Day 79, April 25, 2013, Thursday, Bengkulu-Putri Hijau (Indonesia) 120km total 3105km
I said good bye to Evan’s parents and went over to have breakfast at Yadi’s and Vivi’s. Andres and Steve stayed at Evans because Evan’s mom already started cooking breakfast and we weren’t going to leave her high and dry, as she had already started cooking. I hung out with Yadi and Vivi and then hit the road on my own, planning to meet with Andres and Steve in the next town. I stopped at Long Beach to take photos; it looked decent on my way out, darn.
I cruised along and stopped stopped often to check out the surf. I’ll say it again, I seriously want to come back to Sumatra with a motor bike and surfboard and just explore all the nooks and crannies.
The road rolled up and down the coastal hills through Palm oil plantations. Kilometer after kilometer, through rows of palm trees. The monotony of it all starkly contrasted with the virgin jungle we’d passed through earlier in Sumatra. I can’t imagine the physical effort it took to actually clear all that land. It was sad, in fact.
There was barely any shade through the lowland plantations. It was freaking hot! I had to fill up all my bottles twice or thrice, even. I caught up with Andres as he was fixing a flat and then we pulled into town just after Steve. There wasn’t too much. We got some sate next door, found some bananas to buy and relaxed on the balcony watching the sky. Andres and I found some cheap nutela-like spread to coat our bananas. We can find fried bananas and chocolate in Indonesia, but they never put enough chocolate! Andres and I took big heaping scoops, much better.
Day 80, April 26, 2013, Friday, Putri Hijau-Pasar Bantal (Indonesia)90km, total 3195km
Our rule is to only ride during the day, and try to avoid as much of the heat as possible. Needless to say, we got up at 5 to pack up and eat breakfast. Steve needed to do some bike maintenance which held us up a bit, but then we hit the road around 7ish.
It was more rolling, hot hills through endless plantations. There’s not much to say, lots of hills, palm and rubber trees. The unprocessed rubber smells awful! Kind of like manure. It’s the worst when a truck passes by going uphill. You are breathing heavy but want to hold your breath until the stench dissipates.
We got into Pasar Bantal and found a clean hotel. Steve was starving and make a direct line for the first food he saw whereas Andres and I scouted around a bit. A man at a fruit stand gave us a free watermelon and water, inviting us to sit down. We then agreed we should buy some fruit. 30k for pears, not bad, so we decided to get 2 kilos. Once in the bags, it looked to be too much for one evening. We asked for one kilo only. I gave him a 50 and got back 15; he said the price was 35k. Andres and I both heard 30k half a minute earlier. It was frustrating, but he just gave us a watermelon, so we begrudgingly bought the fruit.
Andres and Steve napped and I read a bit of Brave New World but soon enough I fell asleep on the couch in the lobby.
As soon as I woke up, I put away my book, grabbed my camera and started walking through the palm oil plantation. I came across some houses where the residents would shout “Oyy, mau kemana?!” (Hey, where’re you going?” “Jalan jalan!” (walking around!) then the residents would nod and smile, so I continued.
I came to a soccer field where all the soccer players shouted for me to come over, I did. This local soccer clubs practices regularly in the evenings. I watched them do a practice game and took some photos. The sun set and thus practice was over; there are no late night stadium lights here. The goalie gave me a ride on his scooter back to the hotel.
After Steve and Andres’ nap we got ayam bakar(grilled chicken.) Back at the hotel I chatted with the receptionist, staff, and a few guests for a while. We discussed our traveling and had requested an impromptu Indonesian lesson.
Day 81, April 27, 2013, Saturday, Pasar Bantal-Tapan (Indonesia) 140km, total: 3335km
Early start. More riding up and down and up and down through palm oil plantations. Can you believe it? MORE. 100’s of kilometers of once-jungle-now-plantations. We got second breakfast in Muko Muko and had to shoo kids away from messing around with our bikes. The road after Muko Muko had some lulling hills but the big up and downs eased off. Thank goodness.
