Entry 1 - Island hopping in Indonesia... on a bike! - Best Laid Plans

Well, this time yesterday I didn't think I would be sitting here having a cup ofTeh-Oh (clear tea) on Batam island in Indonesia. Yet another last minute 'impulse-adventure'. Faced with a week off, and the looming probability that I will be leaving Asia in 8 weeks, I decided that I couldn't go home a second time never having been to Singapore's direct neighbor Indonesia. For that matter so long as I was going to go, might as well go all the way and cross into the southern hemisphere which at the ancient age of26 I've never been to! (I think this is the late 20thcentury
version of a 'poor deprived child!' hee-hee)

Thisjourney is a little different & at the same time a bit of a return for me. You see, I'm going sol6 this time. A) Because when you plan an adventure 12 hours in advance it's hard to put together a 'quality, willing expedition team' And, B) Some of my most clarifying moments have been on these solo trips: Hitchhiking through Utah to see DJ; Camping in Elora when Narda was in summer school; Trekking trom Pangboche to Namche Bazarre in Nepal. I figure a little clarity never hurt anyone, so I guess now is as good a time as any.

So last night I called around to all of the people that I was maybe-sorta going to
Thailand/Sentosa/Besar with, and bailed out. Then I picked up the panier bags for my bike, and a Lonely Planet trom Yama; my camping stove trom Johann; a map trom the bookstore; and I started to pack. (Shit, I just remembered that I supposed to e-mail Johann this morning with my itinerary.Sooooo,I guess that means that I'm cycling through Indonesia, during the riots,by myself, and nobody really knows where. Ok kids, the theme for this adventure hasjust become: "Please don't die, please don't die, please don't die!")

Of course great plans yesterday don't always translate into great trips today! This morning when my alarm went off at 6:45 it was thundering & pouring. ''No way am I starting a vacation in that shit!" I remember thinking as I rolled over and went back to sleep. By 9:20 it was down to a drizzle and started pedaling down Dawson Road heading towards Indonesia.

In a beautiful display of Singaporean efficiency, my bike and I had a $16 one way ticket to Batam and boarded the jet-ferry effortlessly. The only set-back was that some transport company has to update their website which said I could take a ferry to Nongsapura trom the World Trade Center (where I live) and not the Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal (where Ishak lives). Oh well, it just means that I had to come to Sekupang and cycle a little farther at this end. But then, that's what a cycling trip is all about right?

Unfortunately, somewhere between Singapore& Indonesia the exact same people, on the
exact same boat, who had been so efficient, left their brains behind in Singapore. (Maybe it's an Indonesian immigration law or something) When we got to Batam and I got off the boat without any sign of my bike, I got a little worried. I went back to the boat and asked the crew who told me "Oh yes, it's off, go through customs over there" waving in some random direction. Any of you who have ever traveled in Asia know full well, as I should have then, that the boat was pulling away, with my bike was still sitting there on the deck, and they just wanted to leave. Five minutes later came an apologetic call over the radio from the captain, reassuring that I could
pick up my bike from the dock just as soon as the boat returned to Batam in an hour. Which I did. Not before my air pump dropped over the side and into the ocean in the process. (Explaining the previous theme of this adventure: "Please don't get a flat, Please don't get a flat, Please don't get a flat!")

All of which of course, brings us to here: Me sitting in a coffee shop, waiting for a ferry from Batam to Tanjong Pinang on Bintan Island ($4). Because you see, it has started pouring again, and "No way am I starting a vacation in that shit!"