Well it started as a dream. Reality was a long way off considering the task at hand. Procure motorcycles in Indonesia with the intent of touring Indonesia. Easy to say, not so easy to do. Well not the way we did it anyway. Although we intend to be wallflowers, somehow we also like to be different. Being a foreigner in Indonesia gives a point of difference in itself, however, there is some kudos in riding from Jakarta to Lombok on a motorcycle. Very few locals could say they have achieved such a task. For us it was the ride of a lifetime.
We started in Jakarta on the 22nd July 2015. We purchased our motorcycles site unseen from Australia following a chain of emails and Whatsapp conversations. Our Indonesian suppliers had done absolutely everything asked of them and more to prepare us for our ambitious tour. Jakarta to Lombok! When I suggested to our supplier that we had a plan to fly from Australia and ride from Jakarta to Lombok he was quite amused. In the end I think he was quite excited. He must have been thinking “bloody mad Aussies”
We landed in Jakarta on the 21st July 2015, found our digs, showered and headed for bed at about 1:30am on the 22nd. We were woken at 5am by the third party of our team, a local from Lombok, originally from Bandung Java. He had just arrived on a bus from Bandung. We could not have asked for a better mix of people on board. The two crazy Aussies, and an expat Java boy now settled in Lombok. We got our taxi to pick up the bikes and that’s when the fun started. We arrived at their office at about 8:30am 22nd July, earlier than scheduled. After a small delay getting into the office we proceeded to inspect the bikes and ancillary equipment and organised for final payment.
I was was sweating like a stuck pig in the unfamiliar Jakarta humidity. Forgive the vernacular but it was pouring out of me, much to the amusement of my riding cohort. I could not wait to get on the road and get some air movement over my moist skin. It was 4 days since the end of Ramadan and the traffic heading back into Jakarta was massive. I am glad we were heading out of town. Their is way more to this story. Watch this space.
And we are tha riders!
What a motley crew!
Finally on the road with our Captain!