Watch: Indonesian Motorcycle Diaries // Episode One
A question often asked on the Swellnet forums is what's the best quiver for an Indo trip. However, that particular query was never entertained by Tom de Souza: Riding a bike across Indonesia means there's only room for one board.
That said, Tom did seek advice from Swellnet users for his six-month moto trip, which, among many colourful digressions, he duly received. And with a simple show of appreciation - "Righto, cheers for the info crew" - Tom was gone.
He's now reappeared in Bali, bike purchased, board too, plus a short reconnaissance mission under his belt. Tom plans to document his trip, which if you're aware of his storytelling skills, means we can expect anything other than dead ahead surf fodder.
"And don't worry," he tells me, correctly predicting what I and most Swellnet readers would be thinking, "I'll keep the details as vague as can be."
See Episode One for a taste of things to come. Bit of surfing, bit of surf talk, a lot of local perspectives.
Comments
Fantastic stuff Tom! Excited for the next installment.
Thanks Sprout
hati hati sebelum mati
Great stuff. I've followed Tom's work for a while and he has an eye for interesting stories, and takes gorgeous photos. He'll have a blast. And yes he was bang on - looking at his map, the paranoid and selfish part of me would be quite relieved if his camera malfunctioned on one or two legs of his trip haha.
Tom adalah ramah dan baik hati. Tidak ada ombak di nusa tengarra, Bali saja!
just a tip for using "adalah" it needs to be in reference to a noun to make sense not an adjective like 'ramah' or 'baik hati' eg: tom adalah orang ramah...good to see someone having a crack at bahasa though
Maaf, Rich. Saya adalah orang yang gila sekali dengan Bahasa!
Right on, Richie! I didn’t know you were familiar with the intricacies of Indonesian grammar. You must have done a few strike missions over there since I last saw you.
Guess I'm not the only one who tries to play the Wind Cries Mary every time I noodle on a guitar
"Tidak ada ombak di nusa tengarra" nice try, but you know you could be right.
That was well done, almost felt like we were there, love the little interviews with local Pak's first guy reminded me a lot of my wife's father, second Pak was classic Indonesian they all love their ghost stories, they always claim they have seen and heard them too.
The ghosts of the '65 PKI purges probably
Or the 200 suspected black magic practitioners massacred in Banyuwangi in ‘98
Fantastic, all the best Tom!
I remember surfing a dark board like that in the tropics once, they get mega hot!
WHS Indo style - Welding with sunglasses and eyelids (and a big smile) for protection!
How is it? These thongs should be right!
I must say I really like the ‘we need to take own responsibility’ attitude. Need a bit of a dose of that in the modern west
The spirit world is real .Very real.Experience tells me this as does my wife.
great vid, gives a little of the real culture as well as some nice waves, cant wait to see him on the banksy,
Off to a great start. Looking forward to the rest. Nice bonus having the chats with the Indos.
looking forward to seeing these come through, it's got a pretty genuine feel to it. Sorry Torren but I think I'm going to enjoy these motorcycle adventures more!
Semoga berhasil Tom!