Week 3 - Sumatra (alias The Hello Mister Tour)
09-03-17
It was sad leaving RBH and the wonderful crew, but move on
we must. Farewells were had as the guys helped to load our bikes onto the boat
for the trip down to Tarusan. If you ever get the opportunity to explore
Sumatra, Ricky’s should be on the top of your list. www.authenticsumatra.com. Just be
sure you understand how the place works before you go.
We boarded the boat on a perfect still morning and we were
quickly on our way, gently cruising over a glassy sea and down through a
stunning bay, that is touted as the next Halong Bay. Best you get here before
that happens. This was a magical cruise, just sitting back in our little wooden
village taxi boat, enjoying the serenity.
Arriving in the busy little fishing port of Tarusan, we tied
up to the concrete sea wall and unloaded our gear with the help of Kim and the
boat driver. Another set of farewells, and we rode out of Tarusan to stunned
looks from the locals. It was another nice village road, weaving through
tropical farm land until we came back to the main North South road, heading
back up towards Bungus Beach and eventually Padang.
It was a good ride, the traffic wasn’t as busy as we
expected, and the road condition was quite good. The road followed a strong
flowing river, gently up for about the first 30k’s. Then, without realising we
had gained so much altitude, we plunged down a series of switchbacks to come
out on the plain that Bungus Beach sits on with only 5k’s of flat running and
into a nice café for a leisurely lunch before heading to our accommodation at
the Cavery Beach Hotel. Once again they upgraded us, which was really nice.
10-03-17
Bungus Beach to Padang
https://www.strava.com/activities/921789588
https://www.strava.com/activities/921789595
https://www.strava.com/activities/921789588
https://www.strava.com/activities/921789595
Another leisurely start, as we didn’t have far to go today.
Only about 30k’s, and we had ridden this road the other way, so we knew exactly
what was in store.
We had arranged to meet Ailee at a café in Padang on the way
through. It was great to catch up with Ailee and see little Jipsi again. Poor little
guy has developed a little skin problem but with antibiotics from the vet and a
little paw paw cream he should be right in no time. This ended up being a very
long lunch, which was really nice, before we rode up the main Padang beach and
back to our hotel, ready to store our bikes and gear so that we could fly out
to KL the next morning to renew our Indonesian Visa.
11-03-17
Early flight to Kuala Lumpur
An early taxi to the airport, we were travelling very light,
what we were wearing and a camera bag with a few essentials inside. It was
amazing to be not checking bike boxes etc in.
It’s only a one hour flight to KL. We then took the fast
train to KL Sentral and decided that we would walk to our hotel about 6k’s
away. The taxi drivers weren’t happy, but one helped us with directions.
Naturally we didn’t have 3g service, so it was lucky I had downloaded the
Malaysia map for MapsMe and that guided us well. We are so glad we decided to
walk. We saw heaps, through Chinatown, found a great café called The Lokl, with
an attached guesthouse that we would have stayed in if we hadn’t already booked
elsewhere. The guy serving us at Lokl was a really awesome guy. He asked us
about our travels and then offered us a tasting of some signature coffees they
have in the café. This was really interesting and such a nice thing to offer. We
thanked him so much for looking after us and said we would probably be back
again soon. (I’m already thinking about tomorrows breakfast)
Then up past the botanic gardens and to our very flash
hotel, The ShangraLa. Who says you can’t have a little luxury every now and
again.
I must say, we felt a bit out of place, but, we are so
beyond caring what people think of us anymore that we just went with it. It was
pretty funny having a very nice dinner later that night to celebrate Mary’s
birthday a little early. Me in my shorts, t shirt and thongs, Mary in a nice
dress, but with her cruddy camp shoes. Dinner was great, and everyone was
looking at how awesome we are, hahaha, hmmm?
12-03-17
We walked back to The Lokl for breakfast as we had enjoyed
it so much. (I knew we would return) The guys were really happy to see us visit
again. Once more we really enjoyed a western breakfast and really amazing
coffee.
