A few photos - Cape York & on towards Asia

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Can you get a visa extension anywhere? Probably a bad comparison but the Philippines will give any Aussie 28 days on arrival and another 59 days on request at any local immigration office. Or are you stuck having to go to a main port of entry? I would agree that overstaying is a Bad Idea.

[The Bigfella]

I can... but last time I did it, it took 6 trips to Immigrassi. I'm toying with it.... leave the bike here and get to Malaysia when I get back.... although I do have to fly to Sydney from KL. I'll see if I can find an Immigrassi office.

[BrianW]

Thanks for the map Ian!

Just an incredible trip!

[jsjpd1]

I'm glad you're ok Ian. Not your average knock dock scenario for sure.

Jim

[Phil Y]

keep em coming

[The Bigfella]

Well, that bastard elephant killed my little S6100 Nikon. Busted the LCD on the back clean in half. I did mention he threw the bike and me, didn't I? Think pitchfork move.... with about 1/3 ton of us involved.

I'm glad I stopped here to smell the roses though. Apart from Brutus, I've had a great time here. Had a couple of really interesting chats with the visiting American professor... who, despite being quite photogenic, has asked me to not post her photo. She headed off for some more remote elephant camps this morning... and I did some bike maintenance.

I did a half day boat trip down the river and did some night bird spotting on the way back. Didn't see any big nasty puddy tats, but we were in active tiger country the whole time. I spotted a pair of bright yellow eyes just off the track on the way back tonight... then 1km later, we were 100 metres away from the car and into the jungle ourselves... taking photos of the large frogmouths. My guide had called them up on an iPod with speakers. Pitch black and rather weird.

I'll do photos later... but we saw some fabulous things. I was under-lensed.... I've only got a 200mm with me... and I was itching for the 400mm at home. My big Nikon, the new D7000 also disgraced itself at two crucial moments and I missed a couple of great shots. Every now and then it gives me a card error. I have to remove and replace the memory card to get it happening.... so. no shot of a Broadbill (a stunningly beautiful bird) exiting its nest... and no shots of the 4 Hornbills. Bugger.

So - what did we see? My guide's buggered off somewhere in the rain, so I'll see if I can start a list:

A Siamang - the largest gibbon here. I'm stoked about that one.
Macacques
Silver tailed monkeys (not sure that's the correct name)
2 Crocodiles
Monitor Lizard
Hornbills
4 Kingfishers, including the stunning Stork-billed K.
the Broadbills
Blue-tailed Beeaters
Imperial Pigeons
a smaller wild pigeon flock
Grey-headed Fish Eagles
Sunbird nest with babies
Large Frogmouths
some beautiful but unpronounceable bird - a coucal of some sort
long tailed Drongos
Babblers
Dollarbirds`
carnivorous plants

and so on. I'll try and grab the guide in the morning so that I can label up some photos. He's got a stunning collection of photos he's taken here... everything from a just-made tiger paw print in the mud, to King Cobras and some great bird shots.

The plan is to do a morning bird tour around here, given its raining solidly now, then head north..... assuming I can pay the bill (I've got my room for half what the professor paid...)

Oops... just had a blackout. Lessee if this will post

[m2c1Iw]

Cheeses Ian sound like a close call glad you are OK. I wondered what the mention of Elephants in the Oz politics thread refered to other than the obvious.

Cheers and be careful
Mike

[The Bigfella]

Thanks Mike. Yes.... the visiting elephant specialist kept calling me the luckiest man alive. Definitely a lucky escape. Here was me thinking it was the old bulls that were dangerous.

I had a fabulous experience this morning. We did a dawn walk back into the National Park... bird watching. Me still a tad nervous, as the spot we went was right past the most recent tiger sighting... but my guide didn't seem to care.

Only saw two interesting species of bird.... two types of spectacular Trogon

The coucal we saw yesterday was a Malkoha and the third species of monkey was a Silver Langur

What we did see today was a lot of fresh sign of wild elephants... holes in the jungle that they had crashed through last night or early today and footprints, crap, etc. At one stage the guide stopped suddenly - he thought they were coming, that he'd heard crashing sounds - turned out to be a Barking Deer.... for which we were thankful.

Then... Siamang - large gibbon - a whole family of them two large, two medium, one baby - about 50 metres from us. I'd have come here solely to hear them, let alone see them. It was absolutely brilliant. I think I only have blurry photos... as we were in jungle... and were watching through multiple branches. They make a 50' tall tree shake as they swing through. Amazing. As we came back, several groups of Siamang were communicating. Incredibly loud, soulful singing. Breathtaking stuff.

This is a place to come to for a week.... but, in half an hour I'm back on the bike.... heading north. I don't have a target for today. I have serious doubts that I'll make a town with a hotel... so it could be interesting.

While we were heading into the National Park, all the SRS staff came past - the Rhino rescue centre. I tried my hardest to get in... but there's some exciting stuff happening there that I'm sworn to secrecy on - and even a $50 offer didn't cut it. My American friend doesn't think the species will make it - there's only 250 left... but they are working on it.

