Tuk Tuk from Krabi to Jakarta!

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Originally Posted by VocalNeal

Plus you missed out Lake Toba the prettiest bit of Sumatra

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We saw Lake Toba but both times were at dusk and dawn so we couldn't get any good photo's. It was very beautiful.:)

We didn't have time to cross onto the island though. When we found that we could only travel 100km on some days we had to make some adjustments. The tuk tuks weren't as fast as I was expecting.

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Originally Posted by VocalNeal

Tut , Tut, Tut. FP Please go back through your emails and read:

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Yep, we had to veer of a bit. We had the plan of getting to the northern west beach coast. A mistake that you'll see on the nest days report.

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Originally Posted by VocalNeal

Plus you missed out Lake Toba the prettiest bit of Sumatra

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Got to get yourself back over to Lake Toba one day TFP.
Stayed there a few nights back in '05(ish).
Beautiful it was.

Loving this thread, a true classic, keep it up mate.

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Originally Posted by VocalNeal

Plus you missed out Lake Toba the prettiest bit of Sumatra

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wonderful place, I still have some Batak magic books

lake Maninau is another big crater lake to visit, also beautiful and le3ss visited

Day 8 - Sibolga to Simbengu 137km (With a massive De-Tour) 197km (and a missed turning) 217km- All in 13 Hours

We set off from Sibolga before the sun was up and the first job was to get cash and fuel. I went to a cash machine and withdrew 1 Million Rupiah but when it gave me the receipt my balance was in the tens of thousands.

I had a little panic that we were running out of cash and I was really hoping that it had given me the results in baht. There was no way to tell though until I could find some internet to check. The last time I withdrew cash at the airport a few days ago it gave me the balance in rupiah but with a dollar sign. I was a multi millionaire at that point.

The route plan for the day was to head along the highway from Sibolga and turn right at Batang Toru and head for the coastal road through Batumundan. Then just head as far along the coast that day as possible. Hopefully all the way to Natal.

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In my imagination it was going to be a beautiful smooth road that ran flat along side the coast where we would have the ocean to our right and we would be able to stop off in little beach towns and hang out with surfers and maybe catch a few waves when we got too hot. It would possibly even have street lights and we could continue our journey into the night.

I've gotta stop listening to my bloody imagination.

As we left Sibogla we did have some nice views along the way.

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At the time I didn't realize it but after this river was the right hand turn that we wanted to Batumundan. We missed the turning and went about 10km before working it out.

So we turned around and asked a few locals. They pointed us in the right direction but laughed at our tuk tuk and said there was no way we would make it. What did they know?

There were a few bridges on the way that had some dodgy crossings with loose wooden boards.

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Again on this bridge we were stopped by a local who told us to turn back. We laughed this off. Everyone had told us to turn back at the last mountain and we managed that just fine.

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The road started off being fantastic. A smooth winding road through a nice rubber tree plantation.

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A view of the hills behind us.

We got to the top of our first serious hill and continued to laugh at all the locals telling us to turn back. This was easy, don't they know we're British?

Here's me celebrating at what I thought was the top.

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We reached a village where the road turned into rocks and the tuk tuk felt like it was going to shake it's self into an early grave.

Road to Batumundan Part 1 - YouTube

We carried on along the rough road and prayed for tarmac.

Road to Batumundan Part 2 - YouTube

We got some but it was short lived.

After a few more corners I was I was faced with what looked like a vertical wall of rocky road, I was about to stop when Nod screamed in my ear "GUN IT!!!!!!!"

With that I put my foot down and the engine screamed up the hill. Within a few meters though I had to tell the guys to jump out because with their weight I wasn't going to make it.

Road to Batumundan Part 3 - YouTube

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When I reached the top I was hit with a spectacular view of a lake and mountains.

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Thats a lake just above the motorcycle in the distance.

I waited for the guys to catch up on foot and we could see a village at the bottom of the hill which we thought was Batumundan. I still had to get down the other side though which was just as steep as the way up.

Even with my brakes on full and the engine in 1st gear I was still slipping and bouncing down the road.

Road to Batumundan Part 4 - YouTube

When we got to the village it wasn't Butumundan and there was a sign post saying "Natal 169km" We asked the villages if the road was nice and smooth all the way to Natal it was it like the hill we had just crossed.

The said it was the same as the hill we had just crossed and that we should turn back.

We decided to listen to them this time. It had taken us hours to travel just 30km and if we had a breakdown or an accident out here then it could be fatal.

Here are some kids. We showed them Facetime on the iPhone after this photo and they nearly shit themselves.

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A little disappointment, but still proud of how well we had done, we started the drive of shame back across the mountain and past all the villages who had told us to turn back.

I was still crapping myself about getting back up and over that hill without killing myself. Chico and Nod followed on motorcycles.

