Thursday, February 9, 20233:36 a.m. Room P3, Wisma FlamboyantPayakumbuh, Sumatra, Indonesia I made a mistake this morning. I was woken up by slamming doors, shouting voices, and a large truck backing out of the parking lot. I checked my bedside phone, and I saw that it was just after six…
Category: Daily Journal
Kelok 9, Monkeys, and Climbing in the Day Ahead
Wednesday, February 8, 20235:10 a.m. Room 12, Wisma DUPangkalan, Sumatra, Indonesia There should be three or four interesting aspects to today. The first is that I will likely be climbing a lot and will finally ascend to somewhere close to the levels of Bukittinggi itself. In hotel reviews for that…
Hopefully, the Wisma DU is NOT a Google Maps mirage!
Tuesday, February 7, 20236:41 a.m. Room 12, Wisma DUPangkalan, Sumatra, Indonesia This is quite a change from yesterday morning. I’ve woken up inside a hotel room instead of my tent. Oddly enough, being inside this hotel room doesn’t automatically present ALL advantages. It’s mostly more comfortable and easier, of course….
An Unusual Place to Sleep
Monday February 6, 20237:07 a.m. Travel Gulamo CampsiteSumatra, Indonesia I’m writing these words from a fairly unusual location. I rode forty or fifty kilometers out of Bangkinan yesterday, and I arrived at the place I had picked out in advance. It’s a small village at a large bridge going across…
Counting the Days Imaginatively
Friday, February 3, 20236:35 a.m. Room 4, Tengkong Kost(SPOT ON 91950 Guest House TekNong Syariah)Bangkinan, Sumatra, Indonesia These are strange times on Planet Doug. I have a flight from Padang to Kuala Lumpur booked for February 14. Padang is two hundred and fifty kilometers away. Yet, I’ve just been hanging…
Will this ATM give me any money?
Wednesday, February 1, 20237:44 a.m. Room 4, Tengkong Kost(SPOT ON 91950 Guest House TekNong Syariah)Bangkinan, Sumatra, Indonesia My excursion to get money from an ATM was successful yesterday. I had a vague memory that the last time I was in Indonesia, I had good luck at the Mandiri bank, and…
Making Choices: Booking a Flight from Where to Where?
Monday, January 30, 20237:57 a.m. Room 4, Tengkong Kost(SPOT ON 91950 Guest House TekNong Syariah)Bangkinan, Sumatra, Indonesia I don’t have a lot to say about Indonesia or my life here this morning. I had some plans to go exploring yesterday, but I started editing a video, and much of the…
Meeting an Amazing Cyclist from Sweden
Saturday, January 28, 202310:11 a.m. Room 4, Tengkong Kost(SPOT ON 91950 Guest House TekNong Syariah)Bangkinan, Sumatra, Indonesia I did go for a test bike ride yesterday, and I did this ride wearing only flip flops. And I guess from a purely scientific point of view, it wasn’t a good test….
Google Translate: Great Tool, but Not Always Feasible
Friday, January 27, 20239:00 a.m. Room 4, Tengkong Kost(SPOT ON 91950 Guest House TekNong Syariah)Bangkinan, Sumatra, Indonesia Another day and night in Bangkinan begins. I don’t have big plans for the day except to do a cycling test. I went out for a short test ride yesterday, and I came…
A Deeper Dive into the OYO Mystery
Thursday, January 26, 20236:15 a.m. Room 4, Tengkong Kost(SPOT ON 91950 Guest House TekNong Syariah)Bangkinan, Sumatra, Indonesia The time appears to have finally come for this foreigner to get on his bicycle and attempt “Riding SOLO in the dangerous Sumatran mountains (I nearly DIED!!).” I’m not moving fast this morning,…