Oman has been on my radar for some time – ever since I was cycling in the Middle East, back in 2015. As I rode across Iran that summer, it started to seem more and more likely that I wouldn’t be able to get a visa for Turkmenistan. It’s a country that has always had … More Oman: The Jebel Shams Circle (22/02/19-27-02/19)
When I left London on my bicycle 22 months ago the mission was simple: cycle to Australia. Actually it was never that important a goal. To play an old cliche – it was ‘about the journey, not the destination’. The reason I’d picked Oz as my final stop was because it was the furthest away … More Australia Part 1: End of The Dream and Start of a New One (Darwin to Tenant Creek 19/10/16-07/11/16)
The rains had arrived. Viqueque was a muddy mess when I rolled through town. The main drag was flooded in big brown puddles. This was not good: dirt roads are no fun in the wet and there were river crossings up ahead. It was also a bad sign because Timor’s wet season arrives at the … More Timor-Leste Part 2: East of East East (Viqueque to Dili 08/10/17-19/10/17)
On the way to the border I opened my book and read the last few pages on Timor Leste’s recent history. It would be the first new country to me since Myanmar and I knew absolutely nothing about the place. If you’re as clueless as I was, here’s a super quick summary: The Portuguese arrived in … More Timor-Leste Part 1: The Asian Lap of Honour (Indonesia to Viqueque 27/09/16-07/10/16)
I was at the harbour in Larantuka at 7am. 11 hours later we finally docked in Kupang, just as the last of the sun was slipping below the horizon. Like every ferry crossing in Indonesia, the journey involved a plenty of faff and stalling but was accompanied by stunning views across the straits. It was … More Indonesia Part 7: Last Stop of The Archipelago (West Timor 21/09/16-27/09/16)
Arriving in Labuhanbajo was a surprise. Tourism was the market here, not fish. There were swish hotels, foreigner-friendly restaurants and plenty of other bule around. The boat arrived late (of course) and I checked into a cheap hostel just in time to catch the last of the sunset across the harbour. I’d crossed Sumbawa in … More Indonesia Part 6: Mister = Money (Flores Island 09/09/16-21/09/16)
Wherever I went in Indonesia people would always ask me ‘go to Bali?’. It was as if they thought I’d taken the wrong bus by accident and ended up in their village when I was supposed to be in Bali. Most of the foreign tourists coming here end up on Bali & Gili and they … More Indonesia Part 5: Attack of the Monkeys (Bali, Lombok and Sumbawa Islands 30/08/16-09/09/16)
After a day off in Yogyakarta I could leave with something resembling a plan. I would head north to the other side of Java and follow the coastal road east towards Bali. As the road headed north I could see Merapi looming to my left. My last visit to Yogykarta was in 2011, just a year … More Indonesia Part 4: Climbing Volcanoes in East Java (Yogyakarta to Banywuangi 24/08/16-30/08/16)
One of the things I dislike the most about South East Asia is not being able to wild camp anywhere. There’s either too much jungle to squeeze a tent in, or people have cleared the land to farm or build a house. I miss stealth camping a lot, so when I saw a track leading … More Indonesia Part 3: Mountaintop Traffic Jams (Merak to Yogyakarta 15/08/16-23/08/16)
The landscape was changing again. The fields of rice disappeared and the hills began to undulate once again but now they were only occasionally covered in palm or rubber trees. Small cassava trees (a root vegetable) were growing across the hills and farmers were drying crops in the sun. It suddenly occurred to me that it … More Indonesia Part 2: Falling Victim to Sumatra’s Deadly Roads (South Sumatra 08/08//16-14/08/16)
JKB's Bike Ride 