Traveling with aci.detik.com travelers around Manokwari

A few days ago I accompanied 4 Indonesian travelers to Arfak mountains and Angresi beach. They were Suasti, Reggi, Audrey, and Diana. My trips with them were totally different from my previous trips with foreign tourists. I did not have to speak English. We spoke in Indonesian language. These Indonesian "tourists" were sent by detik.com, a popular news website in Indonesia. Detik.com requires that each of the traveler write at least 3 articles and upload 10 photos a day.

Snorkeling in Arfai
During their tours around Manokwari, they were involved in various activities which I and Suasti (the coordinator of Detik.com from Jakarta) had arranged for them in a 3-day itinerary. In the first day, they enjoyed snorkeling in Arfai beach. We went there by Ojek (a motor cycle taxi) at 2 p.m. after eating lunch at Permata-a small eating house in town. The coral reef of Arfai is facing extinction due to the plan from the local government of West Papua province to construct a drainage ditch from the provincial government office buildings in Arfai hill.
Night Ride with Manokwari Cyclists
After that they were invited by cyclists in Manokwari for night riding along the streets of the city. Even though they were very exhausted after the snorkeling activity, they showed their enthusiasm in joining the night riding. Again I had to arrange extra bicycles for these "Indonesian tourists" because I only had two at home. Fortunately, my friend in Bank Mandiri, lended two of his bicycles. I got another mountain bike from Peddy Tangguni, my other friend who lived behind the governor's office. We were a little bit late when we were heading for the meeting point in the hospital of the Indonesian naval base of Manokwari. The whole convoy of the mountain bikers of Manokwari had left the hospital. We could meet them at the harbor of Manokwari. The three girls from Jakarta joined the convoy whereas I and Reggi (the young man who was also one of the traveling partipants from aci.detik.com) had to go to Bank Mandiri first to get two more bikes for us. Because the Bank Mandiri was close to the Naval Base of Manokwari, I and Reggi could only enjoy the NR tour for around 300 meters. After taking some pictures with them, we said good bye to all of the NR participants.

Hiking in Arfak mountains
The next morning, we left the hotel where they had stayed for Arfak mountains. Our first stop point was Wosi market. We bought some vegetables, and fish there. Toyota Hilux G-series carried us to the mountains. The rear seat of the pick up truck was small for them. When we were passing by Lake Kabori, I asked Om Ching, our driver, to stop for while. They took as many pictures as they liked. Then, we continued our trip to Arfak mountains. Usually, it took only two hours to reach our destination, which was the Kwau village. However, because we stop several times for buying rice, and taking pictures and toilets, the time that we needed was 3 hours. Hans Mandacan met us on the street junction of Mokwam. Two porters had been waiting for us ready to carry our food and bags to the tourist house located in the middle of the jungle. When all of the bags had been unloaded from the pick-up truck, we began our hiking trip through the tropical rainforest of the Arfak mountains. We arrived at the tourist house at around 3. I asked Hans to prepare hot water. We ate noodle and drank some tea. That afternoon, we walked again to a birdwatching hut located some ten minutes walk behind the tourist house. I told them to stay in the hut (usually called blind) for waiting the birds to come down to their courting ground before leaving them for two hours. I and Hans waited for them around two hundred meters from the blind. After fifteen minutes waiting, suddenly we heard them screaming. I and Hans immediately ran to the blind to find out whether there was a snake or wild animal attacking them. Several meters from the hut, I could hear them laughing. They were not waiting for the birds of paradise but sharing their personal stories in the dark room of the hut. Drizzle started to fall. I told them that we could not wait for the birds or we would be soaked in heavy rain. We rushed to the guesthouse again. We only spent one night in Arfak mountains. After visiting and taking pictures of the bower of the bowerbird in Soyti slope, we returned to the city by the same pick up truck.

