The mad dash home

We witness the same sight every year: Millions of Jakarta residents doing their utmost to secure sought-after tickets for buses, trains or ships to take them back to their hometowns to celebrate the post-fasting month Idul Fitri holiday.

For the travelers, fighting for space in their best dress and laden down with gifts for their relatives back home, concerns about the toil and trouble of the journey are overshadowed by thoughts about what awaits them at the end of the ordeal.

It's all in the spirit of the season.

Although not all will be able to afford the luxury of celebrating Idul Fitri in their hometowns on Nov. 25 and Nov. 26 this year, for others it is a must. For Idul Fitri would not be quite the same without celebrating the triumph of making it through the fasting month in one's hometown -- including the arduous journey involved in getting there.

-- Text and photos by P.J. Leo