[The Bigfella]

Since I just posted this on Paul's fim thread, I better post it here. Its the gibbon from yesterday - a young (small) one... I was complaining that I'd have got a better shot with my old film camera.

This was late afternoon, taken at 200mm, from a moving boat.... but beggars can't be choosers. I'm stoked to have seen him - and then a full family of them today

[B_B]

Just an incredible trip!

I'll +1 that fer shur.

Reading this definitely has my wanderlust and cabin fever turned way the he!! up.

[StevenBauer]

Ian, are you keeping an eye out for NathanThePostman's Bigzoner motorcycle club?



Steven

[George Jung]

I dunno.... the elephant encounter kinda cooled my wanderlust a bit.... man, talk about edging it! There was an article about a rhino slaughter in a national park - thought it was Africa (no link, of course....). Nasty business.

Keep 'er coming, Ian. It's like National Geographic meets Indiana Jones!

[The Bigfella]

Ian, are you keeping an eye out for NathanThePostman's Bigzoner motorcycle club?



Steven

I got picked up by a similar group last weekend.... Those guys all end to ride on weekends. Damn... just went looking for the badge they pinned on me... may have lost it when the ladies did my laundry yesterday. I hope not.

I'm in a strange sort of town tonight... strikes me as a bit fundamentalist.... first two hotels didn't want me... didn't appear to be full, but claimed to be. Third one... a dive, was OK. I've got a few heavy days riding ahead of me if I'm going to get where I want to for a couple of days look around (Lake Toba)... and then out before my visa expires. The roads today were rugged in places and the main highway is peppered with 1' deep holes. Lots and lots of them, which adds a whole new level to the video game that is called driving here. Not only do you watch your driving line, you watch it for the oncoming traffic which will swerve around a pothole as if you weren't there.

There's always the option of a visa run (a return flight to a nearby country to get a new visa on entry) if I don't get the miles done in time.

More photos to get done.... my little S6100 is only half dead. I can use it as is... but I can't change any settings

[The Bigfella]

OK - just had a play with some photos. I'll stick to time order if I can

Here's the only scar that I spotted on the bike. There's a gouge into the petrol tank from one of the elephant's tusks... the left one, I think... because the right on ripped across my thigh. It goes up at an angle from the bottom of the tank and has taken the "O" out of the Doctor sticker.



I still don't know how he didn't penetrate my thigh when he tossed the bike and me.

For those who want to know what a small teak tree looks like in its natural habitat



OK... so it was off on a river cruise

This cost me about $95... although I could have taken others, if there'd been anyone else at the Lodge - the American lady had flown out, so it was just me.



These two guides, one Forestry and one National Parks supplied the boat... and my host at the Lodge came along with his bird book - this is the run back up the river after a few hours tootling downstream fairly slowly



This boat was close to where we left from. I asked about it... "for going to sea" whatever that's supposed to mean? There's also a full day trip, which goes the extra distance, to the sea. Whether that's the boat for that, or whether they meant something else????



One of the crew, up front, paddling us around. He was looking for the big crocodile we'd just seen.

[The Bigfella]

We spotted a Sunbird nest



with a couple of babies. I can't claim credit for this dodgy shot btw... I handed him my small camera and said "not so close"... yeah, right



More carnivorous plants... very similar to the ones we saw on Cape York



Now some dodgy, trimmed down, long distance shots. Grey headed Fish Eagle. We saw one of these up very close, about 20' away, but he took off into the jungle to avoid us



Same again



Pretty sure this was one of the Malkoha

[The Bigfella]

It really was quite pretty on the river



Blue rumped Beeater (or Blue Tailed...)




About a 4' to 5' monitor lizard pretending we couldn't see him



I tried to crop this shot in a bit, but may have stuffed it. What I thought were two Silver Langurs... check next to the one on the right... there's a baby there



A nice grown crook that the guys back at the Ranger station were making to fit a boat repair by the look of it

[The Bigfella]

We waited for dusk and did a bit of night bird spotting on the way back. We found a pair of Large Frogmouths (much bigger than the ones we get in Australia... these are 40cm) - got them to call by playing some of their calls on an iPod with speakers





We had to sneak into the jungle to get those shots.... and as I mentioned, I'd just seen a large pair of yellow eyes off the road a bit about 1km earlier. My guide hadn't seen them, but said "deer or cat". Sheet.... cat's eyes a metre off the ground... and we're walking around out here? I was damn glad to get back in the car



OK, so this morning, it was up at dawn and we did a 90 minute walk to do some bird spotting.... back down the track and past the spot where the most recent Tiger was sighted. My guide didn't seem concerned. Spotted plenty of big bastard spiders. These buggers eat birds



Found plenty of spots where the wild elephants had come through last night



The guide is pointing at a toe mark here. The whole footprint is about 12" across (hmmm a footprint that's a foot across)

[The Bigfella]

Yep, it stinks too



We spotted two species of Trogon, but the buggers were hard to get a shot of



And after another fabulous encounter with the gibbons, a family of five... two adults, two adolescents and a baby, we headed back... accompanied by their incredible singing. Truly amazing. I'd seen gibbons in a rescue centre in Vietnam two years ago and had always wanted to see them in the wild, with their amaziningly long arms and legs. They are incredible to watch.

