Flooded

Parts of our drive seemed more like white water rafting...

    A couple of weeks ago, there were floods of epic proportions in our city of Denpasar.  Denpasar is an incredibly densely populated city.  There is a complex system of drainage ditches, canals, and pipes to handle the heavy rains during rainy season.  Sometimes trash and debris completely clog up those canals and ditches.  Sometimes the heavy rain lasts for days.  Sometimes those two things happen at the same time... and it gets really bad really quick.

The guys in yellow were champions.

   That was the situation a couple of weeks ago.  We've never seen it that bad in our seven years here in Denpasar.  There were a lot of cars and motorbikes that got stranded with engines flooded or stuck in deep mud or hidden ditches.

   Kristi and I were trying to get through this mess.  We didn't want to, but we had to get to the immigration office before they closed.  It took us about two hours to make what would have normally been a 15 minute drive.   A couple of times I thought we weren't going to make it.
   In the picture on the left, the two guys in yellow rain suits tried to warn many people in cars and on motorbikes not to try passing this flooded area.  While Kristi and I sat there trying to figure out what to do, we watched several cars and motorbikes get stuck.  The guys in yellow were great and waded into the water to help lots of motorbikers.  Shortly after this picture was taken, the guy on the motorbike got stuck in the deepest part when his engine flooded.