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4/12/2018: Finally, after our 313th shipping (since 10/16/1984), we
reached after 13½ hours respectively 150 miles [240km] the capital
Manokwari of the Indonesian province of West Papua. Actually we intended
to reach this target driving the "Trans Papua Highway" already by the
end of last year, but it isn't always possible in Indonesia to do
everything what looked before feasible on the map - not even internet
access is enough. Manokwari looks like another "Indonesian looking" city
with about 250'000 people, a huge motorcycle traffic and the expensive
price level of the former Irian Jaya.
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4/11-12/2018 on KMP Kasuari Pasifik IV
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- 4/7/2018: Actually we should have left today,
Saturday at 5pm, Biak for Manokwari on the ferry "Kasuari Pasifik IV".
To be sure, Emil drove in the morning with the car to the 5 miles [8km]
distant ferry port. There he got the information that the boat would
only arrive in Biak on Sunday morning due to bad weather in Manokwari.
Having somehow a doubtful feeling, we revisited the port in the
afternoon again. The new information was now that the departure would be
postponed to Wednesday, April 11th, 2018. What might be right? It's only
sure that currently the vessel isn't here. There is no office, no
telephone, and if there is somewhere a number, nobody replies anyway. We
shall see - in Indonesia we have to be prepared for everything -
probably another extended deadlock!
-
- 4/4/2018: We arrived on Easter Sunday from Serui
on the island of Yapen on another bumpy, 15 hour and 140 miles [224km]
long night ride with the ancient
ASDP
ferry "KMP Masirei" at our second Papuan provincial destination: The
island of Biak - part of the Schouten island group. It was 7am, high
tide and therefore the exit ramp was much too steep. The landside
elevator to adjust was anyway broken. Not wanting to risk the same
situation as on 5/19/2007 in
East Timor, when our low lying petrol tank got damaged and gasoline
was leaking, we decided to wait for the high tide to recede. The captain
invited us for breakfast on the bridge. Biak was a Japanese stronghold
during World War II. They lost 3'000 men during an American bombardment.
Besides war relicts, there are laid-back coastal villages, a sea that
shimmers in all turquoise and blue shades, the whites sandy Bosnik
Beach, jungle and mangrove swamps. Next Saturday, April 7th, 2018,
already our next night ferry ride is up: From Biak in Papua in 16 hours
150 miles [240km] to Manokwari in the West Papuan province on the
even-aged "KMP Kasuari Pasifik". ("News –
March 2018" is a bit delayed due to all the boat trips)
-
- 3/29/2018: We spent the last days with our
LandCruiser on an imposed "Mini Cruise"! As planned, we left Ambon in the
Moluccas on March 23rd, 2018, with the
Pelni ferry in direction East. We
reached after two uncomfortable nights on the vessel "KM Dobonsolo"
Serui on the island of Yapen – our first target in the Indonesian
province of Papua. However our exhilaration of arriving finally at our
destination lasted only for a short time: Due to low tide, the ramp for
our LandCruiser (the only vehicle left on the vessel) could not be
lowered. We had no other choice than to continue with the ferry to the end
of the line in Jayapura at the
Papua New Guinea border
and hope for the best during our return trip - not really a big hit due
to the bad condition of the old ferry and people sleeping everywhere on
the floors. Luckily the second attempt was successful after another two
nights. Since yesterday we are now touring this mountainous island with
its fjords and about 30 miles [50km] of roads.
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- 3/20/2018: Next Friday, March 23rd, 2018, we are
scheduled to leave with the
Pelni ferry “KM Dobonsolo” to our first leg
of our eastward journey: To the island of Yapen in the province of
Papua. Slowly we are getting used of island hopping. It will be our 12th
ferry to the 9th island in the 11th Indonesian province during this
tour.
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3/20/2018 Indonesia
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3/29/2018 Serui/Yapen/Papua
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4/4/2018 Biak/Papua
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3/16/2018: We seem to have developed a kind of healthy
mistrust - needed in Indonesia! A day before embarking from Ambon to our
northwestern escape route comprising four different ferries, we wanted
to be sure that they are really running. Through the Office of Tourism
we learnt however that the ferry of our second leg from Namlea to Sanana
went into the drydock until mid-April. What now? A new idea popped up:
To take the
Pelni
ferry from Ambon via the islands of Yapen and Biak to Jayapura in the
east and then trying to enter from there overland
Papua New Guinea for a
second visit. This would allow us to realize a bit more of our initial
"Trans Papua Plan" and to see not only the Indonesian provinces of
West Papua but also
Papua. We are now working on the PNG car permit.
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3/13/2018: The fifth page of our “Borneo-Sulawesi-Moluccas-West
Papua Trip” with 105 new pictures from
Sorong and the 'Trans Papua Road' on the Bird's Head and the Bomberai
Peninsulas in West Papua is now online.
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3/12/2018: It seems that we are able to free ourselves
from our "Ambon" deadlock. The northerly escape route to Sulawesi,
mentioned in our "News Jan./Febr.",
seems to be feasible. It will carry us on 4 ferries across the islands
of Seram-Manipa-Buru-Sanana-Mangole-Taliabu und Banggai to Luwuk in
eastern Central Sulawesi. According to our past Indonesian experiences
we are rather a bit skeptical that it will work out, but we will try it
anyway. We will leave the island of Ambon within the next days to start
with this new challenge.
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3/1/2018: Bad news: We are grounded in Ambon in the
Moluccas! The only car ferry sailing from here to the Southwest is in
the dry dock at least until the end of March. In any case our 3rd visa
extension up to April 8th, is already solved. A travel agency acted as
paid sponsor. This gives us some free play to search for connections in
a northerly direction.
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2/24/2018: The challenges with ferry connections keep
us on the go. But we reached at least in the meantime on totally 17
ferry rides our eighth island during our 2017/18
Indonesian trip: Ambon
in Central Maluku that is also the provincial capital of the Maluku
province – to which also the South Moluccan islands belong (the North
Moluccas with Ternate +
Tidore, Halmahera
amongst others form an own province). We still enjoy our island hopping.
The island of Seram – particularly its North – surprised us with its
South Pacific flair. We could
experience since Tahiti
once more the beauty of an overwater bungalow in a turquoise shimmering
sea. Here in Ambon we are busy with two problems: Our onward journey!
Where to are car ferries running from here? But also the expiry date of
March 9th, of our fourth visa is looming. News from our LandCruiser: Its
36-years old lock of the rear hatch broke; now we cannot close it up
anymore. Where will we find here a new one? And the car's overheating
problem is still not solved: The engine refused to restart during a
steep climb up to 4'183 ft. [1'275m] altitude, but also after a several
hours' drive in the tropical heat.
