From Singapore, it was off to my Indonesian arrival point of Palau Bintan, one of a couple of islands just off the coast of Singapore and with extremely regular and fast ferry services to Singapore. Arriving at Tanjung Pinang (the port town on Palau Bintan) I was the very last one off the boat, recovering the bike off the roof, once all the passengers had gone. From the boat it was up the jetty to the immigration office where I - with the bike - was VIP expressed around the huge crowd to the X-ray machine, where one of the guys took my passport across to get stamped.
One of the many inter-island ferries in Indonesia, sleek fast, but not new.
Out of immigration I went onto dry land for about 50 metres, before heading out the next jetty for the next ferry to Palau Singkep, my jumping point to get to Sumatra. I cant claim riding Palau Bintan, having just gone from one jetty to the next, but the ferry from Palau Bintan to Palau Singkep arrives at the north of Singkep and to get to Jambi I needed to get a cargo boat from the main town in the south of the island. So the first Indonesian island I have riden right across is Singkep - all 24 km of it. I was really impressed with the Indonesians on Bintan and Singkep, the riding in Singkep was very pretty and you were continually being called out to. I soon learnt my new name "Mister". It is common to not only to Singkep but elsewhere too, it is the one piece of English that everyone knows. "Hello Mister !!" The island and the little villages really make you feel like you are welcome, lovely little villages down at the water surrounded by coconut palms. It is so "Gilligans Island".
Gilligan's Island - No - Palau Singkep
Dabo has two hotels and I found one of them, I'd riden across the island the afternoon I arrived (ex Singapore), and was keen to find out about boats to Jambi, Sumatra.
Friends in Dabo, to the house for a drink
The boat to Sumatra
Another boat at sunset along the wayThe boat to Sumatra from Dabo Singkep isn't one of the sleek and speedy ones that I used to get from Singapore to Palau Singkep, but rather a cargo vessel of Chinese Junk style with a cargo of recycle materials, empty gas cylinders and big mats of raw smelly rubber. (raw rubber looks, feels and smells like whale blubber). I really had no idea how long the trip to Jambi would take, there are no timetables for these boats, they just go when they need to and there was one the day I wanted leaving at 9AM, although it was 1:30pm by the time we actually left - heading for Jambi on Sumatra. I asked one guy on the jetty (selling the tickets & who spoke fluent English) when it got to Jambi and he said 3 hours. It seemed an awfully long way to go in a slow boat so I ate really well before leaving, had plenty of food for the trip (including left over food from the boat trip the day before) and also stocks of food that I normally carry in my bags. I'm glad I did because it was about 18 hours travel not 3. When we had spent 3 hours on board and there was no land in sight (and half the trip is actually through channels and rivers in Sumatra to get to Jambi) I decided that he must have meant it arrived at 03:00 Hrs. I prepared myself to spend the night on the boat as I had twice before in Thailand (good cheap accommodation when traveling). When the sun rose at 6 AM we were still choofing along the river, but by 7:30 or so Jambi was in sight. There was no jetty or wharf for us (or any of the cargo) at Jambi so as we arrived we were descended upon by a flotilla of small canoe style Indonesian wooden boats, with captains that appear to have gone to rickshaw school of getting customers.
My boat arriving in Jambi, Sumatra
No jetty or wharf for us here
They loaded up with other passengers, cargo, or "tourists with bikes" and took us ashore. (there were other passengers on the boat - the number varied as we made stops along the river, but at no time were there any tourists other than myself.)
Jambi was bigger than expected, after about 20km I finally got out into the country and saw the type of country and roads I'd be riding in Sumatra. The countryside was continually undulating, lovely and green, the roads smooth bitumen, but often a large pothole would appear either filled or not filled in front of you. This made riding a bike a much better method of travel than a car/truck or bus as you could easily negotiate around the obstacles.
My first night in Sumatra was in a town with no hotel, but on the outskirts of town I saw a rather sizable set of fire brigade buildings, the home of the regional forest fire brigade. I called in to plead and and was welcomed to stay the night. They gave me room (office) moved a mattress into it for me, and in return I had to take photos, pose in photos, and have a game of football (soccer of course). They let me off after a short time, once they saw how proficient I was!
