We made it through Indonesia JUST!

We spent 34 days in Indonesia with 14 days waiting for our bikes in Bali and 20 days on the road from Denpasar to Tanjung Balai in Sumatra, covering the three islands of Bali, Java and Sumatra, a total distance of 3,414 kms averaging just 41km/hr. 27% of our whole journey completed!

It’s been a mad ride across Indonesia especially in comparison to our first Leg across Australia where the roads were well maintained and empty. Riding in Indonesia requires you to learn a completely different and unnatural set of Road Rules, if you can call them that, in fact each of the three islands has a different set of rules we found. Firstly the amount of traffic is insane with a variety of different forms of transport with scooters being in the majority but with slow moving trucks, minibuses, various types of taxis, motorcycles with sidecars, mini buses and suicidal coaches all vying for a small evaporating piece of space on the road to move forward. We had to learn the rules fast or you would get nowhere or end up coming a cropper. Road conditions varied from deep washed out potholed gravel tracks in Sumatra to perfectly tarmac roads with barriers and white lines, but these are infrequent. Motorcycles are not allowed on the very good toll roads, although thanks to a Google navigation mistake we ended up on one for a few miles before being turned around by surprised but happy toll attendants.
BIG beats small on the roads with trucks taking up both lanes but coaches (intercity busses) own the road and will do literally anything to move forward fast. The will overtake a line of trucks, cars and scooters at speed without considering oncoming traffic and we have witnessed them overtaking on blind corners at a blistering pace. We both very nearly came a cropper when a coach came around the corner towards us on the wrong side of the road leaning over at an impossible angle, Richard had to swerve off the road to avoid it and Lawrence was literally millimeters away from it as it finally tried to pull back into its own lane otherwise it would have run into a line of trucks coming the other way behind us! We have all this on a frightening video, so watch out on our YouTube channel for this (will be a few weeks before we publish). You have to “defend” your space otherwise others will push you out. You have to make normally unnatural maneuvers to get ahead otherwise you will be stuck behind a truck going 5km /hr belching out thick black smoke. Scooters drift out in front of you and join the road from side streets without looking or stopping. It’s scary but it works to a point, once you get used to it, traffic mostly flows and people don’t use horns or get angry at each other when somebody cuts in or forces them off the road in what we would deem a suicidal maneuver.

We have seen some amazing sights as we traversed this country, witnessing the varying daily lives of people in poor, remote and rural communities to those in the big highly populated cities.

We travelled during Ramadan which pretty much the whole population of Java and Sumatra follow, fasting from dawn until dusk, no drinks allowed, so finding food was a challenge, let alone a cold Bintang Beer at the end of the day, but there were benefits, some sections of the road were clearer than they would have been with fewer food street vendors and virtually no tourists so hotels were easier and cheaper to book. As you ride along the roads the mosques, of which there are many, are calling to prayer and frequently setting road blocks to fundraise, with people collecting cash donations.

Most of the hotels we stayed in through the rural areas were very basic, cleanliness was not a priority, and sanitation was poor in a lot. In comparison to the cities where we managed to find better hotels and facilities but all represent good value if nothing else.

What stands out for all of us is the people, no matter where we went they were very friendly especially if you try to communicate with them. A smile and an attempt at speaking their language, Bahasa, goes a long way and always starts a conversation, albeit it limited. Most wanted a photo taken with the bikes and us. Westerners are very few and far between, we might have seen 4-5 outside of Bali and only in hotels, so we were a novelty.
It’s been a hell of a leg, physically challenging in the high heat and humidity. The riding itself has also been a challenge, weaving through traffic and navigating a plethora of obstacles, and an assortment of animals along the way- iguanas, water buffalo, chickens, cats and dogs.

There are no car ferries from Sumatra to Malaysia but we found a post on a Web site saying there were rumors of a guy with a boat taking motorcycles across. He was contacted a few months ago to verify that he did indeed take bikes across, which was confirmed. It was a big punt to ride 3000kms to someone with a banana boat but it paid off and the shipping to Malaysia of the bikes went as planned and the four of us got up at 3am to catech fast ferry. Mark a friend from home who lives in Kuala Lumpur VERY kindly drove for 2 hours to collect us from the ferry port and drop us off at our hotel, another 2 hour drive. We are eternally grateful to him. It was wonderful to see him and saved us much hassle. Immensely appreciated.
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We collected the bikes this morning, import paperwork correct, almost, and rode the first few kms to our hotel in Kuala Lumpur in anticipation of our next leg of our journey through Thailand and Laos to the border of China.
Memorable for sure.