Leaving Indonesia is harder than we thought (see below).
Thanks to the folks at our hotel lodging in Lombok, we were able to leave the bike at their place and keep our gear in our room for three days all we flew to Flores to visit Komodo National Park.
We arranged for a day trip on a boat to meet the dragons and do some snorkeling. Flores is the only place in the world to see Komodos in their natural environment. Apparently there may only be less than 3,000 remaining.
Hopefully this doesn’t turn into a Gilligan’s Island “3 hour cruise.”
My expectations were exceeded because I had heard we may only see one Komodo dragon that was being fed by a ranger. We ended up seeing multiple dragons in the wild while walking around the park including one digging out a bird’s eggs from a nest in the ground.
Somebody is really tightly.
This one was about 6 feet long.
On our last day in Flores we rented a scooter to explore further east into Flores to visit some fossil caves (bats included) and a waterfall in a secluded area. The road down to the waterfall was about 5 km and one of the worst we’ve seen so far (poor rental scooter!).
Sunsets in Flores were amazing.
On our way back from Flores, we stopped in a village where the tradition of weaving is still alive and managed by the whole village (kind of a co-op).
Ger’s weaving instructor. To get married you have to weave for a whole month. I’d still be single.
Ger trying on some of the finished products.
One last day on the beach in Lombok.
We’re now back in Bali staying in Ubud.
Our first night here we met a local family a few doors from our hotel that invited us in for a bit of karaoke! For the record, there was alcohol involved. I think we could have stayed all night by the looks of it!
We came across a home where they were practicing or teaching music.
Each metal bowl is suspended on string and filled with different amounts of water and creates a different note.
More musical instruments. They had just finished some sort of class.
While walking near the hotel we came across a bird show. Each judge is voting on eight birds hanging in cages overhead.
While our bike is getting ready for shipping, I get around by scooter taxi using the Go Jek App (like Uber).
While I was making arrangements for the bike Ger got to visit the Bali zoo for breakfast with the orangutans.
Breakfast with the orangutans
Gone to the birds
The bike has been serviced and cleaned (hopefully to Australia’s strict quarantine standards). The final task is to get the bike crated and delivered for shipping to Sydney. After delivering the bike to the shipper’s warehouse, the shipper notified me the bike could not be checked by customs until June 10th. Apparently, Government offices are for a whole week (and more apparently) to celebrate the end of Ramadan!
The good news is, if we’re going to be stuck somewhere, it might as well be Bali. Now we just have to figure out a plan for the next 10 days or so after finishing creating the bike tomorrow.
Never a dull moment!
The bike hasn’t been this clean in almost 9 years. It deserves some spa time and pampering after the conditions it has been through.
All strapped down and off to the shipping warehouse.
Indonesia has been wonderful. The roads were much better than I anticipated and the people we met couldn’t have been kinder or more welcoming.
A comment we heard often was that foreigners are not coming to Indonesia because of recent natural disasters and political events. If you don’t visit Indonesia at some point you’ll be missing out on a wonderful experience.
Even though we’ve spent six weeks here we’ve only scratched the surface of what Indonesia has to offer.
So, who’s ready for some shrimps on the barbie down under?
Having gone as far east as we wanted, we started our return back towards Lombok.
About 30 minutes from arriving at the ferry we decided to take a detour and spend another day on Sumbawa! We had heard about a place called Yoyo Beach so decided to head to the southwest coast of Sumbawa. It won’t be any surprise that this was yet another surfing spot with a nice beach, cooler temperatures and wonderful sunsets.
The dog from the hotel joined us to explore the beach. Some other dogs showed up for some rough play with our dog. As a result, they ran right into the back of Ger and clipped her at the knees knocking her flat on her back into the sand.
Sunset at Yoyo Beach
Ferry was packed like sardines and bike was crammed against the hull between three buses.
Another homestay. Here’s how to fit a whole family on one scooter.
The next day we headed to the ferry and stayed a short distance from the arrival port on Lombok. Lodging choices with air conditioning and a few other conveniences are fairly scarce on the east and north side of Lombok but we found a place close to a beach and close to the ferry.
This area was close to the epicenter was for the August 2018 earthquake.
We took the northern coastal route back towards the West and saw a lot of villages still showing the effect of the earthquake. Lots of rebuilding still going on and lots of red Cross tarps providing temporary shelter.
Many roofs still damaged.
Many mosques being repaired.
There weren’t many petrol stations on the north side of Lombok but it wasn’t an issue for us as the distances are small compared to the bike’s fuel capacity. For locals, there’s several ways to get petrol if needed. First, there’s the normal way if you’re near a petrol station.
The second way is to use one of the local village distribution centers in some villages.
The third way is to stop at one of the many homes and shops along the road and grab a bottle from stands like this one.
If you happen to run out of petrol at a location where the normal options aren’t available, you might end up pushing the bike a few miles – unless you’re lucky enough to run out of fuel where a passing tourist is stopped (me) that happens to be carrying three spare liters of petrol.
This was this young fellow’s lucky day. He ran out of petrol just a few yards from where we had stopped for a rest break. He would only take a litre of fuel to get him to the next village.
With all the attempts to start, he fouled his spark plug but luckily he had a spare and was back on the road in a few minutes. Ger was supervising.
