In some places footpaths (also known as sidewalks after all) are for walking. Not in Indonesia though. There might have been some sort of intention like this when they were constructed. But in real life, footpaths are for running your food stall or some other business. Pedestrians can just fight it out on the roadway with all the cars, trucks, and motorbikes.
I watched one entrepreneur run his car parking business on a busy road in Jakarta's congested Kota district. Not on the road of course, but on the footpath. The grey Daihatsu in the middle of the top picture has been reversed painstakingly against the traffic, to where the parking wallah wants him. He's told to swing out to the right, regardless of the cars trying to come past him.
A steady stream of motorbikes hurtle through on both sides, completely ignoring the instructions of car park wallah, who's frantically blowing his whistle to no avail.
Wait for a gap. Back you go again. Hurry! Lots more whistles. Some rocks are positioned to help mount the curb. Oh dear, missed them. Scrape the bottom as we mount the footpath.
No wonder Jakarta's traffic is a total mess.
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