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2/9/2018: The new tires arrived, are mounted and we
already tested them during 310 miles [500km] on the new "Trans Papua
Highway" in direction Manokwari. The quality of riding is good. Our
enthusiasm for this excursion however is limited. Only some exotic
sounds of birds and a few tropical flowers cheered us up on our first
leg to Ayamaru. On our second leg from Ayamaru towards the Petik Bintang
Pass the landscape became at least more scenic and the course of the
road more challenging. The new road meanders on a roller coaster ride
with breathtaking steep climbs through a landscape partly still
dominated by genuine jungle. On the mountain pass (3'284 ft. [1'001m])
we were rewarded by a sweeping all-round view. But already the next
tropical downpour was on the horizon – it's basically rainy season. Not
having the slightest desire for mud fights on the unsurfaced
continuation of the "highway" we made a u-turn and headed back to Sorong.
Next Wednesday, February 14th, we will take from here the two nights
lasting ferry to Wahai on Seram in the South Moluccas, thus ending our
West-Papua tour. Due to the obvious inevitable construction delays, it's
simply too early for our Papua adventure!
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2/9/2018 Trans Papua Highway
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3/16/2018 Pambo Island/Ambon
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- 2/2/2018: Our four tires "BFGoodrich
Cross Control 7.50R 16 LT" ordered in
Jakarta are
now from
Makassar in Sulawesi on their way to us to Sorong. The
complicated procedure of our online ordering in Indonesian
language would be enough topic for a separate thread! Certain
things went wrong and only through intervention of our hotel
manager it seems now to work out. We expect to get them soon by
airfreight. Inshallah! We succeeded also in finding
coincidentally an old Chinese regulator for our LandCruiser –
just in case our current ailing one stops working. Yesterday,
Thursday we were able to collect our second 1-month visa
extension at the Immigration, sponsored by the same restaurant
owner lady. And also yesterday we experienced a huge surprise:
The Mayor of Sorong South popped up at our hotel and presented
us an envelope with a very generous donation with the words "You
are my heroes". – Wow!
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- 1/20/2018: Our electrical car problems
are "improvised" solved for the moment, the LandCruiser is
loaded, the 58 gallon [220 lt.] fuel tank and three of our ten
5.3 gallon [20 lt.] jerrycans are filled to the brim for the 370
miles [600km] long jungle ride to Manokwari. Highly motivated we
take off, but already after 20 miles [32km] our 189th flat tire
announces itself. We cannot and don't want to continue without a
spare tire and return to Sorong to have it repaired. Because it
isn't identifiable why the air leaked - a cracked steel belt
cannot be ruled out and might happen anytime again - we decide
to have sent a set of new tires either from Jakarta or Surabaya,
as our size 7.50R16 is simply not available here. We are now
checking the possibility of a delivery per airfreight.
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- 1/12/2018: Before we tackle the adventure
of the next 370 miles [600km] of the ‘Trans Papua Highway’ to
Manokwari with nothing in between than jungle, bush and some
thatched huts, we need to get the grip on three problems of our
LandCruiser: The starter, which only works after several
attempts; the fuel pumps, which are not fully operating and the
horn that is only screeching. Everything seems to be related to
the 36 years old condition of the corroded
electrical
wires with its voltage drop. Our work with installing now
new cables in front of our ‘Guardian Family Hotel’ in Sorong is
constantly interrupted by “interrogators and selfie”
enthusiasts. But we had also the honor of a photo with the mayor
of the district of Sorong (to the right of Emil).
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1/12/2018
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1/20/2018 189th flat tyre
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2/2/2018
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12/31/2017: Happy New Year!
The last turn of the year we celebrated amidst golden domes and Buddha's
at the Shwedagon Pagoda in
Yangon/ Myanmar. Today, in Sorong in West-Papua, we are in a totally
different world. We are sliding into 2018 without our passports. They
are at the immigration office for a visa extension. Probably we will be
able to collect them beginning of January 2018. Then 'off we go' to new
road and ferry challenges and of course also to new experiences and
encounters. The picture shows the sunset during the ending new year at
the Kasuari Valley Beach Resort in Sorong.
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12/24/2017: Merry Christmas!
We just received a big Christmas gift: We found today a sponsor in
Sorong for a further monthly extension of our Indonesia visa, which
expires on January 8th, 2018. Is this not a perfect gift – so we don't
have to leave the country for a visarun! Thus, we will still spend the
festivities in this hot and humid city in West Papua, before we will
tackle the challenges of the obviously not yet completed Trans Papua
Road to Manokwari.
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12/17/2017: Last Friday, 12/15/2017, we had the chance
to meet some members of the Toyota LandCruiser Indonesia Club at the
Kasuari Valley Beach Resort in Sorong, where we could gather some
information about the conditions of the Trans Papua Road to Manokwari on
our next leg. We spent a few relaxed hours together and enjoyed the gift
of a LandCruiser T-shirts each. Now we are discussing if we are going to
manage all alone the mud stretches we shall encounter, which remembers
us of our adventures in former
Zaïre (today
D.R. Congo) in 1991 and
Guyana in 2005. Also our road tires became an issue, although we
still carry snow chains along. Likewise we are not sure, which of the
three possibilities we should choose to cross the Birds Head Peninsula.
There's hardly current information available and should we have to
return, we need enough gasoline as there isn't any during the 370 miles
[600km] long trip.
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12/15/2017
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12/31/2017
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12/14/2017: We got yesterday the mandatory "Surat Jalan"
(Travel Permit) from Polres (Police) in Sorong to visit West Papua and
Papua (see pic below).
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12/12/2017: To give West Papua a second chance paid
off. The ferry docked punctually at 2pm at Weda port in the eastern part
of Halmahera on North Moluccas on December 8th, 2017, and left
punctually eastwards towards West Papua at 1am on December 9th. Together
with countless packages of fertilizer and other merchandise, with a
dozen calves and about 40 goats, finally also our LandCruiser was part
of the freight. The captain offered us as the only westerners on the
ship place in the VIP lounge, where at least sleeping mats were
available. We grabbed also two and laid them between two rows of seats
to be able to lay down at night. At the end, also here everything was
filled to capacity, partly with shouting and screaming children.
Altogether the whole chaotic atmosphere on board with its colorful
exotic crowd was a special experience for us. The sea was very calm
during the 30 hours lasting journey and the three stopovers at Patani,
Gebe and Gag were always entertaining. Between Patani and the island of
Gebe we crossed for the 23rd time the Equator from North to South, and
between Gebe and the island of Gag the provincial border of the North
Moluccas and West Papua. On December 10th, 7am, we arrived in Sorong in
West Papua. We shall try now our luck at the police station here to
obtain a permit ("Surat Jalan") for us and our LandCruiser to drive our
intended route in West Papua and Papua. Unfortunately the weather
presents itself rather a bit rainy, which isn't the best condition for
the roads ahead.
