Day 89, May 4, 2013, Saturday, Kersik Tua-Maura Labuh(name) (Indonesia) 80km total: 3520km
This morning was a bit slow, I repacked all my gear after splitting it up for our Kerinci hike. I set out all my clothes in the living room and methodically started rolling and folding. In the midst of my packing, I looked up through the entry-way glass and saw the follower peering into the living room. He stared for a bit and then walked out of sight. I called out to Andres “Dude! He’s here, the guy, here, again!” Andres walked around the side of the building to the front. No one there. I walked out too. He wasn’t on either side of our homestay and I couldn’t see him walking up or down the main street. He was gone. Weird. I finished packing, and had to change a flat.
Riding out of town was gorgeous, nice and cool, clear skies and a nice cool breeze. I led our pack for about 15k until we hit rolling hills, descending down for 2k, climbing up for one, down another two, We were losing elevation, but not contiguously. As we got lower it started to heat up and the equatorial sun beat down on us. The rolling hills continued and on one slight uphill portion a group of kids started running beside us, for a long time! Steve was the first to pass by and once he did this huge group of munchkins started following. Andres was next, and then me. They wouldn’t stop, I was worried they’d overheat. As we continued on, each kid would reach his house and peel away from the pack saying “Okay bye bye!!!” It was cute.
We made it Maura Labuh and were directed to Umi Kalsum hotel, an unexpectedly nice hotel in this small mountain town. We chose the cheapest room, but after going up three flights of stairs to check it out we decided to splurge and spend the extra $1.50 per person to get a nicer room on the first floor. We did not at all care about the upgrade room quality, honestly we just did not want to go up and down stairs. Our legs were still killing us. Literally, painful to walk, a few inch steps up and down were still difficult to navigate. Yeah, we looked like a group of cripples. Well, we were, temporarily.
Day 90, May 5, 2013, Sunday, Maura Labuh-Alahan Panjan (Indonesia) 65km total: 3585km
We used the wifi to update our families etc and thus we were a bit slow to leave. It was a slight uphill all day, making our upstream along the valley. I was pushing hard today, tailgating Andres.We stopped for lunch at the next sign posted town. A couple kids came up to stare at us, we tried to talk but all we got were blank stares back.
10k up the road, guess what… We ran into more bikers! We stopped and chatted for 30 minutes and slowly but surely, about 20 people gathered to watch us.
We continued along the ups and downs and finally we got to the real hill climb. It was an easy climb, maybe 1 hr on a medium grade. We caught up with Andres and chatted with some people at a rest stop. They gave up water, tomatoes and a free bag of Mangees fruit. We finished off the climb and were greeted with a beautiful view of a highland lake.
Steve was keen to find accommodation and rest, but Andres and I cruise along, taking in the sights. Along the road we saw a familiar sight: tents and music? Bingo. DInner. We chatted with a group outside, they invited us to stay, but we couldn’t go inside ‘cause we had shorts on. They brought out chairs and we sat next to the wedding tent. Soon enough a crowd gathered to watch us. We chatted a bit and then ate. More people gathered. I brought out my phone to update Steve and one of the guys we were talking to took this chance to ask “Excuse me, I see you have an Indonesian number, can I have it?” “Ummm, okay, as long as I can call you anytime, whenever and ask you any questions, like advice, or translating something, or Indonesian culture. 1 am, 2 am, 4 am. Whenever I want to call, I will.” My sarcasm was over his head and he just nodded “Uh, okay.” As very short background info, this guy, and his friend group appeared to be very…interested in Andres and I. Need I say more? I thought for a second and turned to Andres, “So Steve’s number yeah?” “Yeah”. I looked it up and put it in his phone. Why not play some pranks? We continued to eat, finishing off a cake and bunch of bananas they gave us. They were excited to see us eat so much, it was amusing for them. The sun was starting to set and we decided to head out. We made plans to maybe come back that evening for the after party. Maybe we’ll come back, I can sing again. As we left, the guy turned to me “Come back, tonight, please.” “Uhhh, maybe” “Pleaseeee, promise me!” We left.
Day 91, May 6, 2013, Monday, Alahan Panjan-Padang (Indonesia) 75km total: 3660km
Today, Andres’ and my visas expire, so we need to get our asses to the Immigration office!
