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Reunited with the truck once more, Jakarta thankfully shrunk to a dot in the wing mirrors before finally disappearing. The first stage of the Indonesian archipelago sprint had begun: the "Java Jaunt".
Sprint was not the right description of the initial speed though. Java is full of vehicles, which all seem to be tethered to the main trans-island road: my intended route. At one point, the truck became a statistic in a 40km long, crawling traffic jam.
Before this jam, when the vehicles were actually moving, things were best described as "spirited". In Indonesia, after passing your driving test before collecting your driving licence, it is rumoured that you have to recite the words "Me First" five times. And then swear that this is the way you'll act when driving propelling any form of transport.
Therefore, to comply with this oath, on any single-lane highway within a few days' drive of Jakarta, if there is a line of vehicles, half are trying to overtake, a quarter are trying to undertake on the pavement, and an eighth are trying to overtake those already overtaking.
The remaining eighth still think the world is flat.
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