LIVIN MY DREAM - MY OVERLAND JOURNEY: TRANS BORNEO SOLO RIDE

19TH NOV 2012: BATU NIAH – BINTULU – SIBU (374KM, 6 HRS)

I wake up early and after subuh prayer, I checked out as soon as I can. Thank god nothing happen last night. After dropping the key at the HQ office, I rode DREAM heading to the coastal road.

I stayed all alone in this big chalet last night...

The weather is fine today. I faced some confusions due to the lack of sign board, but I managed it all right. There were not many traffic on the road and I was riding at ease. However, the road condition was as everyone said – BAD. Potholes, bumpy, uneven. I rode carefully, and sometimes cant help enjoying the bumpiness....LOL...There was one time that I began to doubt if I hv taken the wrong way. This was due to the lack of sign board. Not only the sign board, even the km stone seemed not to exist here. The road was deserted and no one around for me to ask, as it was still early morning. Only oil palm plantations on the right and left hand side of the road that can be seen. Again I hv to use my GPS, and swiped it to check on my location and the next intersection. After the GPS assured me that I am on the correct road, I moved on. It was only after riding about 60kms from Niah that I came across a sign board saying ‘Bintulu’. For the past 60kms, not a single sign board can be seen.

I continued on, passing big rivers with hundreds of timbers floating on it. The view was cool. So, this was what I saw in Geography text book last time, but now I am seeing it right in front of my eyes.

Resting at a petrol pump after a long ride

I used to teach Geography, so am quite used to the names on the sign boards

I finally arrived Sibu around 4pm. It was quite far and pretty confusing to ride to the town center, but the dual lane road was good. Since I didnt make any research on accommodation in Sibu (as my earlier plan was to over night in Bintulu), I hv to depend on accomodations listed on my GPS. Sibu didnt quite cater for budget travellers. The town has many medium rates hotels but lack of guest houses. Since my GPS listed Methodist Hostel and Youth Hostel in Sibu’s lodging, I opted Methodist Hostel as my 1st option. There were lots of one way street in Sibu. My GPS couldnt differ between the one way and the two way street, so I hv to go round and round before reaching the place. I hv thought that the hostel will be a traditional hostel like at many convents that I hv seen before, but it was actually a very modern and big building which can easily be mistaken as a 3 star hotel. Unfortunately there was no room available, so the nx choice will be the Youth Hostel. Unfortunately again, the hostel was far far away from the town centre (it was only the office located inside the town). Hmmm....I hv to find another place. I simply rode around the town and checked few places and finally found a budget hotel (I forgot the name), next to the fire brigade. This hotel didnt hv a secure parking, so as usual, I asked permission from the head officer of the fire brigade. Of course, I hv to entertain their curious questions before I can park DREAM in their compound.