Rides in Indonesia

Rides in Indonesia fall into two families, sharing only that something else does the moving. The first is the volcano vehicle. Bromo in East Java is the template: a jeep leaves Cemoro Lawang before dawn for the Penanjakan viewpoint, then crosses the ash plain called the Sea of Sand to the foot of the cone, where Tengger horsemen wait with ponies for the last flat stretch. The second family is what Indonesians themselves ride: the becak, a cycle rickshaw with the passenger in front, still working in Solo; the cidomo, a pony cart on car wheels and the only vehicle with a driver allowed on the Gili islands; and the ojek, a motorbike taxi in a green jacket, summoned by app.

The offer here sorts by machine. Quad bikes and buggies are the busiest line. A quad you straddle, alone or in tandem; a buggy seats two side by side under a roll cage and suits a pair where only one wants to drive. Neither asks for a licence. Jeep tours are almost all sunrise runs, four hours door to door, open-sided and genuinely cold before first light. The cycling is arranged so that gravity does the work, dropping from a crater rim through villages, with electric bikes for the flatter inland run from Sanur. Horse riding goes out on black sand at either end of the day. And a car with a driver for a full day is a ride too, and quietly the most used one.

Practical. quad and buggy tracks are dust from April to October and deep mud from November to March, which is either the appeal or the reason to book something else. Either way you finish filthy, which is why every yard keeps a hose. Wear clothes you have written off. Volcano jeeps leave between two and four in the morning, and a fleece stops being optional at altitude even on the equator. Operators set a minimum age and often a height limit for driving a quad; younger children ride as passengers. Becak and cidomo fares are agreed before you sit down, in cash and in round numbers.