ant
AngryAnt
As most of you know I've been on extended holidays for about two months - nearly time to venture back into the workforce, so on the spur of the moment I bought a cheap ticket to Medan, North Sumatra (Indonesia). $320 via KL. Plan is to stay about three weeks and try to see as much of the island as possible.
Lake Toba, North Sumatra - volcanic caldera
Plan is to hire or buy a bike - something small and light - big bore is wasted over there. Ideally you want something small, local and cheap to minimise chance of theft and to maximise the chance that if you break down, almost any local male over the age of 12 can diagnose the problem and fix it for you with string, a cigarette butt and some chewing gum - at least til you get to a workshop.
Something like this would be perfect:
A mighty 200cc Honda Tiger
or a 225cc Yamaha Scorpio
You can buy older versions of these (5-10 years old) for around AUD500-1000 - but then you have to try to sell before you leave and of course have to take a haircut, but that's not too bad for 3 weeks of use. Forget about insurance. If you have an accident - you pay. Likewise for rentals.
Renting is OK, but harder to do in Sumatra than say Bali, where you can rent any sort of bike for between $3-10 per day and where you walk down the street random people shout "Rent bike?" at you all day unless you are actually on a bike. Also renting you have to return the bike rather than starting in the North and riding south and then selling it.
If I do have to rent, it will probably be a scooter - but these are actually OK for this kind of travelling. They handle the roads well, you blend in with local traffic and they are suprisingly not too bad on gravel or packed dirt. Even a bit of mud.
To get you in the mood, here's why I won't be riding a huge bloody GSA - make sure you watch the end of the video
https://www.facebook.com/BikersTech/videos/vb.361769703999225/681199138722945/
Will try to do trip reports as I go depending upon internet access availability!
Lake Toba, North Sumatra - volcanic caldera
Plan is to hire or buy a bike - something small and light - big bore is wasted over there. Ideally you want something small, local and cheap to minimise chance of theft and to maximise the chance that if you break down, almost any local male over the age of 12 can diagnose the problem and fix it for you with string, a cigarette butt and some chewing gum - at least til you get to a workshop.
Something like this would be perfect:
A mighty 200cc Honda Tiger
or a 225cc Yamaha Scorpio
You can buy older versions of these (5-10 years old) for around AUD500-1000 - but then you have to try to sell before you leave and of course have to take a haircut, but that's not too bad for 3 weeks of use. Forget about insurance. If you have an accident - you pay. Likewise for rentals.
Renting is OK, but harder to do in Sumatra than say Bali, where you can rent any sort of bike for between $3-10 per day and where you walk down the street random people shout "Rent bike?" at you all day unless you are actually on a bike. Also renting you have to return the bike rather than starting in the North and riding south and then selling it.
If I do have to rent, it will probably be a scooter - but these are actually OK for this kind of travelling. They handle the roads well, you blend in with local traffic and they are suprisingly not too bad on gravel or packed dirt. Even a bit of mud.
To get you in the mood, here's why I won't be riding a huge bloody GSA - make sure you watch the end of the video
https://www.facebook.com/BikersTech/videos/vb.361769703999225/681199138722945/
Will try to do trip reports as I go depending upon internet access availability!