13th to 19th of Dec - Semarang, Malang, Mt Bromo, Bali
« Back to journal
« Back to journal
13th of Dec - Jakarta to Semarang; 540km, 10h
On Monday I collected my passport with the visa extension from the immigration office and after that I picked the bike from Hengky. Over the weekend he put on my new tires which had been flown in from Singapore. Unluckily in slow motion the motor runs as bad as before. Once on speed everything seems to be perfect. As I thought before, it is an electronic bug which I can only get fixed at a KTM service center. Though it is good finger training because one has to play with the throttle and clutch all the time once in slow motion. Well, I would be happy to save that energy.
So, the next morning I got up at 2 am and at 4 am I was on the bike heading for Semarang. You won’t believe it but at 4:30 am I got stuck in the first traffic jam in Jakarta!
As usual it was a “wild” minivan/ bus pick up point. These places which I guess are only known by mouth to mouth propaganda generate also a market place or vice versa. In between the jam you will have all those sellers and beside the street all kind vegetables and food will be placed on the ground. The motorcyclists like me will try to cruise around. In the daytime this could have been easily a wasted hour, at 4:30 am I was done with it in about 15 min.
At 6:30 am I was still in Jakarta or the suburbs…actually one does not know exactly where such a city starts or where it ends because endless other cities will follow. My eyes were burning like hell from all the pollution which got every 10 min worse on the road. The hell on earth…you inhale all the diesel exhaust fumes, dust and whatever…Every day after driving my white functional shirt is black from all these emissions. However, I made it to Semarang within 10 hours, every 10 min I would have started later in the morning from Jakarta would have added for sure another 30 min on top.
I had to laugh out loud when each morning in the Hotel Maxone in Jakarta Mr Terminix came and was on duty...killing the mosquitos and flies with his high voltage tennis rack. He had this hunter's look in his eyes...bss, bsss, bss...there were a lot of these beasts.
Hengky, a nice guy. He lived for 5 years in the US, New York + earned his money there as a mechanic; bought old cars and made them fresh again.
...flushed and excused himself for the mess :-) But they do first class work.
My new Motor Besar Club sticker :-)
14th of Dec – Semarang to Malang; 390km, 8 hours
Getting out of Semarang went relatively smooth, just the usual stop and go at bus pick up points…but of course I would go on the pavement and try my way through vegetable booths and whatever is there (like the Indonesians do). Solo was again horrible but after that the landscape around Mt Lawu became more beautiful. But because of the height of 1600m – 1900m all the mountains were in the clouds and me later as well: heavy rain. On the other side on the way down it got sunny again. Nice remote road I had chosen with less traffic. Looking into the faces of those mountain folks in the highlands… they could be also Indians (I mean Indio’s from Latin America). Ok, I am on the same latitude but isn't that stange, these similarities?
Later I met the main connecting road out of the highlands to Surabaya. Wow, there were some buses (big buses!) on the road which were really hard to overtake; they had such a speed and overtook ruthlessly motorcycles, cars and trucks…boah ey. Because I was in some cases behind such a high speed bus, I saw when the bus overtook the motor bikers heading towards me nearly being pushed into the botanic. They made themselves small and slim in the moment of the possible impact like I do when such a monster comes on my side; bent towards the outer rim and somehow shrunk in their seat right shoulder bent back and right arm twisted towards the inner side. Oh, I could feel their fear and pain…
In Malang I was lucky because I stopped accidentally beside the tourist information and John came out and offered me his help. And he was a great help for hotel, information about the city, traditional restaurant and the “roads” up to Mt Bromo. Later in the Inggi Java Restaurant I met him again and we as well as the friendly waiters had a nice chat. At 10pm I went to bed as I did the last 3 days. I am sooo groggy and exhausted in the evening…wow.
