Hi all. Sorry this report is a bit late - got Typus Interruptus by the
guy who ran the netcafe. Anyway its the 17th and we're in Bandung now.
There's a sad lack of bandung here. Will write about the past few days
in the next report.

13 June 2004 - Bogor, Java INDONESIA. Day 441, Alex's 18638km

Back on the road again.

Singapore -ferry- Batam, INDONESIA -ferry- Kuala Tungkal (Sumatra) -
Jambi - Sungai Lilin - Palembang - Kayu Agung - Menggala - Bandar
Lumpung - Bakauheni -ferry- Merak (Java) - Tangerang - Bogor

Trust us, it was a lot of cycling. 1000km in just over 10 days. Alex's
brand new tights are so weathered you can almost...

ANYWAY. We left Singapore on the 30th of May on a ferry from the
World Trade Center for the largest archipelago in the world after
a 3 week rest. We had intended to catch the connecting ferry from
Sekupang (Batam) to Pekanbaru (Sumatra) but the ferry had left before
we arrived. So we got on the last ferry to Kuala Tungkal (Sumatra)
for its 7 hour journey filled with the excitingly monotonous drone of
its engine across the Straits of Malacca only to be welcomed by the
first rain in the area for weeks.

The Lahore customs in Pakistan, that post office just outside Thamel
central in Kathmandu Nepal and the luggage attendants at the Sekupang
Ferry terminal in Batam Indonesia all have something in common.

THEY ALL WANTED MONEY.

Well, more money than their pay gives them, at least. But on all 3
occasions, we paid up. At Lahore, Alex did not wish to have all his
bags emptied out for inspection. So he paid up, all the 1rupee he had
left to the guy who walked in and out of the customs office without
much hindrance. In Kathmandu, Alex managed to bargain the price down
but paid up as it was important to him that his parcel arrived at its
destination and not stay at the PO forever. At Sekupang, 20000Rupiah
was given to the luggage attendants to disperse the crowd that had
already gathered around Alex and Jo. Jo still finds the inner workings
of a country run in the background by corruption hard to deal with, but
Alex's cause to keep us and our belongings safe was a just one. But it
did cause us to have a bitter first taste of Indonesia, one that we
spat out with much force with the first available ferry.

Sometimes, principles are not as important as keeping one's mind open
enough to not let such incidents affect one's journey. Of course
bearing in mind that you don't have to be ouside Singapore to have bad
experiences :)

Leaving Singapore was a huge mental challenge. In Singlish, the right
phrase is "very sian". When Alex was in Malaysia, Thai, Laos and Tibet,
the climax was looking forward to coming home. Home was psychologically
a very strong motivation before Singapore. Leaving a very comfortable
HOME to plunge straight into the bad roads and weather of Sumatra only
made things more "jiak-lat".

The highest probable cause of death for cyclists in Sumatra, in
descending order:

1) carbon monoxide poisoning
2) smoke from burning rubbish and old plantations
3) kena langgar by truck
4) infection from mosquito (scared to use the 'm' word)
5) Diabetes

Seriously - Jo's opinion is that if we give up cycling and take up
smoking Indonesian Kreteks (clove cigarettes), we'll live longer. There
is something wrong when you dig your nose and your fingertip comes out
black (apologies to those eating). Interestingly, the locals all tell
us that those trucks spewing filth into our faces were the ones that
didn't pass Singapore LTA checks. So they end up in Sumatra. And the
world goes round...

Interestingly, Indonesia is the first place where people have come up
to us and asked, "So what are you selling?"

11th of June, too early in the morning. We were sleeping like logs when
some rude knocks woke us up. Jo went to the door and after conversing
with the guys outside came to understand that they were local officers
spot-checking if there were unmarried couples staying in the hotel. One
of the officers actually asked to see what was under Alex's sleeping
bag which had lofted big enough to hide a person in!

Would write more, but here's another interesting Indon fact: the keys
on ALL the keyboards at ALL the net cafes are stiff. Another fact: two
times out of 3 Jo finds that the homepage of the computer at the
netcafe is a porno site. Hm, wonder if they're connected?

We probably need another 15-20days to reach the eastern tip of Java.
From there we will ferry onto Bali where we will take a 5-7 day break
on the breaks. Wee ha!

From somewhere in the smog,

Alex & Jo