Borneo Equator Expedition - Jungle , Swamps and Heatstroke

5 bikes , some 4WD’s and 2500 km of Kalimantan wilderness along the Equator.

A taste of things to come.........





















This was going to be some of the hardest and in some places the most scariest riding I'd ever done.......

Don't look now, but I think that guy might be bogged

Nope - he wasn't bogged Stuc. Far from it in fact The guys in the 4x4's blew me away on this trip. Nothing seemed impossible for them. :eek1 . But more of them later.........

Bagus ! Bagus ! Show me more !

Good Lord! :eek1

Organised by the Indonesian Offroad Federation (IOF) , last year I was invited to take part in the first expedition to attempt an offroad crossing from the east coast to the west coast of Indonesian Kalimantan. The aim was to try to stick as close to the equator as possible as we traversed the 3<SUP>rd</SUP> largest island in the world.


In the build up to the expedition I was told that we would also pass through an area of infamous jungle in East Kalimantan where all 16 Landrovers taking part in the Camel Trophy in 1985 were trapped and had to be evacuated out of the jungle by helicopter.










Apparently we were to be the first motorized vehicles in this and many other areas for 25 years !!

All of my friends thought I was mad to contemplate taking part in the trip. Who after all would want to spend 2 weeks riding and sleeping in the mud and jungles of Borneo ? Fortunately Mrs Induro is very long suffering and supports my crazy pursuits, so off I went to Pontianak in West Kalimantan..

The majority of photos in this RR were taken with my camera, but some of Rudy's, Eca's and Didi's photo's will appear in the report to give a different perspective - thanks in advance guys !

So lets get started.............





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I met up with the other riders Rudy, Didi, Eca and Sofan at the hotel and we went into town for &#8220;The Final Supper&#8221;.
Rudy & Didi are both from Jakarta and we&#8217;ve ridden together on many trips including our last IOF expedition in Sulawesi 3 years ago. Sovan I knew from some offroad weekends in Java. This was the first time I have met Eca who is a mate of Didi&#8217;s.








Eca , Rudy , Didi





And theres Sovan










The staff at the restaurant








After a fantastic meal and a few beers, we headed back to the hotel for a briefing from Samsyir, the expedition leader.

It turns out that I will be joined by some other non Indonesian's on the trip. A guy from Utah, a couple from Melbourne and 2 journalists from Holland and Italy.





After looking at the map on the wall, the size of the undertaking I was about to embark on hit me ! I went to bed and didn't sleep very well.


Next Day 1</o>

awesome, i love expeditions on new ground

Rocking!

I can confirm that this was the toughest ride I could find on the planet. It took me three weeks to circle Borneo starting from Kuching and back to Kuching via Brunei, Sabah, and the muddy length of Kalimantan from Simanggaris to Pontianak.



That segment was absolutely the toughest sustained physical challenge imaginable.



It was twelve hours a day of spinning in sucking mud, dragging, pushing and gagging for air almost directly on the steaming equator. My hat is off to your team for possessing giant cajones. The question I have for you guys: Would you ever do it again? (I would not)

Wow, that seems like the total triumph of ego over man





Subscribed!!!

WOW!

Subsribed.

:eek1

YK

Damn, I'm looking forward to this one.

This is gonna be awesome!

I was looking at importing my KTM from Thailand to do a circumnavigation of the island. Interesting to read SV's view. Can't wait to see how this adventure unfolds. Waiting with baited breath.