no surprises there, I guess.

A "boxtruckmotorbike."

Modifying is huge here, you can have almost anything done to your car or bike. This guy decided to make his bike look like a car... Nice not to have the wind in your face, especially considering how dusty this town is.

Now we get to the section of vehicles for the people who don't own a bike or a car.

This is a becak, basically a bicycle taxi. The locals are usually quite a bit smaller than us foreigners, so they can fit 2 at the time, but the only time I rode in one, it was very tight and very uncomfortable. But if you need more space...

 ... just hire a dokar. In a few words: a very fancy looking horse carriage.

The blue van on the left is by far the most common public transportation. Known as the Angutan Kota, Angkot or here in Palu, Taxi Biru. These guys drive around very slowly, pick up anyone who needs a ride, and takes them where they need to go. If you don't need to go where the other people want to go, you just have to wait until they have been taken there first, and then you'll be taken where you wanted to go later. About 4-5 people would fit comfortably in one of these, but I have once been in one with 19 other people.

There are also a few different vehicles that are not common anywhere else:

 Like this thing... what ever it is supposed to be

And these: Datsun Go. Nissan is relaunching the brand Datsun as their cheap-car-brand, and this country is one of very few where they sell them. Is is a very popular car. Much more comfortable than a bike and very cheap. VERY cheap.

Last picture is just of a normal day in Palu traffic

Do yo see how all those people on motorbikes are cutting in front from the right? That is very common here, and when you almost hit them, honk the horn out of frustration, most people just look at you with this face that seems to be saying "how dare you honk at me to warn me that you almost killed me when I cut in front of you on a busy street."

It is also very normal that people overtake others, and when they see you coming towards them, they honk their horns and wave their arms trying to say "when I'm driving down the wrong lane, you should get out of my way or we will crash!"

Every day in traffic here really is a test of my patience...

-E-