At 6 am we are ready to leave. Its still very quiet on the road and it's even a bit chilly. Finding the way wont be a problem as we have to follow the Trans-Sumatran Highway for nearly 2,000 kilometres.
The Trans-Sumatran Highway
We leave Jakarta shortly after noon. On blogs of fellow travellers you read you can better avoid the capital because the traffic would be dreadful, but we find that its actually not too bad. Yes, its very busy but so is the rest of West Java. Outside the city, the traffic is really terrible, were not going ahead at all. Occasionally, we get to see a glimpse of the highway and it looks blissfully empty. Unfortunately, two wheelers are not allowed and so we are doomed to defy these busy roads.
In the hotel we were given a different room than last time and we are not satisfied. The bathroom stinks, there is no window, the two twin beds are of a different height, the light switch is in the hallway and all this for the same price. The next morning, we ask for a different room otherwise we're going to look for someplace else. Somebody checks out and we get the room, its much better although the light switch is also in the hallway (how is that possible?). In the evening we are treated to pastries from the staff, martabak, which is a kind of bread with butter and chocolate. Yummy.
We decide to take the road at the southern coast of Java because we hope that it will be less crowded. We are treated with some beautiful nature and enjoy our ride among the many rice fields.
Ricefields on Bali
In the morning, we wake up early and on arrival at the pier we, once again, can straight drive on the ferry. While sailing, we search for a hotel in Bali on our app. We see a cheap hotel with very good reviews which is located in the capital Denpasar. It seems like a good base for further exploration of Bali. From the boat we see several volcanoes, something you dont see every day ...
Volcanos on Java
Our next destination is Lovina, a village on the north coast of Bali, known for its dolphins spotting. The road to Lovina runs through the mountains and we pass the Twin Lake. The last piece goes through a very small road that is not really in a good condition but it is very beautiful.
Twin Lake, Bali
We still have to see several villages in Bali and the first is Amed. We arrive after a few hours and we start looking for a hotel. Although its quite expensive here, we do find a nice sea view bungalow for not too much money. Unfortunately, there is no pool, the hotel is located at the beach but it's not really ideal for swimming due to the volcanic sand. The village is mostly popular for divers. We decide to drive to Candidasa, where we hope to find a white beach. The road from Amed to Candidasa is one of the most beautiful drives on our trip.
We have one more week before we go back to Belgium and decide to go back to our favourite places in Bali. We book another five nights in our first hotel in Lovina. We enjoy doing nothing and talking with other guests. We only leave our hotel to go eat in our restaurant and one evening, we went to see a childrens dance at a local school. On our last night in Lovina, we enjoy a self-made cocktail: we never drank a cocktail at the pool (like you see in the movies).
One year and 46054 km on the road!!!
We go back to Belgium to visit family and friends, and do some necessary paperwork. In the meanwhile, Mickey waits for us at the hotel in Denpasar.
We will return to Indonesia mid-October and will continue our journey then...
Mickey Waiting for Us at the Hotel
More info on www.wijzijnweg.org
After two weeks in Belgium it's time to go back to Indonesia. We first fly to Jakarta and want to book a flight at the airport to Bali. We wait until the next day for a cheap flight because the available tickets are ridiculously expensive for such a short distance. We decide to stay one night in Jakarta and look for a hotel around the airport. The only transit hotel at the airport is closed so we have to find something else. We already miss Mickey because all the taxis at the airport charge excessive money.
The Gili Islands consist of three islands (Air, Meno and Trawangan) and have no motorized traffic, you can rent a bicycle or take a carriage and horse. These islands are described as the only tropical islands of Indonesia and are therefore very popular with tourists. We go to Trawangan, the largest island of the three, because it would be more for backpackers. To go to the Gili Islands, you have two options, the so-called 'fast boats' and' slow boats. Given the slow boat takes less than half an hour for a fifth of the price, the choice is easy.
In Lombok we want to find a nice place to stay two nights, so we can do our laundry and prepare our visa for East Timor. If you want to enter East Timor overland, you need an authorization letter to get a VOA at the border. We can apply for this authorization online but we need some documents for this. We decide to go to Kota for this. Arrived in Kota we notice that tourism here is still new, there are many hotels and restaurants, but it lacks a bit of atmosphere. The beach itself is not so nice and there is hardly any shade.
After two days enjoying we want to get to Flores as soon as possible. Between Lombok and Flores lies the island of Sumbawa, where there is nothing to do according to the Travelapp. We get up early and shortly after noon we are on the ferry from Lombok to Sumbawa which takes only two hours. Again, we can drive straight up on the ferry but we have to wait long to leave because the ferry isnt quite full yet.
On the Ferry to Sumbawa
Finally arrived at Labuanbajo, we are looking for a hotel when a tourist on a scooter approaches us. His name is Marcus and is an avid traveller himself. Currently he and his family are travelling around SEA for six months. He hopes one day to make an overland trip to India on his motorbike. He invites us to his house for a cup of coffee. Here we meet his wife Rahel and their four children. After some talking they suggest to stay in one of their rooms. Since there are many mosquitoes we decide to set up our tent in the room.
In the morning we work a bit on our blog and by noon we leave for Ruteng where we have an appointment with Marcus and co. The main road in Flores is in a good condition and where this is not the case, they are working on it. The road is very curvy so it takes some time to get to Ruteng, but the beautiful scenery and the waving people make up for this. A major problem in Flores are the petrol stations, there are only a few and the ones that are there, are full of people waiting in line.
We have to wait at least half an hour for our turn.
At 05u45 we are woken by some noisy hotel guests, but with the long day ahead, it is not that bad. At 07u30 we are ready to leave. Again the road is very curvy, we are treated to some fantastic scenery and the people are super excited to see us. We really enjoy driving through Flores.
Beautiful Flores
At 06u45, we are at the pier in Darmaga, since several people had told us that the ferry would leave here in the morning. Now however, we hear that we quickly need to turn around to Ende because the ferry is there waiting to leave. Arriving at the old pier in Ende we indeed see the ferry but we dont seem to be able to buy the tickets. What is going on here? No one speaks a word of English and we are getting frustrated. Eventually we find a man who explains that the ferry leaves in the afternoon and that the ticket office opens at 10u00. Why did we wake up so early...
This video is a summary from our trip through Indonesia
Part One: Sumatra - Java - Bali
Part Two: Lombok - Sumbawa - Flores - West-Timor
More info on www.wijzijnweg.org
We have been in Indonesia for almost three months. We had high expectations before we arrived in the country but the beginning was quite disappointing. The worst part was getting used to the dirty and smelly rooms and that for the same price as our clean rooms in Thailand. Starting from Bali our feeling about Indonesia improved, we have seen remarkable natural scenery and encountered lots of friendly people.