Day 351
to
Day 358

From
Bukittinggi
to
Bengkulu

From the cool air conditioned air of the Novotel Bukittinggi it was Richard Scriven's turn to join the 'on the road' 'Team Human Power'. Richard has been out with us now for some 5 weeks - but yet to push a pedal in anger - indeed he had thought that his turn might wait for some time to come - until it was decided that Dean and Tim would arrange the onwards movements of the Kayaks. Therefore Rich's time had come.

Once round the clock tower, through the green tree lined boulevard of the town park of Bukittinggi and no earlier than 12:30 we were rolling off towards Padang. Even at 950m above sea level the midday temperatures are easily enough to help English Adventurers - even well acclimitised ones - break out into a dribbling sweat.

As we climb - somewhat unexpectedly - we grow hotter and hotter - and are only finally cooled some 10km outside Bukittinggi when we begin our descent - from 1070m we now are able to freewheel and appreciate our surroundings. Here the land to the sides of the road has been developed into rice paddies - and is lined very picturesquely with coconut palms. We descend rapidly from our high point and before we have time to think our hard earned altitude as been whittled away. We're riding the last few kilometres flat into Padang. The rain greets us - and we're treated to a veritable downpour. We can't really say whether this is the rainy season yet or whether this is normal for Sumatra but the way the rain washes across the road in waves, bringing orange mud along with it, and the sound of heavy drops clattering through the trees makes us well aware that we are in a tropical downpour.

From Padang we leave behind the tourist trail and head out South - joining the Coastal road that skirts the Indian Ocean. An idyllic route brings us through tiny villages of fishermen, coconut harvesters - on bicycle - each one complete with their own monkey on a chain who shins up the palm trunk to collect the treasure and then returns down. The masters of these beasts seem in perfect control - although I get a shock whilst trying to get a picture - one shrieks and bares his teeth at me in a terrifying display.

We pause from the midday heat on our second day to swim in the sea. The mighty crashing waves make for an exciting game of body surfing. The local guys struggling hard in the surf to bring in their brightly painted fishing outrigger boat think we're a little strange as we whoop it up dancing in thru the waves, being turned over mercilessly by the breaking 10 foot waves and spat out again, and finally emerging from the foam utterly exhausted.

We follow the coast along its South Easterly trajectory - and pass through evening stops in Painan, Tapan, Muko Muko, Ipuh and Lais before making our next reasonably sized town in Bengkulu. The electricity supply is erratic, the telephones don't work, food means Nasi Goreng (spicy fried rice) or Ayam Soto (chicken and noodles), but somehow despite the heat and the lack of even the most basic facilities it seems as if we're getting back to our reality - after our times of luxury in Malaysia and Singapore. We have re-found Asia.

Every village we pass through seems to have time on its hands - men and women at the roadside wave lazily back to us - easy smiles - and shouted questions as we pedal through in a blur of perspiration and chain rings. The children in the schools seem to be the most excited. If we happen to stop anywhere near a school we find the kids come running out of their classes lead by their teacher - and before we know it we have been encircled and are being cheered and clapped. This is without a doubt the most fantastic part of being a bicycle tourist in an area which has seen tourists - but only a handful - the fun and excitement - and the electricity of 25 kids crowding to see us and our bicycles. They mimic our every move - and as we finally leave our friends behind they wave us off into the distance screaming 'bye-bye mister' until we're out of earshot - and probably for long afterwards. Every car, lorry moped or minivan that passes us by cries out to us - 'Hey Mister - where you go?' - in fact some - with slightly less command of the English Language attempt 'Hey Mister - where are you?' - we can't help but laugh - and we think - 'same place as you I guess!!'.

Through the haze of a basic idea - we are now beginning to understand the root of our long developing hypothesis that the poorer countries seem to be happier than the rich. These villagers in Sumatra have time a plenty on their hands - and no pressing need to hurry or to conserve their time for selfish pursuits. They give their time freely to us - in the attention that they offer us. With the time that they have they are free to choose what they do - and are therefore in control of their day to day destiny. This is where the big gulf comes with our own lives back at home - where time is our most precious commodity - not enough to go around - and too much to cram into each short day. Giving even a single moment to another person therefore is a big investment - and often not one that people can make. As people are hurrying from one place to another back at home, even a slight delay can change a happy face into an angry one. Here in Sumatra, and in Laos, Tibet, Nepal, Iran and Pakistan there was time to share around - people without jobs - but groups of people together - scraping a living - but with time on their hands - and in control of their day to day lives. Just a little time; maybe that's what we need to find?

The road although pleasantly quiet undulates quite violently - and gives the three of us leg straining work. At the end of each day we are dehydrated and stiff legged. We decide to give ourselves a little more time each day and for the last 2 days we make early starts - benefitting both from cooler morning temperatures - and from less hurrying.

Our last night before Bengkulu brings us to the small village of Lais - where we are treated to a wonderful guesthouse (homestay is the local backpacker term) named Elly's House. A wooden building with a verandah beneath a broad boughed tree sheltering in the shade - and a rusting corrugated iron roof. A small signboard proclaims the place and when I pull up, Andrew and Rich explain that its free to stay here. Elly of course makes a charge for the food which she prepares for us - but its a friendly feeling place. As we read through the guest book - it makes for fascinating reading - a veritable who's who of long distance cyclists - either on their way to or from Aus. We add our two penn’orth - our pearls of wisdom running something along the lines of.........'Drink more, carry less, take one rest day each week and always return the smiles and waves from the roadside!' - it seems more appropriate than spoiling the adventure ahead for fellow travellers by revealing the exact location of accommodation and food from here to Kathmandu!!!

As we ride the last few kilometres into Bengkulu Rich S says 'now I realise why you're so keen on aircon rooms on your rest days'. Last night had been a classic sweaty thrash around the Mosquito net type night - relieved when the cool air of morning woke us. Indeed we made directly for an aircon hotel. A brief respite here in Bengkulu - the former British colonial fort town. We make a detour to see the less than visually impressive Fort Marlborough - although its significance as one of the only British incursions into Indonesia, is of interest. Locals still refer to the town by its old British name - Bencoolen - even though its some 120 years since we moved out!

The Olympics have started - and Australia feels closer than ever. Latest information tells us that Timor is in a terrible state once again, and that when we do arrive into Darwin - we shall be riding our into an Outback set to greet us with temperatures of 40 degrees plus. We also are not forgetting that our ride through Australia - although our final country - and although not far away now - will require a journey of some five and a half thousand kilometres. That's equivalent to another quarter of the distance that we have already managed. Anyway - maybe we could rewrite the proverb 'How do you eat an elephant - one bite at a time!' - and make it 'How do you travel to Sydney without powered transport? By taking each day at a time!'.

Team Human Power are watching the current European Fuel crisis with great interest - and with a smile on our faces!