Category: Premium
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Sumatra Route Diaries #21: The Homecoming to Banda Aceh After Four Months on the Road
As the late afternoon carried us into Aceh province, I began to feel torn over where we should spend the night. There were at least three options: Langsa, Idi, and Lhokseumawe. We were racing against the clock for the following day, aiming to reach Banda Aceh earlier in the afternoon. We kept…
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Sumatra Route Diaries #20: Riding Through Chaotic Medan to the Gateway of Aceh
That night we stayed at the Gotong Royong hotel in Labuhan Batu Utara, precisely in Pinang Lombang. As it turned out, the ride from Pekanbaru to the city of Medan ended up taking three full days. The next morning we set off again toward Medan. Here, once more, I felt that familiar…
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Sumatra Route Diaries #19: From Pekanbaru to Bagan Batu, Racing the Rain Toward Medan
After finishing up at Greentech, we searched for a place to stay the night in Pekanbaru. The city we were aiming for next was Medan. Once again, the distance was quite considerable. From my several long-distance journeys, I always split the distance between these two cities into two, which is why Bagan Batu…
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Sumatra Route Diaries #17: Riding the Trans-Sumatra Highway from Palembang to Jambi
At night, I also studied the Palembang–Jambi route. This route is fairly busy, because there is no toll road between the two provinces. Buses, trucks, and other vehicles are certain to crawl along this East Coast route of Sumatra. For that reason, we chose to set off before Palembang’s traffic began to crawl. But…
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Sumatra Route Diaries #16: The Tense East Coast Ride from Bakauheni to Palembang
On 26 November 2021, Nyak Ver’s tyres touched the asphalt of Sumatra once again. This homeward route still required several more days. Because we set off fairly early from Cilegon, we caught the ferry crossing at 8 a.m. local time. After a two-hour crossing, as soon as we reached Bakauheni we headed straight for…
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Sumatra Route Diaries #15: Crossing the Sunda Strait from Bakauheni to Java
The next morning, we woke up and planned to set off a little later in the day so we could rest a bit more. What was on our minds here was the Bakauheni–Merak ferry crossing. Naturally, to cross we had to be tested with an Anti-Gen test. In the middle of the…
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Sumatra Route Diaries #14: From Padang to Lampung, Battling Rain, Rough Roads, and Illness
But once we entered the West Sumatra border route, we chose not to follow the road toward Bukittinggi. Instead, we passed through Lubuk Basung, then into Pariaman, and arrived directly in Padang, the capital of West Sumatra. Riding on the asphalt in West Sumatra was a genuine pleasure, thanks to smooth roads with…
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Riding Aceh’s South-West Coast to Padang: The Opening Miles of Touring Indonesia Harmoni
Perjalanan Touring Indonesia Harmoni dimulai dari Banda Aceh, menyusuri pantai barat selatan hingga Aceh Singkil, lalu ke Padang Sidempuan dan Padang. Jalan mulus, pemandangan laut, gunung, hingga kampung Batak menghadirkan pengalaman touring penuh warna menuju timur Indonesia.
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Building the Team Behind Touring Indonesia Harmoni: How a Cross-Country Ride Really Begins
A long-distance journey demands a solid team. Without one, the entire expedition can quickly fall apart. For the success of Touring Indonesia Harmoni, we therefore formed a small dedicated team drawn from FKPT Aceh, staffed by its members and task-force personnel. This was the team that planned and carried out everything, from…