So, I finally settled the bill up... got my room for half what the American paid... she paid $50 a night, he asked $30 when I arrived, but I told him he was expensive, "OK $25"... and hit the road at 10am... much later than I'd wanted

Got some good roads for a while.. sat on 120 - 140 (there's no speed limit here)... then it got crappy after I turned onto a more minor road







You can almost guarantee in situations like that... the bigger vehicle will claim that little bit of smoother road... no matter which side its on. On my night ride three nights or so back, I had a wide road... and got run off it by a 4WD who came across three lanes to get a slightly smoother run.... both of us climbing up and down "potholes" in first gear. I thumped his back door with my fist. Prick.

I finally gave someone the two fingers today. I'm doing 140kph and he pulls out to overtake when he's 100 metres away.. and kept coming when he saw me. Prick

OK.... who goes where?

[The Bigfella]

I was in a petrol queue when these guys filled up too. They stopped for a friendly hello. 7 of them squeezed in there - or was it 8?



On the issue of petrol queues. Hoarding has started and everyone is filling up ahead of the price rise on April 1. Its going from 45c to 60c a litre. The government spends over a third of its budget subsidising fuel. Its going to hurt the locals though.

The schoolgirls were friendly too



Nice little sampan heading up river



This guy was a classic... two double bed mattresses and two single mattresses. Not bad on a scooter



I think I got a shot tonight of a minivan with a refrigerator tie upright to its roof. Sheesh

Gee, every town has to have a monument

[B_B]

Thanks Ian, what an adventure!

[The Bigfella]

No worries....

Hey - you want adventure... Buy a Garmin. You could end up anywhere. After 10+ hours at it today, 9 1/2 in the saddle... I'm in Bengkulu, Sumatra. Why? I dunno.... my Garmin thought it'd be an interesting way to go. It isn't on the main road to Padang, which is what I had plugged in. Still, it looks an interesting way to go... up the coast, presumably. The road's plenty rugged... but then again, so was the main road.

I saw the deepest ever potholes today... apart from collapsed roads... and there were plenty of them too.... and earthquake damaged roads. The general run of the mill potholes which pepper the road are about 12" deep. The big ones are fully 2' deep. Despite it being the main arterial road up the island (hint hint Garmin), there's been no attempt to repair them.

The Garmin struggled in other ways today too. Its produced four separate tracks for the day. They don't add up to what I reckon I did either... going on my speedo recollection.

It was mayhem on the roads too. I had a close call with an idiot 4WD who apexed a corner on my side of the road. I had to slam on the brakes in the corner again... a risky manouevre on a bike.... but better odds than the alternative. I stopped at a fatal accident too. Don't know how many killed... probably two... it was a truck that went over a mountain - it went about 50 metres straight down. No chance.... poor buggers.

On a better note, its been brilliant scenery and I've met some lovely people.... but its much slower going than hoped for. I'd hoped to make Padang today... but it'll be another full day's ride to get there.

I'll post more later. I'm off for a wander up the main street

[The Bigfella]

I'll do the day's photos another time.

Meanwhile, here's what the car drivers will do to you to get "their" bit of smooth road. Imagine the result if you happen to be looking at your rear vision mirrors at the time

[Iceboy]

I see you managed to get a "salute" off at the bugger.

[The Bigfella]

A salute? But, of course... although really, I don't do it that often..

I wrote the following this morning but had a computer crash... I'll update late, after this Indo reflexology bloke stops torturing me. I had a huge day today

This place never ceases to amaze me. I got another couple of hours sleep after the loud part of the adjacent Mosque service finished at 5am (4:30am start, always)... and I've faithfully followed the picture instructions in my bathroom to sit on the toilet... not stand on the rim and squat.... I wonder how many people cracked their skulls before they put up the instructions?... and now. at breakfast.... the bread is green. Pea green. Tastes OK... I was game for whatever the sprinkles are that go with it, but the butter looked a bit ancient... so I passed on that.

The cuisine around here is Padang style. I ate at a Sate Padang street stall last night. Spicy stuff, has me worried with my food allergies - even the fried soybean cakes are laced with chilli.

A couple of quick photos... I need to get on the road, otherwise I'll end up sleeping on it tonight - towns seem rare on this route that Garmin has set me

Some earthquake damage... by no means the worsts ((the worst means both hands on the bars... no photos)



Some engineering geniuses. They wanted me to stop... and about 40 of them were swarming all around me,








I'm betting they have some handling issues... but that won't worry them

Here's the ambulance I got stopped for. I followed it for a few km... I actually think it may have been a funeral procession... but I'm really not sure. That's three ambulance guys hanging out the back... the bus was chockers... young, old and everywhere in between



The poor bastards in the truck - I've zoomed in on it. It was a bloody long way, almost vertical... at least 50 metres. My guess would be brake failure and a missed gear shift... and away she went. It looke like they hit the rock wall, trying to stop... but...