Off to the airport we went, catching an Uber to the train
station, then the train to the airport. The one hour flight back went quickly
and the view from the air in the last 10 minutes of the flight was amazing. We
could clearly see Lake Maninjou and the road that we would be riding and it all
looked pretty specky from the air. There was a bit of air traffic so we had to
circle before our approach and the pilot took us back over Ricky’s so we were
able to see the beach there from the air. Once landed, our hotel car was
waiting for us and took us back to reunite us with our good old faithful bikes.
We organised all our stuff at the hotel, showered and
changed and caught a taxi out to Ailee’s place. Kim had ridden his motor bike
down to Padang for the day to visit his sister and dropped into see Ailee as
well. It was really lovely to get to see these two beautiful people again
before we set off again on our cycle touring adventure. It was wonderful to see
little Jipsi again too and give him lots of puppy cuddles. He has grown so much
in the short period of time and is now walking and wanting to play. He had also
had his very first introduction to solids and is doing really well. His skin condition
he developed is now clearing up perfectly and he is looking like a beautiful
little guy. We had a great afternoon chatting and chilling and then all set off
to the Bat and Arrow for dinner. On the way we stopped off at a beautiful Hindu
Temple which had been rebuilt since the earthquake in Padang in 2006. We met a
couple of other friends of Ailee’s at the restaurant who also are volunteers
working in Padang. We all had a great dinner, lots of chatting and laughing all
the while little Jipsi just slept in his little backpack on the floor next to
the table and not one peep was heard from him.
We dropped Kim and Ailee off at her place before we
continued onto our hotel. Another lot of goodbyes were had before we drove off
to get a good night’s sleep before our big day in the morning.
13-03-17
We were up early, bikes all loaded and completed breakfast
by 8am. The weather was going to be hot today but the morning was feeling
pretty good for our start. Rolling out of Padang was a bit hectic to start, but
by the time we got halfway to the airport it was much better, rolling along at
a great pace.
We turned off just before the airport entrance and headed up
the coast on secondary roads that were peaceful and flat. This ride was really
enjoyable, and we were surprised at how nice the beaches and surrounds were up
here. We were setting a great pace and loving every minute of it. After about
50k’s we had to turn off at Pariaman, towards our destination of Lubul Basung.
This was a gamble, we knew this way was about 20k’s shorter
than continuing up the coast, but we were going to have more climbing. This way
was beautiful, but turned out to be brutal. Once we got off the coast it was
much hotter and we had river valley after river valley. There were only a few
spots where we had to get off and push, but they took their toll. We stopped at
several small shops along the next 40k’s, topping up fluids and calories as we
felt we needed it.
Finally, we came into Lubuk Basung and had to make a
decision. There were three potential hotels in town, one was 2k’s closer to
tomorrow’s destination, so we chose that one. We got there, found that they
were full, so had to ride back to town and choose the better of the two dungy
looking ones. Well, I got that wrong again. A bed that was obviously cat
stained, we asked for a different room, which was organised. It wasn’t much
better, but we were too stuffed to find something else. Funnily enough, we
slept really well. Go figure.
14-03-17
Mary’s Birthday.
Today wasn’t a big day, only 30k’s, but we knew we had a
decent climb up to Lake Maninjau. This lake is a volcanic crater lake, and the
lake surface is at around 500 metres above sea level. So we had about 400 metres
to climb in the first 10k’s or so. We actually whipped up the hill quite
quickly, considering we had no breakfast.
Arriving at the lake, we were greeted by a stunning view.
This lake is massive, about 14 kilometres across and 42k long. Surrounded by
the towering crater rim, another 700 metres above the lake. In places there is
a bit of flat ground that is farmed in the usual way, and we noticed a lot of
fish farms in the lake, that didn’t seem to be used.