Andres and I got up early, did a quick 15 minute hill climb back to the main road and then out of town, stopping for awesome breakfast in a junction town. Our ride ended with a massive descent into Padang, long and super steep. I had to stop every 15 minutes to let my brakes cool off. I caught up with Andres in Padang at a juice stand and luckily Andres’ couchsurfing host got back to us. And according to the juice stand owner, his neighborhood was just around the corner! We got up and headed to this guys house. We kept getting directed further and further from the center of town. The juice stand owner was just wrong. On the way a care turned right into me and I slammed on the breaks and ran into her back left panel. Luckily, I slowed down enough to not fall or hurt the bike. I saw red and wheeled up to her passenger side window, which she rolled down and started shouting. I didn’t bother yelling in Indonesian, I was too angry. Just telling her off for being an absolute idiot, and to watch the road. She shouted back and once we were done we carried on. The locals around looked at me and nodded in agreement, that lady was an idiot. After 7km ish, Jamil met us on the road and we went to his house washed up and changed. Now it was 11:30. According to Jamil, Immigration is over 10km away, and they close for lunch at 12. We hopped on Jamil and his cousin’s motorbike and headed down. 10 minutes into our ride, Jamil’s cousin got a flat tire. Andres and I looked at each other and realized we’re not going to make it by 12. Since motorbiking was out of the question, we hopped on an angkot bus into Padang, then one of the passengers got off and and onto a public bus with us to show us where to get off. She switched buses just to tell us where to go. So many times I’m shocked at how kind people are, this time is no exception.
It was about 12:30 and we were still able to get in the Immigration building and directed upstairs. We were then grilled as to why we didn’t show up 7 days prior to our visa expiring. “Because we’re riding our bicycles, sir” “They’re at our hosts house.” “Why didn’t you go to the office in Lampung, Pekanbaru or Jambi?” Because Lampung was one day after we got our first extension and we didn’t ride of the eastern route.” I didn’t point out that we went through Bengkulu which has an immigration office. They looked at our visa extension and informed us that we need to renew our visas in Jakarta, where our sponsor Novi, lived. “We can’t do that, we’re here now.” “Just mail it her” “We are NOT going to mail our passports”.” We had a bit of back and forth and they told us to go have lunch while they discuss if we can get an extension. It wasn’t looking good. I thought we were going to have to fly to Singapore for a day, to get a visa on arrival on our way back.
We went back at one o’clock and they said we can get a sponsor in Padang, they just needed to fill out a pre-printed form, cool! The officer asked us if we have a sponsor and we said not yet, but we might be able to find one. The officer nervously looked around and suggested “I could sponsor you.” Bingo, lets just pay a $10 bribe and get this thing done with. I leaned in and asked “Okay, How can we get you sponsor us?” He continued to fidget and look around, it was like the first time he’d asked a girl out on a date. He quietly said “You pay me.” We suggested 50k and he cheekily smiled, shifting in his seat. He was thinking. Andres point to me and to himself “lima puluh, lima puluh, seratus, yeah?” (50k, 50k, 100, yeah?) RIght when I though we had him, right when we thought a deal was struck a tall man entered the room and the officer straightened up. He didn’t responded and we quietly prodded him. Still no response. I looked at the tall man’s name-tag. Same as the plaque above the door. Damnit, so close!
Earlier, I asked Jamil if he could sponsor us if push came to shove. And well.. it came to shove. We asked the immigration officer if there was anything else we needed, nope. So we made photo copies of our passports and waited for Jamil.
Jamil arrived an hour later around 3ish. Woohoo, visa extensions, here we come! The three of us went up stairs so Jamil could filled out the form. Oh wait. We need to type this form out, a new sponsorship letter, and to have Novi our old sponsor endorse Jamil to be our new sponsor? WHY THE HELL DIDN’T YOU TELL US AN HOUR AND A HALF AGO SO WE COULD HAVE BEEN PRODUCTIVE! Ugh. I reached out to Novi and asked if she could sponsor Jamil and the three of us went to an internet café to type up Jamil’s sponsor letter. We hadn’t heard back from Novi yet cause she was probably busy at work and we went back to Immigration with Jamil’s letters. Apparently, Novi needed to email Immigration saying she gives Jamil Power of Attorney. When I heard that I though maybe we should just buy a ticket to Singapore as it’d be easier and I didn’t want Novi to give POA to someone. It turns out that that’s just what the immigration officers are calling Novi’s endorsement. It’s not actually POA, as its just an email saying Jamil can be our sponsor. The officers just need something to point to for formality’s sake. We gave the officers Jamil’s letters, form and copies of our passports and id’s. Before leaving, we clarified “Is there ANYTHING else we need to turn in, Anything??” “No.” Thank goodness, Andres will drop off Novi’s letter tomorrow and we should be done.