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12/3/2017: Actually we should be today on the ferry to
West Papua. But we are not! Typically Indonesian the ferry from Weda in
East Halmahera to Sorong, scheduled for December 2nd, was cancelled
without notice, despite that the departure date was confirmed by phone
as well as per email from the head office of the ASPD ferry company in
Sorong. Next sailing is now scheduled for December 9th, – as it's noted
on a slip of paper at a shed of the point of departure in Weda! With it
we got into a dilemma. Can we relay on it? We have not endless time.
Four weeks of our second two-months-visa from Kuala Lumpur
have already gone. In the meantime another uncertainty popped up: Is
additionally a special permit needed for circulating in the former
restricted area of "Irian Jaya" with its own car? In any case a "Surat
Jalan" (travel permit) is needed from the local police for everybody if
they want to leave the big cities of Sorong, Jayapura and Biak. Where do
we get a reliable answer within days? After all, the ferry crossing
costs about US$475 one way – way too much money, should we have to turn
around and pay the same amount again for going back. Does our ambitious
project, long elaborated beforehand, eventually collapse like a house of
cards?
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11/30/2017
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12/14/2017
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11/28/2017: Tidore, our second island in the Moluccas –
only 20 minutes away from the lively small "big city island" of Ternate
– belongs already to the past too. Its sleepy island character, its
colorfully painted cottages, but overall the splendor of tropical
flowers, which bloom in little gardens, in flowerpots on narrow
sidewalks, simply everywhere, are part of Tidore's attraction. Since a
few days we are on Halmahera, our third and biggest island of the
Moluccas group. A new tarmac road brought us from the landing port of
Sofifi, which is simultaneously also the capital of the province of
North Molucca, in a roller coaster ride through exuberant tropical
scenery to the 112 miles [180km] further north lying small town of
Tobelo. During the next days, we will move again southwards to the ferry
terminal of Weda, where a boat will sail us in a 30-hours ride with
three stopovers to Sorong in West Papua – at least we hope so. The
Indonesian ferries are not always reliable, at least concerning
schedules! However the safety standards seemed to have improved much
since our first visits in
Nusa
Tenggara.
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11/22/2017: A more than 300 years old flow of lava, a
deep green crater lake, views to the volcanic cones of the neighbor
islands and a lively city with many impressive mosques – these are the
main attractions of Ternate, our first island of the Moluccas, which was
governed in the past by a sultan. Our Muara Hotel was a right choice.
We enjoyed the all around view, and from our room on the 6th floor we
experienced the volcano Gamalama with all its shades. We circumnavigated
the 27 miles [44km] twice within five days. Today we chugged with
another ferry (our 303rd vessel) to the second Moluccan island: Tidore
(see picture below). The
crossing took 20 minutes. Fare for the LandCruisser US$5.85 and Liliana
as a passenger US$0.50. On the contrary to Ternate, Tidore looks rather
elliptical, of course also tropically green, measures on volcano
Kiematabu an altitude of 5'676 ft. [1'730m], has a size of 45 sq.mi
[116km²], counts however only about 60'000 people.
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11/18/2017: Now we moved further East and are since
yesterday on the spice islands of the Moluccas. On November 16th, 2017,
we left Sulawesi, the second island on our "2017 Indonesian tour", at
the northeasterly port of Bitung and arrived after 15 hours of a calm
sea journey on a
ASDP ferry at the city of Ternate. The same-named
volcanic island looks tropically green, almost circular, 5'627 ft.
[1'715m] high, measures 43 sq.mi. [111km²] and has a population of
nearly 200'000 people. White puffy clouds hovered over the island group
and province of the North Moluccas (Tidore south and Halmahera east of
Ternate), giving us a lovely reception. From here it is now entirely new
land for us. We are excited!
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11/11/2017: After a week in Kuala Lumpur/Malaysia
we arrived yesterday evening, November 10th, with Malindo and Batik Air
and a new 2-months Indonesian visa safe and sound back in Tomohon/North
Sulawesi/Indonesia. Yes, our doctor in K.L. gave us a further free pass
for our life "on the road". In our luggage back to
Sulawesi there were a
new Acer laptop (Swift 1) for Liliana, a Samsung smartphone (J7-Prime)
for Emil – by the way his first – new sunglasses for Emil, new shoes for
both of us and those who know Emil won't be surprised: A stack of cheese
triangle packages, Emmental, Gruyere and Salami (we almost had to buy an
additional bag for it!). Next week we will move to the Moluccas, which
are completely "new land" for us. Our first destination after an 18
hours ferry ride will be the island of Ternate.
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11/4/2017: In the evening of November 3rd, 2017, after
a 5 hours long flight with Batik Air and a change of plane in
Jakarta we arrived
safely in Kuala Lumpur. It
is our 19th journey to Malaysia's capital, which became in a way "our
second home" during all our years of traveling (we visited Switzerland
last time in 1998!). Until our return to
Sulawesi on November
10th, where our LandCruiser is waiting, we booked into the Hotel "The 5
Elements" in the heart of Chinatown. We enjoy the hustle and bustle and
after the spicy Indonesian food also the Chinese specialties. From our
program we already accomplished two things: The visit at our "family
doctor", who is looking after us since 2010 and the collection of our
new "Carnet de Passage", our current one expiring on December 25th. The
most important task, the application of a new two months Indonesian visa
at their local embassy we shall tackle on Monday. Otherwise we need a
new notebook for Liliana, probably finally a smartphone and a couple of
other things that are harder to get in Indonesian's cities.
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11/4/2017 – Visarun @ Kuala Lumpur
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11/28/2017 Halmahera (Galela)
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- 10/25/2017: A good and a bad message. The good
one: We found in Tomohon a local sponsor for the extension of our
Indonesian visa. The bad one: The visa is nowadays extendable only for 1
month, not anymore for 2 months as it was common in earlier times.
Therefore we decided to fly to Kuala Lumpur in
Malaysia to apply at the
Indonesian consulate there for a new two months visa. That gives us more
time for our challenging
project as immigration offices are just a few in regions with less
tourists.
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- 10/13/2017: A glimmer of hope arises that we
might be able to find a local sponsor in Tomohon or Manado for our
visa's extension. Therefore we continue to enjoy our relaxed days in the
‘Mountain View Resort’, meeting new people, exploring more of the
surroundings and in between working on our website. We managed to put a
further 15 pictures on our “Borneo-Sulawesi-Moluccas-Papua”
website. By the way:
No. 66 is
the 10'000th photo on our website – thus it needs some endurance should
all be viewed.
