{"id":3558,"date":"2012-05-12T01:23:25","date_gmt":"2012-05-11T23:23:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/?p=3558"},"modified":"2019-12-29T12:19:47","modified_gmt":"2019-12-29T17:19:47","slug":"slow-boat-to-borneo-indonesia-bicycle-touring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/2012\/05\/slow-boat-to-borneo-indonesia-bicycle-touring\/","title":{"rendered":"Slow Boat to Borneo"},"content":{"rendered":"

For a cyclist, Indonesia–a country comprised of some 18,000 islands–poses more than a few logistical challenges.\u00a0 If you stick to the main islands\u2014Java, Sumatra, maybe Bali and Lombok\u2014getting\u00a0 around\u2019s not too tough.\u00a0 It\u2019s when you venture farther afield, say to Sulawesi, Sumbawa or Borneo that things get tricky.<\/p>\n

We\u2019d set our sights on Borneo, the third largest island in the world behind Greenland and Guinea.\u00a0 \u00a0Like so many people, in my mind I\u2019d painted Borneo as a magical place of pristine forests filled with screeching monkeys and gentle orangutans.\u00a0 A place where native women prance around in grass skirts weaving bamboo baskets and men in loincloths and feather head-dresses wander around hunting wild boar with traditional tombak<\/em> spears. A place where one might even bump into a headhunter or two. \u00a0But before these escapades and encounters could begin, we had to actually get to Borneo<\/em>. An adventure all in itself, I was soon to find out.<\/p>\n

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Getting hot and sweaty bicycle touring through tropical Indonesia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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This boat or that boat?<\/h3>\n

Eric, the logistical mastermind of our round the world tour, had been running various schemes past me for weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could ride from Singapore to Melaka,\u201d he\u2019d begin, \u201cthen hop on the ferry to Dumai and ride to Jakarta.\u00a0 From there we\u2019d pick up another boat to Borneo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOr,\u201d he\u2019d continue, \u201cwe could keep riding to Semarang and take a ferry to Kumai in South Kalimantan and do the tour in reverse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur third option\u2026.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0But by then my eyes had already glazed over and all the names and places were jumbled up in my brain.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026so what do you think?\u201d\u00a0 I offered a weak smile, \u201cYou choose, I trust your judgment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The best option, said Super Husband, was the direct ferry from Bintan to Borneo via Batam.\u00a0 That way we\u2019d avoid the hassles of navigating our way through Jakarta, a city of 9 million known to be one of the most congested capitals in Southeast Asia. \u00a0\u00a0I was with him there.<\/p>\n

Problem is, just one ferry per month plies that particular route.\u00a0 We\u2019d have almost a week\u2019s wait on Batam, a small Indonesian island not far from Singapore.\u00a0 Batam caters to the resort crowd, drawing businessmen from Singapore in search of a little illicit fun and families in search of an economical beach holiday.<\/p>\n

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Arrival on Batam Island. A “fixer” is arranging onward ferry connections and a swanky hotel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An honest to goodness vacation<\/h3>\n

Turns out, we got to enjoy a little vacation, too.\u00a0 Super Husband somehow got in contact with a fellow called Chris who just happens to be a fan of cycling.\u00a0 And this (exceedingly kind) Chris character put us up in a fancy hotel throughout our 6 day wait on Batam.\u00a0 We\u2019re talking swimming pool and a view of the sea from our finely appointed air-conditioned room.\u00a0 In six years on the road, we\u2019d rarely been in a place which supplied towels let alone one that offered daily maid service, satellite TV and a bell hop to wrestle with our bags.<\/p>\n

The six days of pampered respite flew by in a blur of leisurely meals and long swims.\u00a0 I knew where I would sleep at the end of the day, where my next meal was coming from and where to turn for an endless supply of safe drinking water.<\/p>\n

Yes, life was easy.\u00a0 Very\u00a0 easy.\u00a0 Comfortable and pleasant.\u00a0 Stress-free and safe.\u00a0 And just a tad bit boring<\/em>.<\/p>\n

