Cycling in Indonesia

[thelawnet]

Here's some info:

* road bikes like off the telly are quite popular in cities where the rich folk live. They are unsuitable for many roads, however you can try streetview to see. Once you get into back roads (between minor towns, rather than a major through road), roads may be totally unsurfaced. Here's an example on Streetview
* Good surfaced roads in Java will likely be plagued with traffic, so try to use a broken road instead there with a suitable bike.
* mountain bikes are quite popular. But generally the fancy stuff is not that common, the rich folks prefer lightweight road bikes. There isn't that much choice of forks.
* you could certainly choose a gravel-type bike and cover thousands of miles, it would I think only rule out the most challenging roads.
* Google Maps is very inaccurate, ok fine if there is streetview but otherwise it is often nonsense once you get away from popular roads. Check satellite views. Openstreetmap is also an option, as is Waze, but neither are reliable or accurate.
* In general it's a good idea to find alternative routes, particularly near very large cities, however these may be completely unsurfaced. Watch out for contours, if you need to cycle up then you'll probably want to use the main surfaced motorable road. Going downhill then unsurfaced is ok but you might want to have a proper MTB if you are descending on something particularly off-piste. Undulating unsurfaced roads are best avoided entirely as they will sap all your energy.
* punctures are very easy to do deal with in that there is usually a place to fix motorbike tyres in every village. Look for clamp devices with a place to make a fire underneath it. Don't necessarily expect a good lasting repair, it's really best to use your own patches. If you do get your flat tyre repaired, they might not be able to deal with presta valves, so bring an adapter.
* it is generally not necessary to carry water on your bike even though it is very hot, as there are road side cafes every couple of km unless you are in a jungle or something. (Plantations have their own villages with shops). Food available in same places, albeit not nutritious (fried rice, instant noodles). Pre-cooked food probably best avoided.
* a tent is probably redundant as you can generally sleep in any village quite easily, if not necessarily in a hotel, but in a mosque or someone's house.
* Bikes can be purchased locally about half the price of the UK. Second hand they sell well also at prices close to new. https://www.polygonbikes.com/id/ is the serious local brand, selling BSOs up to full carbon race machines, which are also exported around the world. https://www.wimcycle.com/bike https://pacific-bike.com/ http://www.thrillbicycle.com/ are other local but lesser brands. Imported brands like Specialized are available but seem like a waste of money?
* There are bike shops in cities of say 200,000 people or so. Some quite basic. Best to learn your own mechanic stuff as skills are generally lacking, and they probably use cheap & nasty parts in most cases. Corporate bike chain in large cities https://rodalink.com/ You can get spare parts, derailleurs, tyres, hubs, etc., from https://www.bukalapak.com/ They are sent by individual small sellers and generally reliable. Postage time can be as quick as next day from major city to major city but will take several days if you are more rural. Prices are quite good, in general, for spare parts. Delivery is usually effected by mobile phone, so an address as such is not required, just a general location (within 1km or so).
* You only get one month visa on arrival and it's annoying to extend. Best to arrange a two-month visa in advance.
* Beware of Ramadan. Generally except in Christian/Hindu areas there is no food available during daylight hours and it's not the done thing to eat or drink publicly either. For a couple of weeks after Ramadan there will be lots of extra traffic as people go on holiday. Java is to be avoided entirely at this time.
* Rainy seasons are not necessarily bad though it depends on the roads you are using. Will keep temperatures more pleasant.
* There are lots of hills in lots of places. Up and down. I think Strava Routes function will tell you the elevation of your proposed route. Much more climbing per mile than the average UK roads. Probably best to carry less stuff? (See above.)

[matt2matt2002]

Did you fly from UK?
Flight costs/ details would be nice.
Daily costs inc accommodation?
Thanks

[simonhill]

I'm pretty certain the OP lives there.

The website Skyscanner will give a long list of flights and prices to any specified destination. Your probably looking at £450 upwards from the UK. As I'm sure you are aware, check bike carriage policy before just booking the cheapest.

For internals, there are a number of low cost carriers, some of which unfortunately drop out of the sky rather too often. AirAsia are usually pretty good and take bikes for a small fee.

I always used to get a Lonely Planet guide to see what price are like. They used to give a range of prices, always starting at low budget. Unfortunately now they often only start at the mid range in accommodation. I have challenged them about this, but they don't want to include much 'shoestring' stuff anymore. I've heard that the website Travelfish is good for budget stuff, but never used it. Also booking.com can be useful for town & city accommodation prices.

I'm sure the OP will be back, but Indonesia is a pretty cheap country in SEAsian terms.

[thelawnet]

Did you fly from UK?
Flight costs/ details would be nice.
Daily costs inc accommodation?
Thanks

I live in Indonesia.

Flights vary in cost by season.

It depends where you are flying to, e.g., to Bali then there are direct flights than Medan. But I generally fly to KL and then on from there, as Air Asia (LCC) has most choices. You are looking from around £450-£500 return in a very quiet time (February, say, or October?) up to £1000+ in July.

Food is something like 50p for a portion of fried rice/noodles with egg. Something with chicken about £1. In rural areas choices may be very limited.

If you are travelling around first tip is to try to learn a bit of Indonesian (try Duolingo) before you go and use it, people are very curious/friendly (though there will be usually someone who calls you in English, even if they only speak ten words of it). In general in a village someone will offer you somewhere to stay (in their house). Buy them a chicken (usually live right up to the point of sale) and you'll have a more nourishing/tasty dinner than probably what you can find elsewhere.

In more obvious tourist places and towns (100,000 people, say) there will be a hotel of some sort. Rooms are from around £5/night. If you want something nicer, then you need to be in a big city (not best place for cycling honestly), or in a major tourist destination, in Bali you can get an air con room around £25 with swimming pool. A 5* hotel is from around £40/night. Booking.com is ok for room booking though they don't really like paying them the 15% commission. Sometimes phone numbers etc. online can belong to unconnected third parties.

Daily wage for unskilled worker is 80,000rp (£4+) and maybe 150,000rp for a more skilled worker, so something like a roadside puncture repair might cost around 40p, and a bike service maybe £2.

The various local airlines are probably not up to Western safety standards but they don't crash as much as the buses, so....

On the roads you have to watch out for 12-year-olds on motorbikes pulling out and crazy bus drivers on the wrong side of the road. Generally traffic is light.

If you want something with decent surfaced roads and infrastructure then Bali is the easiest place to start.

Indonesia is pretty much all hills.