[The Bigfella]

Its Nyepi Day here apparently. I'll need to do some more digging on that. I asked about getting my specs repaired (I rode off without putting them back on... which didn't do them any good, but we (I'd asked a local to help me find this guesthouse because Mr Gamin wasn't coping... and I was sick of its circling technique)... and was told that wouldn't happen today. I'm told I can do my visa though... so I can't figure it out.

I do know, I'm not going anywhere. My arms are almost dropping off.... and this guesthouse is a little slice of heaven. The staff are just wonderful - and the building is new.... a rebuild after the 2006 Panang earthquake... which I believe killed more than 6,000 people. It does already have earthquake damage though... Back to my arms... yesterday's road... all 600km of it was truly the most outrageous example of a road. I took some photos but haven't found the energy to upload them yet.

The scenery and the people I met were brilliant... although the scourge of Sumatra was evident for a lot of it.... Palm Oil plantations. Much of this island has been deforested - to grab the timber and to plant Palm Oil and the like.

I learnt something interesting over the last couple of days. I kept smelling these absolutely horrible places as I went through village after village and I had myself convinced that it was the local abbotoirs... it really was the smell of death.... and I kept seeing trucks with these bales of offal on them. I was wondering what the hell they were doing with it. I couldn't look too closely - number one priority being to survive out there... but yesterday, it clicked. Its rubber.... and it stinks. It really, really stinks. I should have a photo of some of the rubber plantations - if not, there'll be more.

On thing I should have photographed, but didn't was a wonderful little fishing village. I've got a very vivid mental image of it, but its one I can't share. At the time, I knew I was going to have trouble making it to Panang (600km is really two days travel over here, not one... and the locals were blown away when I told them I'd come from Bengkulu to Panang in one day). So... it was a wide creek backwater and the boats on the water, on the banks and under construction were totally different to anything I've seen in Asia so far. There were both flat nosed punts and one under construction with a pointed bow. The were slab-sided and cross-planked. I really should have stopped. Yesterday was about making miles though. I took 20 minutes for lunch... about 5 x 5 minute water stops - and maybe a dozen quick, 1 minute stops where the helmet didn't even come off.

Today.... is smell the roses day. Oh yeah... speaking of smells.... there's a dead cat in my bags I think... its laundry day

[The Bigfella]

OK, I don't get it. Nyepi Day is a Balinese thing.... and I'm a long way from Bali. A long way. The woman who told me about it, Siri (anyone with an iPhone 4s should smile at that.... all I can say is that this Siri is far nicer that the Apple variety)... anyhow Siri is Javanese, working in Sumatra.... so, I'll need to do some more digging to get to the bottom of why something in Bali is going to prevent me getting my glasses fixed in Sumatra

[Larks]

OK, I don't get it. Nyepi Day is a Balinese thing.... and I'm a long way from Bali. A long way. The woman who told me about it, Siri (anyone with an iPhone 4s should smile at that.... all I can say is that this Siri is far nicer that the Apple variety)... anyhow Siri is Javanese, working in Sumatra.... so, I'll need to do some more digging to get to the bottom of why something in Bali is going to prevent me getting my glasses fixed in Sumatra

It's probably like Melbourne Cup day, anyone visiting Australia then may wonder why the hell everyone in the country stops and gets on the turps for something that's happening down in Melbourne.....???

[The Bigfella]

Well, there's one thing they won't be doing up here... and that's getting on the turps.

It finally clicked why there's so many rugrats here.... no booze, so what's a bloke to do?

.... that said, I spotted Bintang in the fridge here last night. Had two. Best beers I've ever had.

Siri tells me she's checked... no go with the Gubbies... they're off today too. I'm a minimum of two days (probably 3) from an exit point.... but I'd like to keep smelling the roses too, so it looks like it'll be a close run thing getting out of Indonesia. I can't afford to risk it, hanging around here until Monday... and I don't know if I'll find Imigrassi again until I get to Medang - which rates high in the list of 'what's the worst place you've ever visited' apparently.

The thought of a quick trip to Malaysia tomorrow is rising in the stakes. Malaysian GP on the 25th... back here with a fresh visa on the 26th.... then a week up my sleeve.... but cutting it fine on the run to the airport for my work trip back home. I suppose I could always leave the bike in Indonesia and do it more leisurely when I get back in early May? Decisions, decisions.

[BrianW]

Yep, it stinks too

Way to go Ian. I'm guessing you caught a stomach bug, but you'll never endear yourself to the locals if you keep leaving poo laying around.

Bad Ian, bad!

