One Long Traffic Jam

A short ferry journey had me on the Indonesian island of Java early afternoon. I managed to reach my intended destination of Bondowoso easily, the highway traffic not providing me with any indication of what was to come. As I entered Bondowoso I stopped and ask a young couple using an ATM if they knew of a hotel I could spend the night, The young lady replied in perfect English "yes follow us", what a bonus, they lead me about two (2) kilometres through town to what appeared more like a resort then a hotel. We h ad a brief chat about where I had come from and where I was going, I thanked them and entered the hotel reception expecting the rooms to be  above my price budget. I was in for a pleasant surprise at the Injen View Hotel, for about $A25.00 a night I was provided with a room as good as any 4 star Australian hotel, the Injen View also included a buffet breakfast, had a restaurant and resort style pool.

After a full nights sleep without road noise or being chewed out by mosquito's I made my way to the small hill side town of Comoro Lewang, my base for a walk up Gunung Bromo.

 

 

The weather at Comoro Lewang was cool, at 17 degrees C, it was the coolest temperature I had experienced in Indonesia and provide nice relief from the tropical heat. After a walk around town investigating modes of transport into the volcanic cauldron before the final walk up Bromo I settled on the cheapest method, a pillion ride on a scooter, as opposed to the more expensive yet more common method of a ride in one of the many well restored Toyota Landcruisers driving the route.

 



 

Bromo is an active volcano, erupting in late 2010 and continuing through till mid 2011, it's expected to continue to erupt for some time to come. The walk up Bromo was short, first through black sand, thrust out of Bromo's active cauldron during the recent eruptions, then a long flight of concrete stairs, constructed to cash in on the tourist dollars.

 

 

 

The following day, once back on the main highway, and I mean a single lane each way type highway, I started what would be days of long traffic jams from one town to the next. When I say one town to the next, there is no real distance between one town and the next, they all seem to be one long town, leading from one big city to the next, after a little research I found out why. Indonesia has a population of about 240 million people, over half, about 150 million of that 240 million people live on the small island of Java. Travelling long distances quickly is not an option or at least not a safe option. So after reassessing my itinerary I added a few extra overnight stops.

 

When I eventually made it to Yogyakarta I visited the Sultans Palace, situated within a walled town in central Yogya.

 



 

 

 

 

My next destination was Borobudur for a visit to the world heritage listed biggest Budha Temple in the world, a spectacular complex well worth the expensive entrance fee. Had I been there a week later I would have been very disappointed, due to a volcanic eruption a couple of hundred away the whole temple complex was covered with tarpaulins, I would have seen nothing. 

 





 

 

 

 

 

After the quiet relief of Borobudur I was back in the highway traffic jam, averaging about fifty (50) kilometres an hour, I had a couple more long day's ride to cross Java. Following an overnight stop in Tasikmalaya I had a big obstacle to face, the city of Bandung.

 

What a nightmare, with road construction diversions, one way streets and a couple of bad directions I became very frustrated resulting in a police escort and being shown out of town. It started with me riding on the Toll Way, which is a no - no for motorcycles in Indonesia. I was pulled over by two policeman in a patrol car, they were a little aggressive to start with, asked for and confiscated my drivers license, and told me to follow them to the police station. After a slow ride behind the patrol car down the shoulder of the road for several kilometres we exited the Toll Way. Not knowing what to expect, the patrol car stopped on the road side, the officers exited and promptly provided directions to the next town, handed back my license, shock my hand and sent me on my way, what a relief.

 

More traffic and busy roads had me at my overnight stop in Cipanas. The following afternoon the traffic thinned, the mountainous roads returned and I knew I must have been close to my final Java  destination. Situated on the West coast of Java, the Anyer region was once a popular international tourist destination, prior to cheap airfares overland bus travellers would frequent the Anyer area. With its white sandy beaches and surrounding forested mountains it is easy to see why it is still a popular weekend away or day trip for visitors from Jakarta.

 

 

 

The beach was packed with day trippers while I enjoyed my weekend stay in Bondulo, Anyer and it  allowed me to regain my sanity after the traffic madness of Java before moving on to the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

The Year Can Only Get Better

The family orientated New Years eve celebration I attended with the locals provided one great benefit, I was not suffering from a hangover on New Years day. I was up and about at a reasonable hour texting and emailing best wishes and happy new years to family, but it was not to be the best start to a new year.

I received a text that my mother was receiving palliative care and would pass away in the coming days. I made an instant decision to fly back to Australia, packed my bike and rode South to Legian for a flight to Australia.

In Australia my mother passed away peacefully and together with family I attended her funeral.

As I travel, you travel with me in my thoughts, rest in peace Mum, love always.

