North Sumatra, Indonesia
Engine finally gave way, think we blew a piston, no one in this small town could or was willing to fix us. A local policeman and his mates put us on a truck to Medan. It was a sad decision to make and we're bummed about it but had no choice. Hopefully someone can fix us there. We are 5hrs away. KJ and I are still in the rickshaw on the truck, Anand's beside the driver. Mood is sombre, spirits are low but we'll try to not let this beat us.
Pekanbaru, Indonesia
Barely made it in last night as a massive storm broke. Flipped the Rickshaw but everyone's OK, needed some bodywork and we're going to try and get all our rattles tightened today. Its been painful and tiring, can't wait to hit Medan. Have had spark plug changed and altered the ignition timer but are going to have to clean out fuel injector, its very dirty. My bahasa is working quite well and everyone we tell our story to is completely amazed. Again and I can't say this enough, the people of Indonesia have been ridiculously warm and hospitable, offering us places to sleep and advice on how to stay safe on the road. It really warms the heart and keeps us going. Its 660KM to Medan from here, hoping to break it up in 3 days if can find places to stay. Night driving is scary and slow but many times it just has to be done. Updates again soon. @
Jambi, Indonesia
We wake up in the morning of Day 4 having spent the night at a truck stop/shack. Engine died last night and almost no battery power. It turns but no ignition. Thank god for sleeping bags. Its 7am and we've been awake for an hour having tea and waiting the the village mechanic to open his garage/shack. Hope he knows what's wrong and can fix it. We're 40km outside of Jambi town. Will try to upload a pic of our sleeping shack soon as find wifi.
Palembang, Indonesia
Got into Palembang past midnight yesterday, roads we horrible coming in and we had to do almost 5hrs of night driving. Luckily we stopped at a small town and got foglamps fitted with 100W bulbs. They work great but drain the battery and once we actually had to be push started cos the battery got drained. The people here are amazingly friendly and at one police stop we actually spent about 10mins taking photos with the officers. They even gave us water bottles. Next stop today is Jambi about 6hrs drive away...but could be more. Oh by the way, heard we made it to front page of Jakarta Post yesterday, check it out if you can. #rrs
Merak, Indonesia
We are now on the ferry heading across the Sunda Strait. The rickshaw gave a couple of problems but nothing major. Our speedometer and temp guages are faulty but otherwise we've had a good start. The flag off was full of pomp and ceremony and the police escort out of Jakarta was surreal. People smiled and waved all throughout and even on the ferry we're getting photos taken of us and well wishes shared. I knew wearing a sarong would open hearts and unlock smiles. More later folks. It's nap time :) #rrs
Jakarta Capital Region, Indonesia
We're chilling for a bit before going for test drives of the new rickshaws. We were told they'd be quite different from the ones we used in India. These ones have steering wheels!!! Huh? #rrs
Jakarta Capital Region, Indonesia
It's day T-minus one of the Asean Rickshaw Run. This is a test message from the road on my mobile. Will try to keep these coming as often as possible #rrs@
Considered the elder statesman of the group, by virtue of his age and infinite wisdom, Prem (Sanskrit for Love) has dedicated his life to the pursuit of Anand (Sanskrit for Bliss). For the past nine years, he has worked as a television producer, cunningly using his job to travel on his company's account whenever they demand it of him. On occasion, he has to work. On most days, though, he's content to help everyone along with a generous smile.
