June 2026 in Taiwan and Indonesia
Hi internet friends,
Time for my June update.
After Taiwan, Bell and I flew to Indonesia. We decided to go here, well I decided to take us here, mainly because I didn't know anything about Indonesia. And that seemed a bit odd, given that it's a big country of 280 million people.
More pragmatically, it was conveniently located in the general region, so we could visit before a better cycling climate in mainland Southeast Asia.
Having only two months on our Indonesian visas, I decided that less is more, and we just cycled in Java for a few days and then started making our way up the west coast of Sumatra. Indonesia is huge, Sumatra is also huge, just one island in the archipelago's 10,000+, and it's so much bigger than Vancouver Island, which already seems like a big island.
I am so, so glad we decided to come here. The picture at the top is of 3 girls heading to school after stopping to ask for selfies with us. Seeing girls and women of all ages out and about, often on scooters or other two-wheeled vehicles, is just glorious to me.
Previous monthly updates in this series:
May 2026
April 2026
March 2026
February 2026
January 2026
December 2025
November 2025
October 2025
September 2025
August 2025
June 2026
Start: Taipei, Taiwan
End: Benkulu, Sumatra, Indonesia
At the end of May, Bell and I reunited in Taipei after me cycling alone for a week around the north tip of Taiwan. Our imperfect Huan Dao ("around the island") was done!!
And you know what we did next? Took a second Huan Dao by train, clockwise. It's a 13-hour thing, in a Sanrio-themed train.
Then we packed bikes and gear into boxes and flew to Jakarta.
Where did I get this vague notion that Indonesia was dangerous? Honestly, no idea. Being a little afraid in Manila, and then massively, internationally projecting?
We arrived in Jakarta on the 6th, and starting cycling towards Sumatra on the 11th. Since then we've been riding NW. Bell says I've been using "strategic incompetence" to encourage interesting encounters. As in: being in charge of the route / the plan, and the 1st night out of Jakarta, putting us in a town with no guesthouse and relying on the police to help us. (Very nonchalant, they put us in a big room where we pitched our tent inside, and we went for breakfast all together the next morning.)
And then the next day, my strategic incompetence led to us departing the Merak --> Bakauheni ferry (in Sumatra) after dark. Google Maps had implied that maybe there were homesteads in a nearby village, so we cycled sweaty and tired to the location. We acquired no homestay room, but instead a scooter escort of 2 girls, aged maybe 14-15, who were going to assuage our concerns about cycling on the busy road at night by riding with us to the nearest hotel. They were also our cheer squad, as I was bonking and the whole 3km was uphill.
They deposited us at the hotel. It was full. So, I parlayed a tempeh tofu rice dinner into gratefully accepted permission to camp behind the restaurant, beside a half-burned garbage heap.
The casual, women-driven, pragmatic hospitality only continued.
A few pictures from June
Caption: This is the Sanrio-themed train that you can take on a Huan Dao around the circumference of Taiwan. They even give you a certificate of completion!
Caption: The way that Taiwanese people go about their day, car or no car, rain or no rain.
Caption: All boxed up again, three months later at Taoyuan Airport.
Caption: A park at night near our neighbourhood in Jakarta, in Grogol. Gifts to the left are performing a dance routine for their phone. Person in the middle is using the park exercise equipment. People to the right are playing badminton. I realized I really did know nothing about Indonesia.
Caption: A vegetarian restaurant selling vegetarian versions of rendang and other Padang cuisine, we ate here a lot before leaving Jakarta.
Caption: First of many variations of sweet spicy peanut sauce on vegetables and rice and/or noodle products. Ketoprak, lotek, pecel, gado gado...I don't know what this one is actually named though.
Caption: First day riding in Indonesia!
Caption: Our nighttime escort and cheer squad from the failed village homestay attempt to the hotel with no available rooms.
Caption: Waking up covered in yesterday's sweat in our tent beside the garbage heap, quickly finding our bearings in Sumatra.
Caption: These bikes are ubiquitous and very, very loud. They are practical for navigating the steep, rough terrain where oil palms, rubber, and other commodity crops grow.
Caption: This is a truck with oil palm fruits. Cycling through Sumatra is to cycle through the heartlands of palm oil plantations, distribution, milling, selling, and the communities working in this industry.
Caption: This is a glimpse of the coastline along the west coast of Sumatra!
Caption: Mosques are another daily (hourly) sight in Sumatra. This is a big one in Bengkulu, a regional capital.
Caption: This is Liya, she sidled up to us on a scooter and (her words) worked up the courage to invite us to stay the night in her house. Liya is a spunky and funny woman, we had lots of laughs.