Indonesia, Sumatra - Northern Crossings

Up, up, up and away North we go! Today we not only crossed into Northern Sumatra State, we've also (more remarkably) crossed back into the northern hemisphere! It's good to be back! Now, if only I could find proper cheese and vegetables.

Go Cal Bears!

And I'm off to Toba after a quick bite to eat!

Love,

-A

Indonesia, Sumatra - Lake Trippin'

Maybe its quiescence.

But there is definitely something to lakes. The peaceful over turning of a warm breeze along the contour of your body, brushing the space between the hair on your head and the space 'tween your toes. The guarding peaks of hills and mounds that ensure a natural privacy. The water I came to see. Swim around it or just soak your feet. Lakes invite the ardent swimmer and compels even the drowning bafoon to chance a new attempt. Anyway you choose to look at it, there's just something relaxing about about natural lakes.

Here are two lakes I've recently visited. First up, lake Maninjau.

Crystal clear without feeling crystal cold. The water here, and the next lake as well, is warmed by the molten mush of rock and earth only a few layers under the surface. Note the road on the right; it is one of forty-four sharp, blind turn descents on the way down to the lake. The route is popular with cyclists actually, enough to earn the ride a spot in this years Tour de Singkarak. 

(TourDeSingkarak.com) What a bunch of cheaters! Full carbon frame bikes, slick tires, no luggage...where's the steel?! Where's the grueling grimace of having to carry and extra 40 kilos up hill?! But in all seriousness, these guys are pros. 

As a bonus, many of the roads along our travels the last few days have conveniently coincided with the Tour's route. Newly paved roads, slick turns, no pot holes...ahh, a third world touring cyclist could get used to this.

 

Down the road by the lake, you too can enjoy this beach side bungalow and hammock - if you can afford the three dollar a night price tag.

After a long twisty descent, and after a little praying that you survive, you'll want to take rest at the local waterfront cafe like we did.

Enjoy a shot of sugar with your coffee...

...and stay up late with the friendly neighborhood watch dogs.

We could only spend one night here since we are officially on the clock now. Our Indonesian visas will expire on June 5th. We needed to enjoy the lake, as well as the laborious climb back up the forty-four turns, quickly to carry on. On to lake Toba.

Lake Toba is the largest volcanic lake in the World. The lake is also credited with the ash-tonishing distinction of being the largest known explosive eruption on Earth in the last twenty-five million years. Makes Vesuvius look like a third grade baking powder and vinegar science experiment. Up for a swim? 

Time to dig out the swimming trunks and take a dip in some History. I'll be back soon with an Indonesian farewell post, down to under a week till visa expiration! 

Love,

-A

Indonesia, Sumatra - Where Am I?

Seriously. 

They say I'm I'm Padang but I am not so sure. Three days have passed since conquering that which is Mt. Kerinci and the boy's legs are still in shambles, knotted and hard to move about quickly. Yours truly escapes the painful cramps via stretching combinations, massages, and, of course, aeromatic yet pungent doses of tiger balm. 

I'm sitting in an empty Mc Donald's restaurant steeling wifi and toilet paper, watching EuroSport cycling, pondering this unfamiliar and foreign menu (what good is one that foregoes apple pie?!) as Celine Dion provides background noise. Hold on, now Puff Daddy.

Actually, the whole experience of this city is identical to a midnight episode of The Twilight Zone I saw so many years ago as a youth up way past my bed time. You know the one where a well dressed man wakes up in a coffee house not immediately remembering how he arrived or what business he had there at all. Slowly, to avoid the embarrassment of his eloped memory, he wanders the town. He finds that things are as they have been, only slightly altered. Accordingly, here is a collection of slightly altered hints suggesting I am not where they tell me I am.

Monopol(i). Really? Not the classic Matel Co. game you played as a child, yet not a complete and inferior replica either. And not just one, but two versions!

Can you guess where I am? Bet you can't. That's because Pizza Hut restaurants are not this fancy. Even calling them restaurants back home is puttling a tight shirt on a fat stuffed animal, a bit of a stretch. Yet here they are in all their lavish "modernity", overpriced menus items, and Art Deco attempts. (Personal note: is anyone else rembering that movie Demolition Man with Stallone and Snipes? Where in the future Taco Bell has eliminated all competition and remodeled itself as a five star restaurant? Same thing). At least their food still looks as bad as it does back home - phew!

We can't ride our bikes everywhere. And when we do stop off in a town for a few days, public transportation is always a nice option. Except, that here the buses are, well, first, hopefully not government sanctioned. Second, very loud and very colorful. At 9:30 am when I got on this ten-wheeled touring vehicle I though it was a joke. Booming drum and base techno music with all the breaks, an annoying interrupting DJ announcer dubbed over the music, plush furry arm rests, Troll dolls in all their neon pink and green glory, fuzzy dice, and carpeted everything. And all the music and bauble would be OK if it weren't for the fact that nobody parties on these party buses. All the passengers are as calm as Hindu cows. Not even a head bob. The stark, disjointed relation between environment and reception is so deep that it actually made me a little uncomfortable. Really uncomfortable. Only one remedy to quell my uneasiness - something had to give, someone had to dance. So much for not making a Western ass out of myself. F**k it.

Don't know how to explain this one. Marathon cigarettes? I've met the occational professional athlete who enjoys a fag every now and again, but to brand an entire product around this small demographic? As things become progressively altered to a reality curiouser and curiouser to the investigative portion of my brain, I simply have to let this one be and carry one. 

Ahhh, who could forget a night at Plan B Hotel? Enough said. Please, leave your contraceptives at the door. 

Love,

-A

Indonesia, Sumatra - New Formatting

Hello all,

I recently updated the newest edition of the blogger app I use to create these posts and, I believe, now am able to incorporate pictures right into text blocks like this one. You'll remember that all other posts have discriminately kept separate my pictures from my text. Hopefully no longer; here goes the first test:

 

Success! And it also looks like I can write in bold as well as in italics. Excellent. I'll be using these tools shortly.

Love you all,

-Andrés

Indonesia, Sumatra - Unexpected Sceneries

Exactly that. All sorts of tropical plants and flowers lined the streets as we rode around the mountain valleys fissured by Kerinci so many years ago.

If you were to ask me what my favorite stretch of road has been along this adventure, I would undoubtedly reply with these few days. The mountain weather is perfectly cold. Or, as it has been said by all three if us, "I could ride all day in weather like this." What's not to miss? The fog reminds me of home...

Not just the fog, mind you. The inescapable tea leave plantations that cover foothills and planes with fine cuts and maze like patterns are just the perfect backdrop to mountain touring.

The rolling hills, the cold yet comfortable weather, the warm food, it's all a cyclists paradise. I am grateful to share it with you.

-A