Snorkeling in Angresi
I was not sure whether we still had enough time for snorkeling in Angresi beach. I called Om Kosal to prepare for the boat. We left Arfai beach a little bit more than 3 p.m. Moderate wind blow pushed us from the north. Our destination was Angresi. The sky above the area was dark with thick clouds. The rain was falling in the area when we were heading to our snorkeling destination. We reached our destination at around 3.40 p.m. Miraclously, the dark cloud moved to the south east region, the rain stopped, the wind changed blowing from the north to from the west, the waves slowly died down.

Reggi, one of the ACI participants was snorkeling in Manokwari

Diana, Audrey, Suasti and Reggi really enjoyed their snorkeling activity at the foot of the Arfak mountains that afternoon. When we were heading back to Arfai, it was nearly dark. The coral reef in Angresi shore is still in pristine condition. It has now been listed in the itinerary that I offer to tourists who want to enjoy snorkeling in Manokwari. I hope that this eco-tourism program will encourage local people to protect their marine environment from further destruction. We left Arfai for the town at 19.00. After eating bakso in Sanggeng area, we returned to the hotel again. I said goodbye to them. That's the final activity that I provided for them during their tour in Manokwari. The next morning, they would fly to Sorong for a 1-week trip around Raja Ampat Islands.
If you are interested in visiting Manokwari, and need a tour guide to arrange trips and accompany you both, you can contact me via my e-mail: peace4wp@gmail.com
Related article: Snorkeling trip in Manokwari bay of Indonesia

Mountain Biking Down the Manggoapi Slope of Manokwari

Mountain biking is healthy lifestyle. This time I want to share a little of my mountain bike tour story around the hills of Table Moutain down to Manggoapi slope. Mountain biking up the steep slope leading to the Table Mountain of Manokwari city is really hard. Only experienced mountain biker who can keep sitting on the saddle while cranking up his or her bike to the top of the mountain. Entering the gate of the Table Mountain, we will feel significant changes in our surrounding environment. From the smooth streets of the city crowded with cars and motorcycles, now we will begin our journey through the green trees of the tropical rainforest. Some parts of the road inside the jungle was rough due to the lack of regular maintenance from the department of public works and forestry whereas others near the campus of Papua university had been repaired last year (2010). The air temperature inside the forest is cool. I like it very much. Although it is quite hard to reach the top with my mountain bike, I still feel that it is one of the best route for mountain biking.

The sounds of birds and insects on the branches of the tropical trees fill the atmosphere of the forest. When I ride my bicycle through this forest, I often stop at the Japanese World War II Memorial Monument to take rest for a few minutes on one of the concrete benches. When I feel that my breath has returned to normal pace again, I stand up and begin picking up some plastic wastes and bottles thrown by visitors. I collect the plastic wastes at a certain spot to inform other people to also put their wastes in that spot too. If they follow my way of collecting the wastes in one place only, the area around the monument will be cleaner.I took another ten to fifteen minutes to reach the main street of Amban. From that point the street is smooth again covered with high quality asphalt pavement. 

This time the route is going down the slope of Manggoapi. It is a zig-zag slope. I always test my front and rear brakes to make sure that they work properly before I ride my mountain bike down the Manggoapi slope. Near an unfinished church, the scenery of the city looks very beautiful. It stretches along the coastal area of the Doreh bay with two islands (actually there are three but the smallest one which is the Raimuti island cannot be seen) in the middle of the sea. They are Mansinam and Lemon islands. Tourists like to stop in this place for a while to take some pictures of them standing near the tip of the slope with the view of Manokwari city at the background. After that I countinue cycling down the slope until I arrive at the cross road in Fanindi area. It's not far from my house. Then I need to go up a small slope in Jati area and continue riding along the Brawijaya street (formerly called Panorama weg) for another ten minutes to return to my home again. by Charles Roring

Mountain bike for girl

I rode a mountain bike this afternoon. It's a Celine 3.0 manufactured by Polygon cycle - a bike manufacturer in Indonesia. The bicycle is made for girls or ladies actually. It has 27 speed quite fast for cycling on a flat road along the Brawijaya street to Abassi beach the usual route that I go through every afternoon. While riding this human powered vehicle, I could feel that the bicycle was very easy to be controlled. It's frame was made of light metal Alx 6061. I didn't see any differences between riding a male and female bikes. Perhaps, the bike maker wants to attract female riders by releasing Celine 3.0 coated with red color. I really enjoyed riding this mountain bike very much.

