September 24, 2006
To Malang: across the caldera by jeep
We've been in Indonesia almost 2 weeks and we still wake up at 5:30am. Rachel is having trouble writing about this day, even though today promised to be an epic tale and that promise was fulfilled.
We dress at 6:00am, pack and wait for breakfast at 7:30am. The land cruiser that will take us to the other side of the rim of the Tengger people Ngadas Village arrives at 8:00. The bags are placed inside to one side, front wheels taken off and the bikes placed inside with the back wheels in first and the handlebars & front racks hanging out the door. Patrick supervises and ties the bikes in and checking they are secure. One fellow says "you've done this before" and soon we are off down the steep road into the caldera and the loose deep black lava ash.
We don't get very far.
The wheels are spinning we are going nowhere except sliding sideways off a hill. "Joy ride turns to nightmare" says Rachel. In an instant what seemed like a good idea wasn't looking so good. The Toyota didn't have a working 4-wheel drive. We struggle to get unstuck; Patrick gets out to push while another driver stops to help our driver and soon, we are going again.
But we don't go very far.... we are stuck again.
Again, Patrick gets out and pushes, soon a Land Rover Defender is coming by, and our driver waves him to stop. The Defender turns around and with the winch pulls us free. They will follow us. We are told Mt. Bromo had blown more ash a few weeks ago and that is why it is so deep. We continue on and soon we are out of the ash and onto a dirt road. Patrick says he thinks the driver isn't very experienced, he does seem to slow down and shift at the wrong times. But he is trying to be careful with the bikes.
The other side of Bromo and the caldera seems greener and with more trees, we slowly climb, sometimes along a ridge, we are close to Mt. Semeru and it gives puffs of smoke. We finally reach Ngadas, he takes us through the steep roads of the town and drops us off on the outskirts on the other side and points to the road and says Malang. Patrick pays him 300,000Rp and we say Terima Kashi (thank you).
We put the bikes back together and set off on the steep steep descent, trying not to build up too much speed. The road surface would change suddenly and there are many potholes to avoid. Mainly, the road is poured concrete that has been cut into blocks. For about 10kms it was nonstop braking, sometimes the road was so steep and the surface so bad, Rachel would walk her bike, not having enough strength in her hands to brake. Rachel's hands ached. Patrick could ride more sections and would patiently wait.
We get a few glimpses of Semuru. Its top is covered with a concrete grey colored crust from recent eruptions. About every thirty minutes it spews out a cloud of gasses. In several places uncontrolled small wildfires are burning, the smoke together with clouds and haze obscure most of the views on our way down from Bromo. Everywhere on the steep slopes there are planted fields. The soil is dry and very dusty, seems hard to grow anything in the dry season and you'd think the topsoil would wash away in one good tropical downpour. The road finally becomes less steep, and we ride through some orchards and reach the asphalt road.
Instead of braking, we now have to pedal.
On the outskirts of Malang, we see a sign for 24-hour home delivery for MacDonalds. Could this be true? In Malang, we easily find a recommended budget hotel, it's cheap and a bit dingy. We are not up for searching any further. We carry our gear to the second floor, and everything goes in the room. A quick lukewarm shower and (we admit) we hit the Golden Arches for a Big Mac Meal. We have some trouble with our ATM card and not until the fourth or fifth bank does the thing spit out our cash. For a while we were worried that our bank had blocked our account, even though we had explained our plans prior to leaving. We also do some emails at an internet cafe, and shopping at the big department store, then return to MacDonalds for a soft ice cream cone.
Just before dark we are back to our room. There is a nice balcony in front of the room where we sit, read and write our journal. Patrick burns more flashcards with pictures to the DVD, we already have passed 10 gigs. Tomorrow we'll spend a day in Malang before a four-day run to Yogyakarta.
Today was a good day and we are feeling we have made the transition to the new reality of cycle touring.
Today's ride: 43 km (27 miles)
Total: 563 km (350 miles)
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2 years ago