Semarang from my hotel
Around Mt Lawu the landscape gets nicer
Patchwork art...later more on this page
I love these trees...look at the small motorbiker
I am always not fast enough. These freakbikes are made out of "stoneage" Vespas. Some of them have cow horns in front and in the back
The Inggil Java Restaurant in Malang
15th of Dec – Malang to Mt Bromo (volcano)
In the morning I made the mistake and asked some Asian guys, looking like rangers in their official clothing, for the best way out of Malang towards Tumpang and Ngadas. They told me it is impossible to go up to Bromo that way. Yep, once again Asia, everybody knows something and nobody knows anything. Sorry. Good that I tried my planned way (in the evening I got some coordinates out of the internet and transferred these to my navi which shows only a white spot for the whole area of Mt Bromo) anyway and it was the nicest ride I had on the whole of Java.
Before I reached the sand sea in the big crater I was on a 2m wide pothole road which followed a ridge up through the jungle and manmade plantations…soooo beautiful. And everywhere I stopped I met some farmers or people, which were unbelievable friendly. They enjoyed the small talk sooo much with lot of laughs and so did I. Just great. From the ridge I went down into the crater and the sand sea on around 1900m.
When I reached the bottom of the crater the clouds rushed into this moon landscape and I had a short rest + made a second breakfast with the things I bought in the morning. While resting there the clouds opened up again and I saw a small “hut” high up on the Bromo rim…a thought developed in my head…yes, why not, give it a try.
In the wide open, in the sand I found my way to the bottom of the Bromo with a temple below the Batok volcano which was hidden from my views before. On the left hand side I saw a mule track up to this small shack…deep sand, steep...my heavy luggage…come on, GO. After the third “corner” I threw the bike into the sand but only because I was to slow coming around this dune. Once on speed again I passed the next dune and I lost somehow control (now too fast) and I landed in the sand. With an aching thumb + some scratches I got up again and made my final 200m up to the shack. Haaaaa!
The final 100m to the top of the rim of Mt Bromo I had to walk up a sort of staircase + once on top a thunderstorm started. In heavy rain I run down, took my bike 20m down to the “hut”, 4 bamboo sticks + some plastic sheet on top. The 3 guys welcomed me and cooked for me some instant noodles + coffee. With hands and feet communication we had our fun while “outside” the world drowned. After 2h the worst was over and I made my way back down into the sand sea, crossed it and went on the other side up to the outer rim where I found a hotel and a restaurant. And wow, I see some white faces here, all older people on organized group travel. And one Asian family…I can tell you that the Asians look funny once they go into the mountains. But everyone has its own style, nice. I am now on 2230m and it is really cold up here, outside the rain pours down.
Somewhere after Tumpang...I found the way towards Bromo! :-)
Everywhere I met nice and friendly people. They enjoyed so much my presence up there and me either.
Getting the grass for their horses..and the horses getting the money from the tourists for them...:-)
Finally landed on the moon. I didn't know I drove that far :-) ...32.000km up to now.
You see the small blue dot up there...that was my new self defined target. Of course with the motorbike...what for I have this thing? :-)
Sorry for all these pics...but somehow I was fascinated.
1001 Nacht
I made it on top...Holger a bit exhausted with aching thumb
And once on the real top it rained cats and dogs
and I run down the staircase
My new friends for the next 2 hour's
Indio or Indonesian...
down again in the sand sea
This is really "Kitsch" though beautiful
16th of Dec – Mt Bromo to Banyuwangii, ~250km
At 4:30 am I got up…for the sunrise, which is specifically promoted up here. I searched for my own hill despite the many offers to take a guide in order to go to one of the common tourist view spots.
I was totally alone on my personal hill. Nice.
After “my personal” sunrise I went back to the hotel, packed my things, had breakfast and drove down into the crater in order to cross over to Ranu Pane
.
