Tag Archives: traveler

Day 265 – Bye and Dubai

Leaving the International school in Sohar

Leaving the International school in Sohar

Smooth. Just the whole day went smoothly. We got up in time to have one last breakfast with Lina and Michael at their home in Sohar. After a thankfully brief scene of goodbyes we were alone and ready to pack up our stuff. Two hours after that, we handed the key back to Lina and were on the road for good.

The ride was good as always in Oman. The incoming summer heat was tamed a good bit by light cloud cover and we arrived at the border in no time. We crossed the border in record time. Chapeau to both the Omani and Emirati officials, this was the least painful border crossing yet. Continue reading

Day 98 – On to Sumbawa

tucked away behind all the little ones

tucked away behind all the little ones

After our two day holiday from the bike, we were back to business today. Since we had reached the western end of Flores in Labuan Bajo, it was time to hop on the next ferry bringing us to Sape on Sumbawa. The ferry goes every day and was scheduled for 8am this morning.

To make this rather early cut-off, we got up at sunrise which is about 5.30am at the moment. Packing still is rather quick (if you don’t have to put the tent down and store all the sleeping gear) so Flo got Rocinante out of her safe parking spot in the hotel yard to put the panniers back on. The bike didn’t fit through the gate to the yard when it was fully loaded so to manoeuvre it, it had to be without luggage.

At 6.45am, we were on the bike, driving to the ferry terminal. These tickets turned out to be expensive, probably because Flo ended up paying bemo fares for Rocinante which means she was treated like a mini-bus. One of the first on the ferry, we again, selected two empty rows for us and I lay down for another nap. Being scheduled to leave port at 8am, we finally left Labuan Bajo at 9.45am. While the cargo hold was pretty full, there were still many empty seats on the ferry. We had feared that it might be overcrowded with the volcano on Lombok playing up and all flights being cancelled. On the other hand, we trusted that vendors will come on to the ferry to sell us lunch but we were disappointed as they only sold bananas and snacks this time. Flo braved his first “Pop Mie” instant noodles cup while I stuck to oreos and TimTams.

No trouble with space this time

No trouble with space this time

We had lovely company for hours on the ferry, meeting Katja, a German backpacker, and Clement, a traveler from Slovenia. They both told us more about a story we heard…a tourist dying while snorkeling at Komodo. At first, it was said through the grapevine (aka news that travelled from boat to boat) that the tourist stayed in the water too long and exhausted herself which lead to her breathing in water and she basically drowned. Katja and Clement said it looked more like a stroke or so in the water. The tourist lady was about 70 years old.

Despite our late start, the ferry arrived in Sape at 3.30ish. So the ride itself was not nearly as long as getting to Flores and passed quicker than we had thought. There was a bit of chaos at the port as everyone tried to leave at the same time and get to their further means of transport on land but we managed to get out fine. We even found an ATM that would let us withdraw about NZ$250. The limit on the ATMs here seems a bit arbitrary and each withdrawal costs us fees at kiwibank.

Better than expected from reading the Lonely Planet

Better than expected from reading the Lonely Planet

Coming to a new island is always exciting. Sumbawa is less developed in tourism then Flores but, all in all, it seems to fare better. The houses all look bigger, all built out of stone and quite neat. The fuel at the roadside often comes in little pumps with the same brand as the gas station rather than in reused water bottles. However, there are also horse-drawn carts on the road which seems slightly weird. It’s not a tourist attraction but a legitimate way of travelling. Those poor horses must be close to a heart attack in the dense traffic.

Riding out of Sape, we headed for Bima, a town further north. The road was again in very good condition (but most roads are compared to East Timor) and we came through quite a few roadside towns. Now, it is noticeable that the majority of the people here are muslim. Mosques can be seen quite often and some of them are really impressive. The majority of women also wears hijab, most of them in very colourful tones.

