Archive for the ‘Indonesia’ Category

Day 334. 101km. Cilacap – Kebumen

Posted: March 29, 2016 in Cycling, Indonesia
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Today was a day of flat, straight, small roads along the beach with a 3-hour interlude of Sumatra-steep slopes that popped up out of nowhere. It was a day of food on the beach and chats – on the beach during the day, and at breakfast in Cilacap.

Alfian and his family in Cilacap

Alfian and his family in Cilacap

The coast is windswept with big waves crashing onto the sand from the Indian Ocean, and endless beaches. I stopped at several little collections of restaurants on the beach, watching the waves as I sipped on my iced coconut. The roads were good, and I enjoyed cycling on the flat. On looking at the terrain view of Google maps, I realise now that tomorrow will be a sweaty affair getting to the base of the volcano pass – there are lots of bumps to the north of where I am. It’s all good training.. ☺

Iced coconut

Iced coconut

The beach

The beach

Small path next to the beach

Small path next to the beach

Another meal

Another meal

Day 333. 118km. Batu Karas – Cilacap

Posted: March 29, 2016 in Cycling, Indonesia
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The horizon above the dark-night sea was lit up by vast flickering bolts of white. The air had turned cool, and there was a wind blowing in from the sea. I jumped out of the hammock, packed my things and ran for cover. The hammock was blown horizontally by the wind, as the air became pregnant with expectation. But the rain never came. Hammock sleeping on Java.

My camping spot in the morning

My camping spot in the morning

I slept under a roof shelter in my hammock on the beach, under a bright lamp, among the collection of crowing roosters, and next to a thoroughfare of fisherman getting up at 3am to ply the waters in their boats. Well, I didn’t sleep.

Today I broke 100km on Java. No torrential downpour. Flat roads with a good road surface. Little traffic. It was a lovely evening with Alfian and his friends and family in Cilacap. I realise how lucky I am being able to cycle on this trip. My savings from my job in a rich country are enough to let me realise my dream. I hope Alfian and others, one day, can realise their dreams too! Him, and others, will be welcome in my home (when I find one).. ☺

The beach

The beach

Day 332. 99km. Warung Peuteuy – Batu Karas

Posted: March 27, 2016 in Cycling, Indonesia
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The beach beckoned, as did quiet roads. Away I cycled, off the beaten track and through the rice plantation landscape to the beach. Tonight I will lie in my hammock, listening to the waves crashing on the shore.

The rice fields in the late afternoon light

The rice fields in the late afternoon light

The quiet road was also a bit bumpy. I had my second flat tyre in two days, and so decided to change the whole tyre. Also, as I could barely stop yesterday on the steep hills in the rain, I changed the brake pads too. The whole lot took over an hour, with the whole village watching.

Village entertainment

Village entertainment

I had my standard downpour at 2 today rather than 4. Time to eat some duku and manggis. ☺

Downpour

Downpour

Tomorrow will be a day meandering along the southern Java coast. Yay!

Day 331. 96km. Bandung – Warung Peuteuy

Posted: March 26, 2016 in Cycling, Indonesia
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‘Come to my house!’
It was getting dark as I passed his house. What welcoming smiling faces after a day of traffic jams, fumes and noise.

Family

Family

Putrid air thick from the black fumes coughed out by the bikes, trucks and cars without filters. A packed road with trucks, cars between the trucks, and motorbikes between the cars – and then me, squashed between everything. Then there was the eternal noise of engines struggling up hills, or overtaking to get one car in front in the mayhem. And, to top it all off, my first serious banjir (blocked drainage causing the roads to turn to rivers). The traffic jam only lasted for 70km. The last 30km today had so few cars I could cycle at my own speed (in the rain).

Macet

Macet

Banjir

Banjir

Rain ahead

Rain ahead

Thanks Dony in Bandung for a great night last night!

Dony and team

Dony and team

Day 331. 96km. Puncak – Bandung

Posted: March 25, 2016 in Cycling, Indonesia
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Java is one big traffic jam. My great warm showers host Dony said that shortly after Bandung this will no longer be the case, but today was a day of cycling through the car and motorbike fumes, weaving in and out traffic, and waiting when the road was so full, even a little bike couldn’t squeeze past. Macet.

