I’ll not ride alone on this 4 months trip. A few ‘fellows’ from the ‘neighborhood’ have already expressed their intend to accompany me as mascots and staying with me through thick and thin.

Watch out for rider #109 if you happen to be in the area

Tour d’Afrique 2008:

• In Cairo I placed 84 kg raw meat on the back of my steal horse
• 4 weeks later, the Nubian Desert of Sudan and the climbs into Northern Ethiopia Highlands took their toll: down to 73 kg

Doomsday 2012:

• San Jose released me with 86 kg
• Approaching Doomsday, already 12 kg were doomed on the steep slopes of the Central American Volcanoes, before I was descending into Belize: Belize saw only 74 kg of me

Trans-Oceania 2014:

• I touched down on Sumatra island with 77 kg
• How much of me will survive the Indonesian climbs and the brutal summer in the Australian Outback and manage to touch Sydney soil?

  –> The best guess or funniest answer will win a
           dinner with what is left of me at
           Sydney’s Best Steakhouse!
           (travel to and from Sydney excluded)

     
Goha Hotel / Ethiopia — Sayaxche / Guatemala  –  Medan / Sumatra

Medan, Indonesia’s 3^rd largest and fast growing city with 6 million citizens, is located in the north east part of Sumatra, the 6^th largest island of the world.  It started its wealth as a center of the tobacco industry, followed by plantations of oil palms, tee and natural rubber and the discovery of oil.

The taxi drive from the airport to the hotel gave a first impression about the traffic challenges we waiting on us, when riding through densely populated areas. Outside the city the traffic obviously seems immediately to evaporate. At least this is what I found on my first short practice ride. But not only the traffic diminishes, but also the quality of the pavement deteriorate. Good to have suspension on my MTB

There is a permanent, mutually exclusive attempt to making friends with me: Mosquitoes!

However, all my attempts to make them change their choice failed so far. They don’t seem to really  understand, that I don’t like to be their friend for several reasons.

1. They are far too active at night for me
2. It would only be a short time relation, because I’m on the move and they don’t seem to go my pace
3. I am not open for a multi partner relationship –> all of them want me equally  and they don’t seem to be able to decide which one would be MY personal mossie
4. They all look identical, so how could I ever recognize MY engaged mossie? Too much risk to being cheated on
5. Their family is too big. How could I feed all of them!?
6. They seem to perform blood revenge. If I harm one of them, the rest of the pack starts a combined counter attack
7. This would definitely not be a win-win situation

Please stay away from me !!!

Lazing at the pool after a short bike ride to check assembly and conditions. It is about 3pm and the usual time for the daily rain shower. Light warm rain drops cool down the air a bit. What a refreshment. No thunderstorm yet.

However the discovery on the way to my hut makes me a bit suspicious. I see fishing rods in the pond and take a closer look . What is this? Fogs on a hook? True, these are frogs on a hook! Are they kept for bait? Are they getting swimming lessons, or were they secured from a forthcoming heavy monsoon rain, such that they don’t drown??? Poor little creatures.  Will I ever find out?

My spare bicycle arrived. Perfect toy for the IKEA generation …

from Silkwind magazine (Silk Air)