It turns out that this is another of Indonesia’s ecological
disasters. A few years ago, with increasing numbers of fish farms, the
government advised the locals that they would have big problems if they kept
increasing the fish farm numbers. In the usual way, the locals ignored the
government and they were not prepared to enforce their recommendations.
Disaster struck. A combination of over feeding the fish and the resultant algae
growth, caused an oxygen starvation event that killed all of the fish in the
lake. What used to be a crystal clear lake is now a green soup. I don’t know
how long it will take to recover, if ever. We did see new life in the lake,
hopefully, they won’t repeat the process.
Naturally, this also killed off the tourism industry here,
and it is only just recovering. We wish them well, as this is a beautiful
place, with lots of potential if managed well, however unlikely.
Rolling around the lake, we arrived at a good café we had
heard of, right on the lake, and settled into an awesome Birthday Brunch for
Mary. We were starving by this time, and only had one k to go to our
accommodation with a few hours to get there. Nice.
We stayed at Eka’s Bungalow which was literally right on the
lake. The bungalow was really sweet with a deck looking over the lake. Here you
could sit and just relax, watching the fishermen in their dug out canoes,
throwing out fishing nets in such a quiet and peaceful way. Eka was a nice
friendly guy and very helpful. His sister owned the bungalows next door and
also a small café. We think it may have been their father who lived in a small bungalow
next to ours and he was a really sweet happy old man. He spoke a bit of English
and loved his dog and especially his cat.
15-03-17
Rest day at Lake Maninjau
After the big ride from Padang and yesterday’s climb we were
very thankful that we had already decided to have a rest day here at Lake
Maninjau. Both the legs and the body needed that extra day of rest and
recovery. We chilled out most of the day sitting on the deck of our bungalow and
catching up on the blog. There are two beautiful friendly dogs here and both
have a litter of pups. I could hear a puppy crying under the café next door and
when I peeked under I could see 5 little black and white faces peering around
the corner and one little pup that was stuck in the den area. All the others
had managed to climb up on a wide ledge but this little guy had no hope. I think
all the others used him as leverage to get up. The mumma dog was out doing her
rounds searching for food so I decided to climb on under the building and
retrieve the little guy and place him with his siblings. He really didn’t mind
at all and as I went to gently pat the others one frightened little fella
growled at my approaching hand and then screamed blue murder when I touched
him. Once he saw the others weren’t worried and he then decided that being
gently touched by a human hand didn’t actually hurt and wasn’t that bad. These
pups have only just come out of their den and have never seen people before. The
owners didn’t know how many were down there.
Then we got to meet the other young bitch’s puppies. They were
all huddled together in the corner of a shed and they too hadn’t been touched. They
squirmed and a couple of them cried a little at first then they were happy to
snuggle all together while I gently stroked them. There were 7 puppies in this
litter and were probably 2 weeks younger than the other litter of puppies. The mum
of these pups is so skinny. The pups are taking everything out of her. Poor girl
she is doing such a good job and she is such a sweet girl. It’s really hard to
just watch this happen, they all need a good worming, defleaing and
sterilization program out here but there are no facilities, no vets and no
volunteer groups that could help with the existing problem. It’s the same with
the local cats too. At the café nearby there are cats with young cats and tiny
kittens and all in kitten again. These cats however look in good condition but
the breeding cycle is very obvious. These are just the lucky cats that get fed.
So our friendly mumma dogs have had a few handfuls of food while we have been
here. High calorie biscuits and some saved egg and toast from breakfast and
left over dinner we brought back. They both looked pretty happy with our small
offerings.
With chilling out and resting all day apart from a couple of
short walks to the village and feeding our bodies loads of good food I think we
will have the power and strength to tackle tomorrows crazy 44 switchback climb
out to Bukittinggi. It the legs aren’t with us it is going to be a pretty long
push.
