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Published: August 26th 2006
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1992………..2MTHS-1st CYCLING TRIP-1300kms ACROSS INDONESIA
4/7/92 Labuhanbajo - Rinca
I met the others at 8 am for what was meant to be an 8.30 am start except the tide was out and we couldn’t leave till 10.30 when they were able to finally push the boat free. There turned out to be 13 on the boat instead of the max of 12 promised but we fitted on OK lying on the deck- no seats, mattresses stored below to use at night. I was able to put my bike below with the rest of the luggage. We got out to the boat by small dugouts, which were very precarious. It turned out to be an interesting group of adventurers and with the 4 Indonesians there were 9 countries represented- USA, Aust, Sweden, Germany, Canada, Holland, England and Scotland.
Cooking is done at the back of the boat on a Kero cooker and also with wood put in a wok with a frame above it.
We chugged off slowly to the Island of Rinca seemingly passing small islands constantly. All the islands here are desolate with few trees, some grasses and rocks. Rinca is a 195 sq km island S-E off Komodo. We
walked around with a guide to the top of the island, seeing deer, pigs, birds, monkeys and horses on the way. Horses initially were placed on the island by the sultan of Bima. We set off from here to another island, which was unusually flat with many trees, to watch the nightly movements of some bats to Labuhanbajo to feed on bananas, papaya etc. We arrived on dusk and within minutes the first ones had started their flight over us. Within a short time there were thousands of them. It was an amazing sight as they were so close and there were so many of them. Their flight went on for about ½ an hour. They return at 4 am before the full light of morning. We spent the night moored where we were, bunking down like sardines on the deck. The sunset as we came into the cove had been perfect, vibrantly slipping behind the dotted islands on the horizon while we chugged along.
4/7/92 Rinca - Komodo Island
The crew set the boat going at 4 am while we continued to sleep so that we could get to Komodo in time to see the twice weekly feeding
of a goat to the dragons. The Komodo dragon or Ora is the sole survivor of carnivorous dinosaurs that thrived in tropical Asia 130 million years ago. Their bones have been found in South Australia. They are the largest lizards on earth. The dragon is described as up to 3m long, with enormous, rough, fearsome looking jaws, sharp claws and muscular legs. They can move like a weasel, eat like a crocodile; stuff food into its mouth like a pelican and its forked tongue is like that of a snake. It feeds on deer, goat or wild pig. It can run swiftly (up to 18 km/hr for short distances), jump, walk on 2 feet and they are splendid swimmers, divers, climbers and diggers. It can swim up to 1,000m to off shore islets. They can plunge to depths of up to 4m and easily swim 100m while under water. The total number of Ora on Komodo is thought to be 5,000-7,000. Population density averages 17/ sq m.
Given all that I was a bit disappointing to see only three amble along for the feeding of a freshly killed goat and slowly eat it. It was a pretty gruesome sight with
a feeling of watching the Christians being thrown to the lions.
From Komodo Park we set off round the island’s coast to ‘red beach’ to go snorkelling in nice coral for a while. I climbed the hill near the boat to get views over the island itself and the many others that dotted the view. I had visions of dragons raising their heads to attack as I walked through the long grass.
The food on the boat has been the same every meal- nasi, over boiled green vegetable, 2 minit noodles & a bit of egg. I’ve stopped drinking the tea as it tastes awful (they wash the glasses in salt water) and I think the water is questionable. Things seem to be just cut up on deck, which is filthy. The toilet is just a hole in the deck at the back next to the kitchen and has no privacy.
I saw a school of what I assume were flying fish today. We got into the port at 2 pm, a very smelly place, with thousands of small fish being dried on the side of the road. I said farewell to the others and we all divided
up to go our separate ways- most heading straight across Sumbawa for Lombok. I decided to stay the night and head off on my bike tomorrow early, before 7 am.
7/7/92 Sape- Bima (Sumbawa) 105.2km 898.7 km total
I thought I’d go a longer way around to Bima via the coast as no tourists would normally go this way. It would give me a feel for Sumbawa and also miss the mountain range. As it turned out this was the 3rd most exhausting day in my life with over 100 km, a lot of it up and down as the hills went straight into the sea or the road didn’t follow the coast as much as I thought. And then the day was finished going up the mountain range that I hoped to avoid, and then going down again into Bima. People are much more reserved outside Sape. There were very few ‘Hello Misters’ and just staring even when I say hello. The island is very dry and hot and I think I may have got a bit dehydrated. I was relieved to get into Sape at 3 pm, have a mandi and sleep. I couldn’t believe how hot the sun was when I came out again later- no wonder I was hot in the heat of the day cycling up a mountain with a persistent Indonesian lad on a motorcycle following me asking my name etc.
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