Emrys' Cycle adventures: Iggy's 6th and penultimate boat trip

And so it has come for the mad dash from the bottom of Sumatra, across Java to board my Bogan air flight from Bali. First there is the matter however of a rather deep stretch of water between Sumatra and Java know as the Sunda Straight.

I tried my hardest to get onto a cargo boat from Bandar Lampung but after several attempts i resolved to riding the hundred or so km to the very tip of the Island. I eventually arrived late in the afternoon and, after giving a rather aggressive homeless man my fried banana i had just bought, i rolled down to the ferry terminal.

1st, i try to get on the wrong ferry, without a ticket. Bad move! I find the correct terminal and pay the princely some of 10 000 rupiah for me and the bike. I look up and wince as i go through the turnstile- stairs. Lots of them. Thankfully one of the rather amused gate staff moves towards the trailer and pics up the wheel. We lurch, somewhat unsteadily up the stairs, up another set and then down the gangway to the hold.. Iggy is on board and i didn't even have to dismember him. Things aren't going to bad.

Igor catches the last of the Sumatran sun on the boat to Java.

Ramadan has started the day before. For those unfamiliar this is the month of dawn to dusk fasting from most things- water, cigarettes, food and sex. There are lots of hungry faces watching the beautiful sunset as Sumatra fades from view. When the sun finally dips below the horizon the food appears and so do the smiles.I soon meet a man and we begin to chat. His English out strips my meager Indonesian so we make do as best we can. He is an Engineer from South Sumatra on his way to Jakarta for business. He also has a van.......

(later)
I roll my thermarest out on the floor of the condo my engineer friend and his two colleagues have rented for the week. It is under the aircon and i sleep blisdfully until 2am when i wake to put more air in the slowly deflating mattress, every silver ling comes with a cloud i guess.