The Road to Luwuk - 1000km Solo Road Trip (Sulawesi, Indonesia)
Seconds away from throwing up in my helmet. You dog.. In today's episode on this Sabang to Merauke journey I set out on another 1,000 km road trip..
As I cross into my 15th province, Central Sulawesi. But real adventure, never comes easy. I will face Sulawesi's unpredictable weather. I will once again get lost. I will cross dirt roads..
Bridges.. And the ocean to get there. In this unfiltered road trip episode.
And it is going down in my butt crack. And what makes the adventure is meeting my subscribers.. And interacting with the locals that I meet along the way. Is there any ticket, Sir? No, no, no ticket. Oh this feel so good! Good morning guys it is indeed another beautiful morning here in Indonesia. And this morning I am leaving Kendari because today Macan and I..
We'll be going into our 15th province we are going into Central Sulawesi. And this episode is gonna be a proper road trip episode because we are driving 1000 km. Over the next couple of days all the way to Luwuk, Banggai.
So it is now 7:30 so let's get on the road. It's gonna be a good day. Thank you.
Oh my God. I have said it before and I'm gonna say it again.. The first 5 seconds on the bike, the cool wind hits you, you have the sun on your face.
Oh my God. Oh it's hard to describe just how good that feels. Your bags are packed and you are free to decide wherever you want to go. So today guys is gonna be a long one because we have around 300 km.
So typically a long day on the road is around 200-250 but 300 km that is a grueling long day.. That's one of those days where by the time you arrive your butt has been sleeping for hours. And according to the GPS it should take around 8-8 and a half hours with only a few stops. So, long day.
And I can feel after our change to the Enduro Racing Oil, Macan is fit for fight. Everyone knows that feeling after you have just done an oil change, every gear change it's just silky smooth. Oh it feels so good. It does look like we will be riding on a lot of small roads today.. And quite broken, hopefully not all the way because then I think it'll easily be a 10 hour trip today. Some of you guys might be thinking "Kris why aren't you just riding fast past all the potholes because Macan can take it".
And yeah sure Macan can take pretty much anything but you do got to remember I got roughly 50 kilos of luggage on the back. A lot of electronics as well, so that is why I'm not just riding straight through all the big bumps. Alright either I have driven the wrong way or my Google GPS is trying to find me a shortcut.
Sometimes Google Maps will find you really good shortcuts and sometimes the shortcuts will be so good.. Almost too good and that's because they don't really exist. So you do got to be careful what you decide to follow according to Google. Oh and now we're going across a bridge where I can see..
We can only go one at a time. Wow what a morning view. Oh there's nothing like a good river crossing in the morning. Alright I am starting to worry a little little bit because I remember having a similar situation like this in Kalimantan.. Where I ended up driving through some kind of..
Yeah I think it was a palm oil plantation. And Google Maps showed me that there were roads out here but yeah back in Kalimantan there wasn't. And suddenly I got stuck after like an hour of driving I had to drive an hour back. And right now I'm driving out on these big open roads And I'm kind of getting some looks like "what are you doing out here?" So really crossing my fingers that Google is going to deliver today and that I don't have to drive an hour back. Because oh no no no please, please not today, not today not today.
And I also see something saying "special lane for big vehicles". And we'll see in a bit if someone is going to yell at me. What is going on here? ah maybe it's because they are making new roads. What? You know what? we're gonna try and just see if we can get out of here. -Morning sir! -Morning sir! -I want to get out of this area, I'll turn right later ya? Yeah yeah, Morowali. Yes Morowali. Later turn right?
Okay, thank you sir. Alright. What is this place? I have absolutely no idea. Mining area? Cement? Let me know guys if you have any idea in the comments because I am not sure. It does seem like going this way have saved me quite a lot of time.
Prima Fasilitas Kawasan Berikat. I still have absolutely no clue. Ah something owned by the government I assume. all right. Tarmac. Let's go.
Oh it is only 8:50.. And my butt is already asleep, that is too early. Damn it's gonna be a long day.
Oh to be honest with you guys I am tired today. Not physically super tired but mentally. I have just been editing for 14 straight days inside of a hotel room.
I was editing the Wakatobi episode with Magnus and the IKN episode for Wonderful Indonesia. So... I'm drained today. Alright guys it is 10:20 and I needed a break.
