Indonesia is behind us. So is Singapore and Malaysia and tomorrow Thailand will be a memory. After a five glorious weeks in the Indonesian Archipalego that were nothing short of life-changing we have fallen behind our mythical itinerary. Sadly, we had to sprint through Malaysia’s rainforests and Southern Thailand’s beaches to get to Bangkok (to eat ourselves stupid). Something had to give. Travel is always a frustrating compromise within yourself and on this occasion the stomach won. Bangkok is a mesmerisingly chaotic jumble that demands visitors peek around that next corner, walk into that market place and eat that smoking, juicy satay sitting on banana leaf next to an open-barbecue. The tangle of freeways and monorail-lines that cloud the city give us mere humans walking beneath the sense of constantly being cooped up and surrounded. The sun beats down through the smog making me regret my recent lack of exercise.  

Tomorrow we are off to Cambodia. Dad’s computer is broken so we have very limited (and expensive!) internet access. Watch this space…

The island of Flores is so breathtakingly wild, raw and real that It’s no wonder that the locals are devout Christians. It would be easy to believe in God when you are surrounded by such beauty. Common sense would imply that a skilled artist had carefully crafted the landscapes.

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The East Timorese are such beautiful, striking people. They have a pronounced facial structure, high cheekbones and their smile is intoxicating and infectious. The constant white flashes from the Timorese immediately makes one feel welcome. After all that they’ve gone through you have to admire their ability to smile with such warmth and be so welcoming.

The other night over dinner we learnt that illegal cockfights were a popular source of entertainment in Dili. So of course, we organised to go. The cockfights are one of the only sources of entertainment in very poor Timor Leste. Average annual wage is only around $1000US and at these fights there can be thousands of dollars bet on a single fight (that only lasts 30-45 seconds).   Read the rest of this entry »

Tomorrow morning, 5 am, when the tide is right, the Kathryn Bay will slip away from Darwin Harbour towards the sunrise with two stowaways. I’m not quite sure how we did it but we have managed to get a ride on a container ship from Darwin to Dili. We have been generously welcomed aboard by the friendly Filipino crew to whom our presence brings a break in the monotony of portholes, containers and karaoke. Amazingly, there is no alcohol, drugs, or even smoking allowed on board. So much for the ‘drunken sailor’…

I won’t pretend to be a bush kid. I’d like to be, but I’m not. I’d love to be one of those practical people who can survive in the middle of nowhere for weeks with a hair-dryer, a packet of Gummy Bears and a spork, but I’m hopeless and extremely jealous of practical peoples’ relationship with nature.

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