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very one dashed to the veranda when Affandi and his family members arrived at their grandparents’ house in Ngariboyo district, Magetan, East Java on the eve of Idul Fitri.

They were all excited that Affandi and his family had finally arrived after a 52-hour-long drive from their home in Bogor, West Java. Affandi, wife Elida, sons Elfan and Fauzi and daughters Nurussifa and Nina concluded their ordeal, which also saw them spend two nights on the road.

Affandi’s eyes were drowsy and so were those of his family members.

The ride was almost three times longer than the usual 16 to 17 hours. Apparently, the lengthy journey was because of the severe gridlock on a highway around Cirebon, West Java, and on a smaller road in Tegal, Central Java, on Sunday evening.

“Thank God, we finally got here safe,” said Affandi, who looked extremely exhausted.

The family left their home in a residential complex near the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) on July 3 at around 4 p.m. The children were excited to see grandparents, uncles, aunts and, of course, cousins the next day.

Under normal traffic conditions, they would arrive at the grandparents’ house at around 8 a.m. the next day.

Nurussifa, who is in her third year of junior high school, posted on her Instagram account that traffic was fine as the family drove on the Cikampek toll road. They made their first stop at a rest area at the 19-kilometer point of the toll road, which connects Bogor, Jakarta and Brebes, Central Java.

About an hour later, Nurussifa made another posting saying traffic was also fine as they drove on the Cikopo-Palimanan toll road. “Pray for us, there is no traffic jam. See you soon,” she wrote.

Their family in East Java became worried as they kept up-to-date on media reports about a 30-km lineup of cars at the Brebes exit, at the 268-km point.

The long line was the result of gridlock at an intersection in Brebes that resulted in vehicles being unable to exit the toll road.

On Monday, when they were supposed to have arrived in Magetan, Affandi and his family were still caught in the toll road gridlock.

Affandi’s family spent practically the whole day on the toll road. Affandi described the congestion as the worst traffic jam he had ever endured. “It took me four hours to drive 6-km,” he said.

When Affandi’s in-law managed to contact him on early Tuesday, he was still in Tegal, half way to Magetan. His family in Magetan had grown increasingly worried upon hearing of a suicide bombing at the police headquarters in Surakarta, Central Java, on Tuesday at about 7:40 a.m.

They were worried that heightened security checks following the attack at the police headquarters would only worsen the traffic around Surakarta, further delaying Affandi’s arrival.

By 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Affandi had arrived in Semarang before finally arriving in Magetan at 8 p.m.

“When cars were unable to move, we parked and let the children play outside so they wouldn’t be so bored,” said Elida, a junior high school teacher.

Just as she did last year, Elida prepared snacks and beverages for the long journey. This year, the family also prepared a jerry can of gasoline to avoid having to line up for gas at packed gas stations.

The government has made improvements to main roads and highways connecting cities on Java Island, which is among the world’s most densely populated islands.

This year, the Transportation Ministry opened the Pejagan-Brebes toll road section to facilitate the mass exodus during the post-fasting Idul Fitri holiday. But, the opening of the new toll road was not supported by improvements to main roads in cities along Java’s northern coastal areas, prompting severe traffic jams in several spots.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said traffic backed up on account of unfinished works on the trans-Java toll road projects connecting big cities in Java.

“We will speed up the development projects. God willing, in two years we will finish the project,” he said, responding to the traffic congestion around Brebes, which reportedly claimed 15 lives.