[The Bigfella]

Funnily enough... the one thing I haven't caught this trip.... is a stomach bug. I guess that'll jinx my gut eh? I went for a walk to get my glasses fixed (new frames, old lenses ground to shape and fitted... $25) and about 75 metres from the Spice Homestay - this wonderful place I'm staying at in Padang - I got roped into a discussion with some locals at the most ramshackle street stall you've ever seen. I sat down for a coffee... and watched as they washed my glass and spoon in an old plastic bucket in the paddock that looked like it also did service carrying concrete and washing up motorbike parts. Hmmm.

Meanwhile... its $167 return to fly to Malaysia for the Grand Prix. I've just emailed my Mech Engineer son with an offer he can't refuse... and we'll see if he's got his priorities right.

[The Bigfella]

Well, Pete found a ticket for $200 under the budget I gave him - so I've booked too. Two flights at sparrow fart doesn't really impress me, but - hey.... can't have it all eh? I wonder if there's beds in KL when the GP is on?

A funny thing just happened on the way back from the bank.... I was tootling up a one way street the wrong way, following a woman on a scooter.... then we passed a cop... he pointed at her... ignored me. Next thing, the cop, on his motorbike flew past me at about Mach 2. The woman had already scarpered at a rate of knots. I got stuck into it a bit to see if I could observe the action, but they were gone. I've got no idea whether he caught her.

[Iceboy]

Those "engineering geniuses" probably thought you were a rolling spare prts factory. Have fun at the GP.

[The Bigfella]

I've got some better "engineering genius" photos from yesterday... they thought I was a rolling cash machine... "money mister, for benzine"... I felt a tad stingy afterwards, I only gave them enough for one litre.

Here's the seats we've got at the GP



Not bad eh?, right on turn 1.

[Iceboy]

Nice seats. Are they coming at you on the straight or going away? Either would be good but I would like them revving away for the sound factor.

[The Bigfella]

OK... let's get back on track, before I have to go figure out what documentation I'll need to take to convince the border doubters to let me back in.

A couple of observations that don't have photos. A few days back, I sheltered at a mosque during a rain dump and wandered over the road to a roadside stall to get a bottle of water. There was a kid there who was the most extremely cross-eyed I'd ever seen. Cheery kid, getting on with it, but one has to wonder how many (presumably) correctable defects like this are out there. One sees a lot of disabilities - like the guy I saw the other day with 1' long limbs.... that you just don't see at home. Talking to the World Bank guys over dinner in Jakarta, a couple of things came up. Indonesia's health doesn't match its income level. Its health/health care is far below where it should be. It also has one of the highest open defecation rates in the world.... which ain't good. With the government spending over a third of its income subsidising fuel, its had a hard time finding funds... and this April 1 increase in fuel costs of 33% to 60c litre should allow some progress... albeit with some pain.

Something funny happened on the highway, something I really wish I'd had the video on for. I was in the zone, hammering along on a good road and suddenly something was flying through the air just above me. A damn monkey swung across the road in an overhanging tree.... not far above me either. Sheesh... talk about making me jump. Apart from the National Park... its the only one I've seen on Sumatra. (Sumbawa had them all over the place)

So, back on the road, I stopped to take a shot of the bike with this monument



and just had to take this construction shot as well



No reinforcing, no real levels, no real thickness to it either. I guess it comes with a full GF warranty too?

I know we aren't supposed to post nipple photos, but I was quite taken with this one



I rode down to the river to take a look at this operation. Gravel / pebble mining.



Lots and lots of rivers on the main road north... many of them with continual rapids



The rice is ripe. Lots of scooters on the road with a big bundle of harvested rice on the back too

[The Bigfella]

Did I post this one already? A building that's had a dose of hair restorer



That's the support structure for the erection of the next floor. I'd call it a waste of good timber

I liked these bamboo wharves - I'm guessing they were for fishing from



I've seen a bit of this going on what with the fuel shortage



One coasting, being pushed by the other

One damn big mosque.



How long? 20'? Sure, I can carry that



Ahhh, petrol. You want petrol... its in short supply because everyone is hoarding it.



I've seen scooters with 10 x 20 litre containers of petrol strapped on to them. Every damn container in the country is being filled up because the price is going from 45c to 60c litre on April 1. I've not had to endure this... but I've been topping up every 100km or so. I pulled up at a queue with about 60 bikes ahead of me again yesterday... and got swept to the front. I objected a few times, but everyone insisted. I did the $20 to the attendant for an $8 fill... and told him to use the rest on the bikes in the queue. I thought I was going to get kissed.

I went to leave... and... no eyeglasses. I'd rolled the bike around past the queue, having already taken off the tattered gloves, glasses and helmet... and I'd obviously dropped the glasses. I walked the terrain a couple of times and had given up when the security guy grabbed me and took me to the nearby foodstall and handed me my glasses. I tried to give him a tenner ($1 = 10,000 rupiah), but he wouldn't take it. The cop who was there to ensure no hassles was standing behind me. I really don't think it was a con.... someone had handed them in. I haven't met a nasty person yet in this country. I even had a stallholder refuse my money yesterday... I'm a guest here.

