Potholes requiring full alpine climbing gear to 
extract yourself. Your lane of road dissappears 
in a hundred metre drop away. The passing truck 
doesn't give an inch, there is no guard rail to 
alleviate the nervousness. Up ahead a big tanker 
is being towed backwards up a slithering gravel 
slope, it slews sideways on the cable. I stand on 
the pedals to get out of the line of tumble.
 Another truck, wheels still spinning, lies 
sideways blocking part of the road. A green tree 
branch is the standard warning for the next 
hazard ahead. Gradient hits 15 degrees, the legs 
give up, bike push to the next crest.
This is the Trans-Kalimantan Highway, Sangatta
to Tanjung Selor. Probably won't make the safe 
cycling guidebook anytime soon. Concentration 
on getting enough power to each climb, cooling 
down at the top, I notice the camera has missed 
a lot. 

Then there are the moments, just the whistle of 
the jungle insects, a clatter of monkeys up high. 
A lull in traffic gives a native silence.
Reliably at the plateau of each climb is the 
warung (roadside shop). Food, cold drink and 
shady platforms to rest from the heat. Always a 
bit of fun banter and the shaking of heads at the 
crazy mission. The sun-high respite for drivers 
takes most of the trucks off the road for a 
precious couple of hours free of noise and 
traffic.
​
I did hit the impossible button after 6 hours at 5 
kilometres per hour. Then along comes a small 
car with an even smaller guy at the wheel, he 
stops on the other side of the road "would you 
like a ride to the top?" YES! Darkness would hit 
before I could reach my target guesthouse.
The top proved to be 30 kilometres away (and 30 
back again for my saviour) I was dropped at the 
door of the guest house. My offer of petrol 
money was waved aside. Such is the generosity 
of this country. 

I gained confidence and managed 100 
kilometres next day, not quite making Tanjung 
Selor but beating 4000 metres of climb. Dinner 
at Warung Risky (really) and ready for sleep on 
the communal rest platform. But the next drivers 
stopping decided it was karaoke night. Ten 
minutes of sound blast was enough. I packed up 
ready to set up the tent down the road. My host 
and hostess wouldn't allow it, the front room of 
their house next door already had a mattress 
and pillow waiting for me.
Probably the hardest 600 kilometres of cycling I 
have done on all my trips, but some special and 
unique rewards. Has it diminished the ride in any 
way? The mental focus needed to step up a gear 
but that is the beauty of the unknown, 
anticipation is a precursor to fear and fear is no 
help.

Typical house in the Kalimantan hills

Celebrating the crossing into North Kalimantan with some more conventional travellers (motor scooters)

Suddenly your half of the road disappears (the marker on this one was a rarity)

Huge lake scoured out by open cast coal mining

Jungle clearing is continuous mostly for palm oil plantations and mining coal

Out of the mountains and onto the ferry from Tanjung Selor to Tarakan. Wishing the windows had been cleaned and grateful the 10kg limit had been extended for my 70kg bike and load

On the  tough days the camera often gets neglected so the good days get priority. It creates a biased view to a certain extent. There have been moments where this seems impossible. Have I bitten off more  than I can chew? That’s why every  great moment needs to be celebrated and the negative  thoughts quashed.

Arriving at the Java Sea Coast was one such moment. I felt a connection with the sea  where I have spent so much of my life. A  beautiful tropical coast palm trees and endless sandy beach. The only thing stopping me jumping in was the murky brown water for kilometres out. Indonesian fishing boats crammed every river, hauled up on rich red mud flats.

The sea coast gave way to flat rice paddies, then a climb back into hill country. 3000 kilometres clicked over on the  odometer. I arrived at Sungai Kupang looking for the only guest house. A helpful local guided me a few doors down, arranged a room and helped me with my bags then departed leaving me with a gristly kiss on each cheek.

