After about half an hour's drive from Cotabato the car we were travelling in swerved to the right as it continued its jerky drive along a gravel road. The stretch of asphalt had only extended as far as the outskirts of the town. Muslimin Semma was right to lend us his Land Rover for the trip. "Take this jeep, there is no Jagorawi toll road here," said Semma, the Mayor of Cotabato who has visited Jakarta on a number of occasions.

Later on, t