[The Bigfella]

I think I mentioned the stinky rubber earlier - here's a truckload of it



Heading in to Bengkulu, I'd got to the dehydrated, exhausted stage and pulled up at this truck stop on one of the mountain ranges for another bottle of water and a kopi (coffee). One thing I noticed was a soft area (thin plywood floor) at the back with plenty of cushions. I'd seen it at a couple of "restaurants" on the road. Not quite a "losmen" but a good fallback for a snooze if caught out on the road. I've heard nasty stories... but maybe sleeping with my machete in my hand..... ??? I'm trying to avoid getting caught in the middle of nowhere, but seriously, I wouldn't be concerned.



Coming in to town (Bengkulu), I spotted the KTM dealer.



The owner was chuffed... and insisted on me bringing the bike in for a closer shot



KTM eh?

[The Bigfella]

So, the big day's ride... Bengkulu to Padang. 381km according to Mr Garmin... but that will be as the crow flies. It turned out to be 600km. In Oz, a bloke can do 600 in 5 hours, if he sneaks it along a bit. It took me 11 1/2 crushing hours here. At one stage, 3 hours in, a guy told me I had 14 more hours ahead of me. I put the race face on and got into it. I didn't get away early, I had some maintenance to do. An oil top-up first... which means I've got no spare oil left. I also discovered that I was down to one bolt holding on my luggage rack. I hadn't loctited it on, because I've had to take it off a few times. I've just lost my third indicator off the left side - still have the third one on the right, for example. No big dramas there... its just rattly if I haven't got the load on. the whole thing is designed to take the load and move it to the strong part of the subframe... which it does, even without bolts. I haven't weighed my luggage, but with spares, etc, its around 40kg... and I've had 55kg passengers ride sitting on it... so it works. The seat holds it in place, even without bolts. Another week on it before the trip and it'd have been heaps better too. Mk2 will be the ducks nuts.

The security guard was keen to try the bike on for size... but it didn't quite work out for him



I met some more engineering geniuses on the road. They asked for, and got, money... but I was a bit stingy, only gave them enough for 1 litre of racing fuel. I should have done something a bit better, but I had my 'make miles' mindset happening and didn't want to get off my bike



There seems to be a real contest around here to see who can put the highest handlebars on a Vespa





The road was seriously good in parts, but they were few and far between. That's a palm oil plantation btw

This was the best of it... and I got over 160kph for a while... but thoughts of lumbering animals slowed me down

[The Bigfella]

Oops... I meant to post a shot of that green toast. Used the crappy camera and it hasn't caught the full pea green... but you get the idea



... and the lovely ladies at reception



I did mention that I'm in the world's most populous Muslim nation, didn't I? They truly are lovely people. I wish our mob at home could be so welcoming of strangers

I've seen quite a few of these town meetings going on as I've come up the island - all with government cars in attendance... and one had a very large, very senior police presence.



Everyone's in there in their finest clothes

Palm oil plantations as far as the eye can see here.



... and a crappy one of a rubber plantation... taken at speed. The trees often had their little cup attached and the trees were scarified from harvesting the rubber

[The Bigfella]

I've got to post this bloke's photo - he's the only driver in Sumatra who didn't move entirely to the wrong side of the road when there was a pothole. I want a paintball gun.. or a ballbearing gun.... or just a gun.



Mr Squiggle paints the road lines. I've got heaps of shots of this sort of stuff. How much does this damn road surface move?



Here's the roadside stall where the owner didn't want to take my money for a bottle of water. I insisted though... and gave the change to a couple of kids, which he loved.



I wanted to get a photo of some of the really young kids riding scooters - I reckon I've seen 9 year olds out there on the highway, 2 up or more - but I was cautious of scaring them.



I dunno what happened here... but we ended up on the beach for a while. I'll admit to being a hoon and leaving a bloody great roostertail



OK, this looks interesting

[The Bigfella]

Just watch the first step, eh?



I got to Padang in the dark and had to stop to get my Lonely Planet out... Mr Garmin isn't up on the local hotels, and got mobbed, as usual.



All up, in 600km, I got run off the road 3 times, that's situations where my side of the road was fully occupied by someone going the other way, and they had nowhere to go. The last one was in the dark, making it harder to recognise.... but a bus is a bus.... and I simply headed into the grass ditch.... at speed. Wasn't even close.... missed the bus by 10 feet. There were dozens more times where we went three wide.... where those going the other way were nice enough to make a bit of room for me.

So far on this trip, I've done, I think, about 8,500 miles on the KTM, another 1,500 miles with it on a trailer behind the car... and maybe another 10,000 air miles. My rear tyre is starting to look sad again... with less than 2,000 miles on it. Its a definite replacement by KL.

