Jatinagor Public Transportation

I'm alexander, a 2005 student from one of the campuses in Jatinangor, West Java. What I will tell you this time is an event that I experienced myself in 2006. Here's the story.. Like other students who came from outside the area where the campus is located, I who came from Sukabumi had to stay in a boarding house too. My boarding house is not too far from campus, it can still be reached on foot to commute to college. And, like most of the other boarding children, I also rely on public transportation if I have to go a bit far away, one of which is angkot. Speaking of angkot, you could say I rarely use it, because the boarding house is in the middle, so if you want to go anywhere you can still reach it on foot. If you want to go to a distant destination, what do you ride? Well, if you look at the location where Jatinangor is located, which is between the cities of Bandung and Sumedang, my friends and I, if you really want to travel looking for entertainment to a big city, will prefer to Bandung. To go to Bandung, we will use the Damri bus as a means of transportation, because if you take an angkot, you don't know when it will arrive, there will be eternal traffic jams. Yes, I rarely take public transportation if I don't have to. Fifteen years ago, Jatinangor was still relatively quiet, not as busy as it is now, there are still not many angkots. Angkots are also still few passengers, I rarely see angkot full of passengers. Why did I pay attention to the angkot passengers at that time? There's a reason. So, in my first semester of college, a scary story circulated about an angkot.

Yes, it's called a scary story, it will quickly spread among students and the surrounding community. At that time a story circulated which said that around Jatinangor there was a satanic public transportation. Devil's bus? Yes, the devil's bus. The story begins with (he said) that a student was found unconscious on the side of the road at night, investigate it, before fainting she took an angkot from Cileunyi to Jatinangor, it turned out that the angkot she was riding contained ghosts or demons or jurig or whatever, and then this female student was scared to death until she finally fainted. I still don't believe in that story, but it's still fun if a friend tells it again, counting on entertainment. However, my skepticism ended when I finally experienced a terrifying incident in the angkot, an incident that I still remember in detail to this day. Angkot satan in Jatinangor.

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At that time in early 2006, I was going back and forth to Sukabumi because there was a long holiday, I was at home for quite a while before I finally had to return to the Jatinangor campus. Maybe it's the same with other students, when I was early in college I still really missed home, so it was very comfortable when I returned home, it was hard to go back to campus again. It was the same time, I was too lazy to go back to Jatinangor, so I decided to leave in the afternoon, it's okay if it has to be until midnight. But yes, even so I still have to go, have to go to college. I remember very well, on Friday I had an early class schedule, so I decided to leave Sukabumi on Thursday afternoon. In short, at three in the afternoon I was at the terminal. Usually I take the bus to Sumedang, but for some reason that day I didn't see the sight at all, there was no bus to Sumedang. Until five o'clock, I still haven't seen the bus I've been waiting for. "Ah, instead of arriving at midnight, just take the Garut bus ah." That's what I thought in my heart. Yes, because it was past five o'clock, I finally took the bus to Garut, later I would get off at the end of the Cileunyi toll road, from there I would take a motorcycle taxi to the boarding house, or if there was still one I would take an angkot. That's the plan. Thursday, the weather in Sukabumi was drizzling all day, cloudy skies were a certainty. I thought it was only in Sukabumi that was like that, but apparently not, along the way it rained non-stop, with light to medium intensity. The Garut bus that I was riding was not too full, maybe because it wasn't a weekend. The journey will take four to five hours, I estimate it will be eleven o'clock at the latest. But it turned out to be wrong, at half past eleven I was still in Ciranjang. Let alone Jatinangor, Bandung is still far away. It happened because previously there was an accident that caused a long traffic jam. Fortunately, after that the journey slowly began to run smoothly even though it was still a bit sluggish. Meanwhile, it was still raining outside, the drizzle continued to fall. It was dark at night, so I couldn't enjoy the view, so there was sleep. What's more, after getting out of traffic jams, I fell asleep.

I was shocked and woke up, hearing the conductor's loud scream that the bus would soon reach the end of the Cileunyi toll road. Looking at the watch, it was already a little past one o'clock. "It's a very long journey, the time until Cileunyi is one o'clock." I was amazed after all the lives had been collected. Yes, I then got ready to go down. Because this bus goes to Garut, so if I pay attention, the number of passengers is more or less the same, not much less. Maybe later in Cileunyi there will be many who get off the bus with me. Furthermore, the wheels of the bus continued to spin rolling down the Padaleunyi toll road, the speed slowed down because not far in front was the last toll gate. Oh yes, it turned out that the rain was flat, up to this point it was still raining outside, quite heavy in fact. I had stood up from my seat, and my guess was right, it turned out that many passengers would get off at the same place. It's not a lot, it's a few, but seeing that I was a bit relieved because I wouldn't be alone where I dropped off later. I looked at my watch again, it was ten past one. After passing the toll gate, maybe two or three minutes later the bus finally stopped. At that time the bus stop at the end of the Cileunyi toll road was just on the side of the road, in front of small stalls, not at the terminal. In the pouring rain, I finally got off the bus, along with several other passengers. We ran in different directions, avoiding the heavy rain so we wouldn't get soaked. I and two other passengers took shelter in front of a small roadside stall that was closed. Meanwhile, the bus I was riding on continued its journey. We stood for a few minutes in the shade, until finally, not long after, two motorcycle taxis approached. I, who was still hoping that there would still be an angkot, and saw the rain was also getting heavier, was not too excited to see the two motorcycle taxis, then let the two people who were with me go on two motorcycle taxis, leaving me alone. Yes, in the end I was alone, because I chose to stay standing in front of a dark stall, still hoping that an angkot would pass by. At that time, maybe because it was raining heavily and it was past midnight, the atmosphere was very quiet, passing vehicles only occasionally, and so on for the next few minutes. Then, I don't know if it's just a feeling or something, but I feel that suddenly the atmosphere is getting quieter and quieter. Leaving aside the sound of the rain, there was absolutely no movement or other sound.