Road to Batumundan Turning Back - YouTube

Going up and down the tuk tuk was bouncing all over the place and the suspension was bottoming out a lot. I was in 1st gear going up and the rev counter was stuck on 11,000 revs. I don't think it was calibrated or even the right rev counter for the car so probably more like 8,000.

A close up of the road.

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Another arty shot.

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More steep roads

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And we were down.

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You can see from the last shot that the guys had gaffer taped the back doors open to make it easier to jump out if we did go over a cliff.

So back on the main road and it was time for a new route.

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You can see from the google map that the road we were trying to take isn't even on there. It wasn't on the tom Tom either.

The detour had taken us best part of the day so we had to push on to make some ground.

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This place was straight out of a Vietnam war movie.

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These guys followed us along for a bit taking pics.

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We stopped for a break in a little village and kids started running out to see us.

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Then we got the camera out and they all ran off.

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Before plucking up the courage to come back for a photo.:)

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When we reached Simbengu it was already very dark but every hotel we went to said they were full. Maybe they were full or maybe it was because we were covered in shit and they didn't want us in their place, who knows.

Anyway, we managed to find a suitable dive.

Here's me contemplating what I'm about to sleep on.

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And the room. This place wasn't even fit to murder a prostitute in.

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I'm pretty sure in a former life this room was used to perform autopsies.

And the obligatory bathroom shot.

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That night I was out for the count as soon as I hit the bed. Chico and Nod went to a Christian Rock Festival that was happening over the road.

Apparently it was very strange with everybody rocking out with no alcohol and they met one of the stars of Indonesian Idol. I've forgotten her name.

that road looked great, pity you didn't keep going!

It would have been fun but there's no way we would have made it to Jakarta by the 24th.

if you had survived

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Originally Posted by DrAndy

if you had survived

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And that.:)

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Originally Posted by The Fresh Prince

In my imagination it was going to be a beautiful smooth road that ran flat along side the coast where we would have the ocean to our right and we would be able to stop off in little beach towns and hang out with surfers and maybe catch a few waves when we got too hot. It would possibly even have street lights and we could continue our journey into the night.

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:smileylaughing:

Any comment on my part would be superfluous:rolleyes: Still you did miss the steep climb out of Balige but the road would have been smooth.

Great thread! Looks like a fantastic trip.

For future information, the part in the photo is a regulator/rectifier, it takes the alternating current (AC) generated by the stator (which is inside the engine) and turns it to DC to run the electrics and charge the battery. At the same time it reduces the voltage to a level suitable for charging the battery, which changes depending on what other electrics you are running. The excess current is converted to heat energy, which is why it has those heat fins.

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Originally Posted by The Fresh Prince

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Originally Posted by Sir Wilson

alternator ?

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That's what I would have called it but it didn't look like a regular alternator.

Ask an Indonesian if they can translate 'Siprok' SW.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by madjbs

For future information, the part in the photo is a regulator/rectifier, it takes the alternating current (AC) generated by the stator (which is inside the engine) and turns it to DC to run the electrics and charge the battery. At the same time it reduces the voltage to a level suitable for charging the battery, which changes depending on what other electrics you are running. The excess current is converted to heat energy, which is why it has those heat fins.

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Nice one Madjbs. Cheers!:)

Why didn't they use an alternator, is it because it's a bike engine?

What an absolutely brilliant thread Princey.

Well done to you and your explorer mates and I'll buy you all a beer next week.

:wanw:

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Originally Posted by Loy Toy

Well done to you and your explorer mates and I'll buy you all a beer next week.

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Cheers LT. I've still not had a pint since I've been back so I'll look forward to it.:)

Today's installment on the way now.

looking forward to it.

Was this you guys?

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/lifea...ickshaw/471974

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Originally Posted by Sir Wilson

Was this you guys? http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/lifea...ickshaw/471974

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Yep, the article is about us but the photo they used is from the Pioneer run last October. Tom the owner and his team did a test run from Jakarta to Koh Lanta. It was supposed to be Jakarta to Bangkok (as our race was supposed to be Bangkok to Jakarta) but they had to re-route to Koh Lanta because of the flooding.

I see. Will you do it again next year?

Day 9 - Simbengu to Solok - 320km - 14 Hours

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Again we were up before dawn and on the road.

The roads were good and seemed to be mostly downhill so we were making good time and decided to have a sight seeing day. We'd caught up to a couple of teams, the Kanucks and the Dutch but they couldn't seem to keep up on the easy roads and I wasn't even going full speed. So our tuk tuk was running better than ever.

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There were some nice old bridges around so we started looking for the most rickety we could find.

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It was bloody freezing too so we must still have been quite high up.

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This one was bloody sketchy.

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The camera we were using always took 2 photo's. One normal and one HDR. I couldn't decide which I liked best out of these 2.

Normal:
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HDR:
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Probably the second one because of the sky.

We were going to be following the river down for most of the day and we started to see a lot of these water wheels so we went in for a closer inspection.

