July 24, 2023
Day 85 - A roach, a ride to Pasuruan and a celebration of cycling
My day started, in my squalid quarters, in just the way it should start in squalid quarters, with a roach ambling across the floor. The a/c vaguely cooled the place last night. You really don't need locks on the doors; they drag sufficiently on the ground.
It's a new time zone here in Java, so the light has shifted to the morning. It always seems like an achievement to cross time zones while touring. I should don the red tie but I'm forgetting to do that even between islands. There's something hectic about Indonesia that keeps you on the hook. Hotel Forresta does not provide breakfast - probably a good thing, and so I ate fruit and biscuits and headed for Pasuruan, 120 km away. I liked the look of stuff this morning.
| Heart | 5 | Comment | 0 | Link |
I made my first donation to the Commonwealth Bank in Besuki, so I'll have enough money tonight for a roach-free room. The road this morning has been rough. I've stopped, after 35 km, for breakfast - rice, tofu, tempeh, egg, potato and tea, and coffee.
I was on my way again passing an enormous coal-fired power-station, when I noticed that it was just 9.30.
I hadn't gone much further when I came across fruit stalls, where I stocked up on mandarins and snake fruit. Here's the day's vendor.
Soon after that I saw a sign that took me back a little.
| Heart | 4 | Comment | 1 | Link |
9 months ago
I continued cycling and didn't see anything resembling a rest area and certainly not one with 80 toilets. I had forgotten about it when, after a couple of km, there was another sign, this time indicating 500 m. Finally, it appeared and was not the typical roadside rest area but, instead, a resort. I kept cycling.
I had seen many bicycles up to this point, all being used as work-horses. I'll get back to that later. But halfway to Pasuruan, I spotted a cycle tourer ahead and soon caught up.
We stopped and chatted near a stall selling durian for 10,000 rp and another offering three pineapples for the same money. Ramli is an interesting character. He dropped out of English studies at university, worked as a chef and, for the past two years, has been traveling around his homeland. First he walked, then hitch-hiked and, more recently, cycled on what I guess is a 1950's steel British bike. It's a fixie, without gears, and rather tricky to ride. I tried! We rode the 60 km to Pasuruan together and he then continued to Surabaya. He rides most nights, dark clothes, no lights, although he does have a reflector!
| Heart | 3 | Comment | 3 | Link |
9 months ago
9 months ago
We stopped occasionally in the 60 km to Pasuruan, including getting fritters from this fellow.
I found plush accommodation for the night at Semeru Park Hotel.
I tool some random photos while walking back after eating.
And now, for that celebration of cycling. There's some tough people here.
Let me finish with a photo that I have made so many times on this trip that it deserves to enter the blog.
Today's ride: 129 km (80 miles)
Total: 6,493 km (4,032 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 4 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 4 |
Well ridden, and sensible choice not to ride at night like the darkly clad local cycle tourer.
9 months ago
9 months ago
On more recent work visits, I found that any area below about 300 metres elevation was stifling for someone used to Canberra and Orange weather. And of course the population of motorcycles and trucks has grown logarithmically since 1983.
I have the impression that the northern coastal margins of Java are busier and more populated than the southern coasts. Surabaya of course is a vast city.
Higher places, like Malang City, are said to be much more pleasant.
9 months ago
9 months ago