(and with my motorcycle history, i probably shouldn't. ahem).
"The journey not the arrival matters" - T.S. Eliot.
Roads in Sumatra are notoriously horrendous & travel is so slow, so for our journey from Tangkahan to Bukit Lawang, we opted for a shortcut by motorbike (2hrs) instead of 5 hours by bus. (we'd already done one epic bus journey with 80 people on a rusty airless cushionless bus plus more people on the roof).
Our motorbike seats were ludicrous & inadequately padded. In Medan 10 days ago, Dave & i had been giggling about the Indonesian icecream container 'helmets'. Well, we didn't even get one of those. Dave's driver had a beanie for a helmet & my driver's helmet was a Gilligan hat.
Dave looked so funny in front of me, bouncing along on his unregisterable Honda with palm frond mudguard and brown slush stripe up his bum due to useless palm frond mudguard. More fool me. I had to eat his dust, his muddy splashes AND his fumes.
We rode thru a swarm of dragonflies, over the scariest, gappiest wooden bridges & copped 3 branch whips to the face. Had 2 oncoming trucks with a tray full of people on OUR side of the road. then WE were on the wrong side of the road, going around a corner coz the 'road' was 'smoother' on that side. one kilometre of patchwork bitumen to end our journey. heaven!
We have arrived! It's all about the journey huh TS? On this occasion, i do NOT concur!
