When I planned to study in Australia, I already had my escape plan. I never intended to stay here forever. The idea was to study for a year, work for a year and then go traveling again. Plans change and that is a good thing. If everything would happen as we plan it, how boring life would be...

So, after four years of living in Perth, the time has eventually come to embark upon a new adventure. Probably to compensate for the 'overtime', this is intended to be a 'real' adventure: cycling through Asia for two years

The thing is, if we do something too often, we start seeing flaws even in the most exciting activity and get annoyed and bored with it. That's what happened to the relationship between backpacking and me.
After years of traveling as a backpacker, I started to realize that even as hard as we may try to avoid it, one tends to fall into pattern: similar routes, similar destinations, similar activities. And, don't get me wrong, that is fine for a while - and as most people only backpack once in their lifetime, they don't get to see those patterns. But I did. I found myself avoiding backpacker 'ghettos' more and more. Trying to stay 'off the beaten track'. And when I ended up in one of those places, I tended to either isolate myself or hang with the most cynical person I could find. (You guys are great, by the way. You know who you are.)
I think the seed for trying a different mode of travel was planted at the end of my last trip – while in India and Thailand. Both places fascinated me and I wanted to see more of them. At the same time, I was appalled by the 'traveler scene': people following trodden paths, eating Western food, socializing only with fellow travelers and at the same time claiming to be the real deal. Now I had a dilemma: I wanted to go back to India and South East Asia – but I wanted to be as little part of that scene as possible. Of course, that is possible to do within the 'traditional' traveling norms: but one has to be more vigilant about the 'mission'. However, traveling should not just be a mission, but enjoyment. So, I was contemplating a solution for this luxury problem.

Then, when Erika had arrived in Perth and after a few cycling tours, the solution had presented itself: let's ride our bicycles through Asia. This way we simply couldn't fall back into the the backpacker patterns of going from one comfortable destination to the next. At the same time, we would be forced to stay in places most people just see from the window of a bus or a train. That settled it.

So, here we are now: four weeks away from D-Day. The plan is to cycle for two years. Starting in Indonesia, we intend to ride through Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Nepal and India. We do have an idea of how to approach this tour – but as you can imagine, there is no way of setting such an undertaking in stone. We will probably assess plans, routes and options on a day-to-day basis and much of that 'plan' might change.
There are also a few alternative plans and unknown factors that we are tossing around. We are contemplating going to Myanmar, but will decide that once we are in Thailand based on cost and political situation. We are also playing around with the idea of a holiday in the Philippines, where Erika still has extended family. That will depend on cost and season once we arrive in Vietnam. And there is the case of 'the region that shall not be named' – our gateway to Nepal and India. Riding through there will depend entirely on the political situation. Currently, it looks very bleak – but let us hope things ease up a bit in the next year and a half.

First things first. Indonesia. I will write a diary entry in about one week to enlighten you on our plans for that first stage.
I hope you are as excited about reading about our trip as we are about actually doing it.
Adrian

As I said in the last diary entry, our plans for the two year trip are not set in stone. However, we did have to create a rough itinerary to see if we can come up with a route that would largely avoid the monsoon season. Riding in torrential rain, facing land slides and heavy seas does not exactly fit into our definition of fun. Also, there is a rather small window to cross the Himalayas.

Roughly, our trip is divided into four sections

1. The Islands: Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei
2. Mainland South East Asia: Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam
3. China and Himalayas: Not to be explored too much here.
4. India

Instead of speculating on things in the distant future, let us focus on the first part of the trip.

We intend to spend between five and six months on the islands comprised of Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. On 26th April 2009 we will fly from Perth to Denpasar, Bali – simply because this is the easiest and cheapest way to enter Indonesia from Perth. After a couple of days in Bali, we will fly east to an island called Flores. More precisely, we intend to fly into Maumere. This will be the 'official' starting point of our cycling. We will cycle west over all the volcanoes Flores can put in our way (we hope) to Labuanbajo, the western tip of Flores. There we intend to take a PADI diving course and visit the famous Komodo islands to see for ourselves the infamous Komodo Dragons. News flash: Just yesterday, two dragons killed a farmer on Komodo..
After this little holiday, we plan to catch a PELNI ferry (official Indonesian ferry company) to Makassar on the island of Sulawesi. Sulawesi is located north of Flores. The plan is to ride to the northwestern tip of Sulawesi. Here, we would like to catch a ferry west to Tarakan on Borneo. The reason for this is that we are anticipating this will be near the expiration of our 60-day Indonesian visa. From Tarakan it will be a short hop over to the Malaysian state of Sabah. This is the rough plan for the first sixty days.

Next, the idea is to ride through Malaysian Borneo (Sabah and Sarawak) in a east-west direction, probably visiting Brunei on the way. We will then pedal on to Kuching to apply for a new 60-day Indonesian visa. Recent news on the traveler hotline indicates it is currently possible to get visas in Kuching. If you can confirm this or know otherwise, please contact us!
After Kuching, we plan to ride to Pontianak where the real adventure begins. I could not find any information online about riding a bicycle through Western Kalimantan. A friend traveled overland in the southwest of this region, but then took a boat to Pontianak. We intend to ride through the Heart of Darkness. How cool and scary is that?

Eventually, we plan to finish our Indonesian part of the trip on Sumatra. However, this really is so far away, it is not only difficult to plan, but harder to think about at this point in time. There are a variety of reasons why we may have to change our plans, down the road...let's just leave this as a 'vision' for now.

To give you a better understanding of what I am rambling on about here, I drew a little map of the plan above. I remember how foreign all those places sounded to me before I started doing some research.
If you have visited any of these destinations and have tips about places to visit, people to seek out and experiences we should make, please contact us!

Only four weeks to go – can you believe it? I probably won't write for a couple of weeks as all the things we have to do now would be rather boring to you: taxes, canceling gas and phone, getting rid of possessions, etc.
I reckon the next update you will receive will contain more details on travel arrangements and maybe some information about our bicycles and gear.

Until then, stay tuned.
Adrian

One month since my last diary entry. What happened since then? Well, we have arrived in Indonesia, that's what happened.

I can't even begin to run you through those last few weeks. It's all one big blur: scrambling to organize official Australian stuff, finishing up work, cleaning out and cleaning up the apartment, saying good-bye to friends...and too much alcohol. But the important thing now is, I am sitting here in Denpasar, Bali. It's 1 am, 27 degrees and probably 85% humidity...

So, let's forget the last few weeks and just focus on today. Anh helped us clean the apartment. Poor thing. She was hoping to spend a last cozy evening with us, playing some Settlers and having a chat. In reality, she was received with a bucket and then wasn't allowed to sleep until 4 am. Then in the morning, she had to wake us up, make us coffee, help us clean some more and drive us around for last-ditch shopping. Thanks Anh, you're a star.

Once we were finished, Ben and Emma drove us to the airport. And it should have been smooth sailing from there. Should have. Checking in, it turns out that with Virgin carriers, bicycle boxes extend the baggage limit by 5 kilo and don't count as a 'nominal 5 kilos' as before. Two bikes and enough gear to get us through the next two years...we were seriously over-weight. I mean, SERIOUSLY overweight. After some shuffling around and basically carrying as much as possible in carry-on, we managed to drop the excess luggage charge from 590 to 435 dollars. Thanks Pacific Blue.
Anyhow, after a teary good-bye from Ben and Emma, some 'random explosives check' (how random can it be if I get checked every single time I fly?) and a last-second sandwich, we eventually got on the plane.

Once in Denpasar (Bali), I found out that we've been robbed a few times. First by the bank in Perth (exchanging 1 AU$ to 6'000 Rupiah, while they give 7'300 here at the airport. I'm sure we'll get better rates even tomorrow when we do our real money deal.) Then, we also got ripped off by the porters. Selamat Datang indeed. But, no need to worry about money. We are in Indonesia.

WE ARE IN INDONESIA.

Tomorrow we'll organize a few things (money, plane to Maumere, etc.) and will try to get used to the humidity. The bike boxes have been wrapped, so we'll leave them like that for now and rearrange for cycling purposes in Maumere. That's were I will also complete and post a diary entry about our gear. I've started to write it up some time ago but just never had time to finish. I'll make up for that with a very detailed gear list.

For now, I will have a Bintang (Indonesian brand of beer) with Erika. We'll toast to all of you who made our stay in Australia pleasant. You know who you are. We love you and will miss you. Hope to catch up with you some when in the next two years.

Yes, I know, in my last travel log, I have already said that we have left Perth and arrived in Bali – but that just never felt like where we wanted to be. Now it does.

I don't want to rant on Kuta too much. Let us just say that it isn't for us. It doesn't feel like it has any culture except for consumerism and while the beach is very nice, I don't like sharing my beaches. Of course, Bali is not Kuta and Kuta is not Bali. Still, I cannot imagine that we would find what we are seeking even outside of the greater Denpasar area.

So, it is futile to say that we were not unhappy when we left this morning. We had last minute errands to run and were, as always, stressing to get to the airport in time. Trust me, running around Bali is serious work as it is very muggy and the sweat flows easily. But we made it in time and anxiously started the check-in process, fully expecting to again shell out hundreds of dollars for our excess luggage. Once all our luggage had been checked, the clerk turned around and told us that we had 37 kilos of excess luggage and had to go to another counter to pay for it. Our fears seemed to come true. But then we discovered that we have arrived in Indonesia for real. While the 29 kilos of excess luggage in Perth has cost us 435 AU$, the 37 seven kilos from Denpasar to Maumere cost us a full....65 bucks. Wow. Cool. Thank you Merpati!

