What's it like to go bikepacking in Indonesia? Olly Hargreaves has sent through his last update all about cycling from Jakarta to Balin starting with a 38 hour ferry ride from Singapore!
Olly reckons Java has the steepest roads of his whole ride, steeper than the Alps, Afghanistan or the Pamir Highway, with gradients up to 30% and descents where your fingers never leave the brakes. He also explains why he skipped the busy north coast road and the brutal southern route other bikepackers took, instead choosing to go through the middle of the island via Bandung, Borobudur, Yogyakarta and Malang instead.
Then comes the climb to Mount Bromo, where his brother Jamie told him there was no way he'd ride the whole thing, and you can probably guess how that went. They cycled through the sand of the Bromo crater and watched Mount Semeru send up a cloud of ash every 20 minutes. After that came a night hike to the blue fire and sulphur mines of Mount Ijen, the ferry to Bali, and one last steep valley before they flew on to Australia.
If you're planning a cycling trip in Indonesia, Olly's advice is to be ready for the hills and make time for the volcanoes.
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