World Bicycle Tour: Indonesia on this day, 20th February 2012

My on this day bicycle touring post comes from Indonesia on the 20th of February 2012. And a great experience riding the Batam Jet hydrofoil, which sadly I don’t think runs anymore. Or not between Batam Island and Dumai, I think cheap flights may have killed it off.

Monday 20th February 2012. Batam Island to Dumai, Sumatra by ferry.

I had an early start today as I had to be at the ferry port at 7 am. It was a short ride to the port, and I was there in no time. Walking into the terminal, I was struck by how busy it was; there were people everywhere. There were dozens of ticket booths, all calling out for you to use them. Suddenly, I thought I heard somebody call Mr Garry. No, surely not. I’m hearing things. Nobody knows my name here. But there it was again, Mr Garry over here, Mr Garry. I looked to see who was calling me. It was a young lady in one of the ticket booths. I went over, curious to know how she knew my name.

As I approached the booth, I was still unsure as to whether it was me she was calling or not. But as I didn’t know where else to go, I had nothing to lose. It was me, as she produced a copy of my ticket with my name on it. I don’t know how she knew me, as it wasn’t where or who I bought the ticket from. And it definitely wasn’t from her. It’s either because I was the only Westerner today. Or she’d been told about my bike. Either way, it was pretty good. It saved me from trying to find my way around.

At The Terminal

After she had given me my boarding pass and shown me which way to go, I found my ferry. There were about ten ferries. Mine was called the Batam Jet 2, which was at the far end of the jetty. When I say ferry, I don’t mean the big roll-on roll-off ferries that we have. These are hydrofoils, which don’t carry vehicles and are more like an aeroplane with one big cabin where everybody sits. It was about 40 feet long and looked like an aeroplane on water. I proceeded up the gangplank and asked where I should put my bike. Up here, it goes on the roof, sir. And with that, six porters manhandled it up onto the top of the boat! Rather them than me, the bike with all my equipment weighs nearly 50kg, and it’s an awkward shape.

The Journey

The ferry journey itself was relatively smooth. We called in at a few ports en route to pick up and drop off. Every time we’d pull into a port, we’d be inundated with local traders selling food. You could see them waiting as we pulled up alongside the dock. And as soon as the boat was within jumping distance, they’d board like a swarm of locusts. They don’t have long, so they have to make the most of the time they’ve got. I had rice and chicken at one of the ports served in a banana leaf. Very tasty.

I got to Dumai and watched them unload my bike. I couldn’t look for fear of them dropping it. They didn’t, of course, and the bike was fine. (I still can’t watch it without getting nervous)As it was late afternoon, I decided to check into a hotel and start my ride tomorrow. It was a long, seven-hour ferry ride today, but it’s got me to where I want to be. I think the barman in tonight’s hotel was chatting me up (he told me he was gay). I didn’t think it was allowed over here, but maybe it is! Time to make a quick exit. I’d drunk over half a bottle of gin anyway!

Explore More Of My Ride Around The World

• • Yesterday’s Blog: Bye-bye Singapore
  • View The Whole Tour: Cycling around the world
  • Tomorrow’s Adventure: My first day cycling in Indonesia and 124 miles

Watch My YouTube Video From Indonesia

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