Blogs from Bandar Lampung, Sumatra, Indonesia, Asia

Bukittinggi (Sumatra, Indonesia) – Bandung (Java, Indonesia): Distance covered so far (since 20 Dec): 6927 km We have made it through the plantations, the jungle, along the coast and over the mountains to reach the southern-most point of Sumatra! With one final cockroach infested hotel (Mel squeaked whilst on the loo, as a cockroach scampered over her legs), we rolled into the port of Bakauheni and onto the boat – Java bound. What a relief! What pride! Cycling hot, hilly, humid, bumpy, sticky, insecty Sumatra, as the subject of everyone’s curiosity has been the hardest thing we have ever done – it has roasted, poached, smashed, pummelled and drained us. Sumatra turned out to be MUCH bigger than it looked on the map, and it has a climate apparently designed to upset cyclists. A truly beautiful ... read more

We had a hell of a time getting out of Sumatra, and while in south Sumatra. I think it's a good idea every once and a while to write about the things that go wrong - in this case, many, many things all together - so at least the picture of travelling in these beautiful, exotic, 3rd world places is balanced. The vast majority of travellers fly from Padang to Jakarta (Java). We the ever stubborn overlanders opted for the other way. Instead, when we left Kerinci we headed east, somewhat blindly. There's very little travel information for south sumatra, and little english is spoken. After arriving in Sungai Penuh we walked around the very busy small town looking for a bus that left earlier than 8 in the evening (this was noonish). We ascertained that ... read more