My journey began from Darwin/ Australia to Dili / East Timor on a boat. I try to get a ride on the board. Begged, cried (try to)..no way they would take me on board. It’s not allowed to travel on international cargo. No option left, took a flight to Dili. The only flight so far in this journey… From Dili, entered Indonesia and continued my island hopping all the way to Singapore. Many islands, several ferries, lots of stories, one major accident,Nearly died.. still recovering after 8 months..met some incredible people during this journey. Vincent from Flores, only english speaking gentleman, you saved me from accident. Looked after me, treated me well, took me to hospital, got me massage from local expert, and gave me love of your people…I dedicate this to you Vincent Ata Bala, Flores. Indonesia.
Below photo’s are just a glimpse of my life on road, in incredible Indonesia. Enjoy the photo’s and leave feedbacks. Peace
many island, one nation – Indonesia. Its always fun travelling between islands, while riding/travelling on land. it was good change.
Life on one of those ferries. Its a small town. people just make their home anywhere they can get enough space to sit and gather. truck, cars, goats, cows, chickens, turtles, vendors, hawkers, motorcycles..of course!…all on board! fun times on a bumpy ride
on top deck, sat on that empty space and hang out with locals.
Kopi Luwak – civet eats the ripe bean, shits hard, gets collected, washed (of course), poo taken out, leftover roasted, brewed! world’s most expensive coffee..Poo Juice, HOT!!!
The island of Indonesia, home for many active volcano, made it to one of those in the Island of Bali, Danau Batur..waking up at 3 am to watch the sunrise and have egg sandwich, cooked on the steam rising from volcano.
slow and steady wins the race (with bit of help here)
two characters i found off the beach. Sorting out their daily pick, after a dive
one of those between island journey, i was forced to put in a container. due to safety concerns. when i received at the other end after 20 hrs of boat ride, i was up for a shock of my life. They parket my bike and stacked boxes all the way to the ceiling. Pushing Suspension hard and losing its strength!..it was crazy. I was speechless when i saw!…cowboys in singlets
look at this beauty. someone had bit of time in this rice country.
uumm,,,we thought of swapping. didn’t work. random rider stop me and wanted to see my bike. in one of the islands of Indo.
waking up to a calmer beach and a cooler night. when i feel comfortable or needed a quiet sleep, i found places to camp. the life on road can be lot to take. When you riding all day, the noise of your own motor can be full on!..this is a perfect way to recharge. People thought i was crazy. So, they kept away from me:)
This fella is just lying around the main kitchen (only) in this national park. He’s towards end of his life. They say he’s 30 years. They feed him often. Cause, he can’t hunt anymore. May be other dragons will cannibalize him soon!!
is that MONET-GOYON VINTAGE MOTORCYCLE? found in some random garage, tucked in back of walk way. Its a gem!
After the bad accident in Flores, i somehow manage to ride to next island. While i was on the ferry, this man approached and asked me what happened. he saw me limping. I told him the story. Then he wanted to see the bike. After inspecting it, he said ” i like to fix your bike and my cousin is a Chiro, he can fix your back”. i’m like…hang on a sec..is this some sort of scam? then, i trusted him after spending some time on the ferry (you have lots). His name is Stephanus Paulus. He was like “god send”. He looked after me for 3 days, fed yummy food, put a new front rack, handle bars bent removed. many other small jobs. Totally dedicated and exceptional skill and the whole family hospitality. Its just hard to believe in a nutshell!. there he’s (shirtless) fixing all day, while his cousins and family keeping us company.
Candi Prambanan Java, is a blueprint for Javanese culture i think. its amazing to soo many connection to current india. this part is always fascination to me. How far it has influenced. i get lost.
Stephanus and his wife, kids…just an awesome guy, a true brotherhood. He also rides motorcycle. Salute Stephan, never forget you maan.. You made a difference in my Journey. He’s from Lombok island
A true Harley Family. Arni and Dodo…from Jogja..you guys are amazing!. thank you for your awesome company all along the trip. never forget you guys. He dodo…you are a brother from another mother mate!..look at him. 3.5 degree separation.
Yummy sweets of jogja over the head basket…lots of goodies!
Got off the ferry after 12 hrs of ride from East timor. It was 4 am. Took a nap for couple of hours by the side of a road and hit the road again. That’s all i remember. next thing is waking up in this Van. I had an accident. pretty bad. i went over a huge pothole and lost control. I came to know later. The only man who spoke english in this Village was Vincent. organised a ambulance. villagers helped me out with my bike. not sure how it reached police station, 30 mins away. Hospital few hours away…2 days later i was back to the village. on my feet, broken ribs, head injury, tailbone and shoulder injury. Nearest scanning and further treatment was Bali. Stayed in the village for 2 days,….
This is at Vincent’s house, local guy giving me a oil massage. the whole village was there to witness this. Including cool church father.
This is Vincent and his loving family. amazing hospitality, even though i spoke no word of their language. saying goodbye to all. Thank you Vincent, you saved my life. Hope one day, i will be back to your Villag eto build a church, like your father asked for…looking forward for that day.
