JAVA...Am I Police..?

---

JAVA...Am I Police..?

I think in a previous life...I must have been a policeman...not necessarily investigating serious criminal matters...no...I think I was probably a traffic cop...one who specialised in directing traffic.

Either way, I seem to have a genetic disposition to such matters...though I am unaware of any forebears who were members of the Force.

In many countries I have travelled...we are warned "Do not take photos of police, soldiers or Government institutions".

Remember they wiped your photo of a Consulate in Lusaka, Zambia.

And there was that soldier in Kenya that demanded my camera at the gate to Maasai Mara alleging I had taken a photo of him..."News to me...you're not getting my camera".

"Give him your camera"...my pasty companions on the safari truck screamed, as the soldier came on the truck demanding of me.

"No Way...You are not robbing me" I screamed in his face...could have gone either way...but he backed off...probably could see I was...International Police..!

I am in Jakarta...approaching MONAS...the giant flame symbol tower commemorating Indonesia's Independance from the Dutch in 1945...inspired by the Eiffel Tower I am told.

There are long lines of Police bikes lining the roadway to the tower...never seen so many.

And then I saw them...and they saw me...hundreds of police...battalions of them...each in groups of similar uniform.

Orders barked around me...better find my unit and smarten up...don't want to miss the parade.

"I'm a photographer from Australia"...I explain.

"OK...get on with it then."

"OK...a close up this time...smile."

Some weeks later I was on the mountain at Bromo, central Java...New Years Day...leaving after 4 nights at that magic place...9 hours to Ijen...in a line of stationary traffic snaking down.

There was so much traffic...our vehicle could not get to Lava Lodge to collect us...so our packs were taken by moped to our vehicle...and we went on foot.

Came to a stop on the zig-zag precipitous road...and sat there for one & a half hours without moving...noone moving down...some groups of mopeds coming up.

A man from a vehicle below...urinating over the edge...this could be messy if we are here too long.

A cigarette pack comes out of the window of the vehicle in front...settling near its passenger front wheel...its now raining...why litter this beautiful pristine mountain.?

Feel the call to duty...stop...what are you thinking..? It's not your country.

We started moving...maybe 10 metres...stop...going nowhere.

The word came by moped that a road up the mountain was blocked due to "road repairs"...due to landslides...and all vehicles were using our narrow road...precipitous in places...scarcely wide enough for two vehicles...dirt and rock having slipped in places around us.

Some vehicles had tried to overtake and now none could move up or down...except the odd moped.

Indonesia's National Vehicle is the moped...that step-through automatic motorbike that monopolises every street.

We saw families of two, three, four...young couples...boys riding...head scarfed wives & girlfriends, some hands free...some txting...others with arms around the driver...men, women...even children driving...weaving in & out of the traffic...all over Java.

I see a 4WD Landrover overtaking behind...in the narrow strip for up...Feel the call to duty...stop...what are you thinking..?

"He'll further foul up the road below and we'll never get down...that's what."

So I stood on the road...turning downhill as the 4WD then nestled against my back.

Back, back...I gesticulate...placing my hands on its bonnet as if pushing it uphill...and uphill it went...backing up at least five car lengths...me pushing the bonnet...to the vehicle behind it that was trying the same trick.

Drivers behind applauding...thumbs up everywhere...the International symbol of approval.

We moved about 50 metres around a bend then stopped again...rain now mizzling...I stand by the side...an empty beer can now flies out of the front passenger window of the vehicle in front.

I walk to the can...pick it up...place it through the window...and as the burly passenger did not take it...dropped it between his legs..."You dropped this."

To my surprise it came out from whence it had come...back onto the side of the road...why litter this pristine mountain..?

So I returned it politely to its sender...four men in the vehicle...all drinking beer...Bintang of course.

To my surprise the can again hit the roadside...rolled under the front wheel this time...that poor chap has dropped it...better return it.

Walked to the front of the vehicle...pointedly photographed the number plate...picked up the can...walked to the passenger window...passed the can in...

