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25 – Ferry to Klang, Malaysia
Thursday, September 6, 2018
4:30 a.m. Room ?, d’Spark Hotel
Klang, Malaysia
(60 RM/$15 US per night; single room; small but well-appointed, modern, clean; boutique style hotel; A/C; TV; WiFi; nice private bathroom; kettle; instant coffee; bottled water; soap, shampoo, towel supplied;)
Much of my fiddling with the trailer and the rain cover. turned out to be unnecessary, at least for this trip. I realized that since I had …
24 – Trapped Among Trucks and a Birdsong Competition
Sunday September 2, 2018
5:00 a.m. Room 208, Cahaya Asahan Hotel
Kisaran, Sumatra
(130,000 rupiah/$8.50 US per night; great hotel; great staff; professional; indoor parking with security; nice room; two beds; air conditioning; Wi-Fi; nice, clean bathroom; shopping center with grocery store across the street)
At long last, I have made it to Kisaran. Assuming I don’t ride to the small town of Tanjungbalai, this is the last stop …
23 – Devouring Chicken in Langsa, Pangkalan Brandan, and Medan
Thursday August 26, 2018
5:00 a.m. Room 102, Khalifah Hotel
Idirayeuk, Aceh, Sumatra
The plan is to ride down the road to the town of Langsa today. It’s not terribly far to Langsa, and there appear to be a variety of hotels there, so I wasn’t anticipating a difficult day. However, I’ve woken up to the sound of rain. If it were heavy rain, I might have just …
22 – Fishing Harbour in Idirayeuk
Wednesday August 22, 2018
5:00 a.m. Room 102, Khalifah Hotel
Idirayeuk, Aceh, Sumatra
(250,00 rupiah/$16.50 US a night – expensive; air conditioning; private bathroom; TV; nice bed; but the room is old and cramped and crowded)
When I left from Lhokseumawe, I had two possible outcomes for the day. One was to ride around sixty kilometers and find a hotel in a random town along the way way. The …
21 – The Road to Lhokseumawe
Monday, August 20, 2018
7:00 a.m. Room 10, Wisma Pase
Lhokseumawe, Sumatra
(170,000 rupiah/$11 US per night; big room; big bed; furniture; TV; air conditioning; nice bathroom; clean; modern; quiet; fast WiFi and strong cell phone reception)
From the time being seven in the morning, it’s clear that I am staying in Lhokseumawe today. I had a fair amount of trouble cycling the sixty-five kilometers to get here yesterday, …
20 – Stomping on Cockroaches
Friday August 17, 2018
7:15 a.m. Room 46, Hotel Fajar
Bireuen, Sumatra
I’ve definitely stayed in worse places than the Hotel Fajar. In fact, the hotel itself is really large and has a lot of facilities, such as seating in the lobby, tables and chairs outside, a parking area in the rear courtyard, water dispensers, and a drinks cooler. However, I opted for the cheapest room at 120,000 …
19 – No Bridge! Crossing the River by Raft
Wednesday August 15, 2018
6:30 a.m. Room 10, Kana Wisma
Meureudu, Aceh, Sumatra
Well, I’m afraid it is that time again, the time for a graphic account of being very ill. This has been a very bad one so far, but I also got a bit lucky. The lucky part is that I made it through the entire day of cycling and getting a hotel room and getting …
18 – Fixing My Bike and Other Gear in Sigli
Monday August 13, 2019
6:30 a.m Ramshackle Room, Wisma Dian
Sigli, Sumatra
I was woken up by the call to prayer this morning at around five a.m. I felt like I should sleep longer, but I wasn’t able to. So I got up and went about my early morning routine. That involves taking down my mosquito net and setting it aside, plugging in my kettle for hot water, …