The plane made a short 45 minutes stop in Sumba and we sort of liked it there. It was definitely was very different from touristy Bali – even just in and around the airport. But we had another 30 minutes flight to Maumere ahead of us.
Once we had arrived in Maumere, we were swiftly encircled by hotel touts and taxi drivers. Half of them disappeared when they saw the sort of baggage that we were carrying. We had several offers for a hotel and decided for one in town that came with a recommendation. Once there, we found the hotel full and opted for our second option, a beach 'resort' a few kilometers out of town. Initially, we didn't want to stay there because of the distance to town and we might have to go buy some bits and pieces for our bikes tomorrow. But as it was our next best option, we opted for it anyhow. And what a great choice the Gardena Resort is. It's located seven kilometers out of town on a nice black beach with views over the bay, a lovely and spacious bungalow for 12 AU$ and that includes breakfast for two.
We just came back from a lovely dinner of fresh vegetables, steamed rice and a couple of Bir Bintang. All of that overlooking the bay and watching crab collectors wading through the low tide. Very relaxing and beautiful. It very much reminds me of Siquijor Island in the Philippines – one of my favorite places I have ever visited. I guess, that puts Indonesia into a good light so far. We'll see if it can keep it that way.

Tomorrow we will have to put our bicycles together, test them and quickly head to the PELNI (Indonesian ferry company) office in Maumere to buy some tickets to Sulawesi at the end of May. If our bicycles are in working order by tomorrow evening, then we will start riding on Thursday. Exciting! Although, the mountains surrounding us are a little bit daunting. So is the intense heat and humidity. But, hopefully, we will get used to that.

I don't know how frequent and reliable Internet access is on Flores. So, I can't promise when my next travel log will be. Until then, enjoy.

Adrian

Selamat siyang from Ende, a city on the south coast of Flores island. Since my last log, we packed our bicycles and traversed Flores from north to south.

As you can imagine, there are a lot of stories to tell already. As an overview, we cycled 203 kilometers in 12.5 hours, during which we climbed 2,359 meters altogether. Yes, Flores is hilly. A fellow cyclist who cycled from England to Flores apparently claimed Flores to be the most challenging of his whole trip. And we started here without training and with way too much gear. Yes, we are suffering at times.

The first ride from Maumere to Paga Beach was steamy hot and covered some 618 meters altitude. At first, we answered most of the 'Hello Mister!' and 'Halo Bule' shouts that we encounter on a VERY regular basis and sometimes out of the thickest jungle. But after a while, there was simply not enough breath left to waste on politeness. The final downhill to Paga Beach was fun and our night's accommodation was basic but right on a secluded, beautiful beach – all for a full AU$ 8.20. (Sorry for referring to prices in Australian Dollars – but that's what our funds are in and matters to us.)

The next day from Paga to Moni was shaping up to be our first real test with up to 1200 meters gain in altitude. After 10 kilometers dabbling in the foothills, I had a flat. This wasn't good. I already had a flat in Maumere and the tube was punctured at a very unusual spot: on the rim side, not the tire side. This new flat had the same reason. This was bad news. Usually, punctures through the tire are just plain bad luck and our Schwalbe Marathon tires should prevent most of those cases. But having punctures from the rim indicated a real problem.
Anyhow, I fixed the flat under the supervision of the whole village's youth and off we went....for two kilometers, then the tire was flat again. So, I put in a new tube (again, under the watchful eyes and much commenting by the locals) and off we went again. Riding off, we decided that if I'd have a flat again, we'd flag down a bus or bemo and ride to Moni this way. Erika jokingly said she was hoping for a flat, as we still had a good 1000 meters in altitude to conquer. And just at the start of the climb, the tire went flat again. So, we unloaded the bikes and sat on the side of the road and waited for some sort of transportation to show up.

While this was disappointment from a riding point of view, it also proved a blessing because for the first time, we encountered the real kindness of the locals. No money involved, expecting nothing but a conversation, some answers to their questions and a good story to tell later. The inhabitants of Waluneso offered us shelter, food and water and helped us find transportation and negotiating a price. And of course, they thought we were crazy to ride our bicycles from Maumere to Labuanbajo.

Eventually, we got our bicycles and gear in and on top of a bus and drove up to Moni. Let me tell you, what a spectacular ride! Flores is stunningly beautiful with jagged and overgrown peaks dropping down to the turquoise Flores Sea. If you ever have the chance, come here.

In Moni we put on our McGyver hats and started fixing the rim. I won't bore you with the details, but you'd be astonished what you can do with writing block! So far, the rim hasn't punctured the tube anymore. Let us hope it stays that way.

Moni itself is the base for excursions to Mt. Kelimutu, a volcano famous for its three differently colored crater lakes. (See picture.) Usually people hire a care or rent a scooter to drive the 16 kilometers up to the summit. But having missed out on the big climb from Paga to Moni, we wouldn't let this one get away from us. Long after all tourists (of which there are very few on Flores) have returned from the top, we set out to conquer the 825 meters vertical meters. It took us 2.5 hours...and was absolutely worth it. First of all, we were up there absolutely alone. It was quite and serene. The craters themselves are as impressive as the famed lakes and the view across the jagged and partially clouded peaks below us was breath taking. And breathtaking was also the furious ride downhill. What took us 2.5 hours going up, took us 30 minutes flying down. What an adrenalin rush!

The next day, we set out to ride from Moni to the city of Ende on the south coast of the island. First, we had to summit the pass – which was a 14 kilometers climb that covered almost 400 vertical meters. After that, it was 40 kilometers more or less down hill. As we were flying down the mountain we came past stunning sceneries of steep hill flanking beautifully valleys with jungle vegetation only to be interrupted with the odd village that cultivated rice in paddies. Stunning.

At this point, I need to apologize. Usually, my logs are not this long. This one was supposed to end at the last paragraph. But then, when we got to the internet place, the power went out right when we walked in and I wasn't able to post it.

A few days have past since Ende. First we rode to the town called Boawae – our toughest ride so far. We rode for 6.22 hours and covered 88.5 kilometers in distance and 1291 meters in altitude. Frankly, we weren't sure if we were going to make it. After 35 kilometers along the shore line, which took us 2.5 hours because of the many outcrops we had to climb, we had to start the big climb of the day: 12 kilometers of pure climbing, covering over 600 meters in altitude. And all of that in 35 degrees heat. Tough stuff. But again, some of the views we got were just amazing – especially after reaching the summit. The high plateau we traversed after that was one of the more beautiful places I have ever seen. The whole scene is overshadowed by Gurung Ebulobo, a still active and constantly smoking volcano of almost perfect conical shape. Flores is definitely quickly shaping up as one of my favorite places on this planet, despite the hardships that we are putting ourselves through on the bikes.

We stayed in a day in Boawae; one reason being to give our legs some recovery time after the 1291 meter climb as the next ride to Bajawa would again be mostly going up. Another reason was that we wanted to inquire about climbing Gurung Ebulobo. Asking the losmen's (guesthouse) manager, we had an offer to go next day for a 130k rupiah, including transport to the base of the mountain. However, it was not to be. Late that afternoon it started pouring. I don't know if you have ever witnessed a tropical downpour, it is quite an impressive sight. Often these rainy sessions stop after half an hour, but not that day, it kept pouring all afternoon, creating a veritable pool in the garden of the losmen. We were then informed, that the rain would have softened the ground on the mountain too much and that climbing it would not be advisable, even if weather would clear up. Bugger. How cool would it have been to climb to the top of a smoking volcano.

Now we are in the town of Bajawa. Today, we had another ride with a 1012 meters total climb. But...we seem to get stronger. I don't feel half as devastated as I would expect to feel after such a ride. We almost drowned on the road today. It wasn't raining, it was just pi@#ing down. At one point, we had to pull under a roof, simply because we couldn't see anymore with all the water running and dropping into our eyes. The owner of the house then invited us in to warm ourselves (we were at 1200 meters, it gets a bit fresh at that altitude...around 25 degrees) with a cup of coffee. What a star.

Let's hope this rainy patch passes overnight. We would like to go exploring a bit tomorrow. This region is famous for its relatively traditional state of the tribes people – apparently bulls are still sacrificed around here. Gory.

So long, Adrian

First of all, I would like to apologize for a little technical error. Not everybody received the notification email for my last diary entry a few days ago. So, you might want to check the last log as well...it is quite a long one too.

For the past few days, we have been chillin' here in the town of Bajawa. One reason obviously was to give our legs some recovery time. But another reason is the weather. Riding for five hours in a tropical deluge is just not that much fun. Also, we would really like to climb Gunung Inerie, the volcano ten kilometers from Bajawa. But so far, the weather hasn't permitted an assault on the summit.
But the time spent here in Bajawa isn't a problem. We have two weeks to get to Labuanbajo – which we probably can reach in three riding days. In two weeks we intend to catch the ferry from Labuanbajo (Fores) to Raha (Sulawesi)...and there isn't an earlier ferry anyhow.

Yesterday, we rode our bicycles (sans luggage) to the traditional Ngada village of Bena. It was drizzling most of the time and not only did we cover yet another 749 meters in altitude during the 32 kilometer ride, no, half of the rode was in a more than deplorable state. The driver of a volunteer we met actually tried to discourage us from riding there. But by now, we are pretty strong and off-road riding is second nature to us anyhow. It was good fun and actually felt more like a mountain biking ride than a touring ride.

As for the town itself...I always feel a bit torn about these kind of experiences. On one hand it was great to see such a traditional village, where fairly strict animistic rituals and ancestor worship is still practices. The town still sacrifices bulls and the heads of the animals slaughtered are hanged off the front porch as a sign of prosperity. Also, between the two rows of thatched houses stands a interesting mixture of death cult. Pairs of ngadhu and bhaga (see image) symbolize the continues presence of the ancestors – the parasol like ngadhu for the male ancestors and the minute thatched house like bhaga for the female ancestors. In Bena, these ngadhu and bhaga mix with megalithic tomb-like structures and quite literally graves of the newly adopted Christian faith. It's strange.
But, despite the obviously fascinating nature of all of this...I always have a strange feeling in such places. For once, I feel like a voyeuristic intruder. I mean, c'mon, I am virtually wandering over the graves of these people's loved ones. Isn't that macabre enough. At the same time, I feel like these people must feel like a zoo animal. I am completely aware that tourism helps these people actually protect their culture that they otherwise would have to forgo in favor of a modern economic approach. Still. But maybe, it is just impossible for me to comprehend the situation the Ngada are in and it really is for the best for them and their culture. Of course, it would be great to have this conversation with a Ngada...but after only 14 days in Indonesia, our Bahasa Indonesia doesn't quite enable such a discussion yet.

