After an interesting stay with a family in north Bali, we headed to Gilimanuk to catch the ferry to Java. On the way we met Ryo, another cycle tourer and caught the ferry with him. Ryo, from Japan, is cycling around the world and has already been on the road for 2 years, he plans to be away for 7 years visiting every continent and as many countries as he can.

Once in Java, having cooked some noodles we headed north and stopped after about 20km to find a place to camp. The 3 of us headed to the local football field and asked a few people if it would be ok to camp. They said yes but warned us that a football match was about to take place so there would be many people arriving shortly. We set up camp away from the actual pitch with an audience of children who surely thought we had landed from out of space – their big long stares and then shy looks away whenever we talked to them. But they gradually got used to us and edged a bit closer to watch us put up our tents and then to watch Ryo cooking.

The footballers arrived and were probably a little bemused that more people we watching us than watching them play! One guy we met seemed to find us funny and kept saying ‘I can not speak any english’ in very clear English and then fell about laughing with his friends, it was pretty amusing. A couple of the lads playing footy came over after their game and chatted to Chris, they promised to come back later with a guitar so we could have a song or two. They did come back, but rather late and we were already set to go to sleep. Chris went out and sat with them briefly, but they were very considerate and said that we should sleep now. They also brought us a bag full of fruit as a gift, so kind!

With an early start at 4am we were on the road at 6am and climbed up cycling through some hills in the national park, it was pretty and not too steep. We then had a long downhill before reaching flatter roads and towns. By 11am we had cycled 60km, which is pretty good in my book. We stopped in place called Situbondo for lunch, taking over a small part of a little side alley.

So far we have seen no other foreigners or tourists, so us turning up in the first place is unusual, but to be on bikes as well, is a double surprise. We have shouts of ‘Good Morning’ and ‘Hello mis stairrrrr’  or ‘Hello missus’ about once a minute as we cycle and we do our best to reply. People stop to take photos with us, very excited to meet us and others just stand and stare, or tentatively touch the bikes as if to check they are real, it is quite strange being so visible and attracting so much attention. No wonder famous people get pissed off with the paparazzi!

We cycled on and got to a lovely beach called Pasar Putih where we stopped to have a swim and get out of the heat. Beautiful clear warm water and a deserted beach, it was bliss! Then the clouds came in and the rain came down so we cycled on. After 103km we arrived in Besuki. This is the most I have cycled in one day so i was very pleased with myself.

A local family suggested that we could camp near the mini market shop round the corner. We headed there and pulled up. It was next to the police station and the policemen was keen for us to come in. Initially they thought we needed to use the toilet but we explained that we were looking for a place to camp. The police commander introduced himself and said that we could camp at the back of the station, he seemed delighted and very proud to welcome us. The three of us set up and the commander got another man to show us where the shower was and he also fetched a bench for us to sit on. It was still raining and we had to reassure them that our tent would be ok in the rain, they weren’t very convinced!

Chris and I headed out to get some food and have a little explore as it seemed like a nice little town, but before we had got very far the helpful man, who we now realised had been instructed to look after us, came up behind us with his rickshaw and insisted that he take us to a warung to eat. We were not sure that we could refuse, but wondered if this was going to cost us money as we were really quite happy to walk. We jumped in and he proceeded to pedal us 200mtrs round the corner to the local warung, ha, it was quite funny to be taken such a short distance, and no it was curtsey of the police. We were hoping for some nasi goreng or chicken satay, but this little place didn’t have these, and we ended up having some rice and fried fish instead which was nice. Our man had a coffee and then took us back to the tents, so we never did get to explore, but he was very attentive and polite, and so keen to help us.  Tiered I went to bed but Chris stayed up for half an hour and chatted to the police commander before he went out on patrol.

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