Sumatera Sendiri

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November 16th 2008

Published: December 24th 2008

The smell of the third world hits me as soon as we exit the immigrasi at Batam; that unmistakable smell of burning rubbish mixed with low-grade exhaust fumes and other exotic smells that just didn't exist back across the Straits. Singapore is probably the most immaculate city and country in the world, Indonesia is, well very different. We change money and enter the scrum of shouting Ojek drivers... Read Full Entry

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Erika Bird and Robin Searle

Banchory to the Bosphorous by Bike

We are Erika and Robin from Scotland and in April 2005 we quit our jobs and set off to cycle from Scotland to İstanbul. We reached İstanbul in October 2005 having discovered that cycling truly is the best way to travel and so decided to keep going beyond the Bosphorous...... We had never cycled any long distance before but had been wanting to travel for a long time and had finally saved enough and realised ıf we didn't set off now we never would. We decided cycling would be the best form of transport as we wanted to learn more about the countries and people we passed through at a s... full info

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Bunga Hutan Kerinci

Hutan Kerinci

Bunga Hutan Kerinci 2

Traditional Transport, Kerinci

Kebun Teh

Tea plantations near Kerinci. Planted by the dutch, now state owned. Pickers don't earn much but they do have job security and a pension so these are envied jobs.

Rural Living, Sumatra

The Road to the Coast

The road from Sungei Penuh to Tapan, through the rainforest of Kerinci Nat Park. Notoriously bad for its surface and for washouts and landslides. Also for tigers....

The Indian (or Indonesian....) Ocean

Coast Road

South towards to Bengkulu, mostly the road is away from the sea, except here where it is under it.

Yang Lain Orang Bersepeda!

Another Cyclist!! David is from Jakarta and was on his way north to Aceh, a mammoth ride he hoped to complete in only 2 weeks!

Coastal Erosion.

Don't know if this is just 'normal' erosion or the result of recent earthquakes and tsunamis.

Beach near Bengkulu

25th December 2008

Jim R
non-member comment

Great Writeup
Sumatra...a fantastic place....and your pix are great, as is the focus on the incredibly friendly people...sad to hear the forest is still falling. Did you try some of that fantastic Rendang curry??

15th March 2009

Pearly
non-member comment

I now pedal too
Hey robin and erica, I long entertained the idea of trying a cycling trip someday but that became a conviction after stumbling across your blog. I now have over 2500 kms in my legs, a rather disappointing refusal despite valid visas (why we're still trying to fathom) from the Chinese immigrant officer at the China-Laos border and now we pedal to the next border through Vietnam without fretting much. If not for your blog I might still just be dreaming about this all. Thanks and pedal on and certainly hope you two get back and continue the journey. P.S: I was born in Shillong and I loved the account of your trip there. www.muddyruts.blogspot.com

2nd September 2010

Bob Magee
non-member comment

Great post
I just found your blog and have to say this is the most wonderful post that I have read for cycling on Sumatra. I think my only regret is that you did not post the story of the rest of the way from Bungkulu. Or the trip across Java. But thanks for posting such a good story, it made my afternoon!

1st February 2011

danioo
Danny Maulana

What a adventure
Hello Robin, It's Danny. I'm Indonesian and live in Jakarta. I've been Kerinci. Such a lovely place. I went there in 2009. I met pak Ali, local person who have cinnamon trees on his backyard. I like to read your story, it's Epic. I can't imagine how hard to you to riding bicycle from Batam to Gunung Kerinci summit. Nice pictures too, I love it. By the way, I posting some story in Kerinci also. If you don't mind to read it, it's such a honor for me. Happy traveling.

Tot: 0.626s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 30; qc: 146; dbt: 0.5446s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.7mb

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