We made it (to our own great amazement)! A whopping 3,563 kilometers around just one of Indonesia’s 18,307 islands. In comparison, London to Istanbul measures 2,994 kilometers. Maine to Florida just 2,560 kilometers. So we’ve covered a lot of kilometers
Long Live Tarmac
The Indonesians, with a little monetary support from their Aussie neighbors, have embarked on a road building bonanza. Silky smooth tarmac roads soon will link most of the coastal settlements. This is a good thing. We love riding rough (maybe
The Best Coastal Cycling on the Planet
That’s a bold claim to make. But we believe it’s true. As any keen touring cyclist will know, there’s stiff competition in the best coastal road category. Over the years, we’ve had the good fortune to bike some of the
Sulawesi: Land of Sand, Suffering and Instant Stardom
Hello Mister! Hello Mister! Hello Mister! And so it goes from dawn till dusk. The attention never lets up. Gangs of teenage girls on motorbikes screech to a halt and demand a photo shoot with the odd foreigners. Shy kids
Slow Boat to Sulawesi
Complete chaos. That’s the best way to describe boarding procedures on the slow boat to Sulawesi. Passengers debarking in Nunukan stumbled down a steep, metal plank while porters loaded down with goods simultaneously attempted to squeeze and shove their way
The Joy of Suffering
Eric shot me a look of quiet desperation, “Why are we putting ourselves through this?” It was a fair question. The roads crisscrossing the Cordillera, as the Philippines’ Central Highlands are known, are notoriously steep. And rough. 20% grades are
Life Goes On
A housewife haggles over the price of tomatoes in a busy market, a devout old woman crosses herself as she scurries past an imposing Catholic church, a group of boys shoots hoops on a neighborhood court, young men nap in
The Philippines: First Impressions and a Minor Case of Culture Shock
The beauty of travelling by bicycle is that one country gently flows into the next. Crossing from Cambodia to Thailand, for example, you hardly register a change. Sure, the roads are better in the former Siam and people have a
Rural Riding: the DMZ and beyond
A Bicycle Touring Break in Seoul Hub repaired, wheel rebuilt, well-rested and a few kilos heavier, we hopped on the Han River cycle path and headed for the countryside. I’d taken in my final glorious Seoul sunset and a tinge
Bye-Bye Bike Path
It was time to venture off the bike paths. If we stuck to the official trails, we’d exit the country believing all Koreans ride fancy bikes and look good in spandex. After several car-free weeks, we thought it best to