Trans Borneo ride - Part 4

                                                                              Day 6
                                             
                                                               Bright and early  in Bintulu                                                                    

Views around the river mouth.

Quiet early morning.

After breakfast it was on the bike.

We initially planned to stay in Miri and Sibu......

But due to the change of plan.....

We skipped the 2 cities .....

So we would have 2 days in Indonesia.

First sighting of a longhouse.

Today we are headed to Sri Aman.

More longhouses.

Nice huh.

Kat mana ni bro 

Tatau ?????

Logging...

Here we just had to stop for a while and checkout the longhouses.

Nice huh.

Red Versys in front of a longhouse.

First time ever.....

Dusky Black FJR infront of a longhouse.

See the kid ?

The longhouse name.

Back on the bike after a short break.

Village houses.

A modern longhouse.

More.

Many bikers out headed to Sibu.

Riding in Sarawak :-) :-)

Another break here.

Next to another longhouse.

Authentic residences...

Roads in Sarawak were really nice.

More .............

Don't you just want to ride ????

Ooooops , guess not  ha ha ha

Yamaha's dual purpose bike. ha ha

It was just a short stretch.

Passing through Sibu. Their bike week is going on .

No traffic :-P

Rivers in this part of the world are huge....

With crocs  :-)

Toll gate...bikes 50sen

Lovely riding

If we are early we'll push a bit to get close to the border.

We stop almost every hour.....

No rush .

Short breaks though .

Nice huh.

Finally we ended up in Thailand.   :-)              Masat ???

We were early so we decided to push a bit.

Weather still nice....

The Brunei bros told us that they usually stop at Serian before Indonesia.

This is why we ride    !!!!!!!!

Reached Serian and of course in the rain. Eat and crash.

Great riding today.

Long day tomorrow.

Day 7

After breakfast it was on the bike.

Very early.

Still misty.

Nice huh.

These 2 bikes i tell you. Classic la

Finally reached the border.

Our newest country soon.

In the morning we were both smiling like this...

Only in the morning.............  ha ha ha

Finished with the Malaysian side, and they were very pleasant and efficient,

now in the Indonesian side.

In Entikong, West Kalimantan    ................Hell yeah.

We had all the paperwork except one. Thanks to the Brunei bros who gave us the name and no of a Pontianak biker who is a very high ranking person. The cop in charge of the border called this man directly and then we were good to go. Still you pay duit kopi. But that gets you all the paperwork done 

without you even having to do anything. ''Please sit while i get this done ye ,can ,can smoke ''  ha ha ha ,

border office ah  :-)

Still took time. All in both borders 2 1/2 hours.

Free and clear in Indonesia.......

Thataway :-)

Riding in West Kalimantan.

Nice roads.

See...

Small towns along the way.

Occasional potholes...no big deal la. We are bikers ah (  konon la  ) :-p 

School bus.

Village markers ??

Sun was out, roads were nice...

Should be a perfect day riding ...no ?

More markers.

We were also told about ''Hukum Adat''

Basically it means if you hit a ,dog, cat ,chicken etc you are thoroughly screwed. 

The villagers will way lay you and make you pay. If you run ,the next village will be waiting for you.

Need a break.

Short stop at a small town.

Curious kids.

More curious kids  ha ha ha

Nice guys...

Back on the bike.

The latest Givi 300L panniers  ha ha ha 

We were riding at a relaxed pace. 

If you come here, this roundabout is very very important.

Our Gps said left...

Towns and nice roads.

Still having a great day.

See....happy, happy

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Okay................

Holy F**k

Mud with bathtub size holes

Those holes are really deep..

You have to find a line...

On the rim of adjacent craters

And hope you don't fall in the slippery mud.

300kg bike with roads tyres.

Only thing in my mind was-Don't fall ,Don't fall.....

It went on and on...

Some places there was no line ,so you had to go through the holes.

The undercarriage got hit umpteen times.

After 20km of hell we came here.

20 Km of this ah !!!!!!!!!!!!!

That yellow truck is sunk in the mud.

They are trying to dig it out.

In this perspective you can hardly see the holes, but look how deep the truck goes in. 

Highway to hell.

That's the truck that is stuck.

I stopped my bike and took a long look, at the other vehicles passing.

Crap pics. I knew my bike won't make it without serious damage.

Han managed to pass but with great difficulty.

I walked up to him and said for me no way. I told him to go ahead and i'll meet him in Kuching.

He said no way.We start and finish together, no matter what.

That's a real brother.

Thank you bro.

So we decided to turn back.

And repeat the whole thing again. I tell you ah...F**k man. The worst roads for me ever. 

Laos and Vietnam is no where like this.

Watch the video .This is just part of the road.

And remember ,we had to turn back and repeat the whole thing again. 

                                                    I don't know how i didn't fall. Atleast 15-20 times.

There was mud everywhere.

After we came out of that hell, there was a bike wash.

First we hosed my boots and pants ...........  ha ha ha

It was raining almost everyday so much that my boot soles gave way. Han's idea and duct tape to the rescue.

So there we were. Left early morning, 2 hours plus at borders ,riding hundreds of Km in Indonesia, and the hell roads itself only for about 3 hours . It was about 3pm here.

We were making plans to find a hotel nearby and hit Kuching the next day.

Han started talking to the locals while his bike was being washed. He told them how much we suffered. They said yes, that road is ''hancur''. terribly broken.They said it is the Trans Kalimantan Highway. Used to be nice, but now.......................

Then the magic words.

There is another road. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good surface, but windy and through villages. Also about 200km to Pontianak.Longer distance.

What would you do...

We were exhausted, not just tired, dehydrated, bikes suffered, Mentally down, emotionally  down,physically down

EXHAUSTED !!!.. 

After all this Han comes back to me and tells me what the local said. I'm still sitting at the drinks place...cannot move.

30 second discussion between the 2 of us and we decided to go for it.

We had a dream and target. If any way possible we 'll reach it. We encouraged each other, rehydrated ourselves......and rode again.

Han getting the all important information. 

The 2nd roads was so MUCH better.

A short break here. 

Almost dark here.

Then it started to rain. With the traffic ,no street lights ,windy and wet roads...

We kept on riding hundreds of km's. At almost 11pm we reached the hotel in Pontianak.

SUCCESS bro...We did it !!!!!!!!!

Welcome to Pontianak  :-)

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