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Jakarta to Dieng Plateau Central Java
Dieng plateau on Central Java to Bali

INDONESIA

Mar
2004-09-14 16:42:50

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good to the bikes. The opposite is true for us. We have 25 kilo of luggage each, we have road tires and they are pumped up right to 4 bar and the very fine sand makes it all less easy to 'mountain bike'. But where to go otherwise? We cycle over the beach for another kilometre until the third river that offers a bamboo raft again (20 dollar cent). The fourth river is even deeper and wider than all three before (25 meters). Even the motorcycles have trouble crossing this one. Locals try to make money by helping people cross but we have given away our small change to the two bamboo ferries and can only pay with amounts of about ten dollar. Raymond decides to wait until I have successfully crossed in order to be able to help when I slip or fall. The current is quite strong at some point, pushing me towards the ocean. It is also quite deep and has big slippery stones that I can't see. It takes me 5 minutes but I reach the other side. Raymond comes next and makes also a successful crossing. We keep on going over the beach. There are still motorcycles coming and going so this must be the right way to go. After the next smaller river crossing we decide to walk on. We reach a couple of houses on the beach on the other side of... another smaller but deep river. We see a motorcycle going almost completely under and we decide to try our luck a few meters downstream where it is wider and less deep. We park the bicycles on the one small street between the houses. A dying chicken (bird flu?) and loads of trash make the pavement. A shop provides the basic products for the nearby fishing houses we have passed on our way. The atmosphere is more like a pirate village, all the garbage on the ground, men doing nothing in front of the houses, their faces wrinkled by the sun and salt. You don't want to wonder around in this village as a woman on your own with a lot of money in your pocket. We eat a snack and notice a truck further on at the beach. So in the end there ...