Archive for the ‘Cycling’ Category

Day 373. 110km. Masimbu – Salumanurung

Posted: May 23, 2016 in Cycling, Indonesia
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‘They can’t do anything wrong with f*ing eggs!’
The boiled eggs were perfect for my friend’s edgy stomach. The shell protects the egg from chilli. Will cannot handle any chilli at all, which is quite a disability in Indonesia where absolutely everything has chilli.

Road

Road

Today was a rather up and down affair, luckily cloudy most of the time. At lunch, the clouds got dark and the wind picked up. It felt like a downpour would come any minute, but the rain never came. Finally we left into the air, pregnant with expectation.

We came to rest in a palm oil plantation village, surrounded by kids everywhere. One family invited us for dinner, and we are sleeping at another family.

Kids

Kids

Day 372. 95km. Kasoluang – Masimbu

Posted: May 22, 2016 in Cycling, Indonesia
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Sulawesi has become flatter, and the beaches a bit less spectacular. We never really got started today. A flat tyre, a long lunch, and Will feeling sick saw us not passing 100km.

The fair is closed

The fair is closed

We’re staying at the local headmaster’s house in a little village on the coast. Will has taken antibiotics, and we will see how he is feeling tomorrow.

Day 371. 66km. Dongala – Kasoluang

Posted: May 21, 2016 in Cycling, Indonesia
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We had two choices – return to the main road or continue around the headland before returning to the main road. Both were a similar distance. Our route (around the headland) may (!) have been a bit steeper. Sulawesi was welcoming me back from sickness with the best it could give – about a kilometre of 20% grade in the blistering heat. Sulawesi.

View of coral

View of coral

We all pushed – Will and I with long breathing breaks between each successive 20 metres.
Will ended with a bit of heat stroke and sat, exhausted in front of the fan in the restaurant as Clement and I ate something. It’s flatter from now on, we’re told. Maybe we can return to 100km per day.. ☺

After a swim and clean in the river, being escorted to a restaurant for dinner, and then waiting an hour for a village head to give his blessing, we are staying in an abandoned house in a small village.

Evening swim

Evening swim

Day 370. 37km. Palu – Dongala

Posted: May 20, 2016 in Cycling, Indonesia
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‘Can we check-out at 2 rather than 12?’
‘No.’
‘Can you fill these bottles with water?’
‘No.’
I knew it was time to drag my ailing body out of bed and recover properly at the beach 37km away. With 1.5 pears and half an ice drink whirling around in my queezy stomach Will and I hit the road to join Clement in paradise.

View from our hut

View from our hut

The road was flat, it was cloudy and not too hot, but I felt like death warmed up. Even the Infected Mushrooms blasting in my ears could not help. In the evening light I parked the bike and sank into the seat on the balcony of our abode for the next 2 nights, not wanting to stand or move as Clement told of the amazing sealife just metres away.

Day 369. 72km. Tompe – Palu

Posted: May 19, 2016 in Cycling, Indonesia
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I didn’t recognize my body today. I woke up feeling weak, like I didn’t sleep well, wasn’t hungry – I only craved fruit. A few bottles of orange juice, together with some high power music saw me fill with energy, and Clement and I scooted along to Palu. In Palu the weariness returned, I found I have a temperature, and checked in to a hotel to recover.

The road to Palu

The road to Palu

My mind goes back to Laos where Mark got dengue fever. That really knocked him out for weeks. There have been dengue fever mosquitos around, and it’s impossible to avoid all bites. After an afternoon of sleep, I’m starting to feel better. Will is staying the night in Palu too, and hopefully we can join up again with Clement tomorrow.

P.S. It is not malaria. It is not dengue fever. It is not a host of other tropical diseases. I don’t know what it was. After a few days in Palu I’m on the road to recovery. I got an interesting look into the Indonesian health service. Professional and efficient.

Palu hospital

Palu hospital

Day 368. 23km. Labuana – Tompe

Posted: May 18, 2016 in Cycling, Indonesia
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I looked over the rock and ten sets of beady eyes were looking back. Then all of a sudden the flying slugs skipped away across the ankle-deep water between the mangrove roots. They were everywhere, and they were so cute. The whole day was fantastic exploring this tropical water paradise. Caves, snorkelling and enjoying the company of our new ‘kaili’ (local Sulawesi people) friends. We didn’t cycle much though.

Sunrise at Paradise beach

Sunrise at Paradise beach

Will left after an initial snorkel to get to the bright lights of Palu for a hotel break. Clement and I were taken to ‘the cave’. We expected to walk along the beach. Actually, we swam around the rocks, waded through mangroves with roots protruding vertically from the shallow, clear water, and scaled small headlands. It was a beautiful stroll in this paradise playground, teeming with life from the sea, the beach and the forest.

