Old-fashioned 'dokar' being used to drive tourism

Old-fashioned 'dokar' being used to drive tourism

DENPASAR, Bali (JP): In this golden age of motorized vehicles,
an animal-drawn vehicle seems to be a thing of the past, and with
no future at all.

Well, guess again!

The Denpasar city administration has found that a "primitive"
vehicle, a horse-drawn carriage called a dokar, is perhaps the
most attractive mode of transportation the city can offer
visitors.

"We have noticed that the number of visitors, particularly
foreigners, who ride dokar as one of their ways to spend
time in the city is increasing," the head of Denpasar's tourism
office, Putu Budiasa, said.

The dokar enthusiasts mainly come from Taiwan and Japan.
Usually, visitors catch the dokar in the afternoon at the
traditional terminal for the carriages in Tegal, near the Badung
cemetery.

The dokar take the visitors on a 90-minute excursion through a
number of Denpasar's traditional markets, such as Badung market,
Tampakgangsul market and the Satria bird market, where visitors
have the opportunity to get a glimpse of the everyday lives of
the people of Denpasar, and to meet some "real" Balinese.

They disembark in Gemeh, near the largest modern supermarket
in Bali, Tiara Dewata.

The fact that many visitors love dokar was one of the
main reasons why last Sunday the city held a contest of decorated
dokar. At least 240 dokar participated in the event, which was
opened by Denpasar Mayor AA Puspayoga.

Most of the participating dokar were elaborately decorated
with traditional Balinese ornaments. Some were transformed into
royal chariots with engraved ornaments, beautiful golden-colored
umbrellas and small replicas of mythical dragons.

Viewers were given the chance to board the dokar for free, and
were given a special trip past Denpasar's many historic sites,
such as Pemecutan Palace, Jro Kuta Palace, Satria Palace and the
Werdhi Budaya cultural center.

The trips began and ended at the spacious Puputan Badung
square, in front of the Bali museum and the city's main temple of
Jagatnatha.

"It was a very interesting journey, I really enjoyed it," said
one of the some 20 foreign visitors who attended the event.

A number of gifts and prizes from the dairy company that
sponsored the event were distributed to the dokar drivers, or
kusir, at the end of the contest.

Hundreds of kusir, wearing blue T-shirts from Denpasar's Dokar
Association and traditional Balinese sarongs, were quite pleased
with the event.

"It is obvious that the present administration pays more
attention to us, and we hope this attention will be put into real
programs that can improve our future. Most of the kusir live in
poverty," one dokar driver stated.

Denpasar Mayor AA Puspayoga said the dokar was an important
element in his administration's newly implemented city tour
program.

The program is aimed at luring visitors to spend more time,
and money, in Denpasar. The first phase of the program includes
developing the city's basic infrastructure and renovating several
historic royal palaces.

"We believe dokar can play a vital role in this program. They
give us an appropriate means of transportation for the visitors
who want to see Denpasar's historic sites such as palaces,
temples and traditional markets," Puspayoga said.

The city administration, in collaboration with the local
office of the Association of Indonesian Travel Agents, has given
several kusir a short course in basic English and etiquette to
help them better serve tourists. (I Wayan Juniarta)