To more mundane issues. We decided to stay yet another day in Bajawa and give the weather another chance to let us climb Gurung Inerie. Also, we are desperately trying to not only wash our cloths, but also get all of them dry for the first time in at least five days. I will also check, if we can get some more money in order to buy us some liberty to explore the road less traveled. As I said, taking the Southern route to Labuanbajo (Mborong, Ruteng) would probably take three or four days. There is a alternative route going along the northern coast through Ruteng and Reo. That would probably take a bit longer and running out of cash in remote village is not a great prospect.

I hope my little travel diary keeps you distracted from work a bit. There are also plenty of new pictures in the gallery if you want to see some of the spectacular sights we have come across so far.

So long,
Adrian

So, here we are in Labuanbajo, the western tip of Flores Island and the jumping off point to Komodo. Believe me or not, but after 622 kilometers and 8,918 meters climbed on a bicycle, I am currently suffering more and wish I had to climb up a 1,000 meter mountain pass.

While I'm sitting here on the veranda of the Hotel Matahari, 5 meters from the water and overlooking Labuanbajo Bay, my poor ears have to witness the drawn-out, painful death of music.
See, Labuanbajo is probably the only place on Flores that really is on the tourist map. The reason is it's proximity to the Komodo National Park, home to the famous Komodo Dragons. So yes, there are more tourists here. Not a lot, but more than we have seen in all of our time in Flores, in total. And just now, a young Neo-Hippie couple showed up and took out their instruments. She's playing the Bongo with the sense for rhythm of a crocodile. Although that might be highly unfair to the croc. I mean, if you watch them performing a death roll, there's definitely some rhythm there. Not with this chick. And he's torturing all the great sing-along rock classics with two cords and a thin, off-pitch voice.

Welcome to Paradise.

Speaking of paradise. After arriving in Labuanbajo yesterday, we had our minds set on getting drunk. The last two days riding from Ruteng to Labuanbajo were tough: 137 kilometers and 2053 meters of climbing. The last day consisted mostly of pitches between 10 and 16% which makes for really, really difficult terrain with 35 kilos of luggage strapped to your bike. But we made it. Not only more than the equivalent of summiting Mt Everest (8,918 of altitude gained which is more than the highest mountain on the planet), but also traversing the island, east to west, from Maumere to LB.
Relaxing on the already mentioned veranda, we met Sarah – a Texan girl on the road, on her own, for already six of her eight-month tour. Eventually, Erika and I washed our more than stinking bodies and the three of us headed for dinner at a warung — not to one of the touristy restaurants that prevail in LB. After an excellent meal, Sarah took us to Paradise. Paradise Bar, that is. A bar high above Labuanbajo Bay with a veranda and live bands. The place became lively with the second band. Astonishingly, it became a complete 'sausage fest', as our dear friend Franko would say. Usually, in these sort of places, you have the local girls on the prowl. But not here. Men outnumbered women 10:1. But that didn't stop the dance floor from getting crowded and the boys from getting jiggy with it.

Now, here's a practical tip for getting drunk in Indonesia: stay away from beer and stick with the home-brewed Arak – a palm oil 'wine' (it's actually more of a liquor). A beer, as temptingly cold and refreshing as it may be, costs 25,000 rupiah for a big bottle of Bintang (the local brew). Obviously, it takes several of those to get the two of us drunk, which makes for a relatively big bill here in Indonesia. The Arak, however is a different story. Home brew costs you 45,000 rupiah and it'll get you shwacked (to use one of E!'s favorite terms). E!, Sarah and I went through two of those yesterday. We deserved it!
The pick-up scene at the Paradise was funny. Well, from a guys point of view, I guess. Sarah got accosted from all sides, being tall, white and blond. As Erika was with me and looks more like a local than a bule (westerner), she got a bit less attention. But, one guy actually started talking to me in order to get to Erika by asking me if she was my sister? Say WHAAAT? One of the more bizarre things I have been asked out here.

Anyhow. So, here we are in Labuanbajo, the first mini-goal of our journey. The riding in Flores was definitely tough. Lots of climbing, hot as an oven and sometimes difficult road conditions. But it was all worth it. The views we enjoyed, the people we've met, the food that we tasted...it really is a great traveling destination. I'm not surprised to meet westerners here who try to find jobs (diving, volunteering, etc.), because it is a magical spot on this earth of ours.
Now we have a few days to waste. Our boat will leave on the 24th May, if our information is correct. Tomorrow, we'll head to the bank to replenish our cash pile (hopefully) and visit the PELNI office (PELNI is the Indonesian ferry company). After that, we will probably visit Rinca to see the dragons and stay on some of the outlying islands for some relaxation. And then, yes, it's already time to say goodbye to Flores and hello to the next destination: Sulawesi island in the north. We have not yet decided on the route up there, we have several options all having pros and cons. Something to mull over on the veranda today. Because today, I'm going to do Sweet F$%^ All. ;)

From Labuanbajo Bay, where the death of music is now over.
Adrian

Yes, this episode of the travel logs will bring you such dramatic climaxes as Adrian and E! hunting for dragons, fighting off the curse of the PELNI experience and in the end, they still find themselves in a bit of a pickle. And all of this without having cycled even one kilometer in over a week.

We haven't been doing too much since the last diary entry. We had to wait in Labuanbajo for the PELNI ferry (National Indonesian ferry company) to show up on Sunday, 24th May to take us to Makassar. Most of the time was spent reading on the veranda of our Losmen, the Matahari.

On Friday, we went to the Komodo National Park to see the famous Komodo dragons. The dragons are the main reason why people come to Labuanbajo to begin with. Flores as a whole doesn't see that many tourists, but in Labuanbajo you will find dozens of them – coming over with four day boat tours from Bali or Lombok. People, who will constantly complain about the 'standards' of the food and accommodation in Labuanbajo, because their set standards for Indonesia is from Bali or the Gillies. All really annoying stuff.
There are a few pleasant tourists around though, like our British neighbor Joe – with whom we had the predictable result of a crazy Arak night out.

Anyhow. I digress. Back to dragons. Due to the popularity of the Komodo National Park, it is actually pretty expensive to go see the beasts. Hiring a boat set us back 400k, then we had to hire a guide to protect us from the ferocious animal and the park entry fee was a whopping 15 US$. Generally, I don't mind paying that, because the formation of the NP led to a fishing ban in the park which in turn, according to Joe who is a Dive Master, led to some to the most intact reefs and marine life he's ever seen anywhere on the planet. What did bug me a bit though, was the fact that in Labuanbajo, you can not see the effect of the constant and considerable income stream from the National Park and the diving: it's a very dirty city and the infrastructure is in shambles. So, where do the millions of bule dollars go?

Digressing again. The dragons themselves are pretty cool. The male ones are massive animals, growing up to three meters in length and 100 kilos in weight. They are carnivores and hunt monkeys, birds and even deer and buffaloes. They seem to be docile enough in the mid-day heat, but we still kept a respectful distance from their bone-crushing, bacteria-spreading jaws. That was also ensured by Irvan, the young guide who walked the island with us, carrying a long stick to fend off grumpy dragons. We opted for the short tour (one hour hike) and it really was enough. After you've seen a few of the dragons lazing around, it really starts becoming old pretty quickly, except if you are into lizards, I guess. We also came across a massive buffalo bull taking an afternoon bath and dozens of monkeys.

On Saturday, I went to buy our tickets for the ship to Makassar. We have heard many horror stories about the PELNI experience and even though I knew that I'd opt for the economy class anyway, I did inquire about cabin prices. Economy was 141k rupiah and 1st class was 400k rupiah. That's a difference of nearly 80 AU$ which is really a fortune out here. So economy it was.

The ship was to leave at 7 pm on Sunday and Erika and I rolled our loaded bicycles down to the harbor at 6 pm. We've been told that porters will take our luggage on board and we just need to follow the luggage in. With a backpack, that would seem unnecessary – with a fully loaded bike having to get on a ship several stories high, a porter sounded like a grand idea. This being Asia, we expected to be hassled by porters as soon as we'd step on harbor ground. But it wasn't to be. We arrive under the usually scrutiny of the locals, but nobody approached us. So, we had a quiet meal and waited like everybody else. When we realized the ship was coming in, we rolled our fully loaded bikes to the gate and joined the crowd.
Once the gangways connected the boat to the dock, we saw two possible entries: one steep staircase up to the third deck or a wide, gangway going almost level into the ship. It was obvious which one we had to take with our bicycles. Once 20 meters away the pushing and shoving started. Again, with just a backpack on, that would have been a piece of cake. But if you have ten people pushing and pulling your 40 kilo bicycles in all directions, it gets difficult. And then, out of the blue it started raining. No, let me correct that. It started PI#$%^ DOWN. Immediately the throng became pure chaos. People started climbing over each other, trying to get into the hull before everything was wet. One person was even pushed off the dock into the water some five meters down. It was messy. Erika and I eventually managed to get out the other end and regroup. I only saw one way to get on the ship now: brute pushing force, loud insults and the threat of violence. We rejoined the pushing and shoving just a few meters away from the gangway. Even when I already had half of my bicycle on it and it was very obvious that people would have to let me push it up because there was really no room left for anybody else, they tried to pass me, climbing over my bicycle and the panniers. That's when being two heads taller than everybody else comes in handy. Let's just say, I wasn't going to win a popularity contest on that ship. I saw Erika trying to stay close behind me and eventually just pushed my way on and up the gangway under cheers and curses of many locals. The gangway was slippery from the rain and with the bikes being rear-heavy the front wheel kept slipping especially with people still trying to push over and past me. It was a struggle. Erika struggled even more and her being slower up the plank than me cause the locals to get even more impatient and angry.
Once on the ship, I saw our next dilemma – there were people and boxes everywhere. The economy sign pointed up and down a narrow stair case. But I had already decided that this wasn't going to happen. After stubbornly waiting for E! to get into the ship while dozens of passengers and crew were yelling at me, we eventually pushed away from the entrance to the other side of the ship pushing and pulling everything in our way clear. We were sort of 'guided' into a small hallway that was running along the hull of the ship. People and cargo everywhere. We stopped and I went to inquire about a sleeping berth. It became obvious very quickly that the ship was more than fully booked and we would find a berth to sleep. We quickly decided that staying were we were, in front of the pantry and the drinking water supplies would simply be hell. We therefore unloaded the bikes, chained them to a railing and just dumped our luggage and our soaking wet selves between two rows of sleeping berths on the floor.