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- 10/8/2017: Since a week we now enjoy our comfortable bungalow
at the ‘Mountain View Resort’
(picture 10/8/2017) in
Tomohon, 14 miles [23km] south of Manado in North Sulawesi – a delayed
birthday gift to Liliana. The climate on an altitude of 2'525 ft. [770m]
is nice and each day we enjoy again the luxurious tropical surrounding.
Up to now we made excursions to the Minahasa Highland, to the Mahawu
Volcano, to the Linow Lake and to the rice fields. In between there were
nice chats with other travelers because the ‘Mountain View Resort’ is
the place where travelers meet. We gave an interview for the National
Television Channel ‘Trans7’ and today, we worked on our website: Our “Borneo-Sulawesi-Moluccas-Papua”
photo page shows 15 new pictures and the
home page a new photo.
Unfortunately one month of our 2-months Indonesia visa is already gone
and an extension comes closer. Will we find a local sponsor for it or
will we have to fly out to
Kuala Lumpur resp.
Singapore
for a new visa?
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- 10/1/2017: Now we are already 10 days in
Sulawesi, an island with
abundant palm trees from the coast up to the mountain tops and narrow,
winding and partly holey coastal roads with little sandy bays and quaint
fishing settlements. This island lives up to its name of a “tropical
paradise”. In about 315 miles [500km] we crossed the Province of Central
Sulawesi, where Liliana celebrated her birthday in its capital Palu. Our
LandCruiser had a special gift for her in stock: its 188th flat tire! We
experienced some “South Pacific romantic” and recrossed the equator, now
for the 20th time from South to North resp. for the 12th time together
with our LandCruiser. In the meantime – after crossing the Province of
Gorontalo – we made it to North Sulawesi to the city of Tomohon, a
mountain region short of the most easterly tip of the island. Here, at
the “Mountain View Resort”, managed by Michael, a German, we treat
ourselves with some days of relaxation in a bungalow surrounded by
beautiful tropical green. We well deserve it after the many 7 to 8 hours
driving on partly miserable roads.
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10/1/2017 – 40th Equator-Xing
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10/13/2017 – 10'000th Photo
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- 9/22/2017: Yesterday, Thursday, we
checked in at the ferry port of Kariangau, outside of Balikpapan
to a 232 miles [374km] long and 22 hours lasting passage from
Kalimantan to
Sulawesi. The vessel “KMP Tuna” of the Indonesian state ferry
line ASDP was only half-full although it sails only twice a week.
There are no cabins – one lies or sits where ever it's possible.
The journey costs finally Rp. 3'097'000 (US$241) (LandCruiser +
2 pax). It was calm by rather overcast weather and became our
301st boat trip. The third picture in the row below shows the
entrance of Taipa, about 10 miles [16km] north of Palu (to the
left are the noticeable poles of the ramp).
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- 9/20/2017: 2nd flashback into the
Caribbean:
The natural disasters hitting the Caribbean don't stop. One week
ago – see below 9/13/2017 – it was hurricane “Irma”. This time
it's called “Maria” and hit somehow more south the island chain,
particularly Dominica, but touched also
Guadeloupe and
Martinique.
From all those beautiful exotic islands, which we also could
visit 2004 with our LandCruiser, we have lasting memories. In
Dominica
Swiss Television was present at our special reception by
government officials. In Guadeloupe we barely survived hurricane
“Jeanne 2004”
that flooded our river camping area, blocking our escape route;
and in Martinique we enjoyed the mixture of French charm,
African exotic and the unique Caribbean flair.
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- 9/16/2017: We arrived yesterday after
1'702 miles [2'739km] resp. 74¼ driving hours since our
departure in
Miri/Malaysia with our first Indonesian ferry from Penajam
in Kariangau near Balikpapan in East Kalimantan. Duration of the
trip: 1 hour; fare Rp. 269'500 (about US$21.70). With it –
interestingly it was our 300th shipping since October 16th, 1984
– our journey on the island of Borneo
comes also to an end. Balikpapan is a big city of almost 750'000
people. In the coming days, we are continuing to Palu on the
island of
Sulawesi (around 24 hours including a night ride - without
cabin!; Rp. 2'666'000 (US$214.50) for the car and us).
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- 9/13/2017: Flashback: We are
devastated about the extent of the damage to the northern
Caribbean
Islands, caused by hurricane “Irma”. We especially recall
Saint Martin/Sint
Maarten, where on October 18th, 2004, we were able to
celebrate the
20th
jubilee of our epic journey around the world at Le Galion
Beach under palm trees. But also
Anguilla, as
well as the British
and American
Virgins Islands are in our memory as islands of paradise. it
is unbelievable what remained of them.
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- 9/8/2017: Starting at Kapuas River southwards, the relatively new
“Trans Kalimantan Highway” leads more than 250 miles [>400km]
with countless bends up and downhill through scenic lush
tropical landscape, which unfortunately already today is
interrupted by new palm oil plantations. The route is partly
narrow (only 175 in. [4½m], but mostly (still) without potholes
and fully asphalted, even if there are many bumps. We needed for
it about 10½ hours driving time.
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9/8/2017
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9/22/2017
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9/7/2017: Today happened the 20th Equator crossing from
the northern to the southern hemisphere (the 14th with the car) near
Tayan in West Kalimantan, about 3 miles [5km] north of the bridge over
the River Kapuas. Interestingly there is absolutely no sign or monument
(only GPS knows it).
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9/6/2017: We crossed today without any problems our
531st border from Malaysia (Tebedu) to Indonesia (Entikong).
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9/3/2017: On 7/16/2014 – more than three years ago – we
updated for the last time our statistics. It's now per 8/31/2017 again
up-to-date and consists of the four programs below. The first three
programs exist in an American (Am) and a British (Br) version for
distances, weight, liquids and temperatures. Enjoy all the figures!
- - Statistics per
continent
- -
More statistical figures
- - Information about us
not included in the statistics
-
- Chronological sequence of the trip
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-
-
8/30/2017: Firstly we had to repair our 187th flat
tire, secondly we got here in Kuching within one day the 2-months'
Indonesia visa for Ringgit 205 each (= US$48) at its consulate, and now there are three pictures more of our “Borneo-Sulawesi-Moluccas-West
Papua Trip” online.
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-
-
8/27/2017: After 457 miles [736km] we arrived in three
stages in Kuching, the capital of
Sarawak with
almost 400'000 people on the East-Malaysian Island of Borneo.
The first day was very hot (~104°F) [~40°C], the second very wet: One
tropical rainstorm after the other. The third leg from Sibu to Kuching
was with eight driving hours (Ø = 25 miles/h) [Ø = 40km/h) the longest,
because we chose the 60 miles [100km] shorter coastal road via Pusa and
Sebuyau instead of the main highway #1. However it involves two ferry
crossings, which became our “shipping” No. 298 and 299 –
ferries+freighters of the last 33 years counted together. Amazing was
the ferry tariff for the LandCruiser and 2 persons: 1 Ringgit each (=
US$ 0.20) for about a 30 minute ride!
