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9 Jul 2018
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Veteran HUBBer
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: RTW, From Vancouver BC 2012
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We have been told the ferry leaves every Tuesday a 1300 for Bira and that we should be at the terminal at 9 so we showed up at 830. It is a bit confusing, but there is a small sigh on the main road before the main terminal, which directs you right on a dirt road thru a construction site to the ASDP dock.
 Screen Shot 2018-06-04 at 18.53.15 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE6994 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE6999 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE7005 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
Here there are dozens of bikes parked, a few cars, and some small trucks. The ticket office is off to the right and we had scouted this out last week. We arrived and confirmed the boat is going today at 1300 and we can buy tickets at 10. You can not pre buy tickets at the terminal or on line. This is because the staff on the ferry actually come off and sell the tickets after they dock. There is some mayhem as the ferry to Bima leaves daily at 9 and most people are going there.
 FILE7012 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Flores-112 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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9 Jul 2018
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Contributing Member
Veteran HUBBer
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: RTW, From Vancouver BC 2012
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The Bira ferry docked at 930 and people poured off. The unloading took 2 hours as they would drive empty buses and small trucks onboard and load them with cargo from the deck. The vehicles came off packed to the rafters and with towers of stuff on the roofs.
Jo a rider from Jakarta also showed up to get in line. He had hedged his bets as he was not sure he could bet a ticket and he left all his gear at his hostel.
Finally at 10 they started selling tickets for the sailing. You have to buy 2 the first to Pulau Jampea and the second from there to Bira.
After the ticket sales started the foot passengers and moto-riders all went on board to claim their spot for the night. We had planned to ask the crew for a bunk room. We finally loaded after 1.
 Flores-114 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE7017 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE7019 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE7027 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE7030 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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9 Jul 2018
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Contributing Member
Veteran HUBBer
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: RTW, From Vancouver BC 2012
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Sara went upstairs to check on Jo (on the very top deck at a table under the shade cover) and see what was up (not a place we wanted to be as it was too exposed and would be the most sea sick inducing).
 IMG_2932 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Flores-119 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Flores-120 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Flores-124 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
EVERY surface that was flat was covered with people and their luggage on the 2 upper decks and the tops of the main car deck cargo areas. There are several hundred humans on board and bunk beds for about 60. There are people lying on every floor surface except small walkways. It is insane with the screaming babies, load music, smoking, and roosters crowing. (They actually had cock fighting and gambling on deck in the middle of the night). The place is already a mess from the voyage over. The bathrooms however were quite clean as they are aqua toilets with bucket for flush. People actually were “showering” in here and so it was very wet, but clean. They also leave there shoes outside , which helps.
 Flores-123 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Flores-125 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Flores-126 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Flores-127 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Flores-128 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Flores-129 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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9 Jul 2018
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Contributing Member
Veteran HUBBer
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: RTW, From Vancouver BC 2012
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Sara managed to get one of the crew to rent us a 3 berth bunk room for the 26 hour trip (for way too much, but with very cent). This had clean linens and air con! But best of all did not smell like goat urine from the truck full of goats and was nearly silent except for mild engine noise. We even had a port hole.
 Flores-117 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Flores-118 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 IMG_2930 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 IMG_2929 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Flores-121 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
It would have been a very difficult crossing if we had to sit on our chairs on the deck in the garbage and animal mess. In fact we had a pretty good night. We bought the usual instant noodles for lunch and watched the craziness going on around us.
We were needless to say the only foreigners on board and quite a novelty. When Dan went up to the toilet the men in line for “showers” let him to the front of the line. We were up at 4 am when we docked at Pulau Jampea and Dan went out to buy some rice, noodles, and chicken in wax paper packs from one of the ladies that came on board to sell them. We also could get pretty good hot coffees. The sea was a bit rough on the way here and Sara did sleep well with some Gravol. We ate our meals after 9am and then relaxed in our sanctuary.
 Flores-130 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Flores-134 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Flores-131 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Flores-132 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Flores-122 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Flores-133 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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10 Jul 2018
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Contributing Member
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At 3 our ship tied up beside another ship that was already docked at Bira and was almost fully loaded and all our foot passengers climbed off the upper deck onto the main dock itself.
We had to wait until this other ferry was loaded and left the only docking station. We finally were almost off after 26 hours, but the truck blocking us in was dead and they had to push it off.
