I call it 'never-ending' Indonesia ! For sure, our
experiences here can never be learned from any
textbook in school...
Before we arrived in Indonesia, we only knew that
it was made up of many islands - but we didn't
know what to expect, nor the fact that Indonesia
also had beautiful mountains ! This diverse and
'never-ending' Indonesia took us to one of the
most beautiful places that we have ever been to.
Ever !!
Mount Bromo is an active volcano in East Java
what last erupted as recently as in 2016. We
reached the check post at 7 pm and bargained to
get a discount on our tickets ! (That's a part of us
now. We bargain for everything). They informed us
that it was 15 Km to reach the top of the summit
to find a room for the night. They cautioned us
that the journey would take 2 to 3 hours. we were
perplexed, as we could not fathom how 15 Kms
could take 3 hours on bike !
We did not know what was waiting for us, up
there. No road - just loose gravel and pitch
darkness. My bike started to heat up, while the
outside temperature kept plummeting.. 16°C...
12°C... 10°C, that indicated that we were really high
up in the mountains. As customs clearance in australia is amongst the strictest
in the world, we spent the next 3 days (morning till late
night), to clean our bikes. We scrubbed every single
crevice and screw with a toothbrush, and finally we were
ready to pack our bikes onward to our next continent
Australia.
After a very short sleep that night, we woke up at 3
am and took a jeep up to Mount Bromo. Once we
got there, we realized that every single minute of
effort was absolutely worth it. What we saw at
sunrise that early cold morning will always remain
one of the most beautiful places we have ever
been to. Just thinking about it still brings a smile
to my face. You all have to keep this location in
your bucket list ! Most of us have fears of the unknown - a fear of
something that may happen if everything is not
planned and in our control, I love not having any fixed
plans. It teaches us to live, appreciate what we have
and enjoy life in the moment.
Our next few days in Bali proved to be exactly
what we had heard. Bali is one of the most fun
and happening places in Indonesia.
After several weeks in Indonesia, it was time for us
to move on to our 9th country - Australia. All the
riders we met recommended that we do not ship
our bikes from East Timor, as it was difficult to deal
with shipping agencies. Moreover, they were not
reliable. One of our rider friends is still waiting
(after 1.5 months) to receive his bike in Australia, as
they found snails in the shipping container !
Very often, we did not find a room in Indonesia that a
proper washroom. We improvised by showering in the
rain or by heading to the beach and taking a nice
morning swim ! However, there wasn't a single day that
we did not find a place to sleep or went hungry. Our
basics for the day were met, which lead us to a new day. If
we let our fears and assumptions get ahead of us, we
cannot truly LIVE.
Thank you Indonesia for the incredible experience ! Thank
you for bringing smiles to our faces and for making us
better riders, travelling almost 4,000 Kms on your curved
beautiful roads and sometimes, no roads !
July 3, 2017 - Bali, Indonesia.