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8/17/2017: Departure from Miri in
Sarawak, besides
Sabah the second
Malaysian state on the Island of
Borneo. Miri, just
south of the border of Brunei,
shows a seahorse as its mascot. Hence we separate also from our
comfortable MCity apartment on the 3rd floor from which we admired many
beautiful sunrises and sunsets. With a rent of barely US$800 per month,
we enjoyed a fully equipped kitchen with gas stove and microwave, two
bedrooms, an own washing machine, a cleaning service three times a week,
aircon, wifi, TV, balcony, and a guarded covered parking. Was very
pleasant – but now we are ready for new challenges!
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8/17/2017
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9/7/2017
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8/15/2017: After our last visit to the workshop we bid
farewell to boss Lance Lau and his crew. With three last pictures we
complete therefore also the 3rd page of our totally three rejuvenations
on Borneo of our
LandCruiser in 2006,
2012 and
now in 2017. A
new chapter starts!
-
-
7/11/2017: Finally the
Route Map
is updated again (last time 12/24/2014).
-
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7/2/2017: Finally the report of our
Azerbaijan trip from June
2013 is finished.
-
-
6/30/2017: Due to various reasons there won't be "News"
for the months of May-July 2017.
-
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6/27/2017: Finally the report of our
Transnistria trip from August 2013
is
finished.
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-
6/26/2017: Finally the report of our
Nagorno Karabakh trip from July 2013
is
finished.
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6/24/2017: While we are refreshing memories from Miri/Sarawak and
its surroundings, we enjoy the seahorse as mascot of Miri each time. Even
the lighthouse at the marina is a seahorse – reason enough to have a
picture of our LandCruiser with this cute mascot!
-
-
Three new pictures of our
3rd
Rejuvenation of our LandCruiser are online; finally the reports of our
Armenia trip part 1 and
part 2 from July 2013 are
finished.
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6/17/2017: On April 19th, 2017, we wrote about the
problems of our 3-years old Lenovo Laptop. The ordeal of the past weeks
has ended, when it sometimes worked and sometimes not. Today we received
from Kuala Lumpur our 6th Lenovo. Malaysia complements now the list of the
five predecessors from
Dubai,
Guyana,
American Samoa,
Oman and
Cape Verde. Today we made also a visa run to
Brunei in order to have more
time to complete without ruffle the last reworks on our LandCruiser caused
by procurement problems of spare parts and the
installation of the new laptop. The still rainy weather on the
Indonesian islands
of Sulawesi,
Moluccas and Papua can only improve in the meantime.
-
-
6/1/2017: We would like to share the link of the
monthly published customer email of Toyota Motor Sales USA – "400'000
miles and counting". "Never-ending
road trip" features 20 stations of our epic journey and shows a small
but nicely presented view of its variety. Already during the first six
days being online, it brought us more than 12'000 clicks to our website!
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8/15/2017
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5/23/2017: Our update of "The
Longest Driven Journey" is now online on the website of the 'Guinness
Book of Records' (see picture below).
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-
5/21/2017: During the last week, Emil has finalized in
many hours the "master plan" of our next leg through the
Indonesian islands,
i.e. he ascertained the coordinates of the 47 landing places of the
ferries that might be in line for us (see picture below -
ASDP, the biggest
ferry company in Indonesia, runs 140 vessels on 154 routes), timetables,
length and fares of the planned stretches. Now the "schedule" is fixed
until Papua (formerly Irian Jaya), the part of the Indonesian island of
New Guinea. There starts in the most westerly town of Sorong the so called
"Trans Papua Road", which measures allover 2'687 miles [4'325km] and ends
at the border of Papua New
Guinea. 2'485 miles [4'000km] are completed and became drivable. It
sounds tempting! How we could continue on the eastern side of Indonesia,
in Papua New Guinea, is still written in the stars.
-
-
5/13/2017: Apart of having to exchange the master and
release cylinders of our clutch, nothing else arose yet. Slowly but
steadily we are starting with definite loading. We have to take decisions:
What are we keeping and what are we leaving behind? Not an easy choice!
Many things are an essential or emotional part of our epic journey, which
by the way represents pretty exactly ⅔ of our married life since May 8th.
Hence the many maps and the foreign license plates will find again a place
in our luggage (see
3rd
Rejuvenation of our LandCruiser).
-
5/4/2017:
The fourth part of
Myanmar is now online: From
Mandalay to Nyaung-U (Bagan) by ship and by plane back to Yangon
(Rangoon).
-
-
5/3/2017: Our LandCruiser left the workshop; it's now
going to be vetted thoroughly.
-
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5/1/2017: Not too many world travelers go astray in
Borneo!
A lovely surprise was therefore our yesterday's reencounter with our
countryman Heinze with his "Red
Camel", a Toyota LandCruiser HZJ78. Heinze is on a 4-months partial
section through
Southeast Asia with his companion Florian. We first met Heinze in
April 2016 in Kerman in Iran.
Of course, there was much to talk about!
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-
-
4/23/2017: Wonderful coincidences do happen! On April
13th, 2017, it was at the airport of Miri/Sarawak/East
Malaysia. There we greeted our friends Julie and Ruedi – this time with
their children Markus, Ella and Noah – for the 5th time since their
spontaneous invitation in May 2006 in Kuala Belait in
Brunei during the
1st rejuvenation. Four years and five
months later, we made a stopover in Brunei while our LandCruiser sailed
from Papua New Guinea to
the Philippines. Another
reunion in Brunei took place in 2012 at the occasion of the
2nd rejuvenation
of our LandCruiser in Miri. In between, on 2/25/2015, there was a lovely
reencounter with the whole family in Stellenbosch in
South Africa and with just
Ruedi on 2/27/2016 in Dubai.
Ruedi brought us for the car a coil and a distributor cord set from
Switzerland to Miri – and of course also cheese, sausages and chocolate.
What a feast!
-
-
4/22/2017: Our LandCruiser left the spray booth – the
3rd rejuvenation draws slowly to its close.
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4/21/2017
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4/19/2017: Our today's message is "What does NOT
work?": It is our 3-years old Lenovo Laptop that is obviously on the brink
to stop working at all. We still try to revive it, but have so far little
hope. It is our 5th laptop: No. 1 was received in March 1999 from IBM
Middle East in Dubai as a
gift for reaching our 500'000th kilometer [= 310'686 miles] milestone on
our epic journey; No. 2 brought us on Feb. 2005 a friend from the USA to
Georgetown in Guyana;
No. 3 was bought on July 2009 on Ebay and received in
American Samoa; No. 4 was
brought to us on Feb. 2013 by our friends from Switzerland to
Oman; and No. 5 was bought
in Dubai on Oct. 2013, but
activated only on April 2014 in
Cape Verde.