So back to the bikes with butterflies bouncing around in my stomach like it was my first-ever day of bicycle touring.\u00a0 A quick ferry to the island of Bintan, a 90 kilometer cross-island ride to a port on the other side of the island, a night couchsurfing and the next day we\u2019re up early to catch the ferry that will eventually take us to Borneo.<\/p>\n

Not the first, but maybe the worst<\/h3>\n

This was not our first Third World ferry experience.\u00a0 We\u2019d caught a boat down Lake Tanganyika<\/span><\/a> to a remote part of western Tanzania, we\u2019d sailed across the Indian Ocean to get to Zanzibar<\/span><\/a>, we\u2019d hopped a ferry for a thousand kilometers down the mighty Amazon and of course there was the infamous ferry across Lake Nasser from Egypt to Sudan<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

We\u2019d arranged for economy class tickets for the Borneo boat.\u00a0 That meant no reserved seating.\u00a0 We\u2019d have to carve out a space for ourselves, the bikes and all our belongings.\u00a0\u00a0 I was anticipating being a little cramped, but was certain Economy Class was something I could endure in the spirit of saving money<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Liz and Chris from Bikeabout <\/span><\/a> had gone economy class on an Indonesian ferry, pointed out Eric, as had Spaniard Salva Rodriguez<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Unperturbable<\/h3>\n

That Salva had gone economy class didn\u2019t mean much.\u00a0 This guy is one of the toughest cyclists I know (of course, I don\u2019t know Salva personally, just from the internet, as is the case with most of my bicycle touring friends.)\u00a0 In his most recent newsletter, Salva wrote of cycling through the Copper canyon in Mexico.\u00a0 There are no real roads through the Copper canyon, just some rocky tracks snaking their way through very rugged and remote terrain.\u00a0 But Salva never complains (at least not publically), no matter what the conditions.\u00a0 This guy could probably ride through Siberia in January and talk about it as if it he\u2019d just biked through France on a fine summer day.\u00a0 Nothing perturbs Salva.\u00a0 I admire Salva.\u00a0 I earnestly wish I possessed many of his fine character traits.\u00a0 But after all this time on the bikes I know I\u2019m no Salva Rguez.\u00a0 I\u2019m a middle-aged woman who grew up despising camping and anything that got dirt under her fingernails.\u00a0 Nowadays, I like a little adventure.\u00a0 I embrace adventure.\u00a0 I might go so far as stating that I need<\/em> adventure.\u00a0 But I\u2019ve got my limits, particularly when it involves noise and sanitation.<\/p>\n

The big boat ride<\/h3>\n

Unsurprisingly, general bedlam reigned at the port in Bintan.\u00a0\u00a0 Porters drenched in sweat heaved everything from fridges and washing machines to bicycles and pellets of laptop computers up a narrow passageway.\u00a0 A crowd of confused looking ticket holders surged towards the boat as others attempted to disembark.\u00a0 Several policemen tried to tame the chaos, but their sharp whistles were of little avail.<\/p>\n

Luckily, our couchsurfing hosts, Robert and Ria, were there to assist.\u00a0 While they kept an eye on our bikes, Eric and I grabbed some bags and elbowed our way through the crowd.\u00a0 \u201cEconomy Class,\u201d I shouted out to one of the sailors in white.\u00a0 \u201cThis way, missus,\u201d and he pointed me into a cavernous smoke-filled hall, thick with the sweet scent of clove cigarettes mixed with the far less agreeable stench of a backed up toilet.\u00a0 Orang 147<\/em>, I noted\u2014the area slept 147 people. There were five more similar spaces, I was to discover later, bringing the total capacity of the boat up to almost 1,000.\u00a0 During holiday periods, an officer explained, the ship packed up to 6,000 travelers. I was battling back claustrophobia at that very moment, when the boat was carrying just under its official limit.\u00a0 Imagine 6,000 people jammed into a space I considered too cramped for the 1,000 individuals it was designed for.\u00a0 It would be like squeezing two more couples and all their cycling gear into our three-man tent.<\/p>\n