I’m never alone. really!..waiting for ferries to leave..there i’m sitting with gangs of Flores, drinking local moonshine, taste pretty bad. could not refuse it!…lovely people. of course, we spoke no common language!
me and Pram were just mucking around in Bhumi guest house garage. it was 12:30 am. Something triggered..saw paint brushes, empty wall and awesome music of Pram’s..This led to a mural on their wall…Thank you Sari and Pram for letting me through some colours on your wall!..you guys are ace!.
I reached East timor and Indonesia border pretty late. It was closed!. so, i crashed by the side of road on a plinth. This only house in the distance could see my silhouette in the dark. They were curious to see who’s setting up a tent. 3 of them approached me. They were friendly. could not speak their single word!…somehow we all can communicate without words. That was the challenging part. i understood a little by his action. they invited me to spend the night in their house. There i’m, sleeping with the rest..including a rooster above me (can’t see in the pic ). It was big slumber party. Except, we did not have a common language!
East Timor – the guys showed me in the morning, how the cock fight works!…each rooster cost about US$200…can you believe this! they offered me breakfast and left them with a good bye and shake hands… Total surprise stay.
Huh…this is not my new ride!….guarantee. I thought of shedding some weight and reduce my belongings. Decided to post this box to India. on my way to post…goodbye topbox with NOS!
one of aband
MBC Jogja – a motorcycle club welcomed with wide open arms. Bunch of interesting people were curious what i’m doing. went on a ride with them and met some cool people…there i’m , hanging out !!
On a journey like this one, its very rare i get to change the mode of travelling. Between islands, i took ferries and small boats. One of those trips..
I was standing behind my bike..”do you have license to ride this motorbike?” not knowing who it was ” well, depends. if you are a policeman, i have a different answer”… didn’t realize, it was the man himself…John hardy, Bali. Inventor, designer, owner of Green school, philanthroper..many tags. It was a pure luck to be spending more than a day, seeing what he does. It was me and my younger brother, Architect Ajith. we are inpired by what he does…great work John!
Sometime captain needs to take a lunch break on a long boat ride. between islands, captain gave me the boat to steer!…there i’m..pretending to be driving the boat!
when i was exploring the option to find my way out…lost control and dropped my bike. several time…got up, picked the rajdooth, and got going.
Yummy island product, just arrived on the boat. palm sugar.
met few real motorcycle mechanics. just being in their shop, took me back few decades!.
Having sent my dedicated GPS, i was relying heavily on Google Map on Iphone. i would get internet of the places and never had an issue. On one of those unlucky occasion, i had an amazing getting lost experience. Traveling to Jogja, i became aware of changing of road size and traffic flow. less trucks and motorbike. I began to climb hill. really enjoyed this sudden change and forgot where i was going. just following google. Then the road surface changed to cobble stones and became even narrow. By now i realised i was lost and wanted to take a u turn. Just looking for that spot, i kept riding. Road disappeared and it became narrow track. t was impossible to find a spot to turn around..before i knew, i’m at someone’s backyard. pulled over and trying to see where i’m on my GPS. without phone reception and not able to locate the spot on gps, truly…i was lost!. Pulled my paper map and began to work out where i’m. By now, few locals realise there is this weird man with motorcycle. trying to have a talk to them..no luck. Some tribal language. they just could not believe i was at their backyard. we both were surprised. many questions, now answers. when i pull the map out, they all became curious .Totally forgot me and began looking at the map. I was hoping they would point out where they are…but, no luck. i was hungry, i could not think straight. Somehow one of the man sensed and yelled at a boy for something. boy disappeared in the bush and came back with a pineapple. i finished that as i never seen a fruit before. They realised, i was hungry. one of the man reached out to the top of wall and pulled a key, open the house door, went inside and got me several pot of stuff…gave me a plate and invited inside. i sat on the bench/bed and had some vegetable and rice…i was hungry!….house had walls, roof, and just mud floor. well compacted and clean. as it had no window. however, sun pierced through the gaps of weather boards, litting the room with full of light. Full tummy and settled raj, began to think. i drew map on sand and told them some gibberish. They told me how to get out. with couple of attempts, i was on a bitumen road, finally!
when i had cold, approached this herbal shop…on back of a scooter….concussion of powders, made me yukki drink. hoping i would get better….not sure if that helped. i had a good slepp though!
it was time for a new seat..totally bad idea!..the guy just stuffed it up!
one of those camping by the side of a road. it was a small village road ..well, that’s what i thought, till i realize, it was buy at 6 am…was a good sleep, time to continue…
Island of Batam where i ended up, just before i shipped my bike to singapore. There, my saga began. Finding someone who can take my bike across to Singapore. On teh first day i met Yudin, real brother, love motorcycle. Took me home and fed me and took me around. talked to shipping agents, customs, and all other people. Trying to find me a boat across who would take a motorcycle. His relatives were home, and his kids and myself on living room floor…it was a great time. never will forget the stuff i learned about Chinese indonesians and their food!….Yudin, you helped me a lot. Thank you for taking care and being a real brother!.
Next……Painful Singapore and beyond..see ya soon
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