The idea was, to unroll our Thermarest mats and sleep on the floor – like so many other people. First we had to get out of our soaking cloth though. After settling in a bit, we started talking to the people occupying the berths around us. They probably liked the idea of us bule suffering on the hot, overloaded boat with them and willingly parted with one of their mattresses. Which was a blessing. Our Thermarests are short and self-inflating. Made for camping. The mattresses provided by the shipping company are over two meters in length and provide much more comfort. Yes, and that is how we spent our time on the boat, sitting and laying on a narrow black mattress.

The boat trip itself wasn't really that bad, despite our position. The locals were very inquisitive and friendly, shared food, jokes and stories with us. Which really is why economy is better than the isolation of a 1st or 2nd class cabin.
The trip from Labuanbajo to Makassar was supposed to take 18 hours. But apparently, the shipping company recently changed the route so, instead of one night on the boat, we spend two nights there. In the end, everything becomes a big blur: you sleep, you listen to music, you talk to the people around you, you complete some tricky Killer Sudoku, you shuffle to the pantry when everybody else does, you go on deck to check the sea, the weather or even just if it were daylight or night time.

While getting off the boat with the bicycles was a bit of a push and shove as well, it was much easier and much less painful than getting on. We had learned our lesson, loaded our bikes up early and got as close to the exit as we possibly could. Once the gate opened, we took a very resolute no-bu#$%^& stance: either you let me pass or I will simply roll over you. Got us off the boat in minutes.

Yes, and this is how we got to Makassar the 1.4 million populated city on the island of Sulawesi. It definitely feels more like 'true Asia' here than on Flores that had a definite Pacific island feel. I like it. I like the Asian metropolis feel.

We had a bit of a dilemma over the last couple of days though. Thing is, we really do like Indonesia so far. Yes, we haven't seen much yet, but what we've seen and the people we have met really has impressed us. Initially, the plan was to cycle from Makassar to a town called Toli-Toli in the islands north to catch a ship over to Kalimantan from there. But, we only have 25 days to do this. From a cycling point of view, that is not really that big of an issue. Doable. However, we would really like enough time to explore Sulawesi. There's the obvious destination of Tana Toraja. A mountainous region in the center where animist rituals are still performed and the Torajans' funeral ceremonies are Sulawesi's main tourism drawing card. But we would also like to explore the little traveled to South-East of Sulawesi, a part of the island that isn't even connected with roads yet. We are also interested in doing some hiking in Lore Lindu National Park and find us some megaliths. And some R&R on the Togian Islands sounds like a good plan as well.
So, we decided to spend more time on Sulawesi. We will head to the the South East in a few days. We reckon that it'll take a good week or two to get there and explore it. Then we'll come back to Makassar to extend our visas by a month. After that we'll head up to Tana Toraja, Poso and maybe Lore Lindu and the Togians. But, who knows, maybe we'll change our plans again soon and my next travel entry will be from Maluku or Papua or the Philippines. Hehe.

I have uploaded some images from Komodo a few days ago and we also have published Episode 003 of our Vlog on our YouTube Channel

I don't expect to find reliable internet too often over the next few days and weeks. So, if you don't hear from us in a while, don't panic, we are just a bit off the radar.
I hope, my ramblings still provide you with some entertainment and distraction.
Adrian

First of all, I would like to send a happy birthday to my dear sister Andrea! Hope you have a good day today.

So, we have started cycling in Sulawesi after all. However, we didn't finish the first section, South Sulawesi, as quickly as anticipated. For once, it wasn't us being lazy - I ate something bad and needed some recovery time.

Riding in South Sulawesi is generally pretty easy. It's pretty flat out here - especially, if you come from riding on Flores! The first day, we rode 103 kilometers to a town called Jeneponto. The first 60-70 kilometers were smooth sailing, although the traffic while trying to escape Makassar was pretty crazy and loud. After that, we hit a strong head wind, but not even that could stop us from completing the longest distance to date.
The real hiccup that day happened after riding. We went for dinner and I eventually got to try a dish called Gado-Gado. It's vegetables cooked in a peanut sauce. We ordered it with rice and a boiled egg for proteins. We eat eggs on a very regular basis to keep/get our muscles strong. If you do that, you are bound to have problems once in a while. I'm certain it was not a bug such as salmonella, but there was definitely something wrong with the egg. I spend the next 24 hours in bed with bad tummy aches and a slight fever. Luckily they had TV in the Wisma (Guesthouse) we stayed at, so at least I didn't go insane.

After this unexpected stop, we headed to the actual 'rest days' destination of Bira. Again, we set a new distance record for this tour: 112 kilometers! The first 90 were pretty easy, even though we had a slight head wind for most of the way. Then the road turned into a cyclist nightmare. It wasn't the millions of potholes that were the biggest problem, but the washboard-like surface of what remained of the road. The front shocks eat up those bumps, but the back wheel takes the full grunt, slamming the saddle into your butt every two or three seconds. After already having spent 90 kilometers in the saddle, this quite literally is a 'pain in the a@#'.

Bira itself was nice though. It's South Sulawesi's number one beach town, thanks to its white sand beach and turquoise waters. However, we only saw six bules (foreigners) during the whole three days - the other visitors are day tripping Indonesians from Makassar. Which meant, it was sort of difficult for me to take a swim in peace because people quite literally would walk into the water, come up to me and ask to have a picture taken with me. For a couple of days, I felt what it would be like to be a celebrity. It sucks. Can't walk 50 meters without people approaching you? Nah, there's not enough money to make up for all the invasion of privacy.
Still, it was nice and relaxing in Bira and even Erika! managed to go for a swim - people-phobia and all. (She doesn't swim in waters that contain too many other human beings.)

Now we are in a town called Bulukumba and over the next two days we want to make it to Watampone, our jumping-off point to South East Sulawesi. (Sulawesi is split into four districts: South, South East, Central and North).

So, probably more from there. .
Adrian

I know what you are thinking: "Here we go again....now he will be bragging about how they toughened it out over long distances, though the topical heat and dozens of mountains."

That would be 'good pain', 'satisfying pain'. No, this time it's actually about a real problem - I came down with a rather nasty bout of self-diagnosed Malaria.

Many of you know, that I don't get sick that often. During the past four weeks, I had come down with what seemed like the flu several times. As it seldom involved fever, I didn't pay too much attention. Until we reached Kolaka, in the South Eastern province of Sulawesi. First I thought: "What, the flu again?" Then the fever started rising. And rising. And rising. The fever and the cycling reoccurance of flu symptoms pointed to Malaria. So did the headache, fatigue and diarrhea. At 39.5 degrees Celsius we knew it was time to make a decision: either head to the hospital here in Kolaka or make the call myself and start taking the Malarone that we have brought from Perth. I just didn't fancy facing needles in a provincial hospital in remote Indonesia. So I started taking the emergency anti malaria treatment.
The fever dropped by a degree after an hour and after the second pill, the fever disappeared. I reckon, the self-diagnosis was fairly accurate.

By now I have completed the treatment and all symptoms have subsided. I do feel pretty weakened though, I have to admit. I might have to regain some strength before continuing on. We also need the heads up for our visa extension before going even further away from Makassar.

I guess, I will have to watch out better for mosquitoes from now on. I have tried up till now as well. We always sleep under our own mosquito net as well. But, mosquitoes just love me and when the sun goes down I am being attack almost immediately and before anybody else, so, it is sort of difficult to avoid all bites. Let's hope for some better luck from now on in...

I hope your past few days have been more enjoyable.

a.

The tests at the hospital in Makassar showed that I am now officially malaria-free. That is obviously good news. Now, whether I never actually had malaria and got sick from another bug or if the Malarone took good care of the parasite, we will never know. The communication at the hospital was rather difficult. But, I guess the fact that there are no parasites (left) are good enough for me.

Over the past few days we enjoyed the comforts a big city like Makassar has to offer: we drank beer, enjoyed the diverse offerings of food (including a pizza), got some money out of the bank, etc.
Erika also became a good Samaritan and bought school books for the son of the woman who works at the New Legend Hostel. It's depressing to see what people earn out here and how limited their perspectives and prospects for their lives are.

Erika also updated her journal on Crazy Guy On A Bike, in case you want to read her take on things.

Our visas have been extended and we now have until the 24th July to leave the country. This should give us enough time to explore the central parts of Sulawesi.
Tomorrow we will leave the comfortable bosom of Makassar and head north in the general direction of Tana Toraja. Toraja is Sulawesi's main tourism drawing card. Traditional funeral ceremonies are still performed and the mountainous country-side is supposed to be dotted with hanging graves and cave graves. Let's go have a look. We expect it to take 3-4 days to get there, as it is pretty mountainous and we haven't ridden in more than a week.

We will let you know how it goes. Sampai nanti.
Adrian

After having a hard time on the bicycle from Makassar to Parepare, we have found our cycling legs again. A good thing as well, as two tough days lay between us and the mountain highlands of Tana Toraja.

Tana Toraja is the most famous area in Sulawesi – well outside the attention the sectarian trouble around Poso received a few years back. And this is really a pretty special place. To get up to Toraja, we had two tough days of climbing to complete first. Especially the second day was more or less exclusively going up. Sounds tough. It was. But some of the vistas we got were absolutely stunning: wide valleys flanked by majestic mountains covered in dense forests. Also, the traffic had considerably thinned out, so it was actually rather pleasant riding. By the time we reached Makale, Toraja's administrative capital, we felt as if we had been hit by a truck. But we had made it through another day of more than 1200 meters of climbing.

