Tag: Indonesia

Garry McGivern Travelsonabike2 bicycle touring in Indonesia

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Cycling Indonesia: Merak to Jakarta On This Day 6th March 2012 | Travelsonabike2

Travelsonabike2 this day 6th-March-2012 Boats on the sea

World Bicycle Tour: Cycling Indonesia on this Day in 2012

My on this day bicycle touring post comes from Indonesia on the 6th of March 2012. The sun was so intense in Indonesia that I had to buy some gloves to protect the back of my hands from sunburn.

Tuesday 6th March 2012. Merak to Jakarta. 76 miles.

I thought breakfast was at six this morning. So I was up, all packed and ready to leave straight afterwards. Only to find the restaurant closed, breakfast wasn’t for another half hour. Normally, I would have been a bit pissed off. Not today; it gave me time to go for an early morning swim. I’d just as well make the most of the hotel swimming pool while I can. I don’t get many hotels with a pool.

Swimming pool
A nice early morning dip

Breakfast over. It was time to hit the road again. And with my new gloves, I felt like a proper cyclist. I’ll be buying Lycra shorts next!! There’s a lot more traffic on the roads here. It reminds me of India. Or maybe I’ve just got used to quiet roads. Although speaking to the man in the café that I stopped at for lunch. He said once I’m past Jakarta, the roads are a lot quieter. We’ll see. I hope he’s right.

When I reached Jakarta, the traffic was even worse. It was gridlocked. And, as usual, I got lost. Even if I wasn’t lost, the traffic was so bad I couldn’t move out of the flow. I was hoping to get through Jakarta and reach another town. But with the traffic the way it was, I was just wasting time. So I called it a day and found a hotel. I’ll get my bearings overnight and try again in the morning.

At least I’ve now booked my flight to Australia, but boy was it hard work! The price went from £100 to £184 after adding taxes, fuel surcharges, luggage, and food. They even charge a couple of pounds to pick a seat, any seat! But it’ll certainly be the cheapest flight I’ll ever get to Australia.

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Subscribe to my blog and follow me as I travel around on my bike. Plus, as a subscriber, you’ll be among the first to receive news and updates on future tours. If you’re enjoying the ride and want to fuel my next mile, you can buy me a beer. And, of course, you can always follow me on social media: Facebook, Bluesky, Threads, X, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest. I’m also on Flickr, where you’ll find pictures from all my tours, along with regular photo updates that I generally publish each month.

If you want to find out if I’m away touring at the moment and check my location, visit the Where’s Garry page.

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Cycling Indonesia: Butngatangung to Ketaun On This Day 27th February 2012 | Travelsonabike2

Travelsonabike2 this day 27th-February-2012 Fishing boats

World Bicycle Tour: Cycling Indonesia on this day in 2012

My on this day bicycle touring post comes from Indonesia on the 27th February 2012. Maybe local advice isn’t always the best, and a hasty exit

Monday 27th February 2012. Butngatangung to Ketaun. 75 miles.

I think it might have been better to have camped last night. Not really, because it’s always nice to stay with a family. But I wasn’t so keen on the sleeping arrangements. I slept on the floor in the same room as the man of the house! I was also ravaged by mosquitoes, but at least it was only mosquitoes! Before the man and I retired to bed. He’d insisted that I put some mosquito repellent on. Repellent, I got bitten more last night than I have in my whole time in Indonesia. I was reminded of what that idiot American had said to me in Bangladesh. “Why would you want to go to a mosquito-infested island!” He was wrong. The people and scenery far outweigh one night of mozzies.

People standing and sitting
My host family from last night

I thanked the family for their hospitality this morning before setting off on my way. I was keen to move before they bought the vicar out to officiate over our wedding after his sister-in-law had returned this morning.

Not A Good Day

There’s not much to say about today. I’ve not enjoyed myself. It’s the sort of day that I really don’t like. It’s been short, steep hills all day. Some of them are so ridiculously steep you’d have trouble walking up them. I think it’s more of the same tomorrow; that’s something to look forward to, not!

The only good thing about today has been the happy people, who always smile and say “Hello, mister”. I think that’s the only English phrase a lot of them know. I asked one of the locals this afternoon if there was a hotel up ahead. Yes, sir, about thirty minutes. How many kilometres? 300!! That was useful!

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Cycling Indonesia: Batam Island To Dumai On This Day 20th February 2012 | Travelsonabike2

Garry McGivern bicycle touring across the world to Australia at the Batam to Dumai ferry, Indonesia Travelsonabike2 this day 20th-February-2012

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.

Garry McGivern bicycle touring to Australia at the Batam-Dumai ferry with some of the porters waving
Porters on the Batam Jet

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

Watch My YouTube Video From Indonesia

Follow My Bicycle Touring Adventures

Subscribe to my blog and follow me as I travel around on my bike. Plus, as a subscriber, you’ll be among the first to receive news and updates on future tours. If you’re enjoying the ride and want to fuel my next mile, you can always buy me a beer. And, of course, you can always follow me on social media: Facebook, Bluesky, Threads, X, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest. I’m also on Flickr, where you’ll find pictures from all my tours, along with regular photo updates that I generally publish each month.

If you want to find out if I’m away touring at the moment and check my location, visit the Where’s Garry page.

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Cycling Into Bali Video

Garry McGivern Travelsonabike2 Flickr Video Cycling Into Bali after catching the ferry from East Java was filmed on the 15th-March-2012. The video, which Garry filmed on his way to Australia, was originally posted on his Flickr Page but has now been transferred to YouTube. You can watch the video below or on Garry’s YouTube channel. But honestly, it won’t be any more enjoyable wherever you watch the video! You can also subscribe to his channel. You’ll then be amongst the first to know when Garry releases a new video. Or subscribe to Garry’s emails and receive all of his updates.

Flickr Video Cycling Into Bali

 

Subscribe to my blog and follow me as I travel around on my bike. Plus, as a subscriber, you’ll be among the first to receive news and updates on future tours. And, of course, you can always follow me on social media: Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest. Garry is also on Flickr, where Garry will publish the photos from this tour once home. Pictures from all of Garry’s tours and monthly photos can also be found on Flickr.

If you want to find out if Garry’s away touring at the moment and check his location, visit the Where’s Garry page.

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