16-03-17
Lake Maninjau to Bukittinggi
https://www.strava.com/activities/921789832
https://www.strava.com/activities/921789832
We were both pretty excited this morning as we had quite a
challenge ahead of us to climb the famous Kelok 44. We had no idea how hard
this climb would be, or even if it was rideable for 2 touring cyclists on fat
bikes. Eka cooked us a good breakfast, gave us some encouragement and once
packed up, we were on our way to the unknown once again. We rode up the
concrete road, away from the lake to the main road of the village and turned
left at Kelok 44 with only a 350m warm up. Straight into the climb we went.
The first pitch looked ominous, and certainly had our cold
muscles trying hard to warm up. The first right turn brought us onto a long
switchback with an easier grade that allowed our legs to spin for a while and
warm up.
Someone had turned the scenery dial up to 11. We quite like
a good climb. But this had everything. As a cyclist, we only heard about this
climb a few days before. But we are so glad we did. This road would have to be
put on the list of must do climbs before you die. Forty four switchbacks over nine
kilometres with about six hundred metres vertically. Each corner of the
switchbacks are sponsored and decorated with statues or some kind on beautiful
theme and are all numbered. The views over Maninjau were fantastic, luckily we
had an awesome day in the weather department. Starting early meant that we had
most of the climb in the shade which was certainly an advantage.
With the scenery so awesome, we broke the climb up with a
few photo stops, but even on loaded bikes this climb is quite doable. We got to
the final turn, 44, sponsored by the pumpkin growers it would seem. We
congratulated ourselves with a coffee and biscuits at a little warung that hung
precariously off the side of the crater rim. Awesome view, average coffee, but
we were feeling great and very proud of ourselves. We continue to learn every
day, that we must not fear the next challenge placed in front of us. Each day’s
challenge is different however, which makes this hard. Fear of the unknown
needs to be recognised, then placed to one side while we push through it anyway.
There is always a path to be taken.
For every great climb there comes a fine descent. This was
gradual and long, without too much altitude lost. What we didn’t know, was that
there was another climb to be done before we reached Bukittinggi. This was not
a switchback climb, but a winding valley road that just went up and up. It wasn’t
much less climbing than we had already done, but we stopped at a nice resto,
overlooking the beautiful valley, with eagles circling around.
A little more up, and then a gradual descent down to
Bukittingi, a nice town, nestled between two volcanoes, Marapi and Singgalang.
Quite touristy, but a nice clean place with a great budget hotel called Hello
Guesthouse, run by the lovely owner, Ling, who is very helpful and runs a very
good hotel. This place is very popular with foreign tourists, and we met some
really nice people here.
17-03-17
Harau Valley was highly recommended to us as a must see
place. We are glad we did do it, as we don’t often do side trips away from our
main route. It is 50k’s away from Bukittinggi, but well worth the trip. Ling
kindly offered to look after our spare gear, so we dumped our two large
panniers and tent, just taking our clothes and tools, and took off for a great
light loaded ride. The first 35k’s was down to Payakumbu, where we stopped for
lunch. We are always hungry and were certainly looked after by the awesome
owner of Tara’s Café in Payakumbu. 
