Indonesian Street Peddlers' Carts
Wednesday, January 11, 2012 at 7:09PM
Dr. Jeff Harper in Indonesia, Photography, Street Peddlers' Carts

I love street carts.  I freely admit it.  Indonesia must be the street cart capitol of the world.  Never have I seen so many carts selling so many items. They completely fascinate me. In Indonesia they are known as kaki limas, which literally means "five legs."

 

The types and varieties of items for sale staggers the mind.  A very few were new, like this ice cream cart.

 

Cart location seemed critical.  Sweets carts are found near tourist locations, or where school children frequent.

 

Jakarta Coffee and tea carts all displayed racks of packets.

 

Congregations of carts were often seen . . .

 

. . . as well as solitary carts.

 

Cart men and woman came in all shapes, sizes, and genders. This seaport cartman repaired to the shade of a truck for his morning's shave.

 

Most of the cart proprietors in Jakarta were well dressed and clean.

 

Carts were not just places to purchase coffee, tea, or fruit; they are places for friendship and social interaction . . .

 

. . . a place for a laugh among friends . . .

 

. . . a place in the shade to take a break from your job . . .

 

. . . and to enjoy life.

 

There were carts everywhere I went in Indonesia, of course, like this cart outside the wet market of Yogjakarta.

 

A  Yogjakarta cart portrait.

 

I wasn't sure if this Yogjakarta street peddler was selling door-to-door, or was on the way to his regular 'corner' somewhere.

 

Here is a slide show of more carts for those of you, like me, who love street arts.

Article originally appeared on Travel Photographer (http://drjeffbangkok.com/).
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