Andres and I caught public transport back to Jamils. I was going to stay there that night, but Ricky a friend of Brad’s that was going to help me out in the Mentawai’s was going to sell me some surfboards that night and Steve’s homestay was much closer to his aunts house. So I zipped down to Brigitte’s Homestay and waited for Ricky. I bought a nice 6’3” thruster for $250. Ouch. But it’s in good condition so hopefully I can sell it for $200 when I get back. If it doesn’t break. I stayed up late and wrote on my computer into the wee hours of the morning.
Day 92, May 7, 2013, Tuesday, Padang (Indonesia) 15k total: 3675km
I woke up mega early and started packing my things for the Mentawais. I’m catching the ferry this evening.
I’m not exactly sure where my Mentawai story starts. Should it start 14 years ago when I started surfing? Does it start 6 years ago when I started dreaming about making a trip out here? Or does it start when I bought my ticket to Indonesia? On this trip, the story started at Thea’s house in Malang, Java, Indonesia. We were talking about our trip in general, and she brought up a great point. When else am I going to be this close? Never. A future Mentawai trip will be a huge endeavor all the way from California. But in Sumatra, I’m a ferry-ride away. She also asked “Will you remember spending the extra $500 or however-much?” No. So, since the beginning of March, the Mentawais was on my Indonesia list. It is literally known as “the best surf in the world”; how did I think I was not going to go? In Jakarta I had a long conversation with my good friend Alexander Stubbs and he gave me some suggestions of where to go. My plan was get the ferry to Siberut, and then hop on a fisherman boat down to Nyang Nyang. In reality, if you don’t go through any sort or package deal, you can do the Mentawais, cheaply. The largest expense goes towards the guy who put strings together the things surfers are too lazy to sort out themselves.
In Krui, Brad and Heely said they had a friend, RIcky, that could give me the laydown for the Mentawais and I might even be able to stay with him in the village, SIlabut near Maccaronis. When I was in Bengkulu, I got a call out of the blue from Mel, someone who worked with Heely and Ricky at Macca’s resort and she said she was a friend of Ricky’s and will speak for him because his English isn’t too good. She said he could meet me in Padang and show me where all the things were. Woah! The luck I’ve had on this trip is incredible. They are helping me out just cause I’m friends of Brad’s. I asked her for all the information , transportation costs, food, if there’s electricity, if there’s water, if there’s a stove, if I can camp, ferry prices, accommodation prices, boat prices and ojek prices. I told her my plans for getting to Padang and then going to Siberut, potentially. As I neared Padang I kept Mel updated as to where I was and when I’d get to Padang. I was going to rush to get to Padang to make the Thursday ferry, but I spent a couple extra days at Kerinci, and apparently you can get to the islands on fishing boats for nearly the same price. That’s the background info.
