From Canggu, Bali to Malang, Java and back.
8 days on a motorbike.
1,000km / 617 miles.
Are you ready?
The Plan
Our plan is to go from Canggu, Bali to Malang and back. We are taking the south road on the way there and the north road on the way back.
If things go to plan we want to hike Mount Ijen to see the blue fire and the sunrise and along the way see waterfalls and a beach or two.
Due to me needing to extend my visa we are on a schedule to return within 9 days, leaving on Tuesday and returning the following Wednesday at the latest.
The Crew
Let me introduce our crew taking on this road trip.
First we have Mo, AKA Mountain Mo. He is from Indonesia and has a love for hiking mountains, hence his nickname. He initiated the plan to do a road trip to Komodo but due to time constraints we changed to Java last minute.
Hossam, from Egypt, who has lived in Bali for approx 2 years, moving around the island seeing all the sights.
Rachel, from Scotland, she arrived into Bali at 6am the day we were leaving and I convinced her to come for a road trip somehow.
And of course, myself.
An Early Morning
Tuesday morning, I woke at 5:30am to pick Rachel up from the airport, her flight was due to arrive at 6am and I had a 40 minute drive to get there.
After 5 minutes of driving I had to turn back because I forgot to take a helmet for her, oops. I picked on up then was back on my way.
Normally it takes about half an hour or longer to get through immigration and pick up your baggage, but not today…
Rachel’s flight for in early and by the time I arrived she was already waiting.
We jumped on the bike and off to Canggu we went to get prepared for our road trip.
After dropping off the bags at the hostel, we went out for some coffee at BGS then waited for the boys to get ready.
There was a little mix up of times with us thinking we were leaving around 11am while Hossam thinking we would be leaving at 4pm!
Hossam went to get his driver’s licence around 10am and we waited… and waited… and waited.
Time to Go!
1:30pm we were off!
After 1 and a half hour drive we stopped at a local warung in Balian for some nasi campur and coffee. Also a much needed break on the knees and hips, I didn’t realise how many muscles I would use sitting as passenger!
Soon we were back on the road and the traffic got crazyyy! Cars and trucks were constantly zooming past us, vehicles overtaking on our side of the road and a couple of near misses later we arrived in Gilimanuak.
We purchased our boat tickets for 34,000 rupiah per bike then headed to the harbour, where we paid an additional 2,000 rupiah for entry (I don’t know why).
We drove onto the ferry, vehicles packed right to the back. the boat journey was super short, only taking 20 minutes but we had to wait to get into the harbour.
The ocean looked like a free for all of boats, everyone waiting their turn to offload. It didn’t look like there was any rhyme or reason to how you got in.
Within 1 hour of being on the boat we had docked and finally arrived in Java!
Goodbye Bali, Hello Java!
Once we got off we drove 1 hour to our accommodation for the night, stopping for some snacks and dinner for the night.
The roads seemed so different from Bali already, there was a lane for bikes and a lane for cars. Not that it stopped the bikes from crossing over. The traffic was crazier than Bali and bike’s certainly didn’t rule the road here, cars and lorries were king here.
It was also a lot busier, but I shouldn’t have been surprised considering many vehicles are transporting goods between the islands.
We turned off the main road and started the climb towards Mount Ijen.
The air temperature was getting colder and colder, even in a jumper! We passed many small villages and local warungs. Everting slowly closing as it was getting later in the evening.
The last stretch of road to our accommodation was horrific. It was super bumpy and I thought my brain was going to rattle out of my head!
Finally we arrive, at Myman’s guest house, one of Mo’s friends. The places was luxury, and by far the biggest house I have ever seen in Indonesia.
Upon entering, there was an open plan living, kitchen and dining area, then two large bedrooms off either side with their own bathrooms. We were living!
It was cold being so high up in the mountain, but a warm shower soon sorted us out.
We settled in for the night with some local chicken, rice and a beer then headed to bed for some much needed rest.
We slept like babies!
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