Toraja's fame originates from its people and their customs. Despite centuries of Dutch occupation, the region has preserved some of its architecture, ceremonies and rituals. The landscape is doted with tongkonans, massive houses built in traditional style with a a roof that look much like a ship. Along these houses you often find several miniature versions of tongkonan's, which are storage barns for rice. Those houses definitely give the region a 'exotic' feel.
The other thing that makes Toraja famous are their funerals. Torajan's belive, that if the deceased is not farewelled properly he or she will bring misfortune to the family. This results in very elaborate funerals with hundreds of guests that last for days and cost dozens of buffaloes and pigs their lives. Yes, the tomates (that's what the funerals are called) are meaty affairs: while some buffalo is being a slaughtered, you find a pig (minus entrails) being roasted on an open fire while the raja (king) of the village is standing on a platform giving away chunks of meat by throwing it towards the waiting people. Interesting.

From Makale it's only 17 kilometers to Rantepao, Toraja's tourist hub. We figured, that we would get off the Trans-Sulawesi Highway (it's not really a highway the way you might imagine it – just the main road going North-South in Sulawesi) and take the back roads to Rantepao. Our first stop was to be a small village called Sangalla. We couldn't find the wisma (guest house) so asked for directions. This resulted in us ending up staying at a well-to-do local politician's house. This was not only considerably cheaper, but also offered us a view into the local life that most tourists will never see. We chatted, sat, smoked (well, Erika did – I'm still of the cigarettes) and drank with four generations of Torajans, got shown around the touristy places and invited to places that showed the true beauty of Toraja. (If you are interested in staying with that family in Sangalla, send me an email and I'll give you the details and phone number.)

This is one of the reasons why we are traveling by bicycles. We get much more up-close and personal with the locals and once in a while we get lucky and get to part take in their lives. The hotel taut waiting for you at the bus station won't do that.

We got to experience the difference once we had arrived in Rantepao. After eating at a overprice retaurant which served crap food and was in cohorts with the aggressive tauts, we lost all interest in seeing what they had to show us. After experiencing the warmth of those people in Sangalla, the business attitude surrounding their culture here in Rantepao appalls and we have decided to just stay a few days more, explore a bit more on our bicycles and then head towards the eastern coast. (Yay, downhill!)

I will upload photos later. I had to reinstall the computer and currently can't use Photoshop as you have to activate it online. Thank you Adobe for making it very complicated for me to use the (expensive) software that I purchased from you LEGALLY! However, I have uploaded a new Vlog Episode on YouTube. I hope that'll entertain you until I've got more photos. Until then.

Since Palopo, we climbed yet another mountain range and are back on sea level by now.

From Palopo to a small town called Tomoni, the going was pretty flat and easy. One thing that we find strange out here is that we seldom ride along the sea, even though Sulawesi is a island made up by three peninsulas. Whenever we ride 'along the coast', the road is actually several kilometers inland and we don't get to see the sea as such. Bummer. Also because we'd be quite keen to find good camping spots on the beach. Not so far.

After Tomoni, we climbed up towards Danau Poso. We did get more than we wagered for. As a matter of fact, the 1511 meters climbed that day meant a new tour record. (Applause please!).

But we were rewarded for our efforts - the 800 meters vertical downhill was fantastic and eventually we arrive on beautiful Lake Poso in Pendolo.

The whole Poso area has been plagued with secterian violence between 2001 and 2005 and this caused tourism to collapse completely. We stayed at a small place called 'Pendolo Cottages' and true to its name, we occupied one of three small cottages right on the shore of the lake. The guestbook showed that the last guests stayed at the cottages more than a month ago. Bad for the owner, good for us. Indonesia can sometimes be pretty loud and staying on the lake was a welcome respite from that.

We then headed to the northern end of the lake to Tentena, where we found a few tourists, mostlyh French and Dutch. It was interesting to see these people all going the same paths: Makassar - Tana Toraja - Lake Poso - Togian islands. Whenever we talk to the bus tourists, they don't know 90% of the towns we stayed at. Their loss.

Now we are in Poso itself, after a beautiful downhill ride. From here we'll have to head to Palu...and that pretty soon. It's 220 kilometers and we need to be there in a few days. Our visas are running out on the 24th of July and we have to leave the country. And we are not happy about that at all. Not only did we come to really like the people, the country side, the food - no - we also enjoy the fact that mostly, there are no tourists. We know, Malaysian Borneo will be different and we're currently having mixed emotions about going there. On one hand, we are looking forward to a new country, a new experience, a new road. On the other hand...we crinch at the idea of white faces everywhere and the prices to reflect it. Well, maybe it'll be like here in Indonesia: the fact that we are riding our bicycles leads us to places no bule (foreigner) would ever consider stopping at. I hope it will be that way.

I am currently uploading a new video to our You Tube Channel. It's a pretty slow line, so you might want to wait an hour or so before checking it out. But please do! It's groovy! Hehe.
I will also upload some pictures once the video has been completed.

I will probably check in before tranfering from Palu to Nunukan. But if not, then you'll probably read the next diary from Malaysian Borneo.

So tingal.
Adrian

So, after a two day trip incuding two flights and one speed boat, we have arrived in Malaysia. As you know, our visas were running out and we had to leave Indonesia. The boat we intended to take from Palu to Nunukan (on Kalimantan's North-Eastern border with Malaysia) didn't sail, so we had to improvise (and digg deep into the war chest) to get out of Indonesia before we'd get into trouble.

Now that we have arrived savely, I can say that we disobeyed my mother's direct orders (sorry, mama) and flew with one of Indonesia's cheapie airlines: Srivijaya Air. The flights to Balikpapan and then on to Tarakan were uneventful and getting the bike on board much easier than it was to get them onto a PELNI ship. However, it also cost a lot more money, as everything amounts to some 37 kilo of excess luggage.

We stayed overnight in Tarakan and then took a speed boat to Tawau in Malaysia the next day. Again, the trip was fairly uneventful and the views were limited except for a 'settlement' of very strange wooden structures built into the sea a few kilometers off the coast.

Being here in Tawau is a bit of a anti-climactic experience for us. After three months in Indonesia, a country we came to love despite all it's bad habits, Malaysia just feels a bit...hm...boring? The traffic is very orderly, no blaring horns, no scooters who zip in and out of lanes, trash bins, supermarkets, fast internet...at the moment it feels like adventure has just slipped through our fingers.
But, this is only the first town and I'm sure once we'll be on the road, Sabah (that's the name of this Malaysian state) will feel a bit more rough.

First though, we will try to apply for a new Indonesian visa. Our research has shown that it's easiest to get a new visa here in Tawau and we'll go and check that out on Monday. If all goes well, we'll head out on Tuesday. Cross your fingers for us.

Enjoy. Adrian

So, yeah, we have been in Borneo (Malaysia) for a while now. And frankly, we haven't had the best time so far.

First, there is the riding. In Indonesia, we have cycled over 2'0000 kilometers and climbed dozens of mountains. Never during that time did either of us have serious motivation problems. It always felt like it was worth the effort. Unfortunately, so far, it isn't that way in Sabah - the eastern part of Malaysian Borneo.
Palm oil is big business in Asia...it's the 'green' solution to the green house problem. This means that 60% of Sabah's rain forest has been cut down and replaced with palm oil plantations. As a result, that is what we ride through every day. For hours. For hundreds of kilometers. Without an end in sight. A fellow cyclists calls it 'the green tunnel of Borneo'. Additionally to the boredom caused by the scenery, the road also goes over hundreds of 'annoying hills'. Hills that are long enough and steep enough to loose all momentum and rhythm while at the same time not being long enough to give sort of an achievement for having climbed them. And then there's the heat. And then there are the dogs.

We have toyed with the idea of leaving Sabah again immediately. However, the geographic location of Borneo doesn't give us too many options and both the Philippines and Eastern Kalimantan (Indonesia) would seriously jeopardize our 'route around the monsoon'. So, we decided to stick it out.

We did have some good experiences, but they were all off the bike. We spent some time on the Kinabatangan, one of Borneo's longest rivers and a place were you could actually still find some rain forest and some animals. That was nice and relaxing. We also spend a night with birds nest collectors at Madai, which gave us a nice insight into their lives and culture. And hardships, to be quite honest. We camped twice, which was nice. It's a pretty cool feeling to be camping wild in Borneo.

Now, we are at the foot of Mt Kinabalu (see picture) in Ranau. We've been here for over a week. It's a nice little town. However, the town is not really the reason why we stayed here so long. First, it was an utter lack of motivation. After 500 kilometers in palm oil plantation hell, we simply didn't feel like riding anymore. And we didn't want to force it, lest we'd start hating riding. After a few days, when motivation started coming back, we hit a bit of a problem overseas. It's a long story. Let's just say, the outcome is that the possibility to ride all the way to Switzerland is now financially not possible anymore. :

Tomorrow, we'll be leaving. Eventually. Maybe. Instead of heading to Kota Kinabalu, we're staying inland and will ride southwest that way. It's less touristy in there, there's no need for us to go to KK and there's the Sabah Agricultural Research Center at Tenom, which we'd like to visit. (There will be some plant pictures coming your way, Andrea.). From there it'll be over the Crocker Ranger down to the coast and into Brunei. All of this will be accompanied by Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting, which begins on August 19th.

For those who haven't seen them, there are new photos in the gallery.

I hope, the next time I'll write, I'll be a bit more cheerful. Thanks for bearing with me.
Adrian

The day before, we passed the 3'000 kilometers mark for this tour! Yay us.

We have left Malaysia (for a short while) and are now in Brunei Darussalam - a tiny country wedged between the two Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak.
It's a curious little country. Seriously rich, as it has plenty of off-shore gas and oil resources. And it's visible here in Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB), the country's capital: big mosques, big parade squares, wide streets, clean...the whole lot. But our ride into the city and the surrounding water villages show: it's not old golden here. There are plenty of poor people around, many of them immigrants from the Philippines, India and Indonesia. Somebody has to do the dirty work after all. It's a phenomenon that you can also witness in other oil rich countries, especially in the Middle East.

