Hitchhiking in Indonesia: Bukittinggi to Merak
18th of January, 2025.
I get stuck.
After 9 hours trying to get a lift, moving several times and walking a lot, from 9 a.m. to 17.00 hours, for the very first time in my seven years of hitchhiking, I get stuck. Thank you, Indonesia!
I’ve got stuck before, yes, but for different reasons and for much less time. Those countries were France and Italy. And the main reason there was that, the cars simply didn’t have a place to stop for me, as the roads were not meant at all for hitchhiking. It was not the case here.
Just as in those other two times, I have to appeal to a bus. Three times in seven years is not such a bad math. And it always has to do with timing. In other countries where I am not under a Visa schedule, I can keep trying, here I cannot.
But before taking the bus, I receive much help from a local woman, Zija, and a taxi driver, Indra. As I am talking with the woman and she’s trying to arrange with her husband’s friend to take me for free to a small town called Bukittinggi, just before Padang, Indra stops his car and explain to Zija that he has seen me around the whole day. Now that he got a delivery and a passenger going to Bukittinggi, he can take me there. I’m not sure how he was feeling to take me there for free at first, but then Zija offers to give him a small contribution for the fuel, so he says it’s OK.
The journey to Bukittinggi is hectic, as the roads in middle Sumatra are crazy! I just keep wondering who did and why someone would build roads in such manner. The curves never finish, and that’s perhaps the reason why people travel this route after dark. Even though it might seem more dangerous, it’s actually not, as you can see the lights of the cars easier, from a distance, while during the day light you just have to keep on breaking and be very attentive all the time.
We get to a rest point, outside Bukittinggi, around midnight. Indra tells me that I can rest here for tonight (as he will explain to the owner), and tomorrow morning I can get to Bukittinggi and carry on to South Sumatra.
I think I manage to catch some sleep. Next morning, I ask for some hot water and I make some coffee and have with my bread.
I hitchhike to Bukittinggi and a man in a motorbike takes me to the city centre. Asking for help in a Hotel, a lovely receptionist, Ricky, help me to arrange a bus to South Sumatra. Even though the information would be not accurate in the end, I am very grateful for his help. When he called the people from the bus, they told him that, to go to where I want, Bandar Lampung, I must take the bus to Lampung, get out there, and then continue on my own. I thought I told him that I am actually going to Bakau and taking the ferry to Merak, but perhaps I didn’t. He helps me also to get directions to the bus company, a walk of 40 minutes from here.
Withdrawing money is terrible for me, as I pay more than 3 USD for every time I do it. But I have no choice this time.
I hitchhike to the bus stop and a nice man, who can speak a good English, take me there.
It will be a long journey. I was expecting to be something around 24 hours. I was not expecting 36 hours though.
You know how buses are. They stop everywhere, they deliver stuff, and that makes all the travel longer. I really don’t like travelling by bus. I would never rather travel by bus than hitchhiker. Ever. This travel in particular made me reassure myself that even more, as they were transporting some durian in the luggage compartment, so my backpack and all my clothes, including my sleeping bag are now sticking at durian.
At least for some good hours I have two seat for myself, and travel a bit more comfortably. My seat is, luckily, beside a young girl, but I move to the back seats for the better of us both. In the evening, when a guy come for the seat behind us, I go back to my original seat.
The worst part of travelling in Indonesia by bus is how little they stop for us, the passengers. Perhaps because of the many stops they do for picking up and dropping off passengers and packages, the times they stop for bathroom breaks and eating, are ridiculously too small, something like 6 hours in between them. There is a toilet on the bus but I cannot even imagine how bad it is. And the timing of the stops it couldn’t also be worse. We left Bukittinggi at 9 a.m., the stopped for lunch around 15.00 hours, and only at 2 a.m. again for eating. I know, it’s simply absurd!
Near Lampung, the driver start asking the people where they are heading to. I hear some people saying something which sound like Merak. With Indonesian language downloaded on my phone, I come to the driver and his helper, and start asking questions. They are going to Bandung, which is also my final destination. I try to explain to them the confusion with the receptionist calling their company, and the fact that I thought I would have to take the ferry to Merak myself. The women sitting in front suggest that one of their young members, who could speak a little English, join the conversation and try to help. In the end, we all agree that I am coming with them to Bandung but I just simply don’t know if they will charge me for the ferry and the extra 6 hours driving from Lampung (my ticket destination) to Bandung.
The ferry is gigantic! Dozens of buses and lorries boarding it. Before we can do the same, we are stopped by the police. A police officer comes on board and start looking around, after having already checked the luggage compartment. He uses a device to find what he is looking for: cigarettes and alcohol. They are being transported illegally by someone. About four big wrapped packages are taking out of the bus. The bus company says they didn’t know anything about it. What surprises me is that, those packages, were inside the bus, on the back, in a very hidden place.
All of this circus delays us, of course. Plus, after we get out of the ferry, there’s some more waiting, and I think it has something to do with this again.
They have Wi-Fi in the ferry, and I take the chance to chat with my host. He asks me to come to a different location, only one hour from Merak, to another school, and not to his village outside Bandung. I am a bit reluctant at first, this being a completely change of plans, and about a place which I know nothing of it. But as if I go there, I will arrive sooner than if I go all the way to Bandung, I decide to accept. Tecnically, we should arrive there maximum at 19.00 hours, but thankfully to the wonderfulness of travelling by bus, we only arrive at the spot where my host, Syam, can pick me up, at 23.00 hours. At least, the people from the bus are helpful and are in contact with Syam all the time.
It’s raining a little bit when I get off the bus, and we are in a motorbike. Hopefully, we’ll get there soon enough.
P.S.: they haven’t charged me anything for the ferry or the extra 6 hours driving. At least something good out of this chaos.
10 Years Around the World 