In addition to the hills, the heat, the shouting, and the hello misters, I forgot to mention the worst of them all: dogs. Encountering these vicious shits is the only time I get scared. They spot you coming down the road, perks up their ears and start giving some warning barks. Then start to make their way off their porch/front step and making their way towards you. Once you’re parallel with them, they’re barking their heads off and they sprint towards you. A few times, they get a foot away from your ankle, causing your heart to start pumping and the adrenaline to course through your body. A true true adrenaline rush. You’re body feels numb and breaks out in goose bumps. Once you sprint out of the dogs range, you feel tapped of energy. I hate dogs. It was hard to decide to drop $900 on rabies vaccination before this trip. Now I’m realizing how real the threat is. These things are scary. Seriously, these are not like the Golden Retrievers I loved and grew up with.
Steve and Andres made it into town first and found a really shabby hotel with a cheeky manager. We ventured out of town looking for a homestay people had directed us to. I was ready to get off the bike. It was too hot, and each turn around a corner did not reveal the homestay. After about 5km we found it, simple, quiet and not dirty. We checked in, showered and then rode our bikes back to town to get lunch. Steve headed back to nap and Andres and I walked around Tapan. There wasn’t much, but we did find a café with wifi, very random. Andres sat down and started blogging, emailing etc. I cycled back to the hotel, pick up my computer and his charger to bring back to the café.
We wifi’ed it up, ate dinner and chatted with Bayu, a university student in mine engineering, working at a local mine. He told us the road to Sungai Penuh was flat. We were pretty sure he was wrong, but he stayed confident with his answer. In fact, I know he’s wrong, and I don’t understand why he is so confident to give us information that’s wrong. Weird.
Day 82, April 28, 2013, Sunday, Tapan-Sungai Penuh (Indonesia) 60km total: 3395km
Do I need to say it? Early start. We got two breakfasts at our lunch spot from the day prior. We relaxed a bit, cause we only had 60k to Sungai Penuh. We talked with the warung-owner, telling him we were going to kerisk tua, eventually Kerisk Tua. Bayu’s comment about the road being flat bounced into my head. I asked the warung-owner if there was a hill, he laughed at my question “Yeah, there’s a hill”.”
We followed a quiet road up the river into the foothills. I had a few dog encounters. I tried a new strategy of slowing way down hoping I’d be uninteresting passing by them nonchalantly. They noticed me from afar, but after slowing down, they lost interest. PHEW. The next dog was barking his head off right at my right side but I ignored him and he didn’t chase. My adrenaline still started coursing through my body, and then I was drained of energy. About 10k into our ride the road left the river bank and it abruptly started to meander up the mountain side.
It was a shallow incline, so I just cruised and cruised, catching up with Steve who was waiting with me because we had passed a Tiger warning. This stretch through the mountains goes through a very large national park, composed of pristine highland jungle, housing 200 tigers. It was really, really pretty, and impressive. Again I was amazed at the thick vegetation covering absolutely everything, the tall trees, and some of the biggest leaves I have seen. Not too mention the noise. A persistent hum of beetles and bugs singing, with some even giving off a warning noise rrrr-rrrr-rrrrr-rrrr almost like a warning that we were in the jungle. There were also birds whistling, cooing and calling out.
We ventured up and up through the jungle and there was nothing. No warungs, no shops, no houses, no people and few cars. The climb went forever, and we thought it was going to top out about three different places, but then the road would turn and continue climbing higher and higher along the ridge. Steve and I ran into a French man on a fold up bike making his way down. We chatted for a bit, got the road report and asked about Kersik Tua. He’s done about 5 years in total across his life biking alllll (spelled this way on purpose) over the world. I got his email and we’re going to stay with him in France.
We came across a long line of cars and then a large landslide covering the entire road, with just enough room for one car to pass. Many men were shoveling away, letting Steve and myself pass, laughing when I stopped to take a photo. By this point we had been going up hill for about three hours. and our water was out. No shops, no warungs, no water refill stations. We stopped at a stream on the roadside, brought out the water filter and filled up 1.5 liters between us. As we were stopped, a group stopped, (maybe eight people in total) just watched us, not saying anything. Just watching. I don’t get what is so interesting, and why don’t they ask if we need help?
We came across another landslide. Thre rain started and we were ready to finish the climb. The road kept tricking us, but the top was elusive. Some motorbikers pulled up to ask where I was from etc., then the photo question came. I trade them a photo for filling up a liter of water.