The night prior I invited Ricky to breakfast at 7 before doing errands for the trip. I waited a while and decided to eat at 8:15. Ricky came around 8:30, he’d already eaten, and I hopped on the back of his scooter and he took me to a mall. They didn’t open until 10, we checked went to another one and they were closed as well. In the mean time, I took money out and got phone credit. I was a bit frustrated cause I still needed to build a surfboard rack for my bike and I could have done that in the mean time and gotten surf gear later. Once they opened up I saw that Ricky had brought me to get groceries, so I went in and bought a shitload of noodles, bags of oats, and some snacks. Three big grocery bag-fulls. A week’s worth of food: 350k($35) Then Ricky led me to the surf store in the mall. It was more of surf-style clothing store, rather than a surf shop. No booties, no leash, no hats. Damnit. I really really don’t want a Bengkulu repeat. I flipped through my notebook and called a contact that someone had given me. Freddy, a friend of Joe’s the boat captain I met in Krui. He was a bit confused as to this random person cold calling him, but her directed us to the correct place to get surf gear. I got a surf hat, leash, and booties. So lucky they had my size! I’m a European sized 47 and the largest shoes are usually 43 in Indonesia! I got back to the homestay and packed my gear. Mel suggested I take my bike over to the islands to ride around. And considering the ojek ride from Silabu to Macca’s is 100k ($10)/day, Steve suggested to just make a bike rack. He’s right, why not save $70? I asked Ricky about the roads, he said they’re not too good, I pointed to the adjacent road with some potholes asking him if it was like that, better, or worse. “Like that” Well, that that’s a piece of cake. I went out in search of a plumbing store, the first people I come across said there wasn’t anywhere to find plumbing. In a town of hundreds of thousands of people? You’ve got to be kidding me. We’ve found this happens a lot, if someone doesn’t know where something is, then they’ll just say it isn’t anywhere at all. I went to the boat docks and rode by a boat maintenance shop. I peered in and saw pvc pipes. No plumbing, pshh. I went in and explained I needed to make a surf board rack for my bike. They couldn’t really grasp my question cause they were shocked I rode from Bali in the first place. “Dari Bali, pakai sepeda?” (From Bali, riding a bike) “Yes, can I make this rack?” “From Bali?” “Yessss!” The owner brought out the pipes and saw and I started cutting away, grabbing elbows(pvc joints) and zip ties. The rack came together in about 40 minutes and it looked damn good. I rode back to Brigette’s tested it out and got some suggestions from the other guests. I returned to the shop, put a cross bar on and applied the glue.
I went back to Brigette’s and packed up the bike but I got bad news about our passports. They needed something else: passport photos. The one thing Andres can’t do for me. Why couldn’t it be a form or letter that they needed? I planned to go to Immigration on my way to the Port. As I was leaving, I told Brigette my plan and she told me that Immigration was in the opposite direction. Really? Someone had told me that Bungus Port was north the day prior. (Immigrasi is also north) I knew I was screwed, but I headed out anyway. I figured if I pushed really hard and zoomed to the photo place, then to Immigrasi by 5, I could get through the two big hills to Bungus by 7. I haven’t yet mentioned that before leaving Brigette’s, I was not feeling 100%. A bit off.
About five minutes into my cycle, I knew deep down that I wasn’t going to make it, but I kept cycling. My plan of cycling really hard was a total no-go. I was barely at cruising-speed. Another ten minutes and I had to pull off and sit down on the curb. I waited it out and about after about 40 minutes of waiting, I flushed my system out. Food poisoning maybe? I felt a little bit better, but not much. I called Ricky and told him I fell ill and couldn’t make it to the ferry. Mel called me because Ricky didn’t get what I was saying, she relayed the message to Ricky. No ferry tonight. I’ll have to catch the Thursday night ferry.
I figured I might as well still try to get the passport photos to drop off at Immigrasi. I couldn’t find the photo place and it started pouring rain, POURING. I retreated under the cover of a little shops awning, bought something to drink and just waited. I could not commit to the idea of riding back to Brigette’s in the rain. I wasn’t feeling well and it just seemed like a terrible idea. I know the ride would only take 20 minutes, but I just couldn’t do it. I waited for four hours until 7 or 8ish for the rain to stop. I went back top Brigette’s, checked back in and rested. This is the first time I’ve been sick on this trip, no dinner tonight, I just chatted with other guests Fiona and Cameron and Andres(who came over to hang out)
Day 92, May 8, 2013, Wednesday, Padang (Indonesia)
I was feeling better today, I ate breakfast and nothing came of it. Andres showed me where the photo place was and I got my pictures. It was getting close to 12 so we got on becak and headed over to Immigrasi. It was 11:50, but here, people are always late to work and early to go on breaks. We needed to wait until one o-clock. On our way out we saw a guy with a San Diego shirt, but didn’t stop to talk. We were both pretty surprised. As we waited outside the office deciding what to do. He came up to us to chat, he needed to wait as well. We went across the street and had some juice. Tegnan is from the Ivory coast, doing his PhD in Indonesian law at an law program in Padang. It was great to talk with him. We discussed how law shapes, or doesn’t shape Indonesia, and how to motivate society to be more active and fight for rights etc. It was a fulfilling conversation. It got our minds going. At 1 we took care of our respective business, made sure that there was nothing else and headed out. We stopped at a milk café on our way back and I satisfied my need for some fresh milk, ooooohhhh how good it was to have fresh milk! I am seriously a milk fiend and I crave it, a lot. The milk in the stores and markets tastes like chemicals. It’s just not the same.
