Happy adventure in a taxi

It was Saturday Nov. 14, around 2 p.m. when I received a phone call on my mobile phone from my wife stating that there was trouble brewing in and around the vicinity of the Radisson Hotel.

This was later confirmed to me by my resident manager. I stopped my afternoon game of golf at Cengkareng, left my car in the parking lot of the Sheraton Bandara and got a taxi from the hotel to make it back to the Radisson against the wishes of the callers, they wanted me to stay where I was.

The taxi was from Bluebird driven by Bambang W. He spoke some English and mixed with his Bahasa Indonesia and, with my understanding of the language, we could communicate.

His first words to me were "Don't worry, I will take you to the Radisson. However, leave the road directions to me, I cannot take you on the regular route." Well, I thought, that's fair enough.

All went well until we got off the toll road in Ancol, from where Jl. Gunung Sahari was closed, so he made a U-turn and took me through a few unknown roads until I knew where I was, and that was when we approached Kota railway station.

From there he drove along Jl. Hayam Wuruk. I felt safe and happy that we were getting close. However, that feeling was short-lived.

The road was closed from the Jayakarta Hotel. He asked my permission to stop at the hotel to get instructions from the taxi dispatcher at the hotel.

I got out of the taxi too. The news was bad, there was no way to get through. The taxi driver then said that he would park his taxi at the hotel and walk with me to the Radisson. Good gesture, but walk? The distance was too far and perhaps dangerous.

The doorman of the hotel overheard us and advised me to rest in the hotel lobby. Good gesture again, but it did not make me feel safe. The taxi driver was still determined to get me to the Radisson, he said "jump into the car and leave it to me, I will get you there." So I did. He took me through some roads unknown to me and while doing so, he asked my permission to smoke, as he was feeling stressed. I said "yes", and he offered me a cigarette, but I refused politely as I am not a smoker. He opened his window so that the smoke would not bother me, good manners.

Meanwhile, he kept stopping oncoming taxis and asking which roads were open to my destination.

While on the road adjoining the Mangga Besar railway station, he almost gave up on getting his taxi through and asked me if he could park his taxi at a nearby hospital and he would take a bajaj with me to the hotel.

I agreed, as it seemed that all the roads were blocked to cars. While driving to the hospital, the Sheraton Hotel came into clear view so I told him to take me to the hotel and that I would stay there until it was safe for me to leave. The taxi driver said "You're sure that will do?" I said "yes."

When we got onto Jl. Gunung Sahari, I was surprised to see the road from that point free of traffic blocks, so I told the taxi driver to proceed to the Radisson. And he did so, going via the Istiqlal mosque, onto Jl. Veteran and making a U-turn onto Jl. Juanda. He stopped at the beginning of Jl. Pecenongan, the road to the Radisson, as it was blocked by military personnel. The taxi driver parked his car and insisted on walking with me to the hotel. I told him that it was not necessary as it was a five minute walk and that I could do it alone.

Great job Bambang W, it's people like you that make Jakarta taxis a friendly and safe way to travel.

MAURICE COOK

General Manager

Radisson Hotel Jakarta