i needed to go to the big city in order to renew my visa, and i chose the inexpensive public transportation (bemo) for the journey. i wondered whether to put my camera in my bag "just in case" something caught my attention, but opted not to, and set off. it is always an adventure to go by "bemo" because you never really know what to expect. for example, once i caught one, i found myself after a few minutes, driving down a side road, with the driver stopping at some mans' building site and unloading the big cement door frame that the only other passenger with me, had placed in the vw van before i got on. i thought that was very nice of the driver to go out of his way in order to help this poor man, and all for an extra 10 cents.
on the way in, i knew i would have to change bemos three times to finally reach my destination. i was pleasantly surprised to discover that my driver actually lived near where i had to get to, and he would be driving there anyways since he was tired and wanted to go home and rest. before that he asked to stop for a minute and buy a cigarette. Yes, you buy 1 cigarette, if you don't have enough money for more...which was his case. i too tried my luck and as we passed the cellphone center that i also needed to stop at, i asked him if he would mind dropping me off there and waiting 5 minutes and then we would continue. no problem! did a quick u-turn in the middle of the road and i jumped out to do my business. the 5 minutes, of course, turned into 10-15, and eventually i saw him standing outside the cellphone center, just looking at me. they would never make a fuss about it. realizing that it's just taking longer than i thought.
once we left and continued on to the immigration office, he made a point of explaining to me how much i should expect to pay the different bemos on my return journey. i knew the prices and was happy to see he was being very honest and helpful and not trying to take advantage of me being a tourist. i also knew the game rules; always have exact change for the trip, because they don't give you change if you give more! unfortunately, i didn't have a small $2 bill and gave him a 50,000 ($5) for the hour and a half trip. he took out some bills to give me change, and i looked at him and laughed. he still owed me 50 cents (enough for me to buy food for today). he smiled and said "maybe you would like to give me the extra 50 cents?" i suddenly remembered the first time i had gone on a bemo and was not given change and was very resentful and felt taken advantage of. i had asked a balinese friend why they don't give change? she said "maybe they think you would like to give them a tip since you will never see them again!" what?! strange ideas!but now, after living here for almost 2 years i thought it was such a cute way to get more money, that i laughed gladly to help him out and we parted ways. later i told my balinese friend about it and he commented "yes, when i was in jakarta, a gang on public transportation distracted my attention while one of them slit my pouch with a knife and took all my money. here in bali, if someone needs money, they just ask you if you will give it to them!"
on the ride back home a bemo stopped on the road where i was standing. (there are no bus stops, wherever you are, even if you are on the other side of the road, is where they will pick you up!). when i hopped into the open sided mini van circa 1970 or so, i had to laugh, because now i needed my camera! the only other person in the van was a woman my age, but on the floor were 24 geese! i just shook my head in disbelief of the creative solution she had found to travel by public transportation a long distance, with all of these geese!
how would you travel, alone, on public transportation with 24 geese? really! really? well...i liked her solution the best! she had taken a big white plastic sack, and cut 12 holes in it, and the neck and head of each geese stuck out of the hole to the fresh air, and the body and its droppings were in the sack. i just kept looking at these 24 geese heads sticking out of the 24 holes in the 2 sacks on the floor, wondering how in earth did she manage to get each geese into this sack and its head sticking out?! when it came time to drop her off, i again found myself going off in the opposite direction than where i was headed, since the driver was taking her home. after helping her grab the sacks with the geese and carry them into her yard, she gave him $1 more than the usual 50 cents for the trip. and with that "tip" he decided to stop at the gas station and "fill 'er up" with 50 cents worth of gasoline!
i enjoy seeing how people here find creative solutions for living...which are so different than my western mind.
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