After ten (10) days in Australia I caught a flight back to Bali to continue my motorcycle adventure.

Finding the motivation to get on my motorcycle and move on was a little difficult, I was not feeling keen at all. Luckily Michael, the Mini driver whom I'd travelled with from Flores to Bali, had not returned to Australia for the Christmas and New Year period as planned, he had stayed in Bali. Michael's girlfriend Jona, Michael's mate Russell, along with Russell's mate Stefan had arrived from the Philippine's, Melbourne and Jakarta respectively for a little rest and relaxation. (My thanks go to Michael, with contacts in Bali he was able to quickly arranged safe storage of my motorcycle in Legian while I returned to Australia).

Having Michael, Jona, Russell and Stefan in Legian provided the distraction I needed to spark up again. We ate, drank and partied a little to hard at times thanks to Russell and Stefan, though we all still found time for a great day white water rafting near Ubud. Russell, Stefan and I also had a mad day's mountain bike ride from near Kintamani to Ubud, followed up by the celebration of Michael and Jona's engagement.

Holiday mode had to end though and with the departure of new friend's it was now time to further investigate an opportunity to undertake a major travel route change to my adventure. Luke, a fellow Australian living in Singapore had contacted me through Horizons Unlimited with a plan that sounded too good to pass up. So, I boarded a plane to Singapore for a long weekend with Luke and Yvonne, site seeing, eating great food, including an Australia Day BBQ and discussing route change destinations, visa's and the like, for a mid 2014 adventure (more on that adventure destination if and when I get there).

After a longer than anticipated stay in Bali it was time to move on to my next Indonesian destination, the island of Java.

Steam and Fireworks

The morning ride North from Ubud was pretty easy, small towns and rice fields dominated the scenery, that was until the tree lined corridor of road I was riding exited onto the rim of an extinct volcano providing a spectacular valley view of Danau Batur (Lake Batur) and Gunung Batur (Mount Batur) along with the town I would spend the next two days, Toya Bungkah.

 

I settled into a hotel on the edge of the lake, booked and paid for my early morning activity for the following day, then had a free afternoon to have a look around the Toya Bungkah and Kedisan area which sits within an ancient crater below Gunung Batur.

 

 

I was informed there was a road that would take me around the volcano so I set off for an afternoon ride. The narrow tarred road is used by hundreds of small trucks daily to transport black sand unearth from the crater base to cities and towns throughout Bali, it was slow going on my bike, dodging the trucks plying the route while not wanting to end up an accident statistic. While stopped for a photo opportunity on the roads edge I was approached by a young guy wanting to show off his 150 cc Kawasaki dirt bike that he was preparing for a ride the following day, he lived a short distance away, so I followed him to his home and met his younger brother, older sister and viewed his prize collection of roosters he breeds for cock fighting.  

 

 

Continuing on, the ring road exited the crater base and provided me with another spectacular perspective of the crater valley as I circumnavigated the volcano rim making my way back to my hotel.

 

The following morning my phone alarm woke me at 3.30 am for a 4.10 am  guided walk to the summit of Gunung Batur for sunrise. The two hour walk was pretty easy and the sunrise view was well worth the early start. The guide served my walking party an egg and banana breakfast cooked on a pocket of volcanic steam venting from the volcano's summit edge. We then set off to walk another two hours back down the volcano.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a lazy afternoon recovering from my walk I ate a delicious meal for dinner consisting of local lake fish coated in honey, fried to a crisp, seasoned with onion sambal and accompanied by steamed rice.

 

The following morning I rode out of the volcanic crater and set a course for my next destination, Kalibukbuk, Lovina Beach on the North coast of Bali where I saw in the New Year.

 

 

 

Kalibukbuk was a great choice for New Years celebrations. The area is well set up for tourists yet during my visit tourists on the ground were few and far between, so I enjoyed New Year celebrations with the locals.

 

A covered stage was assembled at the beach front about sixty metres from my hotel, so the walk to and from New Years activities was an easy one. Entertainment kicked off late afternoon New Years eve with a local band, then traditional musicians provided several hours of music while beautifully dressed dancers provided a light hearted, provocative take on traditional dance by enticing men from the crowd to participate in up close and personal dance moves, the crowd was in stitches with laughter at times.

Several other local bands provided entertainment till just after midnight, about the same time many adults with children and I chose to make a quick exit. About 12.15 am, fireworks, which had been going off all day reach danger point. The most popular fireworks used throughout the day was an 800 millimetre long 25 mm diameter tube firing eight showering coloured displays about forty metres into the air. The tube had a written warning not to hold the fireworks by hand, but most people ignored the warning and when held firmly by hand posed no problem as each of the eight shots recoiled the hand securely holding the tube like a shot gun blast. It was after midnight perhaps after too many drinks, when the tube was not held firmly enough that mayhem set in. Fireworks were being dropped and shot misguidedly into the crowd, my thoughts turned to my inability to complete my motorcycle trip without two healthy eyes, so along with the responsible parents and I set off for my hotel.