-
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4/12/2017: Our LandCruiser is in the spray booth. Liliana
follows the spraying process and is excited about the progress of its new
impeccable look during the
rejuvenation. The third part of
Myanmar is now online: From
Nyaungshwe at Inle Lake by minibus to Mandalay and by train over the
Goteik Viaduct.
-
-
4/7/2017: The bodywork is now finished and the first grey
undercoat is sprayed. The second undercoat will be applied tomorrow
Saturday, 4/8/2017, and on Monday, our LandCruiser will get its former
blue color.
-
-
4/4/2017: The second part of
Myanmar is now online: From
Bago (Pegu) by train to Shwenyaung at Inle Lake.
-
-
-
3/25/2017: Two were working this week on our LandCruiser –
the welder and the bodybuilder with the putty. An end of the bodywork is
now in sight! Both of us were busy too. Emil had the time-consuming task
of compiling the evidences of the yearly update of our
Guinness Book entry, and Liliana's job was and still is writing the
captures of the 84 pictures of page 2 of our Myanmar site, what is not
less time-consuming. In between, our 32 years old Zarges aluminium boxes
got new hinges and clasps and our "sleeping room" was smartened up with
new curtains and new mattress covers.
-
-
3/18/2017: We received this week in Miri our new 'Engel
MT27F' ice box, ordered in
Singapore. It is 17.7" (45cm) (before 13.7" [34.8cm]), thus slightly
higher than its predecessor 'MT15E'. At least, we can now store in its
content of 22.2 quarts [21Lt.] (before 15.85Qt. [15Lt.]) beer bottles
upright. It's 2.6" [6.6cm] higher inside! As we mentioned on February
11th, our fridge, bought also in Singapore in September 2005, didn't cool
anymore despite that its compressor was (still) running. It showed that
nobody was able or ready to repair it here in Miri. Five years ago, the
willingness to try to repair was bigger. Today's "throwaway trend" is
taking over also here. Btw: The ice box runs on 12v or 220v and cost
SGD1'244 (US$882) + freight (SGD150), no tax and duty.
Regarding our LandCruiser, the body repair makes daily some little
progress. It will still take a little while too to see the end of the
3rd overhaul.
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3/18/2017
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4/12/2017
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3/13/2017: The first part of
Myanmar is now online: From
Yangon (Rangoon) to the 'Golden Rock' of Kyaiktiyo by bus.
-
-
3/11/2017: We are now into the second month of our
LandCruiser
rejuvenation and the bodywork started somewhat sluggish. Since the
mechanical part is virtually completed and we don't need to hunt for spare
parts anymore as often as before, we have more time for other things. Thus
we started sorting out the 2'000 Myanmar pictures for our website and
writing the captures. There will be four lovely pages.
-
-
3/4/2017: Mechanically everything is completed. A little
test drive went fine. Now it is the bodywork's turn.
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2/24/2017: The time has come again,
at least a "half-a-milestone" birthday: Emil is getting 75 and is
unpacking an unusual gift from
4x4 fan
Paul Si from Kuching: A used carburetor!
-
-
2/22/2017: The front and rear axles together with the differentials are
now also reassembled. It became apparent that the two pro-owned side
shafts, donated by the "Land Cruiser Club -
Southern Africa" together
with the axle case and mounted on February 13th, 2015, had to be replaced
(see "Major Repair in
Cape Town"). They run for 24'927 miles [40'116km]. Our
two new axles, bought before at Gemini Parts in Johannesburg, have been
used now.
-
-
2/19/2017: The overhaul of our LandCruiser continues:
Clutch, gearbox and transfer are already reinstalled. We easily found the
clutch disc and pressure plate as well as bearings, seals, o-rings, shims,
etc. Hopefully the gearbox will now stop "singing". Mr. Lau continues to
keep us busy. Preventively, both differentials and the front and rear
axles are dismantled. Yesterday we have been running from one Chinese
parts shop to the other for genuine parts – there are too many
"me-too-products" (generics) around.
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2/14/2017
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3/11/2017
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2/11/2017: Slowly work on our LandCruiser started. It already showed that
the clutch and parts of the transmission and transfer have to be replaced.
Today, we already found a new clutch. Regarding the transmission and
transfer parts, we will start the search next Monday, February 13th. Mr.
Lance Lau, the workshop boss (on the right of the picture next to his son,
daughter in law and his employee) obligingly gave us a replacement car
free of charge which we also use for looking for spare parts. At the
moment however, we have another "headache": Our Engel refrigerator, which
we bought in September 2005 in Singapore,
suddenly does not cool anymore despite that the compressor is running.
Therewith and many things more we are now busy.
-
-
2/8/2017: So far everything goes according to plan: Over the weekend, we
moved the complete content of our LandCruiser to our spacious and
comfortable apartment on the 3rd floor. On Monday, February 6th, it was
the roof load's turn. Like in 2006 and
2012 it was
quite hard work to carry our fully loaded aluminum cases and all
the other odds and ends the steep wooden stair up to the workshop's attic,
where a part of it has been cleared for us. Gradually our LandCruiser is
loosing its special look: Roofrack, pillars and all bits and pieces have
been removed. This is how our car looked an Wednesday evening, February
8th!
-
-
2/3/2017: Since February 1st, 2017, we are now in Miri and
booked into a studio for the time of the "3rd rejuvenation" process of our
LandCruiser. The workshop Yung Lee of Mr. Lance Lau will begin with the
repairs next Monday, February 6th. We are now unpacking the whole content
of our vehicle – a huge undertaking! Today our LandCruiser was blessed
with a "Lion Dance" – a Chinese New Year's custom, which is meant to evict
bad or evil spirits. If this is not a good omen!
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-
-
1/27/2017: Since yesterday, January 26th, 2017, we are
three of us again! Our LandCruiser was already waiting for us in its 29th
container in the port of Bintulu in
Sarawak
in
East Malaysia when we arrived late evening on January 24th, with
Air Asia from Kuala Lumpur.
It survived its 56 day sea journey from Odessa/Ukraine
with two transshipments without any harm. Our agent, the Harbour Services
Corp. was most helpful in smoothing the way for the release of our
LandCruiser. He showed around the
Certificate of our Guinness Record with the result that we were able
to just drive out of the port without even stopping for an inspection. It
felt so good to have our "freedom machine" again! Tomorrow the Chinese New
Year celebrations are starting for three days. Therefore we will drive
only on February 1st, the 125 miles [200km] to Miri. There, a new chapter
will begin: The 3rd "rejuvenation" of our LandCruiser, after the previous
ones in 2006 and
2012.