Macet in Bandung

Macet in Bandung

I am staying with Dony in Bandung – a great cycling guy who has given me lots of advice on my route forward on Java. Again, a great community of cyclists. Thanks for the hospitality! Coming soon: beach, volcanoes, temples – and quiet roads. I’m looking forward to it!!

Day 330. 48km. Bogor – Puncak

Posted: March 24, 2016 in Cycling, Indonesia
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Cramp. Already before lunch. Today was a stop-start affair – stopping to wait for the cramp to subside and then starting. Nafal (my warmshower host from Bogor) and I are at the top of the pass at Puncak in the nice, cool air, sleeping in the prayer room at the tourist information.

Me and Nafal

Me and Nafal

Three weeks of air-conditioned malls in Jakarta have taken their toll. My first hilly day in Sumatra was the same after a week of feeding in Singapore. Cramp. It’s very frustrating. I feel fine, and want to continue, but I know if I move it will hit, and when it does, I buckle over in agony. The heat, the bright sun and the steep road did it – I sweated all the salt out of my body.

Today I felt like a chain-smoker. The road heading up out of Bogor was bathed in car fumes and noise. Climbing a pass isn’t meant to be stopping and starting waiting for a free space on the road while struggling up a hill. At the first chance, we left the main road and took the alternative route – one that was steeper but with much less traffic.

Mountain view

Mountain view

We find ourselves perched on the top of the pass with a beautiful view out over the valley, with dark clouds and the flickering of lightening, and a beautiful, bright rainbow.

Rainbow

Rainbow

Day 329. 48km. Jakarta – Bogor

Posted: March 23, 2016 in Cycling, Indonesia
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My 3 weeks in Jakarta have come to an end. No more living in an air-conditioned malls, and once more I hit the road – this time into the densest traffic I have experienced. Good-bye Pak Dion – my Indonesian guru, and hello Nafal and team in Bogor – my warmshower host!

Pak Dion and my certificate

Pak Dion and my certificate

My goodness the traffic is bad in Jakarta. Usually with a bike you can skirt around cars, and move forward. Not in Jakarta – the density of traffic is too high (the Pauli exclusion principle comes into play – little joke for the physics nerds).

Just out of Jakarta I hit 29000km.

29000km

29000km

For the first time I felt quite proficient in Indonesian. I’ve spent the whole evening with my new warmshower friends speaking Indonesian with only rare forays in English. It’s a cool team here, and a house with bikes everywhere. Thanks, Nafal for the great hospitality!

Nafal and the team

Nafal and the team

New video: Cycling from Singapore to Jakarta

Posted: March 18, 2016 in Cycling, Indonesia, Singapore
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A 3 week rest and time to put together another video. This is my latest one, on the 2000km trip from Singapore to Jakarta through west Sumatra. I hope you like it!

Day 328. 44km. Tanjulgkait – Jakarta

Posted: March 17, 2016 in Cycling, Indonesia
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‘The washing is taken at 12.00 – so now!’
Having arrived in civilization at my new abode in Jakarta, we had to gather up our clothes for washing very quickly. Clement gave me an armful of smelly rags and jumped into the shower. After the clothes were whisked away, Clement opened the door, naked, and realised he had absolutely nothing to wear. A day naked in Jakarta.

River in Jakarta

River in Jakarta

We cycled through some very run-down areas entering Jakarta. Endless slums, men working chest deep in open sewers on the side of the road. Two boys were diving in the brown slimy river looking for rubbish to recycle. I have been a naked captive of the hotel room today uploading blog posts while Clement went clothes shopping. We’re going out on the town now. ☺

No more blog posts for a while. I’ll be stopping in Jakarta for 3 weeks studying Indonesian. ☺

Day 327. 90km. Merak – Tanjulgkait

Posted: March 16, 2016 in Cycling, Indonesia
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Java is like the Netherlands. Flat. Endless fields. Straight roads. Never mind the rice paddies and coconut palms. It has a different feeling to the west coast of Sumatra. It feels like one of the most densly populated pieces of land on the planet.

Village

Village

We stopped within reach of Jakarta for tomorrow – in a Chinese temple near the beach. An early stop gave us time to relax a bit, and for me to show Clement one of the videos that inspired me to go on my trip – The Road from Karakol. A must see.. ☺

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