Naik Apa? — Getting Around Indonesia

One verb to rule them all

In English you "take" a bus, "ride" a bike, "catch" a train, and "board" a plane. Indonesian is simpler: you just use naik for all of them. Literally meaning "to go up" or "to climb," naik is the universal verb for getting on or riding any form of transport.

Vocabulary

Transport vocabulary

14 words

01
to go up; to rise; to climb; to ride
v
02
bus
n
03
taxi
n
04
train; railway car
n
05
device; apparatus; machine
n
06
motorcycle taxi
n
07
pedicab; cycle rickshaw
n
08
minibus; public minivan
n
09
bajaj; motorized three-wheeled taxi
n
10
ship; boat; vessel
n
11
ferry
n
12
bicycle
n
13
motorcycle; motorbike
n
14
car; automobile
n

Naik + vehicle

The pattern is dead simple: naik + vehicle. No prepositions, no articles, no conjugation.

Table

Naik + vehicle combinations

11 rows

Indonesian	English	Where you'll see it
	take the	Cities with TransJakarta, Trans Semarang, etc.
	take a taxi	Airports, malls, Grab/Gojek app rides
	take the train	Java's rail network (KAI), KRL commuter line
	take a plane	Island-hopping across the archipelago
	take a motorbike taxi	Everywhere — Grab/Gojek's bread and butter
	take a minibus	Local routes in most cities
	take a ship/boat	Inter-island ferries (Pelni, ASDP)
	take a ferry	Short crossings (Java–Bali, Merak–Bakauheni)
	ride a bicycle	Recreational, or village transport
	ride a motorcycle	The #1 vehicle in by far
	go by car	Private car or ride-hailing

Asking "how did you get here?"

The question is simply "Naik apa?" (literally "ride what?"). You can add context before or after:

Table

Asking about transport

4 rows

Indonesian	English
?	What did you take? / How did you get here?
kantor?	What do you take to the office?
Bandung?	How do you get to Bandung?
bandara ?	From the airport, what should I take?

Conversation

At a friend's house

Rina

Budi, ?

Budi

. .

Rina

, ?

Budi

Iya, KRL sambung .

Rina

Pulangnya ?

Budi

, .

Culture noteculture

Traditional transport still on the road

has several traditional vehicles you can still ride today — and yes, you use for all of them.

A is a small two-wheeled horse cart, common in East Java and . In and West Java, the same kind of vehicle is called a (named after a 19th-century Dutch carriage maker, Charles Theodore Deeleman). In Central Java, especially Yogyakarta, it's called an — a four-wheeled version you'll see clip-clopping down Malioboro street packed with tourists.

Then there's the , a pedal-powered cycle rickshaw. Once ubiquitous across Java, were banned in in the 1990s but remain a common sight in Yogyakarta, Solo, and Medan.

And in , the — a loud, orange, three-wheeled motorized taxi originally imported from India — was once the soundtrack of the city. blue gas-powered versions are quieter but still iconic.

Practice

Build the sentence

1 / 3

Translate

“I take the bus to school.”

Tap a word to begin

Multiple choice

Quick check

1 / 3

How do you say "I took a plane to Bali"?