Great, that I did it. Such beautiful sights on an enchanting road on top of the outer rim of Bromo, though the “road” was in some parts pretty demanding. Wow. When I went down and I reached the first small village I asked for the way to Senduro. A friendly bakery things seller with his movable booth in front of a school pointed to me the directions and said something about asphalt. The children from the school came over, pure fascination in their faces...one of the boys was really afraid of me…for them the man from the moon came down right into their village. Maybe they never saw a foreigner before? Somebody told me later that despite having a TV it could be the case because of limited Indonesians programs only…
The small “road” down to Senduro and later to Lumajang goes right through the jungle. So beautiful and whenever I stopped I had also the sound of the jungle. On the whole 40km I met only 2 motorcyclists and 1 jeep. What a relaxation after all this heavy traffic on Sumatra and Java.
From Lumajang I went over Jemper to Banyuwangii. On these roads the motorcyclist had the majority and they can be also quite dangerous. There are young boys on the road which seem to have no fear at all (I guess, I was the same at that age) but there are also girls which cruise with minimum distance and such a high speed through the traffic…wow. And how those girls sit on their scooters: the whole body in an x shape, knees together, elbows bend inwards, straight back in their school uniform, nose up, keeping a straight face like small princesses...but then passing by with a 70-80km/h in a 30cm distance. The next day I want to take the ferry to Bali from Ketapang.
My "personal" sunrise on Mt Bromo
Right down into this village the man from the moon came...:-)
Then my jungle trip started: What about these tress? I think my camera is too small.
Back to civilization: Senduro.
17th of Dec – Banyuwangii to Kuta, Bali; 130km
When I arrived on Bali, I thought firstly the driving is like heaven compared to Java and Sumatra. That only lasted for the first hour, after that the horror started again. One truck and bus after another on the hill climb before one reaches Denpasar. In Denpasar traffic like hell and the last kilometers to Kuta were stop and go. Kuta itself is such a busy place…well I knew it from 20 years ago but if you have it live again…
The next day I changed to Seminyak beach, a much quieter place. Rain, rain, rain and the beach doesn’t look nice with all the plastic garbage washed in from the sea (but firstly most of the waste is washed out by the rivers).
I discovered later that they normally clean up the beach early in the morning but on that specific day I was very early and also the stormy wheather hindered them in their daily duty.
On Monday I collected my passport with the visa extension from the immigration office and after that I picked the bike from Hengky. Over the weekend he put on my new tires which had been flown in from Singapore. Unluckily in slow motion the motor runs as bad as before. Once on speed everything seems to be perfect. As I thought before, it is an electronic bug which I can only get fixed at a KTM service center. Though it is good finger training because one has to play with the throttle and clutch all the time once in slow motion. Well, I would be happy to save that energy.
So, the next morning I got up at 2 am and at 4 am I was on the bike heading for Semarang. You won’t believe it but at 4:30 am I got stuck in the first traffic jam in Jakarta!
As usual it was a “wild” minivan/ bus pick up point. These places which I guess are only known by mouth to mouth propaganda generate also a market place or vice versa. In between the jam you will have all those sellers and beside the street all kind vegetables and food will be placed on the ground. The motorcyclists like me will try to cruise around. In the daytime this could have been easily a wasted hour, at 4:30 am I was done with it in about 15 min.
At 6:30 am I was still in Jakarta or the suburbs…actually one does not know exactly where such a city starts or where it ends because endless other cities will follow. My eyes were burning like hell from all the pollution which got every 10 min worse on the road. The hell on earth…you inhale all the diesel exhaust fumes, dust and whatever…Every day after driving my white functional shirt is black from all these emissions. However, I made it to Semarang within 10 hours, every 10 min I would have started later in the morning from Jakarta would have added for sure another 30 min on top.
I had to laugh out loud when each morning in the Hotel Maxone in Jakarta Mr Terminix came and was on duty...killing the mosquitos and flies with his high voltage tennis rack. He had this hunter's look in his eyes...bss, bsss, bss...there were a lot of these beasts.
Hengky, a nice guy. He lived for 5 years in the US, New York + earned his money there as a mechanic; bought old cars and made them fresh again.
