Yogyakarta - Becak-Becak

First, a couple of notes about the post title:

1. Becak-becak is the plural form. So becak-becak means pedicabs. It doesn't get much simpler than that. And if the plural form gets cumbersome you can just put the number, or "many" in front and you don't have to bother saying it twice. I love it.

2. Becak is prounced bechak. In Bahasa Indonesia every letter (or two letter combo) has a single way to pronounce it: no long and short vowels, no silent p's, no hard and soft g's. Easy. Pretty much all you need to know to read it competently is that c is pronounced "ch" and ng is pronounced like the ng in sing.

3. Of course, even a super logical language has an exception: Yogyakarta is pronounced Jogjakarta. Don't ask me why it's spelled like that. It might be in Javanese (the traditional language of the island of Java), but that's just a guess.

Ok, now to the photos. While in Yogya, I was amazed by the number of pedicabs (becak-becak). Apparently they were banned in Jakarta a while back to reduce congestion, and my guess is all of them came to Yogya instead. There are so many idle becak drivers trying to rustle up a fair that walking down the main street can be a test of patience. That said, with so few passengers, and so many becaks, I might be doing a little marketing too if I was a driver. Here's a driver in action:

It must be nearly impossible to make a true living wage as a becak driver. You do, however, become a master in passing the time. The men read, ate lunch, played cards and chatted with friends, but by far the most popular way to pass the time was this: