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Monday, 10 March 2014

24/02/2014 - Cycling SE Asia. Day 65 - Just when I thought I sorted out all my bicycle issues.

Distance cycled: 67.9km from Makassar to Benteng, Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Average speed: 21.9km/h
Moving Time: 3h06m
Elevation Ascended: 356m
Burned Calories: 1572kcal
Burned Fat: 204g
Total Distance on Current trip: 5771km
Distance until I have cycled the circumference of Earth: 13,979km
Money spent: $11

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I really didn't get to see much of Makassar as the weather kept me mostly indoors but after a gloss over the guide book Makassar didn't seem to offer anything worth checking out, besides ill be back here in two weeks.
Finishing up with booking flights and packing up my stuff I didn't leave till 2pm.
I did briefly meet an interesting character from Russia at the hostel; he was helpful when I asked for travel advise of things to do around the island but his main purpose for travel was to sleep with as many prostitutes as he could despite the fact he has a wife (also from russia) who apparently was traveling around Sulawesi too - he wasn't at all hesitant to tell me this information but this seemed incredibly odd to me, but I suppose each to their own.
Anyway getting out of Makassar was interesting, someday soon I would like to strap a GoPro to my bike to show you all chaos that it is to cycle in, out and within the bigger cities of SE Asia; aggressiveness is the way forward.
Sulawesi differs greatly from cycling in Flores, mainly due to the choice of roads, Flores has one, here there are many. To decide which way to go and what to see in just two weeks was difficult and unfortunately I won't be making it to the north of the island where the diving is suppose to be incredible however I think my route will show me a good portion of what this island has to offer, that is if my bicycle won't fall apart along the way.
Speaking of which, towards the end of the day, after the sun had set and I had a beautiful pink and dark orange lit sky overhead my derailleur cable snapped; this means that I am stuck with just 3 gears and none of which will help me climb any subtle hill.. Talk about bad timing! Makassar should have had the part to repair the issue and now I am 70km away. I tried repairing the issue by reversing the cable but unfortunately this did not work. My bike is still ridable for now but I have been informed by the police at their station at which I am now camped at that there is a bike shop 25km away.
The reason I have pitched my tent at the police station is because it was dark and I was unable to find a suitable place to pitch my tent. It's a secure place to camp although Indonesia is one of the safest places I have traveled in the world so security is never (for me at least) an issue here.

 

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The wonderful and happy people of Sulawesi.

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