How was the rest of our trip in Sabah. Well, a lot better the the first part. Instead of heading down to the coast (which we suspected to harbor plenty of palm oil plantations), we stayed inland and headed west through a valley beyond the Crocker Range. And it was really nice for most of the way: secondary forest, hills, more pleasant temperatures and nice places to camp.

One place we stopped at was the Sabah Agricultural Park, a state sponsored research center for everything plants. We headed there mostly to see the orchids (and get some pictures of them for my sister Andrea). The park lay totally abandoned by tourists and we had it all to ourselves. We camped within the park itself and it was really nice and peaceful.

From there crossed the Crocker Range. What a day it was. Nuts. I don't know who engineers roads out here...but 19% grades on a road that is used to transport logs over a range? Seriously. Not surprisingly, we found an abandoned logging truck on the road which just couldn't deal with it anymore. it was a monster of a day and we actually arrived in Sipitang after dark...which was an adventure in itself.

From there we headed over the border between the two Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak. Curiously enough, we had to go through the full immigration process: Malaysian exit stamp and then a new Malaysian visa. Sarawak is a semi-autonomous state. I get it. But still: new visa?

From Lawas, we took a speed boat to Brunei (see our poor bicycles strapped down on the boat below). We arrived in a small town in Brunei's east (Muara) and cycled into the capital.

The plan is to leave tomorrow, despite the fact that BSB is quite pleasant. The problem is: it's also very expensive. 30 Australian Dollar for a so-so room. That's a lot in Asia. We intend to ride west along the coast and cross back into Sarawak near the city of Miri.

After our Sabah experience, we have decided to avoid the risk of boring palm oil plantations in Sarawak and plan to head inland. It's a bit of an adventure, as towns start to thin out there, but we'll manage. Once in the town of Belaga, we plan to take boats down the Rejang River. Yay, boat trips in the heart of Borneo. Although, I doubt that they'll be romantic slow boat trips, but rather fast and furious speed boats. Still. It's better than palms, palms, palms.

I've uploaded several pictures over the past few weeks. As always, they'll be available on the Last 50 Photos page for a while and always in the country galleries.

I hope this was more cheery than the last entry! ;) We do feel that way!
Enjoy, everyone.
Adrian

After two months of cycling through Borneo (Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei), we have eventually arrived back in Indonesia, crossed the equator back into the Southern hemisphere and broken the 4'000 kilometers barrier.

In the two months, we cycled over 1'500 kilometers from the south-eastern end of Sabah to the interior of Sarawak (western Borneo). In the end, in the small town of Belaga, we eventually gave up and took buses and boats for the rest of the way to Kuching.
I already explained in my last log why we didn't enjoy Sabah. Sarawak was not much different. The cycling was an ever day slog and more of a duty than a privilege. We figured, we would head inland to the town of Belaga on the Rejang River to a) avoid the palm oil plantations of Sarawak and b) have a bit of an adventure. Belaga is not exactly on the usual cycling route.
But the adventure turned sour quickly with the ride being tough (it's VERY hot in there), Erika! having problems with her bike (we are now experts in fixing bike chains), being ripped off left and for good measure acquiring a mortal enemy in a small jungle town. It's a long story. Let's just say, he tried to steal from us, there was a misunderstanding and he eventually got the worse end which he couldn't accept and therefore was looking for a fight with me. Erika! and an elderly Chinese man prevented the fight in the end.
Like I said, it's a long story...

After spending some time in Kuching to fix Erika!'s bike and to wait out the mad traffic during Eid celebrations (the end of Ramadan), we started riding towards the Indonesian border and two days later crossed back into Indonesia.

I was a bit worried there for a while. During our suffering in Borneo, Indonesia sort of became the Holy Land to us. It was where everything would be good again. This was because on one hand, we have had a great three months in Flores and Sulawesi and on the other hand, it was just pure self-protection of the mind: we needed something positive to look forward to. But, this also meant our expectations were enormous. What would happen if Western Kalimantan would not be as good to us as the other two islands were? What effect would that have on our motivation and psyche?

But almost immediately after crossing the border, things were good again. While riding in Borneo, I had developed this philosophical believe system, that the essence of our bicycle touring was suffering and pain. That by the means of those two attributes, we would separate ourselves from the hordes that travel by bus from one cozy tourist destination to the next. I did this to make sure I wouldn't 'give up' or lose my mind.
After some 100 kilometers of riding in Indonesia, I have abandoned this train of thought and rekindled my love for riding. No, this bicycle trip is not about suffering. It's about the pleasure of getting close to a country. Close to a country's population, it's nature and animals. It's about freedom. The freedom we feel when riding through a forest with nobody around and neither the last stop nor the next matter. The pleasure of feeling the early morning sun, a pleasant breeze in the evening...and even the intense sun at mid day. This is what we are riding for - and in Indonesia I discovered it again.

So, what is so much better in Western Kalimantan than in say Sarawak, just across the border. I would say, that what makes the biggest difference to us is that there is life on the road. In Borneo, we would cycled for hundreds of kilometers in palm oil plantations and hardly see a soul. In Kalimantan, we pass through dozens of small villages. And the Indonesians are just great fun, inquisitive and friendly. I often find myself smiling or laughing because of their expressions of surprise. People overtake us, look out the window with a beaming smile and give us the thumbs up. Young guys on scooters slow down while overtaking us and have a short chat with us. Children go beserk when they spot us (especially when they're in groups). It's a great show for them and for us. We never felt like that in Borneo. There it was always just about reaching the day's destination. Here in Indonesia it's about the moment.

Wow, from being depressed to being euphoric in a few weeks, hu? I think, these days they call this bipolar. I call it life.

Currently we are in Pontianak, staying with a CouchSurfer (www.couchsurfing.com), which is always great to get a deeper insight into a place...and is cheaper to boot. We also have to organize our transfer to Sumatra, which is our next destination. At the moment there are a few variables which will affect when and how we will get there and how long we will stay. Erika!'s bike is still not working as it should and with the mountains that we'll encounter in Sumatra, that would be a problem. If we can fix the bike in Pontianak, then we'll probably head straight to Sumatra (i.e. flying). If we can't, then we will need to go through Jakarta. We will see. But we are both of good spirits again and are looking forward to head to Sumatra. Climbing mountains....yeaaaah.

As always, I have uploaded pictures since my last travel log, you can find them in the Last 50 Photos Gallery (at least for now) and we also have made a video of our 'Simple Life' for our Vlog on YouTube

I hope, all you people from the Southern Hemisphere are enjoying the end of the winter and to you Northerners - take a holiday during the long, cold, gray winter.

The next time, I'll hopefully write from Sumatra. Until then, stay safe. Adrian

We are currently in a small town called Berastagi in the Karo Highlands of North Sumatra. And we haven't been cycling much at all.

We have plenty of excuses for not riding. First we were visited by a friend of Erika!'s, Charlie and we took her to Samosir Island (Lake Toba, Sumatra) so she could wind down from London stress. The Lake Toba region is the perfect place to do nothing at all and that's just what we did.
Then, when Charlie left and we were supposed to get back on the bike, the whole legal situation in New York worsened again. It's really rather a nasty business, as one doesn't quite expect to have to resort to legal action against a family member. It's messy. So we stayed in Tuktuk a week longer than we intended.

From Lake Toba, we back tracked to Berastagi in the Karo Highlands. This high plateau is the breadbasket for Northern Sumatra due its fertile volcanic soil and the moderate, wet climate. From our veranda, we can see several conical volcanoes. I climbed up one of them - the 2,300 meters tall Mount Sibayak. Active volcanoes are always interesting to climb, if one can deal with the stench of sulphur. Unfortunately, the rainy season is now in control of Sumatra and the famous views were obscured by clouds and fog. But it was a nice little hike, anyhow.

Yes, the wet season has us. It rains every day, usually in the afternoon and the early evening. As long as the weather sticks to this pattern, it doesn't affect our riding too much, as we try to get in as much riding as possible during the morning. The ride from Lake Toba to Berastagi was rather epic. The main road makes a big detour and is both uninspiring and busy with speeding bemos (mini-van buses). We chose to ride the little-used road along the lake.
Lake Toba is a gigantic crater lake (the size of Singapore) and the shores are all steep mountain-sides towering 200 - 600 meters above the lake itself. We were hoping that once we had climbed out of the lake, we would follow along the ridge of these mountains, which would make for a fairly pleasant ride with good views. We did get the good views alright (see the picture below) - but the following along the ridge part didn't quite turn out that way. The road constantly climbed and dropped along the mountain sides, running through small villages and coffee plantations. At the end of the day we had accumulated over 1,300 meters in altitude. We were both hurting badly, after almost three weeks of not riding, our bodies objected strongly. Near sunset, we could not find a place to stay, so we resorted to putting our bicycles on a bus and headed to the next large town in the direction of Berastagi. You can't always beat the terrain.

Tomorrow, we will head further north towards Banda Aceh. We will take the inland road going through the mountains of Gunung Leuser National Park. We are asking for it, aren't we? Ah well, no pain, no gain. Unfortunately, we are starting to run out of time. Our Indonesian visa is running out on the 24th November. Once in Banda Aceh, we'll have to decide on how we want to leave Sumatra. There are two boats connecting Northern Sumatra with Malaysia - one in Medan and one in Dumai.
Yes, our Indonesian adventure is slowly coming to an end - and neither of us is really excited about the mainland just yet. Even Sumatra already has a clear 'backpacker trail' and especially Thailand will be much worse. We had several people who wanted to visit us in Thailand and all but my parents and little sister have bailed, frankly somewhat messing with our itinerary. Now we have to spend three months in Thailand, which wasn't in the plans. I'm sure we'll find something to do. First, we'll visit my friend Chris on Koh Samui. Then we'll probably head to Bangkok for some New Years Eve celebrations, some Thai Boxing, maybe visit with Sawang, whom we met in Makassar and Erika! hasn't yet seen a ping pong show yet.