Compared to my Dirt jump mountain bike Cozmic DX 2, also made by Polygon cycle, this Celine 3.0 has much better cycling performance both for flat road and steep slope. I think it is because of its 27 speed gears. My dirt jump Cozmic DX 2 has only got 18 speed (two for the front gears and 8 for rear gears. Because my bike has been specifically designed for dir jump, its performance will be better in unfavorable terrain such as unpaved route in the mountains.
I hardly ever see girls cycling in the streets every time I ride my bicycle. Fortunately, I saw one this afternoon. She was riding a mid-size BMX bicycle holding a baby in her hands. She was only playing around her house.
Beauty and the Bike
Last week I read a book entitled: Beauty and the Bike. It was written by Beatrix Wupperman and Richard Grassick. The book is about the author's (Beatrix Wupperman) cycling stories from childhood to the adult period. On page 4 she told the readers how she got her first bike at the age of 5. Actually she inherited it from her mother. The bike was very big for her. At the age of 9 she finally got her own bicycle which she used to go to school. She was now at secondary school. It was in 1960s and people saw cars as the future means of transport. Motorways and trunk roads were being built throughout Europe. She witnessed how public transportation systems for trams and local rails; and lanes for bicycles were replaced by wider roads for cars. In 1980s she studied and then worked in a university in Berlin. She complained that there were only few cycling paths. In her book, she said that British girls stop cycling when they become teenagers. She wrote Beauty and the Bike as an inquiry into why British teenage girls stop cycling. Later it became a project to attract girls to cycling again. I recommend this book to anybody who is interested in developing or promoting cycling culture in his or her town/ city. There are a lot of obstacles and challenges that she and her friends face when promoting cycling culture to British girls.
The phenomenon of girls giving up cycling does not only occur in the UK. It is a world wide phenomenon which needs to be tackled by every concerned citizen who sees walking and cycling has to be placed at the top hierarchy of transport mode instead of cars and other motorized vehicles. We still have a long way to go to realize this dream. But the dream of streets and roads fully filled with cyclists again is not her own dream. It's my dream too and perhaps yours. Together with all the cycling lovers around the globe, we can press our governments to change their policies to be more pro-cycling friendly so that our cities will have cleaner air, more quiet. And because our money will not be "burnt for imported fossil fuel", our economy will be better.
Also read: Mountain Bike For Ladies

Mountain Biking to Cape Bakaro in Manokwari City

Last week I rode my mountain bike to Cape Bakaro of Manokwari city. It was in the afternoon of 4.30 p.m. that I and my friend Peddy Tanguni were cycling. He is a computer teacher at a high vocational school in this city. The beautiful white sandy beach with blue sea water of the Dorey bay was on our side. The road from Kampung Ambon to Pasir Putih beach was not quite, in fact, it was quite busy with beach goers who drove their cars and motorcycles. Sometimes I had to ride my bike along the edge of the road to make way for the cars to pass by us because from the opposite direction there were also vehicles moving back to the city.

The weather was still bright when I and Peddy arrived at the fish calling station near the Bakaro village. city dwellers like to come here to watch a man calling sea fish to the shore using his whistle and termites (as the food to attract the fish). At that time we did not ask the fish caller to do his usual performance. We only sat on the bench facing the raging sea of the tip of Cape Bakaro. Actually it should be a perfect spot for surfers but with all of big rocks scattered around the shallow waters area, surfing will be a dangerous thing to do here.
Peddy brought a can of soft-drink which he bought from a kiosk. It was a can of Sprite. He bought one for me too. Taking a rest and drinking the softdrink, we sat on the bench enjoying the breeze from the tropical sea of New Guinea island (also called West Papua). I and Peddy were talking about the price of a good mountain bike made of carbon fiber shown at Polygon cycle website - an Indonesian bike manufacturer.
Peddy's mountain bike was made by United - also an Indonesian bike manufacturer. Its front and rear gears were Shimano tourney. My bike was a Dirt Jump mountain bike with gears supplied by Shimano Alivio. Its seems that most of the gears for mountain bikes in Indonesia were supplied by Shimano - a Japanese company that specializes its business in producing bicycle parts and sport fishing gears.

