Into the Ring of Fire

Ex 1950's Russian built submarine in Surabaya 

After 10 days of chasing different bits of paperwork to satisfy Indonesian Customs we were eventually reunited with our cars and are now exploring Indonesia - often referred to as part of the Ring of Fire.
The 10 days in Surabaya passed reasonably quickly as we exhausted the sights and made a couple of trips out for the weekends when we knew there would be no progress with the cars. Surabaya sights we visited ;
- a 1950's Russian submarine, now on the bank of the river some 10kms from the sea!;
- Samoerna cigarette factory where hundreds of people hand roll local Kreak cigarettes, a mixture of tobacco and cloves;
- China town and the Arab Quarter, where we chose three types of dates from the 20 or so on offer,
- Surabaya Motor Show - with six car manufacturers exhibiting four cars each, and around 10 small stalls mainly selling window film

Cetho 10th century Hindu Temple

- as well as visiting several of the 32 shopping malls around town in search of a road atlas of Indonesia.
After an overdose of city life it was great to be back on the road and exploring this fantastic country. Looking for a respite from the heat and humidity of Surabaya we headed to a group of volcanoes to the south west of the city and spent a couple of days visiting the ruins of some of the 9th century Hindu temples, and enjoying the spectacular scenery of volcanoes rising from the plain.

"The Missing Link" - Homo Erectus

Our route took us to Sangiran, the location where a 2 million year old humanoid fossil of Homo Erectus was discovered which is often referred to as the missing link in human evolution. Three excellent museums provided a huge amount of detail on the history of humans, the history of the discoveries and how they link together as well as an idea of the living environment.
Sumatra beckoned so we lost no time driving the remaining 800kms past Jakarta to the ferry which links Java to Sumartra, where we boarded a modern car ferry which crossed the 30kms in a couple of hours.

Camping by the Indian Ocean

Whereas Java is very developed, Sumatra feels more relaxed with large areas of undeveloped forest. A couple of days parked on the west coast by the sea watching huge waves, driven by a low pressure crash onto the shore provided a rest. It was time to slow down and start exploring, so we headed north into the mountains along twisting switchback roads and were surprised to discover a large elevated plateau being intensively farmed in the cooler climate.

4000 year old Megalith

 The main purpose was to find some of the hundreds of carved megalithic stones which are scattered across the plateau. With many of the roads not showing on Maps.me, or even on Google Maps there was some try this road, turn round and try another, before we found the stones. We first found the groups at Tinggi Hari, and the following day those around Pagar Alam. No one seems to know the specific purpose of these 4000 year old stones, but many are surrounded by stone burial chambers, The stones themselves are carved representations of people and animals and although many are badly eroded some of the detailed features can still be seen along with remains of the red ochre pigmentation.

Tea Plantation near beautiful Kapihang

As there were limited camping possibilities available in the area Kepahing police allowed us to camp in their compound. Their generosity extended to guiding us to the local beautiful tea plantation where we were able to meet some of the pickers and see the lovely views over the city, before being taken to an old tea house where we were treated to local snacks along with tea from the plantation. Sadly the Rafflesia flowers in nearby Curup finished flowering 2 weeks before and just the stump of the previously 3m high flower was left.

Calling Gibbon

Tea and Snacks

Curup also offers a relatively easy climb to the top of a Bukit Kaba volcano along a well graded, surfaced path which winds through the forested slopes. As we ascended we were privileged to pass close to a group of very loud calling gibbons, catching glimpses of them as they moved around a tree around 30m away. The final ascent to the crater rim comprises around 250 steps, but the views into the crater with its sulphurous fuming vents is worth the climb. Already we have seen so much and we are only 1/6 of the distance up the west coast of Sumatra.

Bukit Kaba volcano crater

Typical scenery - rice paddies and volcanoes

 

Penang and onto Indonesia

Jungle trail

Turtle Beach Penang

Another very fast border crossing in Malaysia meant we were soon on the train to Butterworth and Penang Island where we arrived very tired after two days of pretty continuous travel. The reason for choosing Penang is that it has an Indonesian consulate which is requires less paperwork before it will issue a Visa. We applied on the Friday, and collected the Visa on Tuesday afternoon - an excellent service. Georgetown on Penang is an old colonial era trading port and a World Heritage site, but one which has not been overly smartened up and has gained its status for the remarkable mix of cultures and temples in a very small area. The streets are still networks of small two storey, relatively shabby buildings, but which are all true working places, with individual businesses operating ranging from workshops and mechanics, through small stores to specialists in wholesale of hardware, food, etc. etc. An amazing mix.


Resting Flying Lemur

There are also several clear quarters including a very vibrant Indian sector with many gaudy Hindu shrines and temples, an Arab sector with mosques, a Chinese sector as well as many European colonial buildings. So you find a mosque just around the corner from a Buddhist temple which has a Hindu shrine across the road and a Christian church further along. The west of the island is a national park and is covered in rainforest with some trails leading to white sandy beaches. One is a nesting ground for turtles and there is a turtle research station which collects the eggs and moves them to a protected area to hatch. During the six days we used the excellent bus service to get to and from the consulate, and also to get to the national park where we walked both the main trails.
The other feature of Penang is the excellence of the food. Not only is it of a very high standard it is very varied, featuring dishes from all the communities represented in its makeup. A vibrant place with lots to see and some lovely street art surprises around street corners.


Little India - Penang

Street Art

Leaving Penang we headed straight to Surabaya in Indonesia to meet the container with the cars. the ship having arrived on the Thursday we were unable to get a customs inspection until the following Monday, and will not get the cars back until tomorrow (Wednesday). They have now cleared customs, and are each in one piece, so that's a relief. A week is Surabaya is a long time so we headed to the local island of Madura just across the water which is another world. We were the only white faces we saw during the weekend and we attracted lots of welcoming calls of Hello Mister. One evening a local English teacher asked us to have dinner at his house so we could talk to his students, some of whom had only been studying English for a few weeks. It made for an interesting evening. Many of the students who were in their 20's had not been off the island (which is connected to Surabaya, 50kms away by a road bridge). With no particular attractions we took a Bemo along the coast to a small strip of sand then walked the 7kms back to town. Once we have our vehicle we plan  to head north to Sumatra.

Live Street Art

 

Penang Street business