Cycling Around the World and Across Indonesia, for Charity (article taken from Jakarta Globe)

After embarking on an around-the-world cycling trip 11 months ago, Sam Gambier finally got a taste of the Big Durian. The 23-year-old Briton arrived in Jakarta on his green eXp Thorn bicycle earlier this month, where he quickly holed up at friend’s place in Kemang to take a break from washing his clothes by hand.

“Almost all of my clothes are torn apart. Mook and Boonlert bought me some new T-shirts,” he said, referring to Thai friends who had provided him with fresh clothes.

Gambier met Mook and Boonlert last year at a bar in Bangkok, during the Thailand leg of his journey. The two asked if they could accompany him on part of his quest to cycle the world, with the three agreeing to meet up in Jakarta.

“Other than preparing themselves for a cycling competition, they also want to improve their English,” Gambier said.

The trio’s plan is to cycle across Java before concluding their journey in Bali. Gambier will then be flying to Australia, where he will be continuing his quest.

Gambier, who is from Cornwall, Helston, in the southwest of the United Kingdom, was working as an assistant for disabled people at their houses when, in July 2008, he decided to travel across five continents on a bicycle to raise money for ShelterBox, an international disaster relief charity based in his hometown.

ShelterBox delivers crate-sized green boxes containing basic survival equipment to victims in disaster areas. The boxes include, among other things, a tent that can accommodate up to 10 people that is meant to withstand strong winds and heavy rainfall, thermal blankets, insulated ground sheets and mosquito nets.

In addition, there are also kits for children, with drawing books and crayons, and also tool kits containing hammers, axes, saws, trenching shovels, hoe heads, pliers and wire cutters.

Each box, which can support the recipients for up to six months after the disaster, costs an average of 490 British pounds ($770), including materials, packing, storage and distribution.

The foundation has 10 international affiliates and their goal is to help 500,000 people every year. To date, they have sent out 57,852 boxes.

“At the moment, they are focused on sending shelter boxes to Haiti,” Gambier said.

Recently, the foundation also sent kits to earthquake victims in Malawi.

Gambier is documenting his travels on his blog, cyclertw.blogspot.com. People who wish to donate to his cause can click on a link for ShelterBox. The cyclist has raised 2,425 British pounds as of last week.

As a volunteer for the cause, Gambier is responsible for promoting the foundation’s work and raising global awareness about its mission.

“It’s a common thing, actually, people would do something, maybe run a marathon, to raise money,” he said.

Gambier has installed five bags on his bike where he stores his bike equipment, sleeping bag, a tent, clothes, water, personal documents, camera, a satellite phone, GPS and books to keep him entertained during his downtime.

“When I decided to do this journey, my parents bought me this satellite phone,” he said, explaining that they were initially apprehensive about his quest.

Gambier started his journey from Praze-an-Beeble, a village in Cornwall, at 8:30 a.m. on March 1, 2009. A week later, he arrived at Vesoul, in the east of France.

Since then, he has been crossing countries and continents, sharing photos and stories on his blog and raising money for his chosen cause.

When he arrives at a new place, the first thing he usually does is set up camp.

“Places like a forest are always good for a campsite because there won’t be many people bothering you,” he said.

When he’s not camping, Gambier stays at budget hotels. He writes about these alternative accommodations on his blog. During his stopovers, he usually stays in a city for four or five days before moving on.

Gambier arrived in Indonesia from Singapore via Batam Island.

He crossed to Riau, then to Bukittinggi and Lampung in Sumatra before proceeding to Banten province and then on to Jakarta.

Passing through other countries, Gambier is more interested in the scenic landscapes. In Indonesia, however, he is bent on interacting with people.

Gambier said he loved Sumatra and was overwhelmed by invitations from people there to have meals with them, drink coffee at their homes or simply meet their families.

“I remember meeting a man from Switzerland in Luangprabang, Laos,” Gambier writes on his blog.

“I remember him saying, ‘The Sumatran people are the friendliest people in the world.’
“Even if it was possible for me to believe him at the time, I could never have expected my time here to be so overwhelming, to have had such a marked effect upon me, to have left, already, such wonderful lasting memories.”

Somewhere in Sumatra, he discovered the duku fruit.

He writes on his blog: “Duku is a fruit that has a taste and texture very similar to lychee, though it differs in being segmented and having much smaller seeds. The Indonesians, quite sensibly, don’t seem to export it.”

Gambier said that he enjoyed his time in the Jakarta, and also professed to liking the food, especially gado-gado.

On this particular leg of his trip, Gambier has with him a “Lonely Planet Indonesia” guide and an English-Indonesian dictionary.

He said he always tried to learn as much as he could about the places he visited. For example, he is attempting to learn Indonesian.

“But I’m not fluent yet,” he said in Indonesian.

Of all the places that he’s been to, Gambier considers Mongolia, which he visited in July last year, as the most memorable. There, he was arrested and detained for a few hours.

“I crossed the forbidden line where no one is allowed to enter,” he said, explaining that he did not notice the red line and the signboard with the warnings until he was pulled over by police.

The officers brought him to the police station, where he was questioned in the presence of a translator. He was allowed to leave a few hours later.

Has he ever gotten sick during his travels? The cyclist said that he has only had two minor health-related incidents so far.

Gambier is hoping to finish his journey in March 2011.

He left for Bogor on Feb. 7 to continue the Indonesian leg of his trip. After crossing continents and meeting all types of people in different cities and countries, Gambier said that the experience has been a positive one so far.

“I learned that the world is actually a safe place to live,” he said.