Thursday, January 27, 2011

Tropical Cycling in Manokwari city

I have just checked my google analytics account a few minutes ago that I found someone typed "tropical cycling" and landed in this blog. I wrote some articles related to mountain bike tour in Manokwari city, the capital of West Papua province in New Guinea island. New Guinea is the largest tropical island in the world. It consists of two parts, the eastern region which is the independent state of Papua New Guinea and the western region which is the territory of Indonesia. There are two provinces in the western region i.e. Papua and West Papua. Cycling in Manokwari is a great way to travel around the tropical city and its surrounding areas. Some cycling destinations
Also read: Mountain bike tour in Manokwari
This is a great location for tourists who want to do some mountain bike tour to the Table Mountain. To climb the mountain, I used my Polygon mountain bike. The slope is quite steep but I can manage to reach the top of the mountain if I use gear 1 both at the front and rear chain wheels of my bicycle. Several meters before the gate of the Hutan Wisata Gunung Meja (meaning tourist forest of Table Mountain) is a great spot to see the beauty of the Dorey bay, Manokwari city, and the Arfak mountains. I don't enter the gate, instead I continue riding my bike around the mountain. There are more things that I can see such as the villages of the indigenous people and campus areas of Papua university. It takes between 1.5 to 3 hours cycling if we want to enjoy the natural beauty of the tropical rainforest of the Table mountain, the village life in Anggori and Ayambori, and the academic environment of the university.
Pasir Putih beach, Abasi and Cape Bakaro
This is my favorite tropical cycling tour. Because it's terrain is quite flat, tourists can use road bicycle to travel around. The best time to visit these beach areas is early in the morning. I used to go out of my house with my bicycle at 5.30 a.m. I rode my bicycle to Cape Bakaro which is a famous fish calling station. Here, we can ask a Papuan man to call fish. He usually uses termites and a whistle. Standing on the rock by the sea water, he will brake some termite house and throw it to the sea. After that he will blow his whistle to call the fish. When the weather is good and there are no waves, a lot of fish will come to eat the tiny termite which has been thrown by the man. Also when I ride my bike in the morning to this area, I could hear sounds of birds in the tropical trees that are covering the Cape Bakaro. Please, read: Mountain bike tour to Cape Bakaro
The Northern Coast
The northern coast of Manokwari regency stretches from Aipiri to Yonsoribo. It is more than 50 kilometers. Although the road has been built along the beach, the terrain is not always flat. Tourists need mountain bike to cover the long route of the northern coast of Manokwari. There is no hotel along this region but accommodation at some good houses can be arranged for cycling tourists. Be sure to bring with you enough food and water if you want to visit the area by bicycle.
Prafi valley
Cycling to Prafi is also possible. I have never done a cycling trip to Prafi but from the information that I got from mountain bikers in Manokwari, it can be done with a support van or car. Prafi is a huge plain in Manokwari regency. It is an agricultural center that supplies fruits and vegetables to the city. The most important thing that we need to know is that the road leading to Prafi valley consists of flat and steep slope terrains. Most often cars and trucks run fast.
Manokwari - Ransiki
Other Cycling Route that I recommend is from Manokwari city to Warkapi - Oransbari - and Ransiki. If we start riding our bike in the morning, we will arrive in Ransiki in the afternoon. We can stay in motels there. Make sure that your mountain bike is in good condition before you start riding your bike.
If you are interested in cycling around Manokwari city and its surrounding areas, you can contact me via email charlesroring@gmail.com, I will be happy to cycle with you and guide you around to see the natural beauty of this great tropical island.
Also read:
Tropical rainforest mountain bike tour

1 comment:

Pandawa Cottage said...
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