TRANS BORNEO SOLO RIDE - DAY 15

21ST NOV 2012: ENTIKONG – BALAI KARANGAN – SOSOK – TAYAN - NGABANG – PONTIANAK (350KM, 8HRS) 

I woke up early as I hv a long journey to cover today. I hv checked my route yesterday, and I knew that there will be only 3 intersections that I will have to pass before entering Pontianak. The weather was very fine. The first town that I passed was Balai Karangan (about 20kms from the border). It was here where I saw the first petrol pump ever since I entered Kalimantan. I didnt stop as I had had DREAM refuel before exiting Sarawak. The view along the first phase of the ride was similar as from Tebedu to Entikong – hilly and filled with black pepper trees, hill and wet paddy fields. The road condition was average - not good and not bad either, but quite narrow. I passed many small villages during the ride. Unlike Java which was heavily populated and compact, this part of Indonesia still have lots of greens and jungles. 

Hill paddy

Black pepper trees

I stopped for lunch at a ‘rumah makan’ (restaurant) in Sosok as I’m feeling hungry (I didnt take my breakfast this morning). There were quite many people at the restaurant and they were eyeing me suspiciously. They stopped chatting among themselves and stared at me. I ignored them and placed my order. The restaurant served Padang cuisine. While having my meal, I heard the locals saying ‘Malaysia’ (referring to DREAM’s plate number). I didnt quite understand what they said in the beginning as they were talking in their own dialect, but I can feel the dislike feeling in their eyes when they talked. I hurriedly finished my meal and was surprised when I was overcharged – a plate of rice with 2 pieces of beef rendang and a piece of tempe cost me RM16 (at this small town). I paid the money without saying anything. 

I continued on riding. The road condition get bad soon after. The road was sooo badly damaged thus caused a long jam due to vehicles have to ride slowly. Even damaged road in Laos was not as bad as this one. The holes were huge and bigger vehicles such as buses and lorries have to drive slowly because the uneven road can cause the vehicle to overturn. As a matter of fact, I did see a lorry overturned by the road side. 

I hv to ride slowly and carefully. At one time, a bus was stuck in the mud and the passengers have to get down to help pushing the bus. It was this time when some of them saw me, and started to pass bad remarks. I heard them shouting words such as ‘maling’, ‘malingsial’, ‘begok’ etc towards me. Realizing that this situation was not good, I rode on. When I passed the people, one of them acted as if he wanted to kick my bike. As I was alone, and being a female, I cant help feeling scared, thinking of what might happen to me and my bike should this hatred go under control. 

Yesterday's heavy rain worsened the road condition

I tried to ride as fas as I could, but the road condition didnt permit me to ride more than 40kmh. I have to stop a few times when the vehicle in front of me stopped due to the worsen road condition, and similar bad words were called out to me again. I got very tensed concerning my safety and at that time all I want is to arrive Pontianak as soon as possible and hide DREAM from the hatred’s eyes. Fortunately, after riding about 3 hours on the bad damage road (I’m not sure about the distance as there was no km stone), I entered the asphalt road again. 

I sped as fast as I could, never stopping for anything, not even to drink!!! Along the way, I could see lots of small workshops, all tending to bicycles and motorbikes. Competetion to fight for customers must be very high here. I also saw kids playing happily in the black water canal in front of their houses, without the least of concern of how dirty the water was. I held out a heavy sigh upon witnessing this. I was very tired when I finally entered Pontianak. It was almost 3.30pm and the road was heavy with traffic. The drivers were maniacs as well. I crossed the bridge over Kapuas River and find my way to the hotel which I have checked in the internet. It was not difficult to find it as I have already set its location in my GPS. Once arrived, I hide my bike in the parking place, and took off DREAM’s plate number. Phewww.... 

The evening was spent walking around the hotel area, and just relaxing after a stressful ride which I had experienced today. I slept like a log. What a tiring day....