"Congratulations...Australian Police...you dropped this."

He took the can...mumbled something (probably "Thank You")...and his mates moved around uncomfortably.

Our driver Hady, a delightful, educated man...again sussing out the delay.

"They want to know if you really are Police. They keep saying "Is he really Police?""

"What did you say?"...knowing that Hady may have seen what I had done...but had no idea what I had said.

"Isaid "Yes...he is Police...He is Headmaster of Police.""

We of course cracked up...but the word now is...we may be here overnight..!

Feel the call for duty...we'll never get out of here if I don't do something...and I do have experience..!

See my blog text FACES OF MALI...THE WOMEN for my handling of 4WD queue jumpers in Djenne, Mali.

On Bromo mountain, I remember the remote village in Shaanxi Provence in Central China, on a previous trip...near the border with Gansu .

I was on my way to Maiji Shan...that carved mountain of my dreams...the reason I had made that trip...with my Xiondi...Robin...my Chinese younger brother to drive me there.

We pulled into a village for lunch...crossing a narrow bridge over a railway line...cut into the mountain...even had a couple of leather belts made there...by hand on an ancient machine...much to the amusement of the populous...no other Westerner in these parts.

We left to leave...the beer from the local brewery...fresh on my lips...then stop.

The bridge is blocked...vehicles in a tangle...persons gesticulating around them...a line ahead of us.

Robin goes off to investigate...tall and imposing being an ex-basketballer...and returns...shaking his head...pursing his lips.

"There has been an accident on the bridge...we have to wait for the Police to come to determine who is in the wrong...and an Insurance Assessor to come."

"But can't they move so they are not holding up traffic..?"

"No...they will not move until the Police say who is in the wrong."

"When will the Police get here..?"

"Maybe not until tomorrow. They have to come from Baiji."

Feel the call for duty...we'll never get out of here if I don't do something.

So I got out of the vehicle...passed the line up...onto the bridge assessing the accident and situation...not understanding the Mandarin or maybe Jin flying around me from a small crowd.

No idea who was in the right or wrong...could see who hit who and where...not interested in liability...I wanted to be at Maiji Shan by nightfall.

My International Police gene kicked in...get all the drivers in their cars...point...you this way...stop...you to here...unwind that tangle...bloody easy really...clear a path for vehicles to come through...come forward...keep it coming.

I will never forget the faces of the drivers filtering through...thumbs up, smiling broadly, nodding, thank you in various dialects...to this International policeman who had opened the road.

I thought of that incident as I sat on the mountain at Bromo...and then headed down the mountain in the rain...without my camera...to assess the situation.

Where's my camera when I need it.?..a fork in the road...one road blocked by two 4WDs kissing...the other so jammed that about 100 mopeds filled every inch of space between vehicles...a lone policeman on a pile of landslipped dirt and rock...no one moving.

Only one thing for it...I'm returning for my camera.

Met our guide Fandi on the way up...seems he was concerned I not get into any trouble..!

Got my camera but by the time I got back there about half the mopeds had got through and I was disappointed...still a good traffic jam...but you should have seen it before..!

Took a few shots then assumed signals duty.

A number of other travellers also assisting...spacing ourselves...clearing a jam...no mopeds past here...that vehicle forward...moped through there...keep this side clear...adjusting both lanes car by car...now the lines are moving...not hard really...drivers waving thanks...Fandi watching bemused...the guy from the vehicle who had dropped his beer can...working with me.

Throughout Java...civilians directing traffic...helping on that tight U-turn...that reversing into traffic...getting a coin each time...unemployed making a buck to feed their families..."local police" they are called.

Our vehicle has arrived...hop in...escape the mountain...took 5 hours to get off that mountain...took us 13 hours to get to Ijen...instead of 9...but it could have been longer...much longer...if not for International Police.