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1/26/2017
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2/11/2017
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1/21/2017: Our 28-days marathon program in Myanmar
is coming to an end. On January 22nd, 2017, we will fly with Air Asia for
the 18th time to Kuala Lumpur. We crisscrossed former Burma by overland-
and mini-busses, with shared taxis, by truck, by trains, boat and plane.
We stayed in 10 different hotels/guesthouses and shot around 2'000
pictures. It was an incredible journey with such a wealth of stunning
sites. Since our last post, we experienced the fishermen's life at serene
Inle Lake, crossed by train the spectacular Gotaik viaduct (335 ft.)
[102m], explored Mandalay with its longest pedestrian teak bridge (3'967
ft.) [1'209m] and enjoyed a 14 hours nostalgic boat trip down the
Irrawaddy River. It recalled our 21 days' adventure in March 1991 on the
River Zaire in
Africa (today DR Congo) and our river trip on
the Amazon in Brazil in March 1988.
Bagan, the town of over 2'200 pagodas, was our last experience. Soon there
will be a reencounter with our LandCruiser; it's now scheduled to arrive
in Bintulu/Sarawak
on January 21st, 2017.
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1/10/2017: We are now at half time of our Myanmar trip and
we don't regret one single minute. After having visited for two days the
rich cultural sites of Bago, we were off for a new adventure: Two days of
10 hours each in nostalgic trains. The first day (4 US$ p.p. "Upper
Class") took us from Bago to Thazi through flat land with cultivated and
harvested fields. The next day from Thazi to Shwe Nyaung near Inle Lake
(US$ 2 p.p. "Upper Class") was a wonderful long drive through the hills up
to about 4'675 ft. revealing the genuine rural life. The floating
activities along the many nostalgic stations remembered us a bit of
Bolivia.
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1/3/2017
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1/21/2017
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1/4/2017: We are swept in Myanmar from one marvelous
experience to the other. On January 2nd, 2017, a comfortable four-hour bus
ride took us from Yangon to Kinmun and a truck further to the “Golden
Rock” – an important Buddhist pilgrimage site hidden in the mountains of
Kyaiktiyo – where thousands of pilgrims gathered. It was an overwhelming
sight. But the next bus ride is already booked: Tomorrow we'll continue to
Bago.
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1/1/2017: Happy New Year from Yangon/Myanmar!
-
The many golden towers of the Shwedagon Pagoda rising at
night into the dark sky, thousands of lighted candles and praying people
made the last hours of 2016 very special to us. Right in front of our
hotel window a beautiful firework display announced at midnight the New
Year. Our LandCruiser left yesterday Piraeus in Greece in direction
Southeast Asia. (more in "News
– December 2016")
-
-
12/28/2016: We are since Monday in Myanmar (Burma), the
"Land of the Golden Pagodas", which we already visited shortly in 1975
between Christmas and New Year. Already on the first day at the Shwedagon
Pagoda in Yangon (Rangoon) we realized that we made the right choice to
bridge the time until the arrival of our container in Sarawak
(see below 12/16/2016), all the more as the entry with an own car is
anyway only possible in an organized manner and with a guide (analog
China, Bhutan and apparently starting March 2017 also
Thailand). We will have time for all the
sights and highlights up to January 22nd, 2017.
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12/17/2016
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12/28/2016
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12/23/2016: Doctor and dentist visits are completed. We are
fit for new adventures! We will celebrate Christmas in Kuala Lumpur where
the luxury Christmas decorations are putting us in festivity mood despite
the tropical climate. However we shall fly on Monday, December 26th, with
AirAsia from Kuala Lumpur to Myanmar (formerly Burma), where our new year
will start in Yangon (formerly Rangoon). A year ago we spent this holiday
season in the desert country of Sudan. Our
LandCruiser is still in Piraeus/Greece.
Merry Christmas!
-
-
12/18/2016: We arrived yesterday, Saturday, with AirAsia
from Bangkok for the 17th time in Malaysia,
where we want to do some "maintenance" on ourselves: Doctor and laboratory,
dentists etc.. Meanwhile our car is said to remain until mid-January in the
port of Piraeus/Greece, until the backlog of all the piled-up containers is
cleared, which could'nt be transported to
Asia due to the many strikes.
-
- 12/16/2016: Bad news: Due to a strike of the dockers in
Piraeus/Greece our container could not be transshipped to the connecting
vessel in the direction of Malaysia. It is now scheduled to arrive in
Bintulu/Sarawak only
on January 29th, 2017, instead of January 1st. Where will we make "forced
holidays" in the meantime?
-
- 12/10/2016: We finally escaped the cold! From 19°F
[-7°C] in Odessa/Ukraine.
we flew first with 'FlyDubai' to Dubai and
landed afterwards in a (jam-packed) Airbus A380 of 'Emirates' in
Bangkok in the warmth at 88°F [31°C] after
totally 24 hours. In the meantime our LandCruiser is on schedule: The ship
of 'Evergreen' is docking today in Piraeus/Greece, where our container
will be transshipped on December 14th, 2016, to a vessel on the way to
Malaysia.
-
- 12/4/2016: On Sunday we were invited in
Odessa by Serge Bulan
(Timofeevich), another 4x4 enthusiast, for a lunch "in style" in the
Steakhouse at Derybasivska Street 20. Everything was perfect in every
respect. He bid goodbye with Christmas presents and a bottle of Champagne
for the New Years celebration.
- "News
– October/November 2016" is now
online.
-
- 12/1/2016: Today is the day! Temporarily we say
goodbye to our LandCruiser, which has been stuffed into its 29th
container. It will sail on December 5th, with Evergreen Shipping Line via
Piraeus/Greece and Tanjung Pelepas/West
Malaysia to Bintulu/Sarawak/East
Malaysia on the Island of Borneo.
The personal engagement of the BSA Shipping Agency in Odessa/Ukraine
ensured a smooth procedure. (Article in Russian with
pictures here).
-
- 11/26/2016: Flashback to a special encounter in Kiev:
Oleg Golik (Gos) from the "Offroadmaster
4x4 Club" surprises us with a floral bouquet and overwhelms us with
gifts. We are really touched! He follows us enthusiastically on our
website already since over eight years and is happy to finally meet us
personally. We spend some enjoyable hours together.
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12/1/2016
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12/4/2016
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12/10/2016
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- 11/26/2016: After visiting Kiev, the capital of
Ukraine, we finally reached after 3'100 miles [5'000km]
Odessa. Our
LandCruiser is now scheduled to leave on December 7th, for Bintulu
in Malaysian Sarawak
on the Island of Borneo.