And today I found the perfect spot for it. I found a closed road. It's difficult to get in to the road on that side and from back there.
So I can sit here in my camping chair in the middle of a road and have some snacks. I'm not even sure what to say today, so hard and it's been a while since I've been on the road.. So probably taking a little bit of time to adjust. Or maybe I'm just getting old.
But Macan is enjoying it, I know that. After years of experience I tend to skip the big lunch meal on these hot and longdistance rides. As I've learned that it makes me quite tired and it's not all days on the road that are equally exciting. So as I'm passing through the many different villages and valleys surrounded by mountains.. I use some of that time to think about my family..
My friends.. And my dreams for the future. And the best thing about these days on the road is is actually the unknown. Because even though some hours can be long and a bit lonely.. I never know what I might come across the best part of the day might just happen a bit further down the road. I was stopped by a family in an old truck who had watched my videos for a long time..
And they couldn't believe their eyes as I was suddenly driving through their village. It was just what I needed meeting someone who instantly felt like friends.. As they already knew so much about me even though I had just met them. Ah so they were actually on their way home that way, saw me and turned around and came back. So cute. -Bye-bye.
You know what? that just made my day. Definitely best part of the day. See you guys, bye-bye. Ah that is a reminder that I'm doing the right thing.
Meeting people like this, lovely family who is just so happy to meet me because they watch my videos on YouTube. Ah that was nice. Okay time to cross the border into Central Sulawesi. Alright guys this is it. The last few hundred meters in Southeast Sulawesi.
So my original plan was to spend I think six or eight months totally in Sulawesi. But then I ended up spending 8 months in South Sulawesi and I've actually ended up spending.. I believe four or a little bit more than four months in Southeast Sulawesi. So that's because I ended up staying more than a month in Wakatobi, in Buton as well.. Long time in Kendari, I had to do a lot of editing and..
Yeah you know what that's how it is and luckily I don't have any time pressure that says I have to be finished or done by a certain date. So now I'm quite curious how many months do you guys think I will end up spending in Central Sulawesi? We will see. Ah here we go, here we go, here we go. This is it and we are inside Central Sulawesi in 3 2 1, and is it here? Alright I was right guys, we are now officially inside of the 15th province on the Sabang sampai Merauke channel. Let's take a picture. Alright guys it is nearly 3:00..
And I am just 25 km from the hotel. Almost there. Hey look at here, look at here we have made it to Morowali. Seems like there's a a lot of industry here. This is interesting, it looks like a city of Industry really.
Wow. Jesus that's massive. I do wonder what that is.
Wow. Alright guys I have made it to my stay for the night, Hotel Maleo. I think Morowali is probably the most dirty and industrialized city I've ever seen in Indonesia. So much dust but now time to find my room and get some rest. Oh my God I am done. Hello .
All right guys I have gotten my room and it looks surprisingly good. The AC is working, the bed is comfortable, I have a nice small bathroom.. And the price for the hotel room I've gotten here is Rp 450.000. So it's not the cheapest but it's also not super expensive.
It's a small family-owned place, Hotel Maleo here and they just brought me a ton of different food options as well.. Because I told them I was so hungry so.. Now I'm going to have my early dinner, shower and then rest up for another long day tomorrow. I will not be exploring here because yeah this is not the place you come for tourism spots.
And the closest thing that you can visit here from Morowali is.. Sombori Island and Labengki that we already visited in my last video so.. Tomorrow morning we're gonna continue.
First night in Central Sulawesi. I'll take a rest guys. Here in Bahudopi, the company IMIP processes nickel ore into export ready steel. And they employ 80,000 Indonesians.. Some of their employee housing is right next to the hotel so resting had to wait for a bit. Because the kids from those families hadn't seen a drone before.
So I spent a bit of time using the drone to play tag with the kids. The kids haven't realized it yet that I was a YouTuber. And if there is something that will make you instantly popular out here..
It's telling just that. Yeah you can look me up on YouTube, Kristian Hansen. Yes, look it up. You can look on your phone and look it up on YouTube.
We'll watch uncle! All right guys so instead of just passing out in my bed as I had planned to do.. I came just outside of my hotel. So my hotel is over there and right out in front all of the kids that came over to say hi to me before. They live right here and we're playing football so I came over and that was a really good decision.