Joe, the boat captain called me after I called his friend and he invited me to meet up. I went over to the docks and he gave me a bag with 10+ pieces of wax and leash. He went to all the boats and collected the leftover surf stuff for me. I checked out his boat, he took me out for a coconut and then he dropped me off at Brigittes.
That evening, Joe picked me up and took me to his house for dinner where I met his wife and two small children. Joe is super super kind and it’s impossible for him to wipe a smile off his face. After dinner he took me to the bridge near my homestay and I had a local Indonesian treat: Fried banana with chocolate and *drumroll* cheese. It wasn’t terrible, but I’m not having it again. I went to bed early to rest up.
Day 93, May 9, 2013, Thursday, Padang (Indonesia) 10km 3685km
Today is the day. Finally. Finally. Leaving for the Mentawais. I may be heading over two days later, but it will make the epic surf all the more sweet.
I hung out this day, packed up my things. I decided to buy another surfboard because everyone said it’s very likely one will break. I went to lunch with Cam and Dan, both cooks at different surf camps. I spent a whole $6 on my lunch, it was really good. I guess sometimes you have to break the bank, right?
Around 4 I got on my bike, giving me 3 hours to get to Bungus. 20km with a big hill. I should have enough time. I asked the receptionist at Brigittes how to get to Bungus. Ride, past the boat docks, and ask for Pantai Air Manis, Sweet Water Beach. From there I can get on the road to Bungus. I headed out, crossed the bridge and asked the locals how to get to Air Manis. My bike seemed great and the rack was holding up. The locals directed me up hill behind their houses to get to Air Manis. That’s when I kind of regretted the biking idea. The boards added enough weight to make the hill really hard. Not to mention I was going up a four foot wide motorcycle path, with no room to meander back and forth. I had to push my bike up and up. The path topped out at about 200m, but then it went up and down. I couldn’t ride up the ups. I couldn’t even walk. The ground had a very fine layer of algae giving me no purchase. An other motorbike got off his bike to help me push my bike up a 10 foot stretch of road. I literally couldn’t do it, my feet would slip and I even fell. I was already regretting biking. Finally I made it to a bigger road and descended down to the beach where I stopped at a warung to get some water. I was exhausted from the first hill and rested a bit. I told them I was on my way to Bungus and the told me I was in the wrong place. I told them I know that it isn’t Bungus, but I am going there. Yeah, the road to Bungus is back up and over the hill. I was pissed. I couldn’t help but let out a “FUCK!” I called Brigitte’s homestay to see if I could get pick up by “Brigittes transport” It had already left. A full hour had passed and I essentially had made no progress. Now I need to climb back up and get to the main road and climb up the next hill. I gave myself a few more minutes to feel sorry for myself and the started me way up the hill. If I don’t start moving then I’ll miss the ferry, again.
I started up the hill and over my shoulder I saw a truck coming up the hill. I waved them down and begged them to take me up the hill so I could save time. They let me in the back of the truck and dropped me off up and over the hill at the main road. I got on my bike and headed to Bungus, stopping at an ATM, where Ricky spotted me(I had updated him that I was at Air manis, cause someone gave me the wrong directions). We started riding, myself on my bike and him behind me on the back of his cousins motorbike. The beginning of hill wasn’t bad, but the sun was going down and I had no idea how long it was. It was almost six o’ clock now. We figured it’d be best to hitch a ride so Ricky went to find a truck. Fifteen minutes passed and a truck came, I tossed my stuff in and got to Bungus in time for the ferry.
I bought my ticket, 170k for myself the surfboards and the bike. I asked Ricky if he wanted economic or VIP and if I offered to pay for his ticket. I figured if he’s coming all the way over to help me out, I should probably buy his ticket. We got VIP tickets, boarded the ferry and went to the upper deck where I chatted with Ian from Peru and Peter from Swtizerland. Both surfers. At about 10 we all decided to hit the hay. So I went down to our seating area, blew up my sleeping mat and slept. Mentawais here I come, finally.
My blog is going to pick up from after the Mentawais so I can catch up with the blog to where I am on the road. A ton happened in the Ment’s, too much to write about right now. The next post will pick up from Padang. Don’t worry I’ll write the Mentawais post, I just need to find a lonnnnng block of time to sit and write.