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Not all of them were working but this one was. They were pumping water back up to the small villages.

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The jungle is massive.

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And the locals were friendly.:)

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Sorry just stole that one from the gallery. It just happened to be there.:)

The roads today were bloody brilliant and really quiet. We assumed it was a Sunday but in the end I think it turned out to be a Monday.

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We stopped in nice forest for some lunch and the owner of the cafe told us we were near the equator. I'd forgotten all about that so did the spinning water test before we left.

Highlight of the Day, Crossing the Equator!:)

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Nods first 360º Panoramic picture effort.

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A very green rice paddy.

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There was an unusually colored bamboo off to the left of this shot.

We'd not used the axe in our tool kit yet so we let Chico chop a small piece down. We kept him under supervision as we were worried the axe would bounce off and slice his leg off.

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We decorated the back of the tuk tuk with it. If anyone knows the type of bamboo shout it out. I'd quite like some of this at my house.

Bright yellow bamboo with green leaves.

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We stopped again for some refreshments and we saw the Dutch fly by on the back of a flatbed.

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I was starting to feel sorry for the guys that had to get trucked at this point. It must be heart breaking to get this far and have it taken away from you. Basically though you had to weigh up the cost of repairing the engine vs. the cost of getting it trucked to the finish.

The Dutch had a seized engine. Shame as they were top blokes.

We passed through the town of Bukkatingi which looked like the nicest town we had seen on the trip. All the other towns had been complete shit holes but this one looked like it was worth a stop. Unfortunately it was only early afternoon so we had to pass through and keep going.

Some mountains/volcano's in the background.
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After Bukkatingi we turned left so as not to go to Padang as we wanted to see lake Singkarak.

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This was another huge lake. Not as grand as Toba but still very impressive.

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When we got to Solok we met up with Anthony and Courtney from Team Rickrolled.

They too had had a seized engine and we in the repair shop. We let them try our battery in their Tuk Tuk (big mistake, if your tuk tuk is running well don't mes with it.) but it just confirmed that theirs was fooked. It couldn't turn over at all.

We stayed with them to help negotiate a truck to Jakarta and I felt really gutted for them as they were cool guys.

Basically we were all going through between .5L and 1Liter of oil per day. You had to stay on top of this and these guys along with the Dutch forgot to top up just once and it screwed the whole engine.

This just made us extra vigilant.

R.I.P Tuk Tuk Rickrolled.:(

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Originally Posted by Sir Wilson

Will you do it again next year?

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Part of my sponsorship agreement with Beer Chang was that after this race I'd hand over my automatic entry for the next race to them.

I think they are going to make it into a competition to win the spots in the tuk tuk.

But if they want me to do it again, yep, I'd do it in a heartbeat.:)

I like the loser plate on the front... hehe

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Originally Posted by The Fresh Prince

We passed through the town of Bukkatingi which looked like the nicest town we had seen on the trip. All the other towns had been complete shit holes but this one looked like it was worth a stop. Unfortunately it was only early afternoon so we had to pass through and keep going.

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It is nice.

https://teakdoor.com/indonesia-forum/...t-sumatra.html

FP - Did you do all the driving yourself or could you share it around the 3 of you?

If you had to do it yourself did you ever think 'fvck this for a laugh'...?

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Originally Posted by rawlins

FP - Did you do all the driving yourself or could you share it around the 3 of you?

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Basically I did 95% of the driving. I was in a really bad car accident when I was 18 as a passenger and was lucky to be alive. Broken neck, broken legs, paralyzed for a bit and had to learn to walk again.

I make a terrible back seat driver and can't handle not being in control of a vehicle.

That and the fact that out of the 3 of us I'm the only one with a license.:)

It was only the last few days of the race where fatigue made my eyes go a bit blurry around mid day so I let Chico take over for an hour or two.

He picked it up quickly and I started to feel a bit more relaxed in the back after a while.

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Originally Posted by rawlins

If you had to do it yourself did you ever think 'fvck this for a laugh'...?

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Never! I bloody love driving!:)

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Originally Posted by The Fresh Prince

Basically I did 95% of the driving. I was in a really bad car accident when I was 18 as a passenger and was lucky to be alive. Broken neck, broken legs, paralyzed for a bit and had to learn to walk again.

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Holy heck!

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Originally Posted by The Fresh Prince

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rawlins

FP - Did you do all the driving yourself or could you share it around the 3 of you?

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Basically I did 95% of the driving. I was in a really bad car accident when I was 18 as a passenger and was lucky to be alive. Broken neck, broken legs, paralyzed for a bit and had to learn to walk again.

That and the fact that out of the 3 of us I'm the only one with a license.:)

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I see... Thought maybe the rules of the race might have stipulated that there be only one driver.

The whole thing looks like a great adventure... I'm jealous - would love to have a go at something like that (if ball and chain ever allowed it).

This should be stuck in Famous Threads.