Mangrove walk

Mangrove walk

Wading

Wading

When we finally left around 4, after another snorkel and a wonderful lunch, we scaled the steepest sand road of my trip for 5 very hard kilometres in the pounding sun. It was beautiful.

This was steep

This was steep

Coastal road

Coastal road

We didn’t get far today, and are tired from the non-cycling activities. A day in paradise.

Day 367. 110km. Siboa – Labuana

Posted: May 17, 2016 in Cycling, Indonesia
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With ten people watching in the hut in front of the idyllic beach I set up my hammock. I fail – the ropes are too close, then too far. Everyone laughs. Matthew, the great two left-handed adventurer laughs it off. Well, tries to.

Cleaning our place to stay

Cleaning our place to stay

Then Clement pulls out the photo of me and Will bare chested together on the tiny Equator monument. Will bans that one from making its way on the internet. You’ll just have to imagine how intimate it looked on such a tiny concrete block.

The equator

The equator

Today was equator day, Clement’s 35000km day, and a day of coconuts and the most amazing beaches. Our resting point tonight couldn’t be more beautiful – a bay with a big white, sandy beach, lined with coconut trees and crystal-clear, mirror-calm waters. We watched the sunset sitting in the water as the clouds merged and transformed before our eyes.

What a warm welcome in the village. Again, we had an evening with amazing food and people. Thank-you!

Beautiful road

Beautiful road

Our evening beach

Our evening beach

Approaching our evening spot

Approaching our evening spot

Our kaili friends

Our kaili friends

Day 366. 108km. Tompo – Siboa

Posted: May 16, 2016 in Cycling, Indonesia
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We passed flat plains with villages, and in between amazingly steep forays into the mountains above sandy white beaches. Today was a day of swimming, hello mister villages and a spectacular lunch in a little village.

Sunset

Sunset

We were stopped near a sandy white beach for photos, and then invited back to the village. After a quick swim, we found ourselves dining on cooked jackfruit, pumpkin in coconut milk and sardines. Very ‘enak’ (delicious).

A little swim

A little swim

Amazing lunch

Amazing lunch

Our friends

Our friends

The windy road

The windy road

Morning view

Morning view

We’re staying in a little house next to a beautiful beach – still waters reflecting the orange sunset rays. Coming out of the water is a feast for the mosquitos and sandflies. We were chased under the mosquito net where we are safe.. ☺

Day 365. 60km. Kalemo – Tompo

Posted: May 15, 2016 in Cycling, Indonesia
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What a spectacular place. White sandy beaches with clear, blue, cool water. Fisherman villages with houses on stilts. Amazing views at every turn. Hello misters abound. We swam, snorkelled, ate fresh coconut, picked and ate fresh cloves, and we all changed our brake pads – the steep, muddy, rocky piste did it. Sulawesi.

Our idyllic beach

Our idyllic beach

Sulawesi beach

Sulawesi beach


‘Terrorists.’
Our host mimed pointing a rifle at us.
‘They’re in the mountains, and along the other coast.’
Our road is OK. All roads crossing to the other side are out of bounds, as is the main road on the other side of the peninsula. It’s hard to believe – this place is so tranquil and the people are so lovely.

Here are some photos. No more words to describe cycling in paradise.

Mountain reflection

Mountain reflection

Boy in Sulawesi

Boy in Sulawesi

Steep rocky road

Steep rocky road

Steep rocky road

Steep rocky road

Bay

Bay

Our friends

Our friends

Day 364. 64km. Tolitoli – Kalemo

Posted: May 14, 2016 in Cycling, Indonesia
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‘Can I say I love you?’
The little Ema pulled us away from the main road and into the village to visit her school.
‘You are very sexy. Can I hug you?’
Clement hugged her. So did I. She held her gloved hand up to her mouth to hide her giggle. At her school, we greeted the teachers and played chasee with the kids. Our first day in Sulawesi was amazing.

Clement and Ema

Clement and Ema

Mountains loomed just behind Tolitoli, and after 10km of flat and good road surface, the road degraded and started its up and down through the most beautiful landscape. The hills were covered with a tree we didn’t recognize until we looked closely. Yes! They are cloves. I ate one – an explosion of flavour. In each village the cloves were drying in the sun, and the air was perfumed by the lovely aroma.

Cloves

Cloves

The road passed through the mountains, and past flat plains – I think covered in water half of the time. The road was tiny with almost no traffic. When we stopped, the sound of silence was deafening. We were alone in this beautiful tropical paradise.

Clement

Clement

Water fields

Water fields

The evening saw the rain come, and we struggled up and down through the forest in the rain before retiring in a little collection of huts near the sea. We talked with everyone from the village in the light of the kerosene lamp inside the tin roofed wooden hut on stilts.

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