From here on it was flat. About 5k’s away, we could see the
geological marvel that is Harau, looming in the distance. This valley, gorge is
probably a better word, is spectacular. I couldn’t find out how it was formed,
but it is massive conglomerate cliffs, sheer and vertical, with a lush, flat
floor with waterfalls dropping in several places into the gorge. It is becoming
a very popular place for rock climbing and areas have already been marked with
permanent bolts. We went and explored some of the waterfalls, which were cool,
really cool before heading to Lembah Echo homestay which is in a stunning setting,
right in the heart of the gorge. Stunningly quiet, a bit lacking in the
hospitality department, but this seems normal in so many places. Hard to get a
cool drink and something to eat. But in the end, we managed. It was worth it
for the scenery, as well as the architecture of the bungalows. We ventured off
on foot and followed the sounds of cheering and discovered the local soccer
field where young guys from the surrounding villages gather for soccer
training. Most of them ride their motorbikes to training and park in a small
open field. They then walk across a bamboo bridge over a river to a little hut
that makes do as the club rooms with a dog tied up outside on guard. Another small
bamboo bridge over a creek is crossed to reach the playing field. As you stand
in the middle of the field you are surrounded by the most spectacular scenery,
the sheer rock face walls, waterfalls and lush greenery all around. Twenty plus
guys out training hard with a very fit looking coach and a handful of
spectators on the side made for an amazing view. The team is made up of guys
from many villages in the area and they play in a soccer tournament once a year
to celebrate Indonesia’s Day of 
18-03-17
Harau Valley to Bukittinggi
We really wanted a day off the bikes today, but also wanted
to get back to Bukittinggi to get our laundry done and bikes checked before
heading North. We arranged with Echo’s tour guy, Randik, to take us and our
bikes in his truck at 11am. Randik was a very talkative guy, and it was nice to
hear him talk of his future. We are sure that he will be successful in whatever
he chooses to do, a natural entrepreneur.
He got us safely back to Bukittinggi via the scenic route,
haha. After unloading our gear, we said goodbye and headed up to our room. At
this point, the penny dropped and we realised that our panniers were still in
the truck, under a tarp in the back. Once again, Ling came to the rescue,
calling Lembah Echo to get in contact with the driver. Luckily he hadn’t got
far and was back in a flash, full of apologies. It wasn’t his fault, but all is
well that ends well.
We dropped our laundry off at Mr. Clean Laundry, where the
slogan is “Laundry today, or naked tomorrow”, you’ve gotta love that. The nice
lady in there said that she would deliver back to our guesthouse at 5pm. Wow,
we didn’t expect that, it was already 2pm. 20000 IRP ($2) and it was back at
exactly 5pm. That’s service.
19-03-17
Rest Day Bukittinggi
Wow ‘Call to Prayer’ was very long this morning, it started
with the call, then the sermon, then a beautiful young boys voice singing, then
more sermon and then on and on until 8am!! We were grateful that the bloke
giving the sermon wasn’t as angry this morning, the other morning he was really
fired up and sounded very angry about something. Today he was in a better mood
thankfully.
We climbed out of bed just after 8am went down to a lovely
breakfast and then headed out for a bit of a casual walk. We were very politely
stopped by a school teacher and his students who came from a village 5 hours
drive away to the city of Bukittinggi in the hope to speak with English tourist
to practice their own English skills. They were delightful students introducing
themselves and asking us both lots of questions. We in returned asked them some
questions and we all had a fun conversation. As this group moved on we were
approached by another group from a different school and here we enjoyed helping
these young students practice their English as well. As we moved on once again
we were approached a few more times by groups of these students all wanting to
practice their English. We thoroughly enjoyed being able to help all of these
students, and to see them so shy and then after a few smiles and laughter
relaxing and keen to engage and ask many questions. During the afternoon as we
walked back from the shops a sweet voice calling ‘hello Mary’, here one of the
students from the first group saw us approaching. As we walked back to our
homestay there were many ‘hello Mary’, ‘hello David’ from very tired but happy
students and teachers. It certainly has been a long day for them all and I’m
sure the bus trip back to their villages will be very quiet.
Late morning, I decided enough was enough with my out of
control hair so I bravely popped into a hair salon and took the chance on
getting a colour and my hair cut. This was a great experience. The lady Imelda
who owned the salon spoke a little English so our conversation was quite
limited. However, she tried so hard to converse and did a great job with my
hair. She asked me how old I was and then asked if I was a grandma. When I replied
that I would be very soon she started to call me Oma meaning Grandma in Minang.
We are now all set with clean clothes, fuel in our bodies, new brake pads on Dave’s bike and all eager to continue our journey across Sumatra to the city of Medan. Only three more weeks left of our Indonesian leg of K2K.
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