[The Bigfella]

OK... Two days later, I've been to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) - for the Grand Prix - then been absolutely wowed by the majesty of the Petronas Towers - sat at "the Library" - a themed restaurant - for a couple of $10 Guinesses and ate the last of their kitchen's food around midnight... a quilk 3 hours kip... then the taxi ride from hell and back to earthquake central, Padang in Sumatra.

I really like Padang, but sitting here talking to the Spice Homestay owners, Siri and Putri, I've, yet again, missed the sunset down at the beach... 200 metres away. You nong Ian. It's Siri's 38th birthday in two days, so we're having a bit of a nosh-up dinner. "You like crab?" Is the Ayotollah a Muslim? Not sure we're getting it though... Monday night is a problem.

Speaking of being a nong. On the flight to Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, did the slowest takeoff roll I've ever experienced (saving gas?) and then snapped the lovely beach scene... then, started in on my first Sudoku puzzle for a month. 10 minutes later, I glanced out the window and it was the most spectacular scenery I've ever seen from a plane (been on a lot of planes in a lot of countries too). Lake Maninjau. Guess where I'm going tomorrow.

I'll do another update a bit later.... I'm required by Putri... shopping to do

[rufustr]

Thanks for posting these photos Ian.

Tremendous trip.

[Paul Pless]

How many miles on the Katoom now?

[The Bigfella]

My pleasure Rufus. I've uploaded some more photos.... but I might leave the update until later today. I've got a short ride today - 2 hours, I'm told, up to Lake Maninjau - there's something like 44 hairpin bends on the way down into the caldera. It wasn't on the agenda until I flew over it on the way to and from KL. It really is the most beautiful scene I've ever seen out of a plane's window.

From wiki - The Maninjau caldera was formed around 52,000 years ago.Deposits from the eruption have been found in a radial distribution around Maninjau extending up to 50 km to the east, 75 km to the southeast, and west to the present coastline. The deposits are estimated to be distributed over 8500 km² and have a volume of 220–250 km³. The caldera has a length of 20 km and a width of 8 km.

Paul... I was wracking my brain the other day trying to remember whether the bike had 12k or 14k on it when I left... I'm almost certain it was 14,020 km. The Cape York leg (Bern's place to the Tip and return) was 3,000km. The bike clicked over 27,000km on the last trip, a couple of days back.... I think its about 27,400 km now. I fitted new tyres in Bali at 24,000 - the rear is going to be totally bald by the time I get to KL again - the knobs are all cracked but I haven't thrown any that I've noticed. The Mitas EO9 I fitted to the front seems to be doing a lot better than the last front tyre I had... I may get as far as Bangkok on it. The last one was done at 3,000 km.... less than 2,000 miles.

What nails the fronts is all the hard braking.... and at times there's some very, very hard braking going on. I've been trying to keep the rear one from spinning up most of the time... but sometimes I've had to.... eg, overtaking up the left, sometimes the climb back onto the bitumen gets a bit high and you have to flick the tail around to get a better angle back onto the hard - I had the bike protest a bit the other day when I didn't do that - meaning it wanted to fall over, which wouldn't be a good look, eh? 'specially not right in front of a truck.

OK here's a few more shots from KL -

one from the GP2 race.... we had the big screen to show us what was going on



It was slippery out there...



This is just before they stopped the race. It would have been diabolical to be in the following cars down the straight



and the rain did get heavier just after they red flagged it. It was dark too




I wasn't going to post this one... but my mate from Maine was asking for more photos of me over on another thread. This one's for you sweetie.



and just to show that we didn't go there just for the cars... we also took in the pretty lights. Street scene outside our hotel

[The Bigfella]

Just to balance out the cars... here's some wooden boats from a village down near Bengkulu. I pulled the DSLR out of the tank bag for these (a rare event when I'm making miles... it takes a couple of minutes.... I normally just shoot with the P&S that is hanging off my chest armour)

This isn't the inslet these boats were in... but it gives an idea of the setup. There's dozens of these creeks opening out into the surf... and the local fishermen head out these. They get a decent size surf break that they have to get out through too



They moor up along the creek banks



At this particular location there was some brand new infrastructure... concrete wharf, nice shaded shelter. Looked very much like a foreign aid project to me. I did a coastal infrastructure job in Oz a year or two back and this setup was right up there when it comes to decent infrastructure.... and the locals here sure as hell couldn't have afforded it by themselves. Good to see....



Same boat... there was water being thrown out of the bilge... something's going on in there...



Ahhh... a bilge rat... with a bucket



And, one more woodie

[The Bigfella]

Interesting planking on that dinghy




Here's the lady who runs a street stall just near my homestay...



I had a coffee there with the guys the other day. The bucket just to the right of the fence upright is the one they washed my coffee glass up in... Hmmm... love that black scum ring.



Who needs a truck? These guys don't





Last night, after dinner, I gave my camera to Putri and she went around snapping away merrily for a while. She wants to keep it....

[The Bigfella]

This place really is a home away from home. Siri and Putri are sisters.



