u/Mugling95

Hi, I’ve just finished a year’s trip cycling from UK to Bali and while I’d absolutely love to carry on cycling across Sumbawa, Flores, and then to East Timor, I think I completely burned out of cycling and dripping in sweat all day every day.

I’ve decided I really want to make it to East Timor overland anyway, so I’m looking at all the various buses and tours. Renting a scooter and strapping my bags to it would be a trip but unfortunately I don’t have an international driving license!

I’m not so bothered about sightseeing in Sumbawa and Timor, but Flores looks absolutely spectacular and I’d like to get off the main road on that island. There’s buses across the island obviously but it looks like you’d miss all the interesting stuff just being on the main trans-Flores road. Multi-day tours go into the interesting remote areas, but they’re very expensive, prioritising plush cars and fancier accommodation for western tourists which I don’t really care for.

Has anyone backpacked Flores and could shed some insight on how you got around, and how you managed to see the interesting stuff? Trying to find a middle ground between expensive tours that see all the sights, and just taking main public transport which skips everything.

Thank you!

Hi, I’m almost at the end of a long UK > Bali bicycle trip. I’d like to explore Sumbawa, Flores, and Timor , but with a backpack this time because my knees are just about finished and Flores/Timor roads are insane!

I was wondering if anyone had some recommendations for safe places for somewhere in Denpasar I could store the bicycle and bags for a few weeks? Typically I’ve used hotels/hostels before with safe secured courtyards but it’s always hard to know the situation beforehand without actually seeing the place.

Thanks!

I cycled the whole length of the Americas from Arctic Ocean to Ushuaia in 202, I’ve just completed UK to Singapore this week, and I’m turning my attention to doing the length of Africa one day to complete the imaginary ‘triple crown’ of long distance tours. Hopefully Cairo to Cape Town when the situation in Sudan eventually simmers down.

Despite my cycle touring experience, I feel really nervous about Africa. The scenery is far less diverse compared the Americas and Asia which adds to boredom, the infrastructure in terms of cheap hotels and supermarkets is far less too, and from what I’ve seen in other cyclists’ videos, there’s a hell of a lot of camping in villages required which completely depletes the social battery as I’m solo.

Has anyone else ridden in (east) Africa and can shed some light as to how hard the days actually are? Language barriers don’t both me anymore, but I’m just nervous about constant heat, attention, begging.

Thanks

I’ve been travelling Asia the past year and loved how big cue shorts out there are.

That being said, pool seemed unbelievably popular in China but I didn’t see many actual snooker places. There are hundreds of pool halls but in my month there, I didn’t see a snooker table weirdly. Maybe just unlucky.

Vietnam is somehow even more obsessed with pool than China. Pool tables everywhere even in rural villages, and so many random coffee shops have tables too. Having tables at home seemed very common too. I’m wondering why they haven’t really got into snooker despite the country’s cultural ties with China.

Malaysia on the other hand is all snooker tables. I actually went looking for a game of pool recently but could only find full sized snooker tables everywhere! I’m even more surprised that they aren’t many Malaysian amateurs considering they seem to have the most dedicated snooker clubs per capita of any country.

It was a fairly similar story in India and Nepal- majority snooker clubs and harder to find a pool table. I even found a full sized table halfway along the Annapurna circuit in a village of about 50 people in the Himalayas which was wild!

I’m in Malaysia at the moment, and it’s 32 celcius with a ‘feels like’ of 38 celcius and 70% humidity during the day. Obvious that’s really sticky conditions, but I feel like I’m sweating an absolute absurd amount despite being fit. As soon as I start sweating 5 mins into the ride, my shirt and shirt stay soaking the entire day, feet squelching on my sandals, and my hands are too slick to even operate my phone touch screen which pissed me off so much today.

This is with cloud cover and on the dead flats. I’m supposed to be going into Indonesia where there are a crazy amount of hills but I just don’t know if I can deal with that. I’ve on a long trip and cycled all the way here from the UK, but it’s since getting to Thailand and Malaysia that the riding has become pretty miserable because I hate this feeling of being disgustingly perpetually drenched in sweat for an entire day. Wildcamping has gone out the window despite all the good opportunities.

Is this normal? I’m convinced when I look at social media of other tourers in this part of the world, that they don’t look like they’ve just come out of the shower

I’m looking at doing a 4D3N or 3D2N liveaboard trip to Komodo in June in the lowest price tier of boats. There’s about 7 available boats that fit this, all priced roughly around the $500-900 range.

I’ve never been on a liveaboard before so I’m a bit clueless as to what I should be looking for. Could anyone give me some pointers as to how to narrow them down? Luxury isn’t something that I’m bothered about, I’ll sleep anywhere!

Thanks

Hi,

I’d like to go from Bali to Saleh Bay and snorkel with the whale shark but the price for 1 person is quoted at 2,500,000. That’s way too much for me, so I was wondering if it’s normal to turn up and be able to join a group to keep the costs down. 6 people is only 600,000 per person for example!

Thanks

I’m heading there some time in June but I haven’t got anything planned or booked yet. When I was diving in Thailand last month it was very easy to just book onto day trips or even a liveaboard a few days before, but I’ve suddenly got really worried that everything might have sold out if there’s strict visitor caps now.

I’m travelling overland by bicycle so it’s hard for me to plan too far ahead because I don’t know exactly when I can get to certain places.

Any ideas? Thanks

I’m heading there some time in June but I haven’t got anything planned or booked yet. When I was diving in Thailand last month it was very easy to just book onto day trips or even a liveaboard a few days before, but I’ve suddenly got really worried that everything might have sold out if there’s strict visitor caps now.

I’m travelling overland by bicycle so it’s hard for me to plan too far ahead because I don’t know exactly when I can get to certain places.

Any ideas? Thanks

Hi guys, I’m currently on a long bicycle trip and will get to Indonesia for end of May/June. I’ve got no plans or commitments so can do anywhere in the country.

I did 30 dives in south Belize and only saw 1 nurse shark and 1 eagle ray, and I’ve just done 15 dives in Thailand and only saw a couple of very small blacktips and 1 single turtle which was quite disappointing!

I’m looking for dive sites recommendations with a very high chance of seeing lots of sharks, turtles, or various rays.

Thank you!

Hi guys, I’m currently on a long bicycle trip and will get to Indonesia for end of May/June. I’ve got no plans or commitments so can do anywhere in the country.

I did 30 dives in south Belize and only saw 1 nurse shark and 1 eagle ray, and I’ve just done 15 dives in Thailand and only saw a couple of very small blacktips and 1 single turtle which was quite disappointing!

I’m looking for dive sites recommendations with a very high chance of seeing lots of sharks, turtles, or various rays.

Thank you!