We booked into a hotel for the night and it has free wifi, something we haven’t had in ages. On top of the free-ness, it is also quite fast so Flo is in internet heaven at the moment. 🙂

Day 78 – Communities

Musings

“Hi, the ship has arrived, can you come in for the paperwork tomorrow?” that was last night– by 7:50 am today I found myself walking through the bed of the Comoro River. ANL open at 8 am, at least on paper. I am not desperate at all …

The dwellings on the bank do not appear to be strictly "legal"

The dwellings on the bank do not appear to be strictly “legal”

But back to the river: There is only one road bridge over the Comoro River, about 2 km north of where we live, a suburb under the unofficial name Delta. ANL is about as far away from the bridge again, so all in all a 5 km drive. On the other hand, it is maybe 1 km west from here as the crow flies. Luckily for me, it is still the dry season, so there currently is no Comoro River, just a free for all gravel pit buzzing with lorries, diggers and sorting sieves. That is how a gold rush must look like …

8:06 am, I am at the office, the staff is not yet in full strength. I apologize in Tetum for being so impolitely on time. Once the staff arrived, it was all a matter of maybe 5 minutes and another $50 US and all that is left is for the container to arrive and for me to pick up the bike sometime in the next 2 days. As quick as that I was out in the dust again, finding my way through the illegal buildings hugging the riverbanks and back on my way. Continue reading

Day 76 – There and back again

Flo woke me up quite urgently because the sun was rising right outside of our room. I stumbled out, into the hammock and we watched the sunrise.

From bed to hammock, that is as far as Nina got.

From bed to hammock, that is as far as Nina got.

A quick check of the clock told us that it was 6.30am and breakfast would be served at 7am.

I never have a problem with breakfasts (being vegetarian) and this one was great. Fresh bananas and pieces of oranges next to omelettes and hard-boiled eggs. As a baseline, there are always small, round bread rolls with jam, honey, peanut butter or marmite. It was delicious and I stuffed myself. Right after breakfast, we realized that we’ve forgotten to take our doxycycline today. So back to the table and more food…oh, the pains. 😉

We packed a daypack for hiking and went to talk to Barry about hiking to Mario’s place. Mario’s place is on the opposite side of the island with a hike leading across to it.

Like a map for a treasure hunt ;)

Like a map for a treasure hunt 😉

Barry gave us a basic map of the track (no markings) and we packed our lunch in the kitchen before heading off.

The first 1 ½ hours are along the road. Despite us leaving in the early morning, it was hot and the track was lacking trees for shade. However, the view back down to Beloi and the bay was great.

Finally, we came to the first real turn and the track went off into a forested part, leading past limestone walls and caves. Some of them are gigantic, with roots from trees hanging down. Immediately, it was cooler and the slight breeze refreshing. A couple of goats could be seen at both sides of the path. Continue reading

Day 74 – Carnet Success

Herman had been trying to convince us to go to Ataúro Island on the weekend. Apparently, there is a ferry crossing over on Saturdays and if you get tickets for it on Friday, they cost $4 each. So Herman gave us a lift this morning.

That was ... too easy. Take that, Australia!

That was … too easy. Take that, Australia!

We briefly stopped at Timor Plaza with just enough time for Flo to realize that he had gotten the bill of lading from ANL and for Herman to print it off for us at his office. Getting the bill of lading meant that Flo could get started on the carnet paperwork.

Regardless, we had come to town for a reason and so we wandered around at the wharf to by ferry tickets. People kept referring us to “the next gate” until we ran out of gates and wharf. Actually, the tickets were sold through the fence in a corner of the area. You handed them your passport and the correct amount of money (no change!) and then got a ticket for the 5 am ferry. Oomph! I was not aware that it would be quite that early, but it is due to the tides and the very shallow harbour in Dili.

By accident we met Reed and Marten on the street in front who were looking for the wharf themselves, as they are both waiting on their motorbikes as well. Turns out they even saw Rocinante in the warehouse in Darwin where they dropped off their bikes.

It got worse since then. Ouch!

It got worse since then. Ouch!

After a chat and a brief excursion to Hotel Timor so that I could hand in my postcards, we exchanged email addresses and parted ways. Flo and I went on to Pateo, the Portugese supermarket, to buy some bread rolls.

On our way to find a mirkolet, I managed to fall down on a flat section of footpath. Luckily, I am only bruised (my poor knee) but Flo hailed a cab and we took a good look at my knee at home. While at home, we grabbed the carnet for Rocinante and headed back out again to hunt down a stamp.

A slow ride in a very full mikrolet later, we were back at the wharf. This time, we only had to ask two people before we were in the customs office and as soon as Flo said “carnet” they knew what to do: We got to the right person who took us into her office. We handed over the carnet and got the stamp. Easy as!