Siri, on the left, used to work on Sirius 1935 - a 62' staysail schooner which was the first Aussie boat to circumnavigate (1935-37). Google her (Sirius 1935 will find her). She's based in Thailand now.

This place has had nothing but waxheads staying here for the 3 nights I've been here. The islands off here are a truly fabulous surfing destination. It was my shout for dinner last night. Its Siri's 38th birthday tomorrow.

Photobucket's giving me grief again (not enough memory in this 'puter, methinks)... so I'll have to post the photo of that dinner being cooked later. We (Putri and I) wandered down to Pak Agus' again and got half a dozen very large prawns and a couple of fresh fish... she went straight to the eyes to select them, of course.... BBQ'd over red hot charcoals - marinated nicely. Packed in brown paper for the 100m walk back to Spice Homestay... The girls told me why he's so good (Pak Agus that is)... his spices are great, but they still allow the fish flavor to survive. We ate Padang style... some vege's done by the girls, some rice - and with nothing but our right hand as implements. Pack it all together between thumb and fingers and who needs a fork?

Siri had ordered in some treats for desert. One of which was a tapioca pastry ball. Reminds me of Grandma's tapioca puddings.

OK... that's it. I have to pack and leave these delightful ladies

[The Bigfella]

Houston, we have a problem!

Not quite the same magnitude.... but its a PITA. My countershaft oil seal is gone... its leaking oil. Oil is in scarce supply here.... or at least the right sort of oil is.

Just lost a screw out of my helmet visor too... a nuisance...

I've checked in, nice and early at a pleasant litle hotel right on the shore of Lake Maninjau.... that bloody great crater lake. Sitting on the verandah, about 3' above the lake with waves lapping at the shore. Lovely. It must've been a big bang that created this lake. A real big bang.

I just met my first other western bikes on the road since leaving Oz (Keith & Ellen don't count.. they were on the same ship and we didn't meet up on the road).. A Finn riding an F650 BMW (has ridden to here from Finland), riding with a Japanese guy on a Honda Africa Twin. They'd just checked out this hotel, but were looking for something in the $5 range. I'm happy here at $25. I'll head up there way for a late afternoon lunch soon.

The ride down the caldera rim was great... each hairpin was numbered in a countdown. Lots and lots of monkeys on the road. Came across a couple of young locals licking their wounds... they'd come a cropper. "Too fast?" Yes. Bit of blood, but nothing too bad... the worst of it will heal in a couple of weeks (knees, feet - wearing thongs, of course... no helmets)

Lots of aquaculture pens visible here.

Plenty of photos and lots of video - including me being waved past by a Highway Patrol car with its lights flashing - I was going quicker than him, and he had no problems with that. Undertook a couple of other cops... but the third one I tried it on got snooty and the passenger waved me back.

I might try some uploads later.... after "lunch"

[The Bigfella]

Well, its after brekkie now... and I'm caught, working. The view from my "office" is stunning and there's been a fisherman paddling his canoe around in front of me. Again... I have photos, but the internet connection is weak. I sure won't be emailing this 23Mb Word document to the client... just the edits.

I'll bring this next bit across from Seanz' thread on "Aftershocks" - as the 2009 earthquake here is still causing some issues.

I just had brekkie on the shore of the absolutely beautiful Lake Maninjau with a German chap, who is here to close down their office after earthquake reconstruction work from the 2009 quake. He tells me the official death toll on that one was 1,500, but the "real toll" was 2,500 - 3,000. Most of his work up here in the Maninjau caldera was slip-related. They'd had a lot of heavy rain at the time of the quake. The scars are very apparent on the caldera slopes across the lake. One part of the caldera isn't able to be re-built on.

I'm going to try and sneak in to the camp that was created for the people who had to be relocated. Thousands of them... into a camp with tiny semi-permanent housing. Each family apparently got a 2m x 3m shack - three years ago. The limited toilet facilities failed. There was a lot of rape of young girls.... and not many happy campers.

I've talked the owner of the restaurant I ate at yesterday to take me on a tour of the caldera - so hopefully I can talk her into taking me to that camp - although by the sound of it, the locals aren't too proud of it.

I also had some interesting conversations with people who live in Padang during my 3 days there. An Aussie guy "Shoey" who owns a surf charter boat (nice one too, ex Japanese patrol boat - huey.com.au ). The last big one, 2009, almost claimed his wife. He was saying that a stroke of the pen meant she lived.... while 16 others died.... her university class was divided into two.... one half Tues, the other, Wednesday. The other half didn't make it. Other than fault lines running along rural roads, well out of town - and some cracks running across tiled floors, I didn't see any signs of it... 3 years later. Siri, my hostess at the homestay, said that the reconstruction was driven by the local Chinese people. They didn't want any signs of it left.... for business reasons, so they made it happen. She said its very different in Aceh, further up the island... where there are still very visible signs of the earlier 2006 quake and tsunami.... and no Chinese community.

I mentioned this to my German friend and he said "Yes, the Chinese are certainly making their influence spread".