Standing under the roof of the shop, it's not that I'm dry without being exposed to rain, but my body is still wet from the splashes. The next minute, the atmosphere became more "exciting" when the wind started blowing hard, making rainwater stop on the body more often. Ah, I'm so sorry why I didn't just take an ojek, instead I chose to continue to patiently wait for an angkot, which I should have realized that at that time it was almost impossible for an angkot to pass. I don't know what was on my mind at that time. Seconds into seconds, minutes into minutes. I haven't seen any passing vehicles yet. Quiet. Empty.. But, as I began to lament my fate, I finally saw in the distance a vehicle that appeared to be approaching. The flash of light that wasn't too bright, like struggling desperately through the darkness and the torrential rain, I'm sure it's a small car headlight if you look at its shape. I kept watching, the headlights of the car running towards me, getting closer and closer. Heavy rain made me not see the owner of the lamp clearly. "Hopefully this is an angkot." That's what I hope in my heart. Ah! It turned out to be true, it was an angkot. When we were only a few meters away, I was able to confirm it. Then this angkot stops right in front of you. "Unpad Campus, sir?" I asked the driver. The driver nodded, then I got into the angkot. Even though the front seat was empty, I chose to sit in the back, I don't know what the reason was at that time. Once inside, I finally knew that this angkot was empty, I was the only passenger. That's why I chose to sit near the door, it's okay to be exposed to rain, after all, I've been almost soaking wet since the shop earlier. It seems that the driver did not intend to wait for other passengers, after I got on, he then started the car even though slowly.

***

In the pouring rain we penetrated the night, along the road which was still deserted, there were absolutely no vehicles. "Ah, maybe because it's night and it's raining a lot." That's what I thought to myself when I saw it all, seeing that there were absolutely no other vehicles on the highway except the angkot that I was riding. It's weird, but oh well. There is one more oddity. I feel that the angkot is moving very, very slowly. But that happened maybe because the angkot was empty, so the driver walked slowly so that he could get a passenger in the front, maybe that's the case. Meanwhile outside, it was still raining heavily. I just kept looking ahead, watching the road. In the distance, I have seen a traffic light/red light, or "Stopan" as the people of Bandung say. When we arrive at this red light, we will turn right, towards the campus and where my boarding house is located. However, about two hundred meters before the red light, the angkot suddenly stopped, as if it was about to pick up passengers. So, when the angkot stopped, I shifted my seat slightly, to make way for passengers who were about to board. But apparently no one, no passengers entered. "No one got on sir, no one." As soon as I told the driver, after looking around. Then the driver answered briefly, "Aya." As he said, while continuing to look ahead, not looking at me. "Ah, where are the passengers, there aren't any people." I grumbled in my heart. After a short stop, the angkot then started again, walking slowly. I, who was still confused, looked ahead, watching the road. However, before the red light arrived, the public transportation stopped again!

Just like before, the angkot looks like it's about to pick up passengers, even though there's no one else at all, it's quiet. Once again I said to the driver, "There is no one, sir, it's empty." The driver, while continuing to stare ahead, again answered "Aya." Which means "There is." I'm getting confused, where is the passenger anyway? Same, then the angkot runs again. The difference is, this time the path is faster, not as slow as before. Because the angkot is already running pretty fast, I was sitting very close to the door and facing the front, so I shifted a little inward, making me face sideways instead of forward, understand? So when I looked to the side, I finally saw something that might be the answer to why this angkot had mysteriously stopped twice. I was beyond surprised, I got goosebumps, because it turned out that there were already two passengers inside, they were sitting in the back, opposite each other, both men. When did they come in? I've been sitting by the door since I haven't seen them at all. Meanwhile, the angkot was moving faster and faster, I was starting to get more and more scared and was no longer paying attention to the road. These two men kept their faces down, while I looked at them every now and then. "Left, sir. Left.." As soon as I told the driver, I finally got up the courage to ask the angkot to stop, I was getting scared. After saying that, then again I looked back. How shocked I was, when I saw that these two spooky passengers were no longer sitting in their original places. They had moved closer, one sitting in front of me, the other sitting right next to me. This is when I can see their faces clearly. It was very scary, both of their faces were pale with blood, as if they had just died in an accident. There is also a very unpleasant rancid fishy smell. I panicked even more, then reflexively pounded the ceiling of the angkot with a bang. "Stop sir! Stopeee!!" I shouted so. Then the angkot, which had been going fast, slowly started to slow down. When the angkot was running very slowly, I was desperate to jump down. As a result, I fell sitting on the side of the road, it's okay, the important thing is that I managed to get out. Then I saw the creepy angkot keep moving slowly, until it finally disappeared into the dark.

***