Another 45 minutes of climbing brought us to the top where we met Andres at the rest stop. Steve wasn’t feeling 100% so he slept and Andres and I ate, replenishing our calories lost. We waited an hour for the rain to stop. It let up but never stopped. We waited an hour and started our way down. Luckily the rain stopped at a lower altitude. I took a few pictures but each time I stopped to take in the view, a motorbiker would come up and start asking me questions in broken English. Honestly, I probably sound like and asshole, they’re just trying to be nice, but I just want to be left alone sometimes.
I caught up with Steve at the first intersection in town. Two teenagers came up… and started asking us questions, Steve wasn’t feeling well and straight-up said he needed to vomit. He turned and let it out of his system. I told the guys to go away. They stayed and continued asking question. Ayay. Andres caught up and we found a mediocre hotel for 70k, our first one. Andres and I did not feel like cycling all over town, because we just wanted to settle in.
Steve stayed in to rest. Andres and I ate really good masakan padang next door and hunted down good dessert and wifi. We had no luck until we found a hotel, with wifi and buffet breakfast for a decent price. DAMNIT THE ONE TIME WE DIDN’T LOOK ALL OVER TOWN and it was just down the street too!
Day 83, April 29, 2013, Monday, Sungai Penuh-Kersik Tuo (Indonesia) 45k, total: 3440km
Steve was still sick, so just Andres and I cycled on to Kersik Tua to be in a more scenic spot near Mt. Kerinci. We got really good cheap breakfast down the road while we waited for the hotel staff to return our passports #travel tip, just ask for your stuff the night before so you don’t need to wait around.
I was tailing Andres and then overtook him further down the road. I didn’t see him for a while,waited a fair bit and he still hadn’t arrived. I figured he had a flat, plus I had the sudden need to use a restroom. I cycled on but didn’t see any warungs or shops open. I was almost considering pulling off the side of the road and finding a discreet location. As I cycled along someone shouted out to me. I decided to turn around and chat with him, asking if there was a bathroom nearby. He let me use his and I was so thankful. I came out and wasn’t sure if Andres was still behind or passed by. I asked if he had or had not seen a biker, he just nodded yes to both questions. It was a lost cause. I figured I’d meet Andres in the next town.
I looked back down the valley from the top of the hill. An angkot driver who was just at our hotel in the morning saw me and pulled over to say “hi” and to suggest where to stay that evening. I asked if he saw Andres. He hadn’t seen Andres so I had him courrie a message. I waited a few minutes and saw Andres off in the distance making his way up the mountain. He caught up and then we cycled through beautiful highland tea plantations. It was so nice and cool. Quite a lovely change from the broiling lowlands.
Some girls rode by saying “hello mister” and they stopped up the road, trying to get my attention. I kept riding. Further down the road they stopped again, trying to stop me, “Mister, photo photo!” I gave them a stern “No.” They let out a genuine sigh, almost sad enough to make me stop.
Andres and I checked out the homestay in the town settling on Paiman Homestay. It was clean enough, and only 80k. We mandied (cleaned up) with freezing cold water. Mandi water in highlands is always going to be very very cold and super refreshing. You nearly lose your breath when it hits your head and chest.
Andres and I took a long walk across the entire town checking out what it had to offer. Not much. Only a few restaurants and a weekly market. We duck into one of the masakan padang restaurants to avoid the rain and chatted with Gomez, a transplant from East Timor. Once the rain stopped we headed back to Paiman and I took a walk through the tea fields, scurrying back to Paiman once the rain started, again.
We got dinner at the other masakan padang place and it was like pulling teeth trying to get the prices for each dish they put down. Upon returning to Paiman, the cigarette truck drivers point out a buffet of food on the table, perhaps it’s a meal they ordered for their crew? We asked them if we could have some and they pointed again encouraging us to eat. Well, we’re not going to say no to free food. And God damn it was good! Freshly cooked too! Not fried rice or fried noodles: steamed veggies, potatoes, fried tempe, rice and fried chicken. Fresh. And veggies!
I chatted it up with the cigarette truck drivers. At every opportunity I have, I chat with the locals, it’s the best way to learn a foreign language.
Steve didn’t make it to Kersik Tua that day, he was still under the weather and would have to cycle the next day. Andres and I decided to hold off on hiking it the next day so we could wait for Steve. Steve is the one to have suggested it in the first place. We’ve spent so much time together, by now, we’re a team.