Because they are so happy that I'm here. Hey guys. Hello, hi. So we were taking group photos and talking they have so many questions.
So they are telling me that all of the families here, all families that are working for IMIP. So uh.. So they come from a lot of different places around in Indonesia. Later you can see it in YouTube ya. Hello. I didn't get much privacy for the rest of that night as the kids they camed out in front of my room all evening.
But it was so worth it. Yeah you can see it in Youtube, probably next month. Good morning guys. It is 5:30 and uh yeah it's time to get, up get ready. So I did agree with the hotel yesterday that uh if they could bring me coffee at 5:30 and breakfast..
So I could get ready but uh just went out and checked and unfortunately they're not awake yet so.. We do the next best thing the little water I have left mixed with some with a Nescafe pouch. Not hot but uh room temperature. Enough to get me awake so what I do here in the morning is I'll get the coffee first then I'll.. Uh shower and put on my clothes and everything and then I'll pack the rest of the stuff.
And uh yeah then it's packing time again, put all the bags on the bike and then on the road, so... So let's see how fast I can get ready, all right guys it's 6:00 and they haven't brought any coffee or food yet. And that is why I always make sure to bring a bag up option myself. So here's a bottle with some protein powder and some oats that I can simply add water and then..
Shake it up because I've tried so many times that 5 minutes before I want to depart they bring the food so.. Pro tip always bring your own coffee and always bring a meal or two that you can have in case of emergency. Good morning guys, it is 07:05 here in Morowali. I wasn't able to get ready as fast as I thought I would but it's okay we have a nice sunrise this morning.. The weather is good, no rain, the bags are packed and we are ready for..
Today I believe it is roughly 200 km to a place called Kolondale. So I've actually had a really great stay here at Hotel Maleo. Even though it it's just for one night. And I can see that my fans are waiting to say goodbye to me so let's go.
Morning guys. Bye-bye. See you yeah.
Bye-bye. Oh yeah. Oh they were so happy that I wanted to spend a bit of time with them last night. They kept stopping by my room even after I had gone to bed. Okay.
And the reason why I'm getting so early on the road this morning is because.. IMIP the massive production facility here is just 10-15 minutes away. And there are more than I can't.. I think it's 80,000 or 100,000 people that work there. And they will sometimes work on Sundays as well as far as I heard from the locals here. So yeah that's why I wanted to get on the road to avoid any morning traffic.
Let's go guys. On our way to Luwuk, Banggai. I thing I've really been taking for granted lately is that it is still the dry season. And it won't be that long before it's time for rain season again.
It is just different planning your touring activities during the rain season because.. Woah you can do a full day of riding in the rain and it is so tough. It is such an advantage being able to ride in weather like this. Not too hot, not too cold and no rain. So before the rain season starts again I'm really trying to enjoy this now. I imagine that this is how the areas of Morowali used to look like.
Wow that looks good. Small bay, small village, palm trees everywhere. Woah it looks good. Very nice.
Alright guys it is time to fill up Macan. But before we do that let me give you guys a couple of tips and tricks and let you know why I'm using this application. -Good morning. -How are you? -Good.
-You got Pertamax? -Yes we have. -Mantap! -Full ya. Whenever I'm filling up gas I will always choose the Pertamax Series as it's recommended for my bike..
To use a higher octane fuel to ensure my engine can work as hard as possible with an even fuel burn. And when I'm refueling I might as well get some benefits. That's why I pay using the MyPertamina application. As long as you have an Indonesian phone number you can download the app for free. I have linked my Gopay and credit card and you can also pay using your OVO, LinkAja and so on. I simply scan the barcode with my phone and I earn points that I can use on food vouchers, flight tickets, or merchandise.
But my favorite is when they give cashback on Gopay. Sometimes it can be overall points, but they always have some special promo going on. So try it out if you haven't already. Alright guys let's continue to Kolondale.
-Bro, thank you so much. See you soon. -Be careful. -Yeah, thankyou. Excuse me. Bye-bye.
It is crazy after that Wakatobi video it doesn't matter where I stop there is always someone that knows me. Either because of that or my video when I was hiking Mount Latimojong in South Sulawesi. Ah such a pleasure you know because everywhere I stop I feel so welcome.
