Wheel Story – The Adventures of a Travelling Couple

“I love to travel and take pictures.” These are the words of Lilis Handayani from Sumatra, the girlfriend of North Sulawesi native and motorcycle traveller Mario Iroth.

Although Handayani might not be on the frontline of the travels, she assists Iroth throughout the journey by documenting their memories. As Iroth put it, she handles the camera and he is the model. The couple, who are both 31, met in Bali in 2013 while Handayani was backpacking and looking for a job.

Their travelling personalities were a match made in heaven and the rest, as they say, is history.

Iroth worked in the hotel industry for eight years in Bali, and after his first solo motorcycle charity trip through south-east Asia, he decided life behind a desk wasn’t meant for him.

“I’m living my dream,” he said.

The motorcyclist quit his job in 2014, explored Indonesia for six months, headed to Europe in 2015 and then went on to Australia and New Zealand last year. In love with the Africa they saw on television, Handayani and Iroth wanted to see the real continent and, for six months, planned their trip which would take them from South Africa all the way to Egypt.

The couple have been in Africa for almost two months and have travelled approximately 6 600km. They arrived in Johannesburg and travelled to Durban by bus to pick up their Honda CRF motorcylcle, and proceeded to Swaziland, Mozambique and back to South Africa, particularly to Kruger National Park, Pretoria and then Cape Town.

Iroth and Handayani reached the Namibian border on Friday evening and it took them three days to reach the capital city.

“The first thing I saw was the desert,” Iroth said, mentioning that although he’s seen several others, the unique colour of the Namibian sand made our desert particularly beautiful to him.

The couple mentioned that they have never encountered problems regarding safety on the road, despite a robbery in their home country. “If you bring something positive, you will get something positive,” Handayani said. She did, however, mention that her small seat on the motorcycle is not the most comfortable.

For eight hours each day, travelling between 300 and 400km, the couple spend time on their bike, taking rests every two hours. Although this might be tiring, Iroth said he doesn’t drive at night. Travelling with all their equipment, they are always ready to set up camp. He mentioned that due to very little pollution, at night, he can see the Milky Way very clearly in Namibia.

Handayani mentioned that their journey is also to gain knowledge about the different tribes, cultures and nature and to be able to take that information back home. She mentioned this is also a platform to teach different communities about Indonesia.

“This is what we are looking for – adventure,” Iroth said.

After exploring Namibia, the two will make their way to Botswana. Ultimately, their aim is to travel all the way to Egypt, then Turkey, and then to Nordkapp in Norway. The journey from Cape Agulhas to Nordkapp is called Cape-to-Cape, and is one of the favourite routes for bike travellers, Iroth mentioned.

After all their travels, Iroth wants to move to Sumba Island near Komodo in Indonesia with Handayani, where he plans to start writing a book.

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