...flushed and excused himself for the mess :-) But they do first class work.
My new Motor Besar Club sticker :-)
14th of Dec – Semarang to Malang; 390km, 8 hours
Getting out of Semarang went relatively smooth, just the usual stop and go at bus pick up points…but of course I would go on the pavement and try my way through vegetable booths and whatever is there (like the Indonesians do). Solo was again horrible but after that the landscape around Mt Lawu became more beautiful. But because of the height of 1600m – 1900m all the mountains were in the clouds and me later as well: heavy rain. On the other side on the way down it got sunny again. Nice remote road I had chosen with less traffic. Looking into the faces of those mountain folks in the highlands… they could be also Indians (I mean Indio’s from Latin America). Ok, I am on the same latitude but isn't that stange, these similarities?
Later I met the main connecting road out of the highlands to Surabaya. Wow, there were some buses (big buses!) on the road which were really hard to overtake; they had such a speed and overtook ruthlessly motorcycles, cars and trucks…boah ey. Because I was in some cases behind such a high speed bus, I saw when the bus overtook the motor bikers heading towards me nearly being pushed into the botanic. They made themselves small and slim in the moment of the possible impact like I do when such a monster comes on my side; bent towards the outer rim and somehow shrunk in their seat right shoulder bent back and right arm twisted towards the inner side. Oh, I could feel their fear and pain…
In Malang I was lucky because I stopped accidentally beside the tourist information and John came out and offered me his help. And he was a great help for hotel, information about the city, traditional restaurant and the “roads” up to Mt Bromo. Later in the Inggi Java Restaurant I met him again and we as well as the friendly waiters had a nice chat. At 10pm I went to bed as I did the last 3 days. I am sooo groggy and exhausted in the evening…wow.
Semarang from my hotel
Around Mt Lawu the landscape gets nicer
Patchwork art...later more on this page
I love these trees...look at the small motorbiker
I am always not fast enough. These freakbikes are made out of "stoneage" Vespas. Some of them have cow horns in front and in the back
The Inggil Java Restaurant in Malang
15th of Dec – Malang to Mt Bromo (volcano)
In the morning I made the mistake and asked some Asian guys, looking like rangers in their official clothing, for the best way out of Malang towards Tumpang and Ngadas. They told me it is impossible to go up to Bromo that way. Yep, once again Asia, everybody knows something and nobody knows anything. Sorry. Good that I tried my planned way (in the evening I got some coordinates out of the internet and transferred these to my navi which shows only a white spot for the whole area of Mt Bromo) anyway and it was the nicest ride I had on the whole of Java.
Before I reached the sand sea in the big crater I was on a 2m wide pothole road which followed a ridge up through the jungle and manmade plantations…soooo beautiful. And everywhere I stopped I met some farmers or people, which were unbelievable friendly. They enjoyed the small talk sooo much with lot of laughs and so did I. Just great. From the ridge I went down into the crater and the sand sea on around 1900m.
When I reached the bottom of the crater the clouds rushed into this moon landscape and I had a short rest + made a second breakfast with the things I bought in the morning. While resting there the clouds opened up again and I saw a small “hut” high up on the Bromo rim…a thought developed in my head…yes, why not, give it a try.
In the wide open, in the sand I found my way to the bottom of the Bromo with a temple below the Batok volcano which was hidden from my views before. On the left hand side I saw a mule track up to this small shack…deep sand, steep...my heavy luggage…come on, GO. After the third “corner” I threw the bike into the sand but only because I was to slow coming around this dune. Once on speed again I passed the next dune and I lost somehow control (now too fast) and I landed in the sand. With an aching thumb + some scratches I got up again and made my final 200m up to the shack. Haaaaa!