It still amazes me how many people who are always so shocked that I'm traveling by myself. They cannot understand that I'm not traveling with a team or.. Always like "you travel alone? no friend?" I have lots of friends, but I travel alone.
Alright guys just two more hours and I will arrive at my home stay today that is called Daffa Homey House.. Something like that. Because tomorrow morning my ferry departs from a Port called Kolonodale to Siliti.
And that is our ticket to Luwuk. And so I continued at full speed for a few more hours. Passing through a dozen of villages on small dusty roads. Testing my back and the suspension as we went over hundreds of potholes. And I got lost once again but without the need to worry as the locals will always help me get back on track. -Go straight? Thank you.
And as the view and the weather was great I thought I would make a cool looking riding clip using my drone.. Which initially turned out great. With the whole freedom on the dusty roads kind of style.
And I could just have caught the video clip here. But the reality is sometimes what you don't see is the embarrassing attempts behind the really goodlooking clip. No, no, no, no! (Kristian swearing in Danish) And in case you were wondering.. Yes! Trying to lift 265 kilos in 33° heat Wearing full motorcycle gear! Will make you feel, like you just took a shower in your own sweat. Yeah guys! We are just 5 km away from my homestay for the night, Daffa Homestay. Tomorrow we have a... tomorrow is actually going to be more hours on a ship I think.
I think it will take like four or 5 hours on that ship so that should be okay. And then once we arrive in the afternoon with the ship then I do have to do 2-3 hours as well to get to the stay for the night. So just a couple more days of riding and then we will arrive at Blue Banggai. Yes I think we have made it to.. "Selamat datang" in..
Oh my Jesus christmas! What a view from up here. Woah I did not expect that. Woah! Woah get a load of this.
Woooo. Woah I did not expect that. The home stay should be up here somewhere..
In this teeny tiny street, ah I see it Daffa Homey House it's called. What a nice name, I'm not expecting of seeing luxury but this was actually the best we could find here. -Hello. See if I can park in the shadow.. That would be just great. Woah, so hot.
Alright we have made it. Well let's go and see if we can find some people. Alright guys I have made it here to Daffa Homey stay and uh.. Yeah the room looks decent, not as fancy as yesterday but uh it'll do for one night and.. Bonus is that I can park Macan in here right out front. Doesn't seem to be anybody besides me and the kind Ibu she just brought me an ice cold, ice cold ice tea.
That's perfect because it is so hot. It is now only a quarter to 3 it's not very often I arrive this early at my step for the night. But today it's nice. And I will need a shower as well, when I took off my boots.. I nearly passed out oh my God. My feet inside of black leather boots 5-6 hours underneath the Indonesian sun and I'm telling you..
Oh that will bring out horror. Shower first and then we got to head down into the city and see if we can buy our ferry ticket for tomorrow. So that is settled. And find some food as well because there's no resto here and you cannot order so.. Let's do that.
As I knew I had to take the ferry the following morning. I will always go to the port first to double check the location and the departure time. And luckily I did because the first guy at the port told me it departed at 3:00 at night. And it's in situations like this that it's an advantage to be able to speak Indonesian.. Because the next guy I met told me that there was a second port where the ferry leaves at 8:00 in the morning. -Good afternoon.
-8:00 in the morning. -Oh this one departs at 3:00 in the morning? -Ah I see, but if I use this I can't bring my motorcycle ya? I then found the other Port but it turned out that I couldn't just buy my ticket in advance. Because I met some locals and they told me I just had to show up tomorrow morning at 8:00.
Oh Macan are you ready to go on the water tomorrow? yeah. Alright. I saw guys on the map that there is a Padang Restaurant here somewhere. So there's one thing I always default to if I can't find anything special it's Padang food. Oh here we go.
I love rendang, I love the grilled chicken, I love the vegetables that's ah.. Yes and they have a lot I see, I'm starving. Let's get some food. Padang food is from West Sumatra where I spent quite a lot of time a few years ago. So you choose what you want from the window stand and I will always choose some chili marinated chicken..
Some cassava leaves and the famous rendang, slow cooked beef in coconut milk. Rendang just never fails, never. They also had some crackers with whole shrimps in it, I hadn't tried it before but it was delicious. I'm generally not a big fan of eating alone at a restaurant as it makes me feel quite lonely. But I had some unique entertainment because at the restaurants in Jakarta..
