Last of the Long Weekends (boo!)

The countdown is officially on. Amy’s teaching contract is over at the end of May, and while they would love to have her stay on forever (they love Ms. Amy!), Amy is firmly in “been there, done that” mode (i.e., she is not signing on for another year). Alas, we are moving on from Indonesia Phase-1 – at least taking a break from it – if for no other reason than as of Amy’s last day, we will have 5 days to leave the country, at which time we are no longer legal residents. It’s that “residency” thing….you can’t just live in Indonesia if you don’t have a job.


So what’s the plan? In a nutshell, we leave Indo on 22 May. First stop: Trekking in Nepal. Every since I went trekking in Nepal back in the early 90s (I think by saying that, I am officially giving myself “old guy” status), I vowed to go back. Amy’s getting tired of me saying so, so, we’re going back! Besides, it’s doubtful we will ever be in a position to get a $200 flight to Katmandu! Our adventures in Nepal will surely be the subject of a future blog post. Stand by for that one.


So a month of trekking in Nepal, then back to Bogor for a few weeks to pack up, and then back to the motherland (Canada) by mid-July. In the meantime, a couple of final long weekends have popped up in Amy’s teaching schedule. The loyal followers among you will know that a long weekend means dealing with the first-world problem of “where to go, what to do”? Such misery. J Although, we also feel the pressure to milk our precious few remaining long weekends.


Final long weekend number 1 was spent returning to Bali. As mentioned in previous posts, Bali has grown on us. It could be the familiarity, the friends we now have there, the good food and wine, the sun and surf, the lack of mosques waking you up at 4 am, the fun things to do…..what am I saying, it’s all of those things! J

So ya, back to Bali for a few days, if for nothing else than to say good-bye. Although, we did have a mission in mind: mountain biking. We could have picked another volcano to climb (which is also fun!), but we thought we would mix it up this time and try out the Bali riding scene. 


Despite our hatred of guided tours – especially those in Indonesia – we really had no choice but to sign up with a guide outfitter given that we didn’t want to box up our bikes and fly them across Indo (and back) for 1 day of riding. That, and, a small but significant detail: we have no idea where to go. It’s that Indo thing again: nothing is described, there are no guide books, trail maps, or signage – a fantastic business model for the guides, but “challenging” to say the least for us DIYers. 


There are plenty of mountain biking operators in Bali offering more/less the same product, including: pick-up anywhere in southern Bali (where most travelers are staying), all bikes and gear, food and water for the day, a guide, and then drop-off back at your accommodation. All in all, a pretty complete package – you just gotta show up. Easy! – which in Indo, is critical to maintaining your sanity.


We went with “Infinity Mountain Biking” (google it, if interested), mostly because they offer a 65-km ride from the top of a volcano crater (Mt. Batur), down to the iconic Bali town of Ubud (of “Eat, Pray, Love” fame). They rate the ride as “hard/advanced” and it’s their “longest day ride”. Sign us up! We were hoping the “hard” rating would keep people away – it worked! – just us and one other Swiss dude.


It was a fun day. The bikes and gear were brand-new full-suspension high-quality bikes (Polygon Siskiu T8 29ers – for you gear heads), and as advertised, they delivered the pick-up (on time!) and drop-off at our accom, snacks and food, and the guide was actually a decent and fit rider who didn’t get us lost (not always the case here in Indo). The route was fantastic and indeed took us from the top of a volcano crater, down through a recent lava flow, back up to the rim, then down through the rice paddies, temples, and villages of rural Bali – a really cool cross-section of all that is Bali. Nice. Full points to Infinity!


Final long weekend number 2 was another volcano mission: Gunung (Mt.) Lawu. On the advice of our gunung-guru buddy Dan Quinn (the guy behind gunungbagging.com), we set our sights on Lawu because it involves relatively easy logistics – again key to sanity here in Indo (we have learned the hard way!). A quick 50-mins flight to the city of Solo in Central Java, and we were sitting poolside at the Solo Best Western in downtown Solo – not our usual scenario, but Amy wanted to try out a big-city “high-rise hotel”, and, we couldn’t resist the 40-USD/night price for a 4-star hotel. 


Day 2 was an arranged 4-am pick-up at the door of the hotel, complete with breakfast in a box. An hour or so later we were strapping on our boots and heading up the side of a volcano. How’s that for easy? Not to mention that Indo is likely the only place in the world where you can get a car (air-con Toyota Avanza) with driver, for the day (12 hours), for 50 USD all-in. 


At 3,265 m, Lawu is one of the bigger peaks in Java. But, because the trailhead starts at 1900 m, it’s totally doable as a day hike. The weather was fantastic and we had the up track and great views to ourselves. Despite the tropical latitudes, at 3000 m the terrain is alpine and very reminiscent of the mountains of western Canada. Nice!


The jubilation of having a mountain to ourselves came crashing down upon our victorious arrival at the summit – where we were greeted by the hordes of gunung-bagging teenagers that seem to have taken over the Indonesian gunung-bagging scene. Not that we dislike teenagers per se, but the chain smoking, the giggling and shrieking, the distorted Indo-pop blasting from their phones, and the constant barrage of selfie requests with us (it’s a thing – we’re like rock stars to them for some reason), just isn’t what we’re looking for at the top of a mountain. Amy seems to be particularly popular with the selfie crowd – blonde hair? Pale skin? OK, what am I? Chopped liver over here? J


Ah well, all part of the fun here in Indo! And fun it is, or shall we say, was…is this our last gunung-bagging mission? Boo! 


But you know, I don’t think so. I think we’ll be back for more one day….