East Java Tourism News

Millions of Indonesians homeward bound for festival

September 29th, 2008

Across the world, Muslims are preparing to end Ramadan celebrations this week. It’s a time when families and friends come together to break their month long fast. In Indonesia tens of millions people are now making the long journey across the archipelago, returning to their hometowns and villages.

HAMAN: Despite the stifling midday heat hundreds of travellers have crammed into their trains hours before they depart Jakarta’s Senen train station. Those that arrived six hours before may well have secured a seat but others, who came with just a few hours to spare, must spend the next 12 hours or more on a small and hard patch of carriage floor.

Welcome to holiday travel in Indonesia. When the first glimpses of the new moon appear sometime in the middle of this week Indonesia’s Muslim faithful will share the end of Ramadan celebrations, known here as Lebaran or Idul Fitri, with their loved ones. And many millions will have traveled vast distances on trains, buses, ferries and planes to get there.

Of the 15 million or so expected to use public transport, the vast majority will travel by train. Indonesia’s state-owned train network says 800 people have toiled since June this year to build an extra 86 train carriages to accommodate an expected 20% increase in passengers.

Together with her husband and two young boys Ningsih must travel twenty-four hours to reach her parents village in east Java. The journey is one of joyful anticipation and sad reflection. When she arrives one of her first activities is a visit the grave of her first-born son.

NINGSIH: It’s very important that I go home, firstly to see the grave and secondly to visit my parents. But most importantly is to see the grave. I have been dreaming about him, about meeting him.

HAMANN: What do your parents do when you arrive?

NINGSIH: They will be happy. My parents are old and not in good health. They are expecting me to come home. My mum had a stroke. I really want to see them too. I really make an effort to go home every year just in case.

HAMANN: Like many families Ningsih and her husband have felt the pressure of rising prices this year. Ningsih queued overnight a month ago to buy her tickets and avoid paying the holiday increases but she says the tickets were still 80% more than last year.

Despite the heat and prospect of many hours on a cramped train, those departing Senen station faced their journeys with good humor and excitement. Romdoni lives and works alone in Jakarta. He is returning to his family in Central Java for the first time in nine months.

ROMDONI: I miss my family, especially now I have grandchildren. I really miss them. I don’t mind queuing up here since morning. It’s all because I want to see my family.

HAMANN: More than 40,000 police have been deployed to manage the exodus by road from major cities, providing security for the journey and empty residences. The Ministry for Transport estimates that 2.5 million people will make the journey home on motorcycles, creating headaches for traffic police and congestion for those traveling by car and bus.

Motorcycle use has risen dramatically in recent years and with it the death toll from road accidents. According to the Indonesian Consumers` Foundation Institute, 320 people died during last year’s Idul Fitri travel period. The government says it would like to limit motorcycle use but concedes that at a tenth of the price of train travel taking a family of four home on two wheels is the only option for many.

Source: http://www.radioaustralia.net.au

Entry Filed under: East Java News