You won't get to see a living display of what you're actually eating right in front of the restaurant. And what better way to end a full day on the road with a little bit of Netflix in the room.. And my favorite Indonesian cookies full of pineapple jam the Slai O'lai. Good morning guys.
-Thank you, Bu. -Thanks. Good morning guys, it is a quarter past 7 here in Kolondale and I'm on my way to the port. Wow I slept fantastic in that little homestay, oh my God. Best sleep I've had in months.
So today is going to be either a not too long trip or an extremely long trip because.. I have a 5 minute drive now down to the port. We will depart at 9:00 and then it should take between 4 or 5 hours to get to a place called Siliti. And then I will actually have to decide if I want to drive 2 hours.. To a place where I can rest for the night or if I want to drive 4 and 1/2 hours. And get all the way to my final destination which is Luwuk from where we will start our Banggai adventure.
Ao we will have to see when we arrive in Siliti, how I feel at that time. But it would be nice if we could get straight to Luwuk today so let's see, fingers crossed. The weather is not looking too good so if it's going to be full rain all day then.. Yeah.. Only one way to find out. Good morning, Sir.
Ferry departs at 9 ya? Okay, okay let's get a ticket. Alright guys I got the ticket. Make sure you get here in good time because it took me roughly 30 minutes just to wait in line. Even though there were only like seven eight people in front of me. So I paid Rp 98.000 and that's for a seat in the business room up front with the bike. So very cheap and now we wait about 20 minutes and then we can get on board.
I will always meet some interesting people when I'm at the port. And this morning one of my subscribers had shown up just to make sure I got safely on board. And there will always be that one funny guy who wants to joke a bit with a foreigner. -Where do you want to go? -I want to go to Luwuk.
Okay, hello. What are you selling? -Selling eggs, quail eggs. -Egg made of what? -From bird, quail.
-Oh, okay. -Okay, thank you. -Thank you very much. -You're welcome. -There's a ferry song.
-Oh ya? -Yeah, you want to listen? -Sure, I want to. -Okay. -Okay Having lunch at the ferry, Eating it in the middle of the ocean.
Ferry provides instant noodle, I prepare the eggs. You have one? Anjay, meledak. Anjay. (Indonesian slang words showing excitement or amazement) -Thank you, sir. -Thank you, oke gas oke gas. Oh it's always good when you have some entertainment while waiting here for the ferry.
Ferry in Indonesia. Kolonodale, North Morowali. Always when I'm waiting for the ferry there's always one person who will be like this. Yes. The port staff then brought me all the way up front as they also wanted some photos.
And since we had some time to kill I decided to try out the job as Port staff. -Boss, you got ticket? -You have? Can I see? -Yeah, I just started working here. -Yeah, I'm originally from Luwuk. -Okay be safe boss, please.
-Go straight. -Okay nice, go ahead sir. -Oh, haven't paid? -Already did.
-Okay, go ahead sir. -Can I see? -It looks good, please go ahead sir. -Okay, go straight.
-Yeah. -You have ticket, sir? -No no no no ticket. -If you don't have ticket, you can't enter. -No, no, no, no, no. -Yeah. -I am owner of the port.
-Okay, okay. -Bro, see you ya. -Be safe. -Yes, thank you. -Okay, thank you. Excuse me. Thank you, boss.
Alright Macan.. Time to get on the water once again. Good morning. When I bring my bike on a ferry, I will always park it in a place where it's possible to tie it down. Otherwise it will most likely tip over. So guys pro tip if you're ever going on a ferry, never leave your most valuable things down here.
Of course you cannot bring everything especially when you bring this much luggage but bring your most valuable items. You never know so.. Okay let's get up top and see how it looks like. And normally if you ask them, the staff will help tie it down for you. -Take a rest. -Yeah, already did.
-Hello guys. -Hello, excellent. Wow guys today is a different experience on a ferry because once I arrived.. I met one of the staff here on the boat and I quickly had a look around and..
Yeah it's actually decent beds that they have downstairs but he showed me upstairs. And he told me that I could rent the captain's room. So I've rented the captain's room for Rp 300.000 and I have my own room with air condition.. There's a bed, pillows. And the staff here has been so kind they've brought me drinks and I got rice and tempe and Indomie.. And for the next 5 hours I will be resting here, eating good food, chatting a bit with the captains out on the bridge for sure.