 IMG_2942 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE7231 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE7244 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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10 Jul 2018
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Contributing Member
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Makassar is only 189 km from Bira, but google says it takes 5 hours….should be lots of traffic then? There are a lot more Muslims here so far than we have seen on Timor or Flores (where they were very sparse) and so a lot of Mosques. Arriving to the guest house we were already very hot after just 30 min in the suits. We had our cold water only shower and then walked down to the beach. Several people asked to have their photo taken with us?! The tide is out and all the boats are beached! The sand is white, but has a clay like feel. It is pretty humid here and so after a quick meal we retreated to our fan and air con.
 FILE7341 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 IMG_2944 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Sulawesi-9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Sulawesi by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Sulawesi-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Sulawesi-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Sulawesi-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Sulawesi-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
We had a “halal” breakfast of deep fried plantains and donuts and coffee so strong it was thick with grounds we had to let them settle.
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10 Jul 2018
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Registered Users
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Hey Sara!
We might be in Toronto when you roll through, PM us when you get close!
Have a safe journey home!
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10 Jul 2018
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Contributing Member
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We set out a bit late at 9 and headed back to the road thru Bira the 189 km to Makassar.
 Screen Shot 2018-06-14 at 20.40.55 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE7357 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
Initially there was little traffic and we headed north west and along the sea. There is a history of boat building here and there are quite a few on the shore between the garbage!
 FILE7367 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
There is a lot of traffic and almost constant urbanization and a stream of traffic. Several of the villages had roadside hand pumps with regular benzene. We also passed many villages drying the seaweed from the nearby beaches. We also passed the greenest rice fields we have seen yet.
This 39 km to the main road at Jalan Poros took 90 minutes. This included 30 minutes at the gas station waiting in line at the 2 pumps that were in use. We passed other stations during the day and though not as bad all had lines. There is no gas in Bira except from water bottles on the side of the road.
 FILE7371 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE7380 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE7390 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE7398 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Sulawesi-12 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE7422 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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10 Jul 2018
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Contributing Member
Veteran HUBBer
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On the main road the traffic was almost constant, but mostly moving. The flow is hampered by cars driving for some reason at 20 km per hour that need passing, but there is an oncoming stream of vehicles as well. There are slow moving scooters and tug tug and horse drawn cars as well. Add to this scooter boys who think they are in the moto GP in passing close to you in both directions and the cars oncoming who are often half in your lane. We have an aggressively defensive style that serves us well in this situation and though intense we survived unscathed. We passed huge salt farms as well.
 FILE7438 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE7445 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE7455 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE7464 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE7481 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE7511 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
We stopped at 1300 after 4 hours and only 90 km for lunch of fried chicken! The guys there wanted a photo Op.
 Sulawesi-13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
The traffic after entering the city was actually much better as there were finally 2 lanes. Because of Ramadan the hotels are empty and we could get a room at the 4 points Sheraton for 45$. We paid more for the sketch cold shower no flush toilet place in Bira. They have a nice pool area on the 9 th floor and even their own mosque. We had a simple dinner in the hotel restaurant.
 Sulawesi-19 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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10 Jul 2018
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Contributing Member
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We had been contacted by a local rider Aditya, who had seen our friend Jo’s post on What’s app Overland Indonesia thread. Jo was letting people know to watch out for us. Actually Orvar is on this stream and so even he was sending us messages about this guy looking for us.
We had only planned one night here, but we could not miss the opportunity to join in the annual Hari Lebaran celebration to mark the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. On the first day of Lebaran you go from house to house of the senior relatives.
We had a convoy of 10 vehicles. Aditya with his wife Isti, and the very cute Mika chauffeured us all day. You greet everyone with “Selamat Aidil Fitri”. We were warmly welcomed by the entire family and fed very well at each of the 6 stops. This was a very special day for us to experience!
 Sulawesi-14 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Sulawesi-15 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Sulawesi-16 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Sulawesi-17 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Sulawesi-18 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
We did not eat dinner of course, but met up with Aditya, Isti, and Mika for breakfast. Well at least we ate as they are parents and up at 630 so have eaten, plus it is day 2 of Lebaran and they have a lot of food to get thru again today! He also took us to a station that sold 98 octane and also on th route out of town.
 Sulawesi-22 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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11 Jul 2018
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Contributing Member
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The traffic here in the countryside is worse actually and this was accentuated when we hit the curvy tight road up over the mountains. There are swarms of scooters who pass dangerously and we are stuck behind a line of 10 cars behind an old man driving the corners at 16 km per hour. It took over 20 minutes for us to get past him.