We arrived back at the hotel we had stayed the previous week and decided to kick back for a few days while we hear back from the shipping agents regarding options to Australia from Bali.
We took a day boat trip over to some of the local islands and did some snorkeling and lunch on the beach.
A local entrepreneur selling shells and shell jewelry. Of course, he made a sale to “you know who.”
Lunch on the beach
Many fishing structures like this one powered by wind sail.
We’ve decided to hang out here versus waiting around in Bali we’re going to store the bike here for a few days and fly to Flores to visit Komodo National Park.
Lombok isn’t a very large island so we were able to make it from West to east coast easily in one day. We decided to go the southern route to visit Kuta Beach.
As we approached Kuta we began to see many “tourist looking” individuals on scooters indicating Kuta’s popularity. The beach area was busy due to the day before the start of Ramadan. It seemed a nice place but not one where we would visit for any length of time due to the amount of tourists.
After a coffee break we continued on north and east to visit Irwan at his home. Ger met Irwan on the ferry and he kindly invited us to stop by. Irwan works on cruise ships out of the USA and was beginning his vacation back home in Lombok with his wife and new baby! It was a treat to visit with him and his family and take part in some local food dishes for lunch.
After our visit, we continued on to our homestay approximately 15 miles from the ferry Port. Our homestay host, Okta, and his family were wonderful hosts. His father had visited the USA and we were able to talk about his experience there.
Okta and his father. We’re displaying the Lombok sign (I think?).
The next morning we made our way to the ferry for the quick 1.5 hour journey over to Sumbawa.
Looks like a rusty fishing trawler on the way out of Lombok.
We did an overnight in Sumbawa Besar enroute to Laney Beach for a few nights. We seem to be gravitating to locations popular with surfers! This location did not disappoint amazing views and sunset. It also has lots of sea glass!
This bike has had a hard life.
Someone building a beach hut at Lakey Beach – potential AirBnB?
Spearfishing
Sunset from Lakey Beach
We joined a group of surfers from Brazil, USA and Australia for dinner and bonfire on the beach along with a few beers of course. Little did we know that one of them is a well known surfer (Felipe Toledo).
Felipe and his brother. Felipe’s father in the background.
Tomorrow we’ll head back along our route and return to Lombok on the Ferry on Friday.
It was hard to leave our comfortable Beach stay at Istana Ombak Eco Resort but it was time to keep moving East. Their motto is “Hard to find – harder to leave” and it was true. The road in was fairly hilly and narrow with many blind crests, turns and buses. Great views of the coast on the way in.
South Java Coast
Many of the homes and streets in Java have pillars like this one with the date Indonesia obtained independence from The Netherlands.
Our break gave us a chance to wash our riding suits (boy do they smell). Also, Tuno and I gave the bike its first wash since Kuala Lumpur.
Sunset over the pool area
On our last night we joined some Australian surfers for a feast with two types of fish (large and small), shrimp, ribs, chicken, rice and salad.
We worked our way back up to the North end of Java past Mount Bromo but weather wasn’t cooperating for good views. Traffic started to get heavier again especially around towns and cities.
We arrived at Ketapang port to spend the night before taking the ferry to Bali the next morning. Getting the ferry to Bali was fairly painless and approximately a 45-minute trip depending on traffic. Both ports seem to be busy with many ferry services to various locations.
Bumped into this guy while leaving the hotel on way to the ferry. I was so anxious to keep moving, I forgot to find out where he got that shirt!
View of Ketapang Port waiting to depart for Bali
“Let me tell you about my trip”
Upon arriving in Bali, we decided to take the northern route around Bali on our way East to avoid many of the more popular tourist destinations in the south. While the beach is on the North side are a darker sand there’s a lot less tourists.
We stayed at Villa Selina right on the ocean and proceeded on the next day for Padangbai for the 5-hour ferry to Lombok.
I don’t think this guy had a ferry ticket. I think he stowed away in another passenger’s bag.
Our VIP seat on deck. Several of the crew offered us a cabin for 200,000 Rupiah (about $15 USD) but we declined as it was a smooth crossing and great breeze on deck.
Here’s how to carry four durians (strapped to the passenger footpegs) in addition to the other backpacks, shopping bags etc… the two people on this scooter were carrying.
Upon arriving in Lombok, I noticed a lot more cattle on the roads and the scooter riders, while less in number, seem to be a little faster and a little more aggressive so we’ll need to be extra careful!
We arrived at our lodging, Silver Fern Beach Retreat, just before sunset and settled in for a two-night rest. Bonus as they have beer and a full English/Irish style breakfast (called a Kiwi Breakfast) complete with streaky bacon!
Finally, we’ve changed our long-term plans for how to get the bike to Australia. Our original plan was to continue East as far as Timor-Leste. However further research indicated issues with shipping the motorcycle from Dili to Darwin and some previous travelers have had to wait 5 weeks. The alternative is to return to Bali and ship from Bali. So, we’re going to continue to island hop towards the east to Sumbawa and then return back through Lombok to Bali.
On Sunday we’ll continue on towards the East side of Lombok to get a ferry to Sumbawa.
John and Geraldine's Motorcycle Travels 