But maybe also getting a bit of rest in my own private room here. I ended up paying him Rp 400.000 because I was so happy. But this is the first time I've been on a ferry with a private room so.. Time to rest. -Okay sir, you want coffee? -Want coffee? -Coffee no drink, hot hot.
-Hot, not cold? -Not cold, no no no no no no no. -Okay? -What is coffee in Portuguese? -In Portuguese coffee is café. -Café, okay okay.
We then sailed for 4 and 1/2 hours from Kolonodale to Siliti. And I got a bit of extra rest so I could maybe make it all the way to Luwuk. I almost feel like saying "good morning guys" because that is how I feel. It is a quarter past two and I have slept for like 3 hours straight in that small captain's cabin. That was just fantastic. The weather is not looking fantastic though it looks like the rest of the day might be in rain..
Which is not so good because my tank bag I just noticed today right here. It's actually starting to break so it is no longer waterproof. So I need to buy a new one of those unfortunately.
But I've decided we're going to go for the long trip, I'm going to do 200 km now to Luwuk.. Because I know in Luwuk a great hotel awaits me, a great bed and maybe a day of rest. So that's what we're gonna do guys. Let's get back on the road.
Oh it is time to get off this ship. Oh there is waves here at the harbor.. So everything is just going back and forth and I am seconds away from throwing up in my helmet. Oh my god, oh this is death.. I'm gonna have to drive fast otherwise I'm going to tip over the bike.
Oh my God I'm getting seasick. (Kristian swearing) You know you're getting seasick when you're sweating but feeling cold. Oh my God.. And it is going down in my butt crack! All right this is it.
-Hello mister. -Hello, hello. Come on do it fast! Or I will tip! Oh my God this is difficult! Oooh Do it fast, do it fast come on come on come on! Go go go everything is moving! Holy [ __ ] . Oh I nearly shat myself! -Yeah I'm okay! See you ya.
Holy [ __ ]. Well.. That will wake you up! I mean look at how the ship was going back and forth. Do you understand now why I was getting seasick? Oh my God, alright.
Luwuk, here we come. Oh I might need to throw up anyway. Jesus Christ. And we are praying for good roads.
Because with a little bit of luck I might be able to get there at 20.00 tonight. But if the roads suck, then well either way.. We're gonna be riding in the dark today.
Might not have been the best decision ever to drive all the way to Luwuk today. Because yeah it's raining. And that also means that I cannot drive as fast because the roads will be wet.. So have to be more careful. If the camera is not too wet already, check out this view.
Woah there's a waterfall over there. Wow, so cool! It almost seemed like I had jinxed the whole weather situation by talking about it the other day. Because for the next 4 hours I had to ride in the rain. And I wasn't the only one who was a bit tired of this kind of weather. Taking a poop are we? Yeah this weather is [ __ ] mate.
There is however something peaceful about being stuck in the rain while touring. The world kind of slows down and my focus suddenly boils down to a single task.. Waiting for it to pass to the sound of the rain droplets on my jacket and my surroundings. Alright guys and that's gonna be it, it is now nearly 18.00.. I should arrive here in Luwuk in about 30-40 minutes. And I'm now driving on the new road Luwuk, Batui I think it's called, really nice.
Winding road in here between the mountains and there's no other cars here. So you can corner any way you like. It's a lot of.. I'm having a lot of fun.
So we did it guys, 1.000 kilometers in just 3 days. And I'm happy that I ended up just going straight to Luwuk today and not taking another day.. Just 3 hours from Luwuk because then.. Maybe day after tomorrow we will be ready to start the Banggai adventure. Yes.
I will see you guys tomorrow, good night guys. And after 12 hours of traveling that day I finally arrived at Hotel Swiss-Bellin in Luwuk. Ah... Ah my butt. Wow this place looks nice. Alright guys and that is gonna be it for this video thank you so much for joining me..
As I rode all the way from Kendari here to Luwuk. I've now checked in at my hotel here and it looks incredible wow what a view of Luwuk. But that I will show you in the next video where we will also go to the Banggai islands. But now it's time to get some rest my body is tired. So thank you so much for watching guys.
I appreciate it as always, I will see you in the next one and.. Until next time, bye-bye guys!
2024-10-06 13:51