Yep, they have great food. Ignore the open drain ...

Yep, they have great food. Ignore the open drain …

So by lunch time, we had pretty much done with what we wanted to do. Flo organised our accommodation on Autúro and our transportation back to Dili with two phone calls. We were completely set. 🙂

For lunch, we went back to the Hani Ristaurante & Coffee Shop near the stadium and had yummy food. They had an eggplant-chili-salad that was so good and Flo ate a grilled fish with it.

$3.50 USD ... all of it, for both of us, including drinks :)

$3.50 USD … all of it, for both of us, including drinks 🙂

In the evening, Herman took us along to the SkyBar in Timor Plaza where all the volunteers gather for Friday evening drink. Flo and I had a lovely time chatting to many of them, but we still were not able to meet everyone.

The SkyBar is on the roof of the 5 story building; outside tables with a bar and even live music set the scene. Apart from all the volunteers and expats it was still crowded as it seems to be a popular spot to spend a Friday night.

Dinner in a Japanese restaurant rounded off the night for us and we went home to pack and get some sleep. There is an early start ahead of us tomorrow morning.

Day 49 – Encounters

We ended up staying alone on the bluff campground in Trephina Gorge. At least counting other humans. There were things going on, for sure. The “rain” tree, for example. Half the campground was cordoned off, because of a precariously leaning red gum tree as it turns out. The tree was marked “cracked or termites”. The eerie sound coming from it at night left little doubt which of the two was the case 😉

The ross highway along the eastern MacDonnell ranges

The ross highway along the eastern MacDonnell ranges

We stayed longer, not having much else planned and only 90km out of Alice Springs. Even on our way back, we stopped often and took some “dream roads” photos. So in the end, we made it back to town around lunch time.

First thing on our first stop, we checked our phone for emails and texts. Through our encounter with Georg yesterday, we got handed a mobile number with the comment “Werner and Claudia, they live in Alice now. Met them in Ushuaia, they are real travelers.” Since we count ourselves among this illustrious group, we gave them a text last night.

Nice bikes, nice people

Nice bikes, nice people

Well, it turns out they were not over advertised and after helping us out to find a supermarket instead of a kmart, Claudia had lunch with us in town. All plans of touristy stuff were soon abandoned and when she dropped us off at a campground in town to get around some chores an invitation was extended for tonight. This would give us a chance to meet hard working Werner as well.

In the end, we had a lovely night in town. After more than a month without meeting other motorcycle travelers, it was just what we needed. Swapping expat stories was an added bonus. Thank you, Claudia and Werner, I am sure we will meet again somewhere, some time.

Day 47 – Dingoes ate my baby

Last night was a bit later than usual. First, because my kangaroo skewers took forever to get served, but more importantly because we had a beer and travel talk with Thomas from Berlin. He is the first motorcycle traveller that we met since starting this trip, at least for a longer chat.

Human added for scale (top of the ridge)

Human added for scale (top of the ridge)

That, plus a couple of urgent emails requiring my attention in the morning meant that our plans for the day started with a delay right out of the gate. Not that one item makes for a very long list, but we also wanted to get some good distance in afterwards back to the Stuart Highway and north if possible.

That one item? The King’s Canyon rim walk, a 6 km walk (plus some detours along the way) was marked with a whopping 3.5 hrs. We got there around 10 with the bike fully loaded. That always makes for a bit of an awkward change from biking to hiking mode, but nowhere nearly as hard or annoying as in our early travel days.

Nina was ok with most of the walk, only my brief explorations of the edge off the 50m sheer cliffs was met with little enthusiasm.

This is called Garden of Eden

This is called Garden of Eden

Although we took every detour, had lunch at the Garden of Eden and took way too many photos, we were back at quarter past one. Are we actually getting fitter? Either way, we were changed and back on the road by 2 pm.

I was keen on some bush camping, but from 4 pm onwards, the roadside was all fences, or desert plain without a single tree. So we pushed on a bit longer, on to the Stuart Highway and made camp at the Desert Oak rest area (Overnight camping is allowed here). I even found some good fire wood nearby. Thus, the day ended with a cup of tea next to a campfire on red sand.

Not too bad for a day to end.