My status as the only foreign traveller was broken when Chris, an Australian archeologist interrupted my durian icecream slurping to introduce himself. I discovered that the surrounding hills were riddled with natural (caves) and he was about to start digging  with an Indonesian research team.

For the next couple of days I was winding my way through a fairy land of pinnacles cloaked in deep jungle which spread its fronds to shade my path. Unfortunately the pinnacles started joining up to provide some grunty climbs.  A day of hard climbing extended when my target Google maps guesthouse didn’t exist. However that did land me in the interesting town  of  Tanah Grogot where I was able  to vary  my  diet  with  a burger.​

The hills I had been riding through contain massive  coal deposits. Although  I had glimpses  of huge mining operations,  it wasn’t until I was crossing on the Balikpapan ferry that the hundreds of huge  coal barges revealed the vast extent. I am now preparing  for my northern equator crossing with a rest day  in Samarinda.

Two delightful “kelapa jus” (coconut juice) sellers above and below managed a lot of Indo/English fun banter and I ended up with 2 free juices

My days banana supplier insisted on showing me his collection of Dayak and ancient Borneo artifacs

Huge coal mining pit turned into a lake

Passing ferry as my ferry arrives at Balikpapan

Java Sea coast

Followed by rice paddies

Through the cave riddled pinnacle country

Leaving Panajam on the ferry across to Balikpapan 

Her eyes were full of tears. She had chased me on her scooter from town bearing a bag of goodies for my lunch. She was inspired by my story. Those beautiful eyes will remain a highlight of the trip. I hope the inspiration is infectious.

My Inreach tracker is vital for communication when I have no cell coverage, it also provides world-wide ‘emergency response. I crossed the equator heading south and the tracker stopped working completely. The situation required a fast track from the mountains to a town with reliable internet. Fortunately a farmer had offered me a connection on his Starlink to start the ball rolling with Garmin support. Support which floundered about for a week, despite the best efforts from my family to provide relayed communication, Garmin finally provided a fix so trivially simple the problem could have been resolved in seconds, avoiding the week of worry for all plus a 300km diversionary ride to Sambit. At least Sambit gave me a rest day and a chance to catch up on communication.

Looping north from Sambit (avoiding the swampy delta region of huge rivers pouring into the Java Sea) my first stop landed me in Pundu. The guesthouses marked on Google maps in Pundu simply didn’t exist, in near darkness a helpful local suggested the local Police Station. Hospitality from the Police was immediate, from a tent site in the childrens play hut, to cake and fresh drinking water, not to mention their bucket and scoop shower in their immaculately clean bath room. The night was further enhanced when a couple invited me to their table to eat in the power blacked out restaurant just down the road.

Power blackouts were a feature of the region for the next few days. My reliable drink stops Alphamart and Infomart relied entirely on electronic sales so they couldn’t supply my junk food fuel for the road. Rice burn simply doesn’t cut the required calorie input on the road.

 Palangkaraya is the gateway to Sebangau National Park which does have an orang-utan sanctuary, but with a 3 day wait and the feeling that my sighting of an orang-utan in the wild was so unique, I opted to ride on to Banjarmasin. Banjarmasin is  huge sprawling city, half on water half on land, my GPS track took me through narrow lanes, past water ways and stilt houses in a wonderland of quirky difference.

The ride is constantly changing. Small clusters of Christian settlements. Sudden changes to Balinese style artefacts, then back to the constant beautiful mosques and prayer calls. One thousand innovations to turn 125 Honda scooters into overloaded workhorses carrying 8 20 litres drums of fuel. Rich in ever changing views from the bike seat.

Large Goverment buildings heading out of Pelaihari this morning

Stilt houses on the river

Lone fisherman on the ferry crossing in Banjamasin

Rough and ready guesthouse Baamang Tengah - unfortunately all the yellow hats started at 4am

Pundu Police camp in the childrens playhouse and below start of the 10km swamp bridge south of Palangkaraya