Indonesia - The Adventure Islands

I have now entered into the southern islands, or what I like to refer to them as, "the adventure islands" of Indonesia.  This is area a sportsman's paradise, world class surfing, scuba diving, hiking, fishing, and of course, great motorcycle riding.  Indonesia is an island chain, so it takes a series of roads (dirt, paved, and under constriction) and ferries to make progress.  The ground based route is a sure joy to behold (with the exception of an unmarked construction site, a pothole big enough to swallow up a small child, or an un-expectant landslide blocking the path or requiring some very swift throttle action.  Its a great place to visit and very inexpensive.  I am stunned more people have not taken advantage of all this area has to offer.  

The roads in this part of Indonesia are in much better shape, and the traffic is almost non-existent.  Each island, surprisingly, has a flavor of its own. The practiced religion (Muslim Hinduism, Buddhism or Christian) shapes the people and the amount of fertile soil shapes the land. It feels a bit like changing countries when changing islands.  Religion, while varying, is deep rooted here.  When a local asks where your headed, and you tell them, the response is always, "they are  (insert religion) there," though never with a sense of negativity.  

What to say about the ferries, well, to put it bluntly, the ferries are kinda scary. They look like prison barges with overflowing toilets.  Some of the ferry rides are quite short, just an hour or so, and some are intolerably long, about 18 hours.  Number one rule is to poop before you get on the boat. Unfortunately the anxiety about the having nowhere to poop on the boat makes it difficult to poop before you get on the boat.  The 18 hour ferry (Flores to Timor) was a challenge, both in terms of intestinal control and finding a place to sleep.  For the later, I set my tent up in the empty space of the vehicle deck and camped out.  The locals thought I was crazy, but the tent served as a good way to keep my stuff together.  For the former, well, I just clamped down for dear life till I arrived on shore.  

Well I have made it to the Indonesia/Timor-Leste Border.  I really enjoyed the country and its people...especially its people.  They were friendly, helpful and a pleasure to be around.  The only beef I had with Indonesia is that it was hard finding beef...or chicken...or anything that wasn't rice, rice and noodles, or rice noodles....with a fried egg on top.  The food, when you can find some, is all fried carbs, which will leave one sluggish after a while.  Restaurants, outside of the few tourist areas (just about 50 miles of the over 3,000 miles I rode through Indonesia), are few and far between. The reasoning is that Indonesians are very family oriented and eat at home as a family unit, thus no real need for restaurants.  As a result, I would go for day or two without meals, living on snickers bars and coke zero that I procured at the local candy mart.  All in all, it is a small price to pay for sure for traveling through this paradise.  I highly recommend you visit, just bring food, and you can leave the Snicker Bars at home.    

Leg Distance: 1,248 mi (2,013 km)

Total Distance Traveled by Motorcycle: 42,801 mi (69,034 km)

Countries/Territories Visited: USA, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Gibraltar, France, Monaco, Italy, Vatican City, San Marino, Slovenia, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Transnistria, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, China (for 20 seconds), India, Nepal, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Timor-Leste