 FILE7543 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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11 Jul 2018
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Contributing Member
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The rest of the day at least we made 45-50 km/hr. The middle section of the road is more sweeping curves, but the last is much straighter and we made better time. We stopped after 2 1/2 hours and 90 km for a drink and then made the last 90 km in 1 1/2 hours.
 FILE7552 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE7554 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE7555 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 IMG_2955 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
We arrived to the town and there was quite a bit of traffic jam. The first hotel we tried was sold out, but luckily the second had a room left. It is petty intense riding with all the noise and honking and people parked in the middle of the road and the scooters whizzing past. We did not get lunch and both the restaurants near by are closed due to the holiday. In the end it was ramen in the room and a roll of Oreos. There was some riveting TV!
 IMG_2956 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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Check the RAW segments; Grant, your HU host is on every month!
Episodes below to listen to while you, err, pretend to do something or other...
2020 Edition of Chris Scott's Adventure Motorcycling Handbook.
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Ripcord travel protection is now available for ALL nationalities, and travel is covered on motorcycles of all sizes!
What others say about HU...
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"I for one always had an adventurous spirit, but you and Susan lit the fire for my trip and I'll be forever grateful for what you two do to inspire others to just do it." Brent, USA
"Your website is a mecca of valuable information and the (video) series is informative, entertaining, and inspiring!" Jennifer, Canada
"Your worldwide organisation and events are the Go To places to for all serious touring and aspiring touring bikers." Trevor, South Africa
"This is the answer to all my questions." Haydn, Australia
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Lots more comments here!
Diaries of a compulsive traveller
by Graham Field
Book, eBook, Audiobook
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Back Road Map Books and Backroad GPS Maps for all of Canada - a must have!
New to Horizons Unlimited?
New to motorcycle travelling? New to the HU site? Confused? Too many options? It's really very simple - just 4 easy steps!
Horizons Unlimited was founded in 1997 by Grant and Susan Johnson following their journey around the world on a BMW R80G/S.
Read more about Grant & Susan's story
Membership - help keep us going!
Horizons Unlimited is not a big multi-national company, just two people who love motorcycle travel and have grown what started as a hobby in 1997 into a full time job (usually 8-10 hours per day and 7 days a week) and a labour of love. To keep it going and a roof over our heads, we run events all over the world with the help of volunteers; we sell inspirational and informative DVDs; we have a few selected advertisers; and we make a small amount from memberships.
You don't have to be a Member to come to an HU meeting, access the website, or ask questions on the HUBB. What you get for your membership contribution is our sincere gratitude, good karma and knowing that you're helping to keep the motorcycle travel dream alive. Contributing Members and Gold Members do get additional features on the HUBB. Here's a list of all the Member benefits on the HUBB.
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helps answer the question - Why Go? Inspirational stories by veteran travellers Greg Frazier (5 times RTW), Peter and Kay Forwood (193 countries), Tiffany Coates (Mongolia Mayhem) and Rene Cormier (University of Gravel Roads).
Get Ready! covers planning, paperwork, medical and many other topics! "Inspirational and Awesome!" See the trailer here!
What stuff do I need - riding gear, clothing, camping gear, first aid kit, tires, maps and GPS? What don't I need? How do I pack it all in? Lots of opinions from over 150 travellers!
break down language barriers, overcome culture shock, ship the bike and deal with breakdowns and emergencies."Just makes me want to pack up and go!" See the trailer here!
Grant demystifies the black art of Tire Changing and Repair to help you STAY on the road! "Very informative and practical." See the trailer here!
Ladies on the Loose! For the first time ever, a motorcycle travel DVD made for women, by women! These intrepid women share their tips to help you plan your own motorcycle adventure. They also answer the women-only questions, and entertain you with amazing tales from the road! Presented by Lois Pryce, veteran solo traveller through South America and Africa and author of 'Lois on the Loose', and 'Red Tape and White Knuckles.'
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Show your route on your panniers. Great conversation starter when you meet people on the road!
Motorcycle and travel books to inspire and inform you!
The definitive guide to planning your motorcycle adventure! This insanely ambitious 2-year project has produced an informative and entertaining 5-part, 18 hour video series. "The ultimate round the world rider's how-to!" MCN UK.
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