Amazing brotherhood of bikers

Travelling in a place where maps are patchy and provincial main roads can be a muddy track has its challenges.

On top of this, authorities can be stubborn and sometimes hard to deal with.

We have been blessed by the help of the Bionic Bikers – a very active group with chapters in many cities.

We were met off the ferry by Mr Thonny and members of the Banjarmasin group. They gave us an escort to a hotel, and again the next morning at 5:00 am to get on the right road out of town

I wanted to treat the group to supper but the restaurant owner would not hear of it and our sate was “on the house”.

Further along at Pagatan, we were grinding through traffic and another of the Bionic riders sped passed and gestured to follow. It was Mr Hadi, who was soon joined by other riders.

We had Udang Galah (chilli lobster) for brunch. Wow! Then Mr Hadi led us for a couple of hours past some hazardous roads (then had to ride all the way back, obviously).

Despite the fact that we didn’t arrive at Balikpapan until about 8:00 pm, we were met off the Penajam ferry by Mr Hery. He and Cris escorted us to our hotel, and then took me to a sportswear shop to get a new pair of gloves.

NOTE more photos to come when I get to an internet cafe.