But for now, we are still in Indonesia and hope to enjoy the rest of our time in this wonderful country. As always, I have uploaded pictures since my last travel log, you can find them in the Last 50 Photos Gallery I hope, this finds you all well and happy. Till next time.

Adrian

After seven months of cycling almost over 4'500 kilometers in the Indonesian archipelago (including the Malaysian Borneo + Brunei), we have touched down in mainland South East Asia.

It has certainly been a very interesting time and especially the two Indonesian islands of Flores and Sulawesi will surely rank as a highlight even at the end of this trip. But that is hopefully still far away.

Since my last travel log from Tuktuk, we have traversed North Sumatra from east to west and then descended into Aceh. The riding in North Sumatra is great: lots of mountains, beautiful vast valleys, lots of farm land, friendly people and little traffic. That's the way we like it. Oh, did I mention active volcanoes? Not? Yeah, there are active volcanoes in the Karo Highlands and as always, I had to climb up and had a look.
The rainy season has started in Indonesia and we certainly saw plenty of it. However, the rain patterns are pretty distinct. Usually it starts raining some when between 2 PM and 5 PM and somehow we managed to always either arrive early enough at our destination or duck under an awning before we got completely drenched. But one effect that the rain has in the mountainous areas is landslides. We crossed quite a few wash outs and saw many landslides. Some enormous ones from the previous year were still visible. Luckily for us, none of the new landslides made passage impossible just yet.

We therefore made it safely to the other side and down into Aceh. We tried to do some research about the infrastructure in Western Aceh before heading into that direction, but it proofed to be difficult to find reliable information. The 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami killed some 160'000 people in Aceh and also destroyed a good 400 kilometers of the main road. We were not sure if it had been rebuilt just yet. Neither were we sure about available accommodation.
The southern part of Aceh has been largely unaffected. The road is in excellent condition - probably the best road we had on this trip so far. It's a very scenic and laidback place with plenty of beautiful beaches, small villages and plenty of rice paddies. The fact that Sharia Law (strict Islamic law) is in place in Aceh was a bit of a concern to us. Generally, as a non-Muslim foreigner, you are not affected by most of the rather draconic laws (however, I wouldn't recommend to test the limits of this rule). But traveling with a woman made things somewhat awkward - obviously even more so for Erika! herself. She observes general rules of decency in Indonesia: long trousers, baggy shirts, never shoulder-free, etc. But in Aceh, even this seemed to trigger much leering, staring and clearly sexually related chatter. I even had to confront a few of the worst offenders a few times. And unlike in India, here it actually did embarrass them.
We were also required to show our marriage certificate a few times before the owners of hotels would let us check in. In many places we were turned down without even having a look at the certificate. The police are apparently cracking down on non-marital togetherness in one room. And besides the offenders, the hotels get in trouble as well - so they are very reluctant to take you in.
Also, the steady stream of NGO aid workers in the region caused the hotel room prices to skyrocket to ridiculous levels. We have paid by far the most for hotel rooms in Aceh during our whole stay in Indonesia. Even the somewhat upmarket Tabo Cottages in Tuktuk (Lake Toba) were cheaper (and much more beautiful, clean and spacious).

Eventually, we arrived in Meulaboh which has been described as 'Ground Zero' in the press. The whole city center was wiped out by the tsunami. If you wouldn't know though, you couldn't see. The survivors simply moved to a northern suburb and it looks like your usual bustling Indonesian city. If you do look a little closer though - and especially a little bit outside of the center of town - then you can still see some of the wastelands the wave left behind. There are also thousands of small houses that look exactly the same. These are the houses built by the aid agencies and the Indonesian government for the survivors.
The further north you go from Meulobah, the clearer the destruction becomes. At one point, the paved road end and all that is left during the rainy season is a mud fest. Many bridges are still missing and at some points, you have to cross rivers on small wooden ferries. The town of Calang was completely destroyed that day in 2004 and what is there now, tells the story: quickly built wooden buildings, a few concrete mosques, dirty broken roads, tree stumps standing in the water (the whole coastline was changed by the wave). It's not a pretty sight.

We didn't ride that part though. First I picked up food poisoning (again). And then Erika! was struck down by a stomach bacteria (we are currently having it checked out, so that we can get rid of the bugger). We had to leave the country by the 23rd November and at one point riding all the way to Banda Aceh became unrealistic. When we did travel from Meulaboh to Banda Aceh in a small bus, we realized what an undertaking it would have been during the rainy season: pushing the bicycles through mud, camping in mud, eating in mud, being splattered in mud. If anybody wants to ride this part, certainly only do it in the dry season.

As planned, we took the bus back to Medan. Oh how I hate buses by now: numb butts, crazy drivers, puking neighbors. Nah, I do prefer my bicycle - as hard as it sometimes is, it's still by far the more agreeable mode of transportation.
In Medan, we found that the ferry operator's office was closed on Sundays. Therefore, we just headed to the port town of Belawan on Monday morning. Only to find out, that there are no ferries to Georgetown (Penang, Malaysia) on Mondays. Great. Having to cycle the 28 kilometers back to Medan was not a big deal. The fact that we were overstaying our visa on the other hand...
My line of thinking was this: we had entered Indonesia on the 25th September 2009. If we'd leave the country on the 24th November 2009...what Immigration Officer would notice the one day we spent in the country too long? Well, to make a long story short: the one Immigration Officer we came across. He checked the dates on his mobile phone and announces that we had overstayed our visas. The penalty for this offence is 200k Rupiah per person and per day. That's about 20 US$. We had spent most of our money and we could only offer 150k Rupiah for the both of us. While the boat and all its passengers were waiting, the Immigration Officer in charge and we had sort of an Indonesian stand-off. We explained, that we had been at the port the day before and that there was no boat. Additionally, keeping us back would only make the situation worse. He maintained, that somebody had to pay the 400k and it was not gonna be him. After some 30 minutes of this, he eventually announced that he'd take the 150k we had, but that he couldn't give us a receipt for it. Sure, as long as you stamp us out, it's all good. Just before we left, he mentioned, that now he'd have to pay the remaining 250k Rupiah fine. Hahaha. Good one. Sure buddy.

Now we are in Georgetown on the island of Pinang in Malaysia. And what a difference it is. During our ride into the city center from the port, we saw more white faces than we had seen during the past seven months together. It's a bit of a shock to the system. But this time we are ready. The last time, when we had to leave Sulawesi, we wanted to stay and because of this, we had sort of a bad start in Malaysian Borneo. (Obviously, Borneo didn't do much to swing our moods in its favor.) But now, after five months in Indonesia, we are ready for something new. Something different. At the moment we don't even care so much that we have to share it with umpteen million other bule. (We have already started to categorize them: there are the clown pants, the gap years, the washed up old guys, the disgusting old guys (the ones with the 17 year old Thai girlfriend) and many more.)
One thing that has been awesome though is the food. For the past seven months we have mostly eaten padang food (white rice with usually fried eggs and some veggies) and nasi/mie goreng. This was fine. We like it. But with a few exceptions in Borneo, that was all we ate. Here in Georgetown though, we have not only Malay cuisine, but also tasty Chinese treats and delicious Indian food. We're on a Indian food spree at the moment and our taste buds are nothing less than stunned.

We have already applied and received our Thai visas - but to whether they are one month or two months visas, there is quite a bit confusion. I fear they are one month visas only, which would be a bit of a problem as we're meeting my family in Chiang Mai at the beginning of February. But first we will go for a ride in Malaysia anyway. We have to wait for Erika!'s lab results to return (which will take a week) and in the mean time, we plan to head up to the Cameroon Highlands.

As usual, I have uploaded some pictures since my last travel log, check them in the Last 50 Photos Gallery.
We have also created and uploaded a new installment of our Juggernauting Through Asia Vlog. You can watch it on this site on the Videos Page or directly on our YouTube Channel.
For those who didn't know, we have a Facebook Site as well - come over and become a fan.

Stay safe and don't stress out too much over the festive season. Maybe you would want to come and visit us in Thailand to avoid it all? ;)

Adrian

Over two months and 2'500 kilometer of cycling since my last diary from Georgetown. I promise to write more often again! Seriously, I will.

Currently, we are in Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand, awaiting the arrival of my family (sans brother who'll visit us next year in India). We will have a little holiday of ten days with them here. Then we will be heading towards Laos. So, what happened since my last diary

Well, first we cycled to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia to meet up with my friend Zarim. He generously invited us to his wedding reception - an honor we couldn't pass up. On the way to KL, we met our first cyclists since Sulawesi: Peter and Shalah form Canada. They have been on the road for six years - so call us crazy and adventurous.
The stay in KL was pretty cool - especially thanks to Zarim and his wife Anida. We also got to see Zarim aka MicWrecka perform live at The Bombshelter @ Cloth & Clef in Bukit Bintang. Go check him and the Rogue Squadron out the next time you are in KL.

Then we took the bus back up where we had left off and started riding towards Thailand. I was sort of dreading this. The past few months have been largely 'off the beaten track' and from my first experience, I found Thailand to be overrun with feel-good adventurers: people who pretend to 'explore Asia' but always seem to take the direct VIP bus to do so. But to say it in advance, I am positively surprised by Thailand. With the bicycle we obviously didn't take those buses and were forced to stay in small, nondescript towns. And for most of the time, we hardly saw a white face. Wow. Didn't see that one coming!