The economy class room we\u2019d booked into was packed with mattress after mattress, just inches apart, lined up one after the other on low platforms.\u00a0 Music blasted from all directions, cigarette butts carpeted the floor, and bright fluorescent lights assaulted my eyes.\u00a0 \u00a0As I took in the horror of our proposed \u00a0accommodation for the next 60 hours, hundreds of weary faces stared back.<\/p>\n

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Relatively fresh air to be had on deck class. A good choice if you can sleep with fluorescent lights and the odd person stumbling over your mat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Space for the bikes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t do this,\u201d I said.\u00a0 \u201cI can\u2019t endure three days in these revolting conditions,\u201d I added, plopping down next to the panniers.\u00a0 No amount of cajoling could make me change my mind.\u00a0 It\u2019s true that I hadn\u2019t been bothered by 30 hours of deck class in Sudan.\u00a0 The cool December air was invigorating, we\u2019d had plenty of space to stretch out and the devout men who came to pray on my yoga mat (mistaking it for a modern prayer rug) gave me a good laugh.<\/p>\n

But I put my foot down at 60 hours of second hand smoke, shit smeared toilets and crappy pop music.\u00a0 Another $50 for an upgrade to second class?\u00a0 Money well spent.<\/p>\n

After that small investment in our physical and mental well-being, I was a whole lot happier.\u00a0 Yes, money can<\/em> buy a degree of happiness, that\u2019 one thing bicycle travel has taught me.\u00a0\u00a0 While a second-class sojourn on the K.M. Bukit Raya wasn\u2019t exactly a cruise on the Love Boat<\/em>, it far surpassed my minimum standards of comfort.<\/p>\n

Special Treatment<\/h3>\n

As foreigners, we were assigned a four-berth cabin.\u00a0 \u00a0All. To. Ourselves.<\/p>\n

Normally men and women are lodged separately, but the indulgent officer in charge would make an exception in our case.\u00a0 They could have stuck me in the broom closet for all I cared.\u00a0 Just as long as it was quiet and smoke-free.\u00a0 But the cabin, albeit a bit cramped, was fitted with comfortable bunks covered with \u00a0fresh white sheets and the \u00a0adjoining bathroom sported a western style toilet and one of the best hot showers I\u2019ve ever experienced.\u00a0 At times, the lethargic air-conditioning system even forced out a little cool air.<\/p>\n

In second class, the days passed rather pleasantly.\u00a0 For adventure, I could stroll around the outer deck, snapping photos of the picturesque palm-covered islands we passed and stumbling over sleeping passengers.\u00a0 Being the only foreigners aboard, we were a novelty and the subject of intense curiosity.\u00a0 It was easy to strike up a conversation with just about anybody.<\/p>\n

And when I\u2019d my fill of taking in the beautiful views and answering the same questions we\u2019ve been subjected to since we set off (What is your country?\u00a0 How long you stay in Indonesia?\u00a0 Why you go on bicycle?\u00a0 How many tires you use?\u00a0 Why you don\u2019t have children?), I could hide away in our second class haven.<\/p>\n

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Passengers boarding the ferry at a stop near a small Indonesian island.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On Land at last!<\/h3>\n

After two and a half days at sea, we pulled into port.\u00a0 Within moments of arriving on Borneo, my romantic vision of the island was all but crushed.\u00a0 Pontianak, the capital of the Indonesian state of West Kalimantan, is a thriving city of satellite dishes and shopping centers, internet cafes, big banks, hotels (the Garuda offers Executive Karaoke<\/em>) and fast food outlets.<\/p>\n

In Pontianak, you\u2019re about as likely to spot locals in grass skirts and loincloths as you are to find an Apache warrior in full headdress strutting through downtown Phoenix.\u00a0 Locals zip around on noisy motorbikes and spend their time rapidly tapping out text messages and checking out their friends\u2019 status updates on Facebook.<\/p>\n

Nope, we haven\u2019t crossed paths with any headhunters yet, but we\u2019ll keep you posted.\u00a0 Who knows what adventure awaits farther afield. \u00a0This is BORNEO, after all!<\/p>\n