 

Being on foot provided an easy escape for me, but the scooter riders whom had arrived early evening and parked close to the action were now parked in and with maybe three children also on board the scooter the situation provided additional entertainment as I stood out of fireworks shot range enthralled, while adults tried to manoeuvre their scooters around, load the children on board and ride out, it was a full on scooter jam.

Friendly Welcome On Familiar Ground

The ferry from Lombok arrived in Padangbai on the Indonesian island of Bali just in time for the afternoon wet season down pour. Once again the wet weather gear was put on and as I rode off the ferry the drenching began. I got about twenty metres off the ferry and I could see Michael out in the rain picking up two pieces of the Mini's exhaust. As I have previously mentioned, the Mini sits a little low to the ground and the exhaust bottoms out on the uneven ferry ramp when exiting from ferry crossings. This time the complete exhaust system from the extractors back had been neatly removed in two pieces and left laying on the dock. I continued past the Mini and sat waiting on my bike under an overhanging section off a terminal building out of the rain.

Soon enough I could hear Michael's Mini coming, the Mini now sounded like a full blown race car with a statue some what larger than a Mini. With the exhaust now positioned inside the Mini, we continued into Padangbai to find a hotel, the rain was bucketing down relentlessly though, so we spotted a nearby bar / restaurant and settled in while until the rain eased.

Padangbai is a very small town with a hotel and restaurant strip situated along several hundred metres of lovely cove beach front, so our extremely noisy entry into town and along the beach front in search of a couple of hotel rooms drew the gaze of quite a few hotel and restaurants occupants.

 

The following morning it was time for Michael and I to go our separate ways, Michael was firstly heading down the road to find a vehicle repairer to assist him in refitting the Mini's exhaust, then South West to Legian to leave the Mini with friends for a paint job and refurbishment while he returns to Australia for work commitments. I was heading North to the sleepy coastal town of Amed where I thought I might spend Christmas.

 

On the way to Amed the road lead me to the spectacular Water Palace Taman Tirta Gangga, where Amlapura's water loving rajas built the palace of his dreams. Built in 1948 the palace has several swimming pools and ornamental ponds which serve as a fascinating reminder of the days of the Balinese rajas.

 



 

 

Once in Amed I investigated what attractions were on offer before deciding whether to settle in for Christmas, I found most interest centred on diving the reef's just off the coast.

 

 

 



Though and on this particular day when venturing along a rough narrow tarred valley road I managed to find one activity satisfying the local men's interest and need for gambling and that was cock fighting.

 

 

 

After the owners anger the roosters by ruffling neck and tail feathers while each rooster is in a face off with the other rooster, they are let loose to fight it out to the death. It may sound cruel but generally the contest was over very quickly when the razor sharp spur attached to one leg of each rooster severs a vein of the opposing rooster and it bleeds to death. The winner takes the leg with the spur, the looser has Soto Ayam (chicken soup) for dinner.

 

Amed proved a little too sleepy for my liking. It has beautiful coastal views and my hotel of choice was superbly located to take in those views, but I was in need of at least a little human interaction over Christmas and it was not going to happen in Amed.

 

I made the decision to return to Ubud for Christmas. Ubud was a highlight during my 12 day stopover while waiting for my bike to be shipped from Darwin to Dili and I was confident it would be a suitable town to spent Christmas.

 

I packed my bike and plotted a course that would take me along several back roads, providing a picturesque ride through the rice fields and forested areas of Culik, Duda and Sideman before entering Semerapura, turning North and on to Ubud.

 

 



 

 

 

A little internet research before arriving in Ubud enabled me to find my hotel of choice without too much trouble. My accommodation for the next five nights was at Ubud Bungalows, situated centrally within noisy and busy Ubud, yet the long narrow block housing the bungalows provided a quiet retreat away from the hustle and bustle within a lush garden setting. It was a great choice and the young staff were very friendly, helpful and always up for a chat. 

 

Christmas eve was spent bar hopping, following several live music gigs from an acoustic session early in the evening to an in house rock band belting out the tunes till early Christmas morning. Christmas day was subdued, sleeping off a mild hangover.

 

During the days following Christmas I enjoyed conversation with a restaurant waitress and coffee shop barista whom remembered me from my previous visit to Ubud and some good food including an exceptional meal at an Queens Indian restaurant, a visit to Warung Garasi for a meal also proved worthy of a photograph or two for its interesting seating and décor.

 

 

 

I also took in a little Balinese culture, being entertained with The Great Mahabrata Epic and The Best of Classic Dance of Bali at the Ubud Palace.

 





 

 

After a relaxing Christmas period in the familiarity of Ubud it was now time to pack my bike and ride to a destination within Bali to see in the New Year.



Beaches, Resorts & Expats

The ferry from Sambawa docked in Labuhan Lombok on the Indonesian Island of Lombok about lunch time, so after spotting a clean looking Warung, Michael and I sat and enjoyed a tasty Cap Cay Ayam (steamed vegetables, chicken & rice) lunch.

Our destination for the day was Sengiggi, a small resort town located just North of Lomboks capital city Mataram on the Western side of Lombok. The island of Lombok is very small, it only takes a couple of hours to get from one side of the island to the other, so there was no rush.

My motorcycle required fuel though, I had travelled just over 500 kilometres since refuelling last and I had never exceeded 500 klm's in range before. The first petrol station I stopped at had no fuel, then a second again had no fuel, I was beginning to think I would have to stop and refill at one of the numerous road side homes selling fuel in bottles, the risk with that option is that some sellers combine kerosene with the petrol to increase their profit but it decreases the already low octane level of the fuel commonly used in Indonesia. Eventually, with the trip meter reading just over 550 klm's I stopped at a third petrol station, they had fuel and feeling relieved I filled up.

The sky ahead looked black and threatening so I put on the plastic wet weather jacket and pants before exiting the petrol station. It can be a tough call to dress in the plastics, ride on with no plastics you get wet through, but that also cools you down in the tropical heat. Dress in plastics you stay mostly dry, but the plastics form a bit of a sweat suit which can be uncomfortable and physically draining. So far I have chosen to use the wet weather gear and remove it as soon as the skies clear. there was no chance of the sky clearing today, I rode on and on in the constant rain all afternoon, then as we approached Mataram the vehicle traffic became dense, slowed and we crawled into the outskirts of Mataram, we continued to crawl in dense traffic as we skirted the city on our way to Sengiggi. Not far North of Mataram the traffic thinned and the road begun to hug the coast, the view made up for being wet and tired, and soon enough we were in Sengiggi.

 



Michael has friends living in Sengiggi, so after a quick phone call for a hotel recommendation, we were checked into two very nice hotel rooms and I had dried off ready to head out and about. Sengiggi is home to quite a few expats and it easy to see why, beautiful coastal views, clean and tidy street scape and a cheaper cost of living in comparison to Australia. We had a drink with several Aussie / Kiwi expats at a bar owned and run by a New Zealand women. Apart from Michael and I, there was also another Mick, so for that evening we had Mick 1, Mick 2 and Mick 3.

There are many hotels and resorts in Sengiggi, most occupying prime real estate along the coastal strip. There are also a few top notch restaurants, some of which provide a spectacular view while dining, backing on to the picturesque black sand beaches along the Sengiggi coast. Michael and I were keen to sample some fine dining, so after a little internet research a few notes were made and we had a list of the dining establishment for the next few days. Rather than head to the number one listed restaurant in town first, we ate at one within the top ten. When fish is not available I also like a curry, I was not disappointed with the restaurant choice or my choice of curry, it was exceptional and would prove hard to beat. We ate at the number five listed restaurant the second night, I had fish and it was also exceptional, night three it was time to try the number one listed restaurant in town, and it proved a little disappointing, to be honest, it was forgettable, literally I can not remember what I ate that night. Let me just say, at the risk of sounding like some sort of food snob, the restaurants main meals I ate were valued at less than ten dollars each, cheap compared to Australia.

Apart from some great eating while in Sengiggi, our boyhood intrigue was sparked after reading an article in a local magazine about a sport played in the area that involved spinning tops. "Gasing' is the sport, played by two teams of six to eight men using timber spinning tops. The spinning tops, in various shapes and sizes, some painted bright colours have one encased ball bearing in the bottom that allows the top to spin for a considerable amount of time on the uneven dirt playing area.

 

One participant from the first team sets his top in motion by winding a thin rope around the upper edge of the top, then while maintaining a hold on the other end of the rope he throws the top to the ground, launching the top into a spin. One player from the opposing team then launches his top into motion with vengeance towards the opponents top, trying to knock it out of the arena, stop its spinning motion or worst case scenario, which happened while we watched, break the opponents top in half. This continues until each teams participants top have been launched at the others. Then it is a waiting game, the team with a top that remains spinning the longest wins.

 

 

After several very relaxing days in Sengiggi it was time to move on from the island of Lombok, a ride / drive South to the town of Lumbar had us boarding another ferry for the 4 hour trip to the Indonesian Island of Bali.