It is our second shipment from this port. The first one was on
9/22/2013 to Cape Verde
Islands. We shall fly on December 8th, with stopovers in
Bangkok and
Kuala Lumpur. Much
more details in our "News – November 2016", which will
be online around November 30th.
-
- 11/18/2016: We are
now
about 100 miles [160km] before Ukraine's capital Kiev preparing here
our shipment from the Port of
Odessa. The best
things come in threes! Yes, we do it again! Our LandCruiser gets its
third and likely last rejuvenation at the same place as in
2006 and
2012: In
Miri/Sarawak
on the island of Borneo
in East Malaysia. This gives us also the opportunity to escape
finally the harsh approach of winter in this region.
-
- 11/11/2016: We made it! On 11/11 at 11.11am we
were standing after 3'391 miles [6'423km] of Russian roads at the
exit border to the Ukraine Krupets/Kyaterinіvka. Three hours later
we were still standing there, chilled to the bone. One thing was
that on the entry customs form into Kyrgyzstan - also member of the
'Eurasian Economic Union / EAEU' - our LandCruiser was inadvertently
not mentioned, and the other thing was that the customs officer
tossed our belongings thoroughly. It was obvious that he actually
didn't look for something, but that he expected something else. More
welcoming were the Ukrainians; but having no green insurance card to
show, bakshish was inevitable. However later at the insurance
office, we got even a cup of hot coffee. But four hours was really
enough to cross a corrupted border.
-
- 11/5/2016: Yesterday Friday we didn't want to
continue on M5 (= Ural resp. Trans Siberian Highway) to Tolyatti near Samara,
due to an all-day snow storm. We also saw today some truck accidents
along the 185 miles [297km] long stretch. During changeable weather
- occasionally some snow and sunshine at freezing temperatures -
everything worked fine until close to the destination, when suddenly
the windshield wiper conked out during snow flurries.
-
- 11/3/2016: After having driven another 125 miles
[200km] - we spend tonight at Oktyabrsky - we
decided not to write currently the "News – October 2016", because we
are a bit stressed due to our expiring Russian visa. But we'll make
good for it once we reached Odessa in the
Ukraine or Poti in
Georgia.
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10/16/1984
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10/21/2016
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10/27/2016
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- 11/1/2016
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- 11/2/2016: We are impressed! Toyota Ufa repaired
our LandCruiser in record time. We delivered it yesterday at 2pm and
today at noon it was ready. The parts of our used spare differential
from Jakarta could be used. We have been looked after very well.
Tomorrow we shall continue towards Samara. We have still about 1'100 miles
[<1'800km] to drive to the Ukraine border. The weather forecast for
the next days: Heavy snowfall and low temperatures!
-
- 10/29/2016: Our entry into Europe was ill-fated.
In the city of Ufa, only 178 miles [286km] after the Ural crossing,
on a steep ascent the rear differential broke. Luck has it that
since Jakarta in
Indonesia we carry a used one on our roof rack, exactly since
December 11th, 2006, during 3'610 days resp. 80'683 miles
[129'846km]. On Monday we will take action.
-
- 10/27/2016: After another flat tire, our 186th
in Chelyabinsk, and a tough drive of 1'334 miles [2'147km] in 7
days, we crossed today at the Urenga Pass the Ural for the second
time on our epic journey. The first time was on July 2nd 1995. In
its wintery snowy splendor, it was a wonderful shift from Asia to
Europe.
-
- 10/23/2016: At constant and strong freezing
temperatures we managed four more sectors towards the West: Barnaul-Novosibirsk,
Novosibirsk-Barabinsk, Barabinks-Omsk, Omsk-Ishim. At Novosibirsk we
left the Chuysky-Trakt and drive now on the monotonous but smooth
Trans-Siberian Highway through endless birch forests.
-
- 10/19/2016: Finally we quit Gorno Altaysk - it
was time! The weather was fine early morning, but after about 60
miles [100km] strong wind came up and shortly afterwards it started
to snow. We asked ourselves whether we should stop already in Biysk,
but no - we decided to continue direction Barnaul. It became a
"snow-storm-drive" - for once something different, but unfortunately
with a a kind of a "smack": Our 185th flat tire didn't please us at
all at this nasty weather conditions!
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- 10/16/2016: We
celebrate our 32nd jubilee of our epic journey. It was October 16th,
1984, when our dream became true and we left
with our LandCruiser with 7'077 miles [11'390km]
on the odometer our 3½ room apartment in Wallisellen to discover the
world for one to two years. Meanwhile, it became 32 years
in 186 countries and 457'142 miles [735'698km]
driven on our worldtour (odometer shows today:
747'088km = 464'219 miles).
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9/3/2016
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9/13/2016
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9/22/2016
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10/13/2016
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- 10/13/2016: During the last days we moved one step
further. After many, many discussions, assessments, discarding ideas, new plannings, researches in the internet and over 50 emails a solution
emerges. We will head for the port of Odessa in the Ukraine for a
shipment. Where to we will tell when everything is sewn up. Western
Siberia sees us off with stunning winter scenery not seen for a very long
time!
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- 10/6/2016: "News
– September 2016" is now
online.
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- 10/5/2016: The sun is shining again for the first time
after massive frost. Our itinerary that we changed in the meantime
envisages that we shall drive in Novosibirsk westwards, thus dropping the
initial idea of Vladivostok - South Korea. The shipping agent informed us
that we have to count in Vladivostok as a minimal freight to "anywhere"
above US$ 3'000 plus. The same freight rates originating in the West
wouldn't cost half of it - this by same driving distances from Novosibirsk
to the nearest port of about 3'500 miles [5'500km]. The decision to drop
Mongolia as our 187th country wasn't easy. But if the obstacles are
getting to big - we don't have to do it at all costs.
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- 10/4/2016: The
Uzbekistan website is now
online.
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- 10/2/2016: We receive from the weekly Swiss magazine "Doppelpunkt"
a 'pdf' of the article (in German) "In
einem halben Leben um die ganze Welt", published about us on
- August 25th, 2016.
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- 9/29/2016: The bad weather front reached us at Gorno
Altaysk!
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- 9/26/2016: We decide to turn back at the customs' exit
of Russia due to the following reasons: 1) It's absolutely unclear whether
the Mongolians let us enter without paying a bond of US$ 12'232.50 for our
34-years old LandCruiser. This huge amount results due to the big engine
capacity of 258 in³ [4'228cm³]. Although the Russians would let us
re-enter after a try at the 16 miles distant Mongolian post, but then our
double-entry visa is used, which we intended for another place. 2) Despite
of welding the front pillars, the windscreen is still swaying - not the
best precondition for the bone-jarring corrugated tracks in Mongolia. 3)
The weather forecast is for a hefty start of winter with snow and low