Relax & Enjoy,

Dancing Dave

---

Photos

BINTANG MEANS BEER
Indonesia's National Beer

BROMO TRAFFIC JAM
International Police to the rescue

LINED UP
Monas

POLICE BIKES
Monas

TRAFFIC COPS
Maybe we are related

RIOT SQUAD
Water cannon...filming for identification

Comments

[Home and Away]

Yes, you are the International Police!
We are much alike in this regard. I remember when I was a teenager in Bangkok, I had visited some friends passing through on a freighter at Klong Toey, Bangkok's port. After the visit I caught a bus, but soon it was stuck in gridlock. I hopped off to see what they delay was...no vehicles could make it through the intersection with the main road. So I started to direct traffic, stopping traffic on the main road until some from the side street could go, and alternating until my bus got to the intersection where upon I hopped back on. You got to do what you got to do!

[Dancing Dave]

You gotta do what you gotta do
You are right Bob...someone has to do it...its strange when it is the foreigner not the local who takes the initiative...pretty easy really..!

[The Travel Camel]

Dave, it doesn't matter where in the world you travel, you always manage to capture gorgeous portraits.

[Dancing Dave]

THANKS SHANE
The beauty here is I was allowed to take photos of Police that in other places may have put me in hot water..!

[Home and Away]

My attitude did give me pause, however.
Certainly years ago, the Thai gave foreigners more respect and authority that we hadn't earned. I often wondered if my actions were a reflection of a colonial attitude, even though my intentions were good...to help everyone out of a jam. I also performed traffic control in the States, so it wasn't just because I was white. One Thanksgiving in college I drove with friends from Western Pennsylvania to New York to visit relatives. It was about 9 pm and we were stuck in a bad snow storm driving north in the Delaware River valley. There was a long line of cars in front of us that wasn't going anywhere. After a couple minutes I got out and walked to the front of the line where I found a stuck snow plow. In front of it in the other lane was another stuck snow plow, with about 10 meters space between them. I could see that cars could go through this space, so I went to the driver in the first car in the other lane and told him that I would direct traffic, allowing ten cars from his side to pass through and then ten from mine. Soon things were moving. Unfortunately for the other lane, my car had bypassed the line and was one of the first ten from my side. I had to get in...not sure what happened after that!

[Dancing Dave]

YES BOB
Good to see my blog has prompted your recall of your penchant for traffic control...once your vehicle is clear...its up to others to continue the good work. My experience it just takes one to take the first step...and others step forward...probably had been thinking of it but needed one person to kick it off.

[D MJ Binkley]

You are the master.
I do hope you are working on a book. You always capture an interesting story and amazing photos. You manage to make people come alive. We were in the Frankfurt airport once when the gal in front of us started taking photos of the German guards and their uzi's and they confiscated her film. I thought they were going to keep the camera but did not. You always have interesting tales to tell.

[Dancing Dave]

HOW TO ENJOY A TRAFFIC JAM...NOT IMPOSSIBLE
Dave & Merry Jo, Always appreciate a comment from you guys... who prompted me to write these stories in the first place...to complement the pics. Joy in travel is what you make of it...if the poorest souls we see can have a smiling face...why can't we...that have so much more? Denise & I have had many unbelievable highs and some unbelievable lows in travel...but always came out smiling...its called making the most of a situation...never a dull moment when with my true love.

[deleted_46288]

How do you do it?
Dave has been working his magic again. I saw your blog this morning and inspired, I went out plod hunting. After a while I found a few and enquired as to whether I could take a snap. This was met with stony faces akin to those that are seen outside the temples that abound here, followed by a wave of the hand as the one I asked indicated that I should vanish in a rather rapid fashion. Damn! Foiled yet again! The only upside to all this is that I got to read another of your great blogs. Take care Big Bro :)

[Dancing Dave]

NICK...I JUST CAN'T UNDERSTAND IT
You read my blog...ignore the advice in the second paragraph "Do not take photos of police, soldiers or Government institutions"...then go out and try taking photographs of police...what were you thinking..? I'm somewhat relieved they weren't Riot Police...no-one would be silly enough to photograph them...or would they..?