First we headed towards the island paradise of Ko Samui, where my friend Chris works as a Operational Manager in a classy hotel. We stayed with his family (yes, many of my friends have kids by now - sheesh, we're getting old) for a few days, enjoying all the offerings this package tourist island has to offer. He also provided us with maps for Thailand - one with a CD-Rom which would prove to be extremely helpful to avoid the main roads. Thanks again, Chris.
After the goodbyes, we hopped over to the more understated island of Ko Phangan, where we planned to spend New Years Eve. Despite arriving on the 28th December, we still found a cozy small bungalow resort on the west coast, far away from the mad shenanigans of the Full Moon Party.
While staying at the Nantakarn Bungalows, right on the beach which we shared with only ten people, one could almost put a blind eye to the obvious: the fast development of this backpacker island. I was there in 2005 - hardly a time when KPG was still a 'secret paradise'. Still, outside of the party beach in the south, the island was still mostly quaint - with backpackers lazing in hammocks all day doing nothing but sharing travel stories, sipping a cold Chang Beer and having a muesli once in a while. Five years later, the western coast of the island has now a paved road as well and large-scale resorts are popping up all the way to the northern end of the island, which five years ago was a place only the 'old school backpackers' went. KPG is definitely being flashpackered. The amount of money backpackers spend these days is ridiculous anyway. A new generation of travelers has arrived in South East Asia for sure.
Anyhow, all of this couldn't spoil our good time we had lazing around, taking a few island tours on our scooter and watching the sunset at Tom's Love and Peace Bar. (see image)

Then, it was time to get our a#$es back on the saddle, we had a goal to meet: on 7th February, my parents would arrive in Chiang Mai, in the north of Thailand.
Cycling from Chumpon to Hua Hin was a revelation. I expected all beaches in Southern Thailand to be as packed as the onesds on Samui and Phangan. Far from it! There are hundreds of kilometers of empty beaches, with plenty of accommodation available on them. Seriously, if you want a nice beach holiday - go to Hua Hin, rent a scooter and ride south from there. You are guaranteed to find a nice, affordable spot and have the place almost to yourself. Just make sure you are going during the week. On the weekends the places apparently fill up with Thai tourists.

We thoroughly enjoyed the ride along the beach and even camped on it in Sam Roi National Park. Nice. We also used CouchSurfing a few times to meet more locals and save some money. Good experience and thanks to all of you hosts. You are awesome! From Hua Hin, we took the train to Bangkok, we didn't particularly fancy riding into this Metropolis.

We didn't stay in Bangkok too long - it is a cool city, but it creates that tendency to consume and therefore spend a lot of money. The new camera we bought alone swallowed up half a month's budget. We did get to see some Thai Boxing and met up with Bret, the lecturer from my time at SAE in Perth, Australia. But then we blew out of Bangkok to Ayutthaya by train.

Ayutthaya is one of Thailand's old capitals and with all its ruins a main tourist attraction. We got 'ruined out' after two old wats and started pedaling again - not before meeting our next cyclist: Vincent, a young German also on his way to Chiang Mai.
As with the south, as soon as we left Ayutthaya, the white faces disappeared. The scenery was mostly of massive rice paddies, which we both like to ride through. The only negative point was the constant headwind which had been following us for almost 1'000 kilometers all the way from Malaysia.
Thanks to Chris' CD-Rom, we were able to ride tertiary roads which are completely devoid of traffic and lead through the smallest of villages. Combined with the flat terrain, it made for very relaxed riding and a good way to get back into shape to tackle those mountains leading up to Chiang Mai.

Just before our first mountain stage, we met Nic and Kate, a Dutch-British cycling duo on their way from Bangkok to Shanghai. We joined forced up to Li, which was a much easier climb than we all had anticipated. They pushed on towards Chiang Mai to celebrate Kate's birthday, while we stayed in Li. Unexpectedly, we were way ahead of schedule to get to Chiang Mai. We did not want to hang around Chiang Mai without cycling even longer than we would while my family is there anyhow, so we decided to make detour to waste some time. The only sensible - or not so sensible - way we could find, was cycling to Mae Cham on the western flanks of Doi Inthanon, Thailand's highest mountain and then cycle up to the mountain and down to Chiang Mai on the other side. That's what cycling does do you: you become crazy enough to seek out the highest possible point you can get to and then you go. Nuts!

Unexpectedly, Vincent joined us for this craziness and for three days, we were battling very steep mountains together. The two days up to the National Park were really difficult, especially with our overweight gear. At times, I had to help Erika! push the bicycle up the road because it was just too steep. Vincent, with his lightweight load patiently waited for us. Eventually, we made it to the Ranger Station (at 1'625 meters) and we enjoyed the seven kilometer downhill to the National Park Headquarter, where we camped for two days.
On the next day, Vincent and I summited the peak with unloaded bicycles. The climb from 1'200 meters up to 2'565 meters in 16 kilometers was still quite a bit of work and took three hours. The downhill took 20 minutes, clocking a maximum speed of 72 km/h - in a 40 km/h speeding zone. Hehe.

After this, Erika! and I lazed towards Chiang Mai while Vincent went ahead of us to organize his Chinese and Vietnamese visas.

Yes, this is the story of the last two months. Here some fast facts of the trip so far:

• On the road: 287 days
• Countries: 4 (Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand)
• Kilometers cycled: 7'082.81
• Longest ride: 133.16 kilometers
• Flats: 7
• Broken chain: 5
• Broken spokes: 2
• Food consumed: about 5 million tons of rice (hehe)

Now, we will relax with my family here in Chiang Mai and will also give our bicycles some much needed love, i.e. a thorough service. Then we will head towards northern Laos. Yay, a new country!

There are tons of new pictures, you can find the the last 50 photos here (for older ones, navigate to the galleries for Thailand and/or Malaysia). We also have plenty of video footage and I will edit a new video in the next few days. There are also plenty of new photos and links on our Facebook Page.

OK, until the next time then, which I promise will be sooner than in 2.5 months!. Take care.

Adrian

We are currently in Vietnam and will soon head to China. With this, our Southeast Asia leg ends, and a new chapter of our trip begins.

China is going to be interesting and at least the beginning will be a challenge, as we haven't found a road map of China in English. Ah, well, sounds like and adventure. We'll get to Hong Kong somehow.

The last few months brought many new things: from nagging injuries, two new countries (Laos and Vietnam) and a third member of our team - our friend Karel has joined us of a few months of cycling.
We had a great time in Laos, with some serious adventure in the beginning because - as always - we had to take the path less traveled. Once back on the track, riding got easier and the scenery was rewarding as always.
Vietnam proved to be a real positive surprise. We've heard almost only bad things about it - especially from cyclists. But if you ride on more remote roads, the traffic is bearable, the people are friendly and we have come across some of the most beautiful scenery since we have left Indonesia.
Additionally, Hanoi quickly became our favorite city on the trip so far. It has a certain Asian quality, that many of it's Thai and Malay sister lack. Yes, the traffic is crazy out here, but also great fun to tackle on a bicycle.

We have received our China visas and are now heading towards Hong Kong. Excitement! I loved HK the last time I was there, 15 years ago. I'm looking forward to it. But first we have to try to find it on a Chinese map.

There are plenty of new photos in the Thailand, Laos and Vietnam galleries for your viewing pleasure.

Until the next news from Hong Kong. Take care.

Adrian

We are currently in Hong Kong, after riding the rainy southern Chinese states of Guanxi and Guangdong. Despite the rain, the ride along the South China sea was actually nicer than expected. We expected a 1'000 kilometers of urban sprawl and plenty of smog. But this only really happened once we go nearer to Guangzhou (Canton).

Especially Guanxi is quite rural and we had a few great days of riding on tree-lined roads along rice paddies and chili orchards. Most of the cities were rather boring, but compared to Vietnam and Laos they certainly had a developed feeling with some even sporting KFCs and McDonalds. Not that we ever frequented one with the great Chinese food available. But what really struck us about the cities is the fact that there are hundreds of cities with a population of well over one million but we had never even heard the name. Or did you know such cities as Maoming (6.7 million), Beihai (1.4 m), Yangjiang (2.6 m), Jiangmen (3.7 m) and Zhuhai (2.5 m)? Didn't think so.

During the last few days, we have reached a new milestone: 10'000 kilometers of cycling. Now, that sounds cool, doesn't it? Hopefully, there will be many more to come. Currently, we are in Hong Kong and have been so for the last few (and expensive) days. Tomorrow, we will take a train to the city of Zhengzhou in the central Chinese state of Henan. From there we'll cycle due west to Golmud at 2'800 meters above sea level. Yes, after a couple of thousand kilometers of riding in the flats and only having the (head)wind to worry about, there will be climbing!

There are plenty of new photos in the Vietnam and China galleries for your viewing pleasure. We have also created a new video for the Vietnam section recently, which you can watch on the video page. And don't forget, we have a Facebook Page as well. Become a fan today!

Until the next news from somewhere in China. Take care.

Adrian

...and we have left the flat parts of China behind us. We are now in Qinhai Province and on the way to the Tibetan Plateau.

Since my last diary update in Hong Kong, we have taken the train to the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou. This was necessary, because China is simply to big to fit it all into the three months visa restriction.
From Zhengzhou we started to pedal west through the provinces of Henan, Shanxi and Shaanxi. This was mostly flat and we used the excess energy to climb Hua Shan (Mount Hua), one of Taoism's five sacred mountains. But that was not all with the tourist excursions, we also visited the famous Terracotta Warrior Army near Xian. Impressive enough, but to us who are not used to seeing white faces at all, the site felt like a tourist trap.

Then we eventually left the flat parts of China and started climbing up towards the Tibetan Plateau. First we had to cross through Gansu Province, a beautifully rural and semi-arid farming state in the center of China. Then we crossed into Qinhai Province. This is where we will gain some real altitude.
Xining where we are now is on approximately 2'200 meters (7,218 ft) above sea level and is still considered rather low. In the next few days, we'll climb up to Qinhai Lake, situated on over 3'000 meters (9,843 ft). We will seldom go below that altitude over the next couple of months.

Before we attempt to cross the Tibetan Plateau, I'm really looking forward to riding through the vast grassland of Qinhai Province. I hope that we will see some free-roaming camels up there. I also looking forward to ride through the 300-400 kilometers of desert just before Golmud (Geermu). That will be a first.

There are plenty of new photos in the China gallery for your viewing pleasure. We have also created a new video for the China section recently, which you can watch on the video page. And don't forget, we have a Facebook Page as well. Become a fan today!

Until the next news from somewhere high up. Take care.

Adrian