Bicycle Touring Indonesia
This week’s Travelsonabike2 bicycle touring on this day post comes from Indonesia on the 28th-February-2012. Watch out for snakes.
Tuesday 28th February 2012. Ketaun to Bengkulu. 58 miles.
Thankfully, the hills haven’t been anywhere near as bad as yesterday, which is Sod’s law. I bought a rope and some crampons last night! The first few hours of the day were hard going, but then I found myself cycling on the coast again with miles and miles of lovely golden sand and not a tourist or sun longer insight. The roads have also levelled out.
I stopped for lunch at one of the many food stalls that sit beside the roads. It was a busy little place, which is always a good sign, and there was only one table left. I sat at the table and waited for my food. While waiting, I looked at my phone, probably writing notes for today’s blog. Then, when I looked up, everybody had disappeared. Now I know it’s hot, and I sweat a lot, but I’m sure I didn’t smell that bad.
Thankfully, everybody hadn’t moved because of me. Or that’s what they said. Apparently, there was a snake in the small patch of scrub next to the café. Thanks for telling me! I got up and looked from a distance but couldn’t see anything. I don’t know if it was poisonous, but I’m guessing it was judging by everybody else’s reaction.
Time To Smarten Up
After everybody had run away from me in the café, I thought it might be a good idea to get a haircut and shave to smarten myself up. (I’m not convinced there was a snake!) Barbers always have problems shaving me; Western stubble is much harder than Asians. Their stubble is very whispery and more like bum fluff. I also gave my bike a clean, and now we’re both looking clean and presentable.
I may have seen a crocodile in one of the rivers today. I presume it wasn’t Eddie’s crocodile that had followed me. I wasn’t 100% sure if it was or not, but by the time I’d got my camera out, whatever it was, it had gone.
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, Bluesky, Threads, X, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest. I’m also on Flickr, where photographs from all my tours are.
If you want to find out if Garry’s away touring at the moment and check his location, visit the Where’s Garry web page.