The final 100m to the top of the rim of Mt Bromo I had to walk up a sort of staircase + once on top a thunderstorm started. In heavy rain I run down, took my bike 20m down to the “hut”, 4 bamboo sticks + some plastic sheet on top. The 3 guys welcomed me and cooked for me some instant noodles + coffee. With hands and feet communication we had our fun while “outside” the world drowned. After 2h the worst was over and I made my way back down into the sand sea, crossed it and went on the other side up to the outer rim where I found a hotel and a restaurant. And wow, I see some white faces here, all older people on organized group travel. And one Asian family…I can tell you that the Asians look funny once they go into the mountains. But everyone has its own style, nice. I am now on 2230m and it is really cold up here, outside the rain pours down.
Somewhere after Tumpang...I found the way towards Bromo! :-)
Everywhere I met nice and friendly people. They enjoyed so much my presence up there and me either.
Getting the grass for their horses..and the horses getting the money from the tourists for them...:-)
Finally landed on the moon. I didn't know I drove that far :-) ...32.000km up to now.
You see the small blue dot up there...that was my new self defined target. Of course with the motorbike...what for I have this thing? :-)
Sorry for all these pics...but somehow I was fascinated.
1001 Nacht
I made it on top...Holger a bit exhausted with aching thumb
And once on the real top it rained cats and dogs
and I run down the staircase
My new friends for the next 2 hour's
Indio or Indonesian...
down again in the sand sea
This is really "Kitsch" though beautiful
16th of Dec – Mt Bromo to Banyuwangii, ~250km
At 4:30 am I got up…for the sunrise, which is specifically promoted up here. I searched for my own hill despite the many offers to take a guide in order to go to one of the common tourist view spots.
I was totally alone on my personal hill. Nice.
After “my personal” sunrise I went back to the hotel, packed my things, had breakfast and drove down into the crater in order to cross over to Ranu Pane
.
Great, that I did it. Such beautiful sights on an enchanting road on top of the outer rim of Bromo, though the “road” was in some parts pretty demanding. Wow. When I went down and I reached the first small village I asked for the way to Senduro. A friendly bakery things seller with his movable booth in front of a school pointed to me the directions and said something about asphalt. The children from the school came over, pure fascination in their faces...one of the boys was really afraid of me…for them the man from the moon came down right into their village. Maybe they never saw a foreigner before? Somebody told me later that despite having a TV it could be the case because of limited Indonesians programs only…
The small “road” down to Senduro and later to Lumajang goes right through the jungle. So beautiful and whenever I stopped I had also the sound of the jungle. On the whole 40km I met only 2 motorcyclists and 1 jeep. What a relaxation after all this heavy traffic on Sumatra and Java.
From Lumajang I went over Jemper to Banyuwangii. On these roads the motorcyclist had the majority and they can be also quite dangerous. There are young boys on the road which seem to have no fear at all (I guess, I was the same at that age) but there are also girls which cruise with minimum distance and such a high speed through the traffic…wow. And how those girls sit on their scooters: the whole body in an x shape, knees together, elbows bend inwards, straight back in their school uniform, nose up, keeping a straight face like small princesses...but then passing by with a 70-80km/h in a 30cm distance. The next day I want to take the ferry to Bali from Ketapang.
My "personal" sunrise on Mt Bromo
Right down into this village the man from the moon came...:-)
Then my jungle trip started: What about these tress? I think my camera is too small.
Back to civilization: Senduro.
17th of Dec – Banyuwangii to Kuta, Bali; 130km
When I arrived on Bali, I thought firstly the driving is like heaven compared to Java and Sumatra. That only lasted for the first hour, after that the horror started again. One truck and bus after another on the hill climb before one reaches Denpasar. In Denpasar traffic like hell and the last kilometers to Kuta were stop and go. Kuta itself is such a busy place…well I knew it from 20 years ago but if you have it live again…
The next day I changed to Seminyak beach, a much quieter place. Rain, rain, rain and the beach doesn’t look nice with all the plastic garbage washed in from the sea (but firstly most of the waste is washed out by the rivers).
I discovered later that they normally clean up the beach early in the morning but on that specific day I was very early and also the stormy wheather hindered them in their daily duty.
