A tiring trip

From Jayakarta

Quite recently I had to go to Yogyakarta for several days and as usual when I go on long trips, I traveled by bus. To make sure that the long trip back to Jakarta was comfortable I chose a bus company whose name was quite well known. The higher fare did not matter because I wanted to feel fresh when I arrived, since I still had to go to work.

For a while after the Muncul bus departed Yogyakarta all seemed fine. Near Pemalang, however, for reasons that were not clear, the bus broke down and would not start despite the crew's efforts. After this went on for some time all the passengers, who were then eight in number, were told to board another Muncul bus.

Then the ordeal began. Because there were only four free seats in the new bus, four of us had to remain standing. Naturally they protested. The crew's curt reply, however, was: "If you want to go with us, go with us. Otherwise, stay behind." Because there was no alternative, the four had to make the whole trip to Jakarta standing.

I am writing this letter in the hope that others will not suffer the same experience.

IRWAN

Tangerang, West Java