Tourists take off on tuk-tuk rally through jungle to Bali

Dozens of tourists set off through Indonesia's malaria-infested jungles and potholed roads on three-wheelers as part of a rally to raise funds for forest conservation, organisers said Monday.

The 26 three-wheelers -- with wimpy 250cc engines, five-litre fuel tanks and little capacity to climb slopes -- began a two-week adventure Sunday over some 3200 kilometres of mostly unlit roads between Sumatra and Bali islands.

"This is only for those with a spirit of adventure. We've told them of the difficulties," said Julian Ananda, a local organiser in Medan, a city in northern Sumatra from where the rickety vehicles took off.

"Most of them are prepared for the worst -- they have jerry cans, tyre pumps, and if we search their bags, I'm sure they'll have stashed malaria tablets," Ananda said.

Seventy-five foreign tourists -- from Britain, United States, Australia and New Zealand among other nations -- are taking part in the rally, named the "Bajai rally" after the Indian auto rickshaw brand Bajaj.

Bajaj has a presence in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, where it is pronounced "Bajai".

The rally was organised by The Adventurists, a Bristol-based group aiming to raise funds and awareness to promote forest conservation, with the participants hoping to make it to the resort island of Bali by January 26.

As Southeast Asia's largest economy grows rapidly, swathes of biodiverse forests across the archipelago of 17,000 islands have been cleared to make way for paper and palm oil plantations, as well as for mining and agriculture.

Since taking off on Sunday, some of the tourists made it to the idyllic Lake Toba, the world's biggest volcanic lake, while some teams were left stranded at workshops after their three-wheelers broke down.