Around 30 minutes later, we returned to our bicycle and began riding back to Manokwari city again. I asked him to ride his bicycle a head of me because I did not wear my glasses.
When we were approaching Pasir Putih beach I saw a young Papuan boy who was riding his BMX. I used to have one like what he had when I was in junior high school. I asked him to stop to strike up a conversation with him. I asked him if he was interested in joining a race and how much his bicycle was when he bought the bicycle. Unfortunately, he could not answer my question because it was not his bike. He borrowed it from his friend. I was sad to hear from him that the price of a new bicycle was too expensive for him (around 1.6 to 2.5 million rupiahs for a low quality ones with no gears). It's my main concern when trying to promote cycling among teenagers and young adults in Manokwari city. I hope that one day, a large bike shop will be opened in this city to sell bicycles in more affordable prices. When the price of bicycle in Manokwari is still expensive, it will be very difficult for us to promote cycling culture in West Papua). by Charles Roring

Cycling to Pasir Putih Beach

After writing a number of articles about Oasis of the Seas, the largest and most modern cruise ship in the world, now I am writing about my hobby again which is mountain biking. Although the keyword of Oasis of the Seas is now getting higher impression in my blog, I feel that I should write something that really reflects my daily activities. I have been riding bicycle since I was in elementary school. I didn't know why I was very fond of cycling around my neighborhood with my BMX at that time but I really enjoyed the surrounding view of the Manokwari town and the Arfak mountains while riding along the hills of Panorama street. Now my bicycle is not a BMX anymore but a Dirt Jump Mountain Bike Polygon Cosmic DX 2.0. I started riding this bike on the first week of December 2010.

I usually ride my bicycle in the afternoons along the Brawijaya street (formerly known as Panoramaweg during the Dutch time) to Kwawi, Pasir Putih beach - the most favorite white sandy beach both for town dwellers and finally tourists, Pasirido, and finally Bakaro beach. It takes around two hours for me to enjoy the beautiful coastal region of Manokwari city that is now developing very fast. I am often accompanied by my friend Peddy Tangguni. He was my classmate when we were in high school. He rides his United mountain bike.

When I began riding my mountain bike again early this month, I was not familiar with shifting gears from 8 to 1 for the rear ones and from 3 to 1 for the front gears particularly when climbing a slope. After using the bicycle for several times now I know that I need to use gear 1 (front and rear) while on a steep slope; and Gear 3 (front) and Gear 8 (rear) on a flat road or going down a slope. The gears of my mountain bike are Shimano Alivio. Shimano is a leading manufacturer of bicycle components from Japan.  The brake is manufactured by Tektro - I think its a Taiwanese company. The bike frame is made of aluminum. Polygon calls it Alx 6061. It is a light metal compound that is strong enough for mountain bike application. It's interesting to see that the front suspension fork of the bike is Suntour Duro DJD.

I start riding the bike at 4.30 p.m and return home at 6.30. It is nearly dark when I get back home. Along the road, I often see children riding their BMX bicycles. The second picture above shows how Peddy - my friend, and some Papuan children were riding bicycles near Pasirido.
Cycling is good for our environment. People who ride bicycles to their workplaces have helped reduce the CO2 emission. CO2 gases are the cause of acid rains that are harmful to the green leaves and trees of the tropical rainforest. By riding bicycle we reduce the air pollution of our city.
Cycling is also good for our health but I hardly ever see adults in Manokwari city ride bicycles in the afternoons. I hope that through my regular exercise riding this mountain bike, more and more people will be interested in joining me and my friend in the coming months of 2011. Lets's ride bicycles, let's save energy, let's protect our tropical rainforest and let's fight global warming.
Also read:
Health benefits of cycling
Cycling can increase productivity
Bike to work following Dutch habit and Cuban Experience