Jambi was bigger than expected, after about 20km I finally got out into the country and saw the type of country and roads I'd be riding in Sumatra. The countryside was continually undulating, lovely and green, the roads smooth bitumen, but often a large pothole would appear either filled or not filled in front of you. This made riding a bike a much better method of travel than a car/truck or bus as you could easily negotiate around the obstacles.
My first night in Sumatra was in a town with no hotel, but on the outskirts of town I saw a rather sizable set of fire brigade buildings, the home of the regional forest fire brigade. I called in to plead and and was welcomed to stay the night. They gave me room (office) moved a mattress into it for me, and in return I had to take photos, pose in photos, and have a game of football (soccer of course). They let me off after a short time, once they saw how proficient I was!
The forest fire brigade BayungLincir, my first night in SumatraSumatra quickly built itself - and Indonesia - into one of those places that could easily end up on the favorites list. With the Hello Mister's, the people always really eager to find out about you.
My route took me from Jambi to Palembung, Prabumulih, Bukit Kumuning, Bandar Lampung and down to the Java Ferry.
Typical road in Sumatra
Roadside rubber trees
When it rains...
In trouble with the Polisi again. Baturaja, Sumatra
The roads continued to undulate unlike my map that showed I'd be riding through swamp land. The hill into Bukit Kumuning wasn't as bad as the hotel operator the previous day had made out and I was pleased with the progress I made, despite catching (tropical) cold.
Heading from Sumatra to Java - freeThe trip across to Java was ticket less, being waved through by the guys in the ticket selling booths. I boarded the ferry - this time a vehicle carrying ship - as soon as the passengers and vehicles were off, and probably 15 minutes before any other passengers. The crew huddled around to find out about the cycle tourist, but had to go and work after a short time.
Nasional Monumen - the National MonumentI made it into Jakarta the next day and really noticed for the first time that I was in the southern hemisphere. After a bit of cloud previous days and not much latitude to notice the day I arrived into Jakarta I had sunshine and was that bit further south. As I headed into town I could see on the map that I needed to turn right and head south, but in the middle of the day that meant turning to the same side as my shadow - and that really felt strange. Fancy the sun being in the northern sky again.
I stayed in Jakarta two nights, I didn't really feel like there was lots I wanted to see, so one day to look around seemed enough.
Heading out of Jakarta in the morning and heading to the industrial east meant a day of the worst exhaust fumes I think I've had to deal with. Like every country in S/E Asia you also have to be very aware of the little buses that are going to pull over and stop at absolutely no notice if they even think they may be able to pick up a passenger. And for the first time in Asia at traffic lights it was normal to be beaten to the other side of the intersection by the throng of motor bikes. People in Jakarta are in a hurry to get somewhere, unlike places like Saigon where I'd typically be first off the mark and across when the lights changed. The roads in this area were typically divided highway with 2 lanes in each direction. The disturbing part was that the lane usage is: normal vehicles in the right lane, rickshaws, trolley pushers and cycle tourists in the left lane, and trucks and buses passing others at high speed in the left lane with the cycle tourists. With no shoulder to speak of it was probably the most disturbing of any of the places I'd riden. When they come from behind you cant do the "steer straight at them" and scare them back into the other lane that I have become so proficient at with head on traffic.
On Java - a land of Volcanos - I've headed east along the north of the island to Cirebon, then headed through the hills to the south of the island toward Yogyakarta. Through the hills and central Java the local communities are small villages with large numbers of people involved in the local specialities of "Red Peppers", "Onions" and "Rope Manufacture". Cycling here is a great way to get an insight into the local way of life.
Chilli's
Yogyakarta is a far more interesting place to spend a few days than Jakarta. It's the home of the Sultans Palace, has a great vibe to it and I've stayed a day longer than anticipated. Tomorrow I'll head off again heading east and back to the north side before crossing over to the next island Bali in about a week. The roads in Sumatra with their potholes were a bit more bike friendly than car friendly. Here in Java the potholes are all patched and the road is made up very much of patches, not so bad for cars who can just speed over them, but horrible for cycling where every bump takes off a few km/hr and requires power to regain - and especially for cyclist with bad knees, as any pressure on the knees going over bumps is bound to set them off.
Heading toward Yogya
One of the monuments to the1949 Independance, Yogyakarta
Yogyakarta Bird market - & both sides of the food chain
