Articles in North Sumatra Bike Trip 2018
01- Riding from Tuktuk
Yesterday was my first day of real cycling in a very long time, and it shows this morning. (I rode from Tuktuk to Pangururan on the other side of Samosir Island.) I’d forgotten, for example, that prickly heat is a big problem. It developed overnight, and I found myself unable to sleep. And this was at a time when I desperately needed the sleep.
02 – A Night at a Truck Stop
I woke up in my rather rough room in Pangururan with a fairly difficult climb ahead of me. I didn’t have perfect facts at my disposal, but according to the Plotaroute website, I would need to climb 1,500 meters (4,921 feet) before I made my way out of the caldera of Lake Toba. That gives another idea (if one were needed) of the vastness of …
03 – Downhill to Sidikalang
FROM THE TRUCK STOP TO SIDIKALANG
As I anticipated, the first part of this day involved pushing my bike up a few hundred more meters of altitude. The truck stop was about two thirds of the way up the volcano, and I had to go up the final third until I reached where this smaller road met up with a larger one. I had no idea …
04 – Nantampukmas Hotel and the Road to Subulussalam
Despite practicing hundreds of times while I rode my bike, I simply could not pronounce the name Subulussalam when someone asked me where I was going or where I was coming from. That name defeated my tongue, but it was my destination for the day when I left from my tiny room in Sidikalang.
05 – A Wet, Wet Day from Subulussalam to the Ocean
The distance from Subulussalam to the next town that I knew contained some form of accommodation was 152 kilometers. There was no possibility of covering that distance in one day, so I knew I would be spending the night in my tent, and hopefully on the ocean. I carefully calculated the distances down out of the mountains and to the beginning of the ocean. The …
06 – Camping in a Fish Market on the Beach
After a long, rain-filled day, I arrived at the ocean. I saw a small path that led to the beach, and I turned my bike down it. I had cycled enough for the day, and I was thinking about where I might be able to set up my tent for the night.
When I got to the beach, I found a group of about twenty men …
07 – The Road to and from Tapak Tuan – Ocean Paradise
I don’t even know what time I crawled into my tent or what time I finally fell asleep, but it must have been early because I felt quite refreshed when my eyes popped open and I emerged from my tent at around 4 a.m. I had settled into my tent the night before with a clear intention of getting up this early. I knew that …
08 – Alue Bilie Bordello Decor and Troublesome Meulaboh
The next major stop on my route was the somewhat major city of Meulaboh. I think Meulaboh is the largest city on the coast before you reach Banda Aceh. The distance from Blang Pidie to Meulaboh was a bit too much for one day of riding at one hundred and twenty kilometers. I could have done it, but there was no real advantage to riding …