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Rian - The past few days had been a great time for my wounds and food poisoning to heal and recover. There was now a big push on the bikes to get to Jakarta. After speaking with the owner of the surf losmen in Krui we found that our original plan to cycle in the proposed direction was longer and harder. We therefore aimed to continue down the coast and take the main road north towards the town of Kota Agung.
After an early start we had cycled 25kms in just over an hour and we’re making up great time. After traveling for so long, I think Dylan and I were both in silly moods and not much talking was done. We eventually found somewhere for lunch by the 60km mark and had a small squabble about nothing. This nothing fight was a build up of living and traveling with each other for so long. Unfortunately when traveling the way we are most of your decision making process needs to involve the other and after a big push that morning and into the heat of the afternoon we both fell silent and pushed on to small village where we failed to learn and find any form of accommodation.
After speaking with the local police they informed us of a popular truck rest stop the local drivers used. It included free Mandi’s, dinner and a thatched open-roofed floor. After refueling and relaxing, the 90km day we had just completed was a great accomplishment considering we hadn’t done a decent cycling in a a number of days. Dylan then suggested that rather than spending the night at the truck stop, we try and hitch a ride over the forthcoming ‘Mountain of Death’ and seek a bed in the larger town of Kota Agung. We translated our way onto a coal truck. The gear was thrown in the back on lumps of black coal and we jumped in the cab. It was now 6pm and we made our way slowly up the steep mountain.
After nodding several times in the large cab of the truck we woke to find ourselves in a deserted town at 11pm. We unloaded the gear, set up the bikes and hoped to find an open hotel. We eventually found a small hotel offering A/C and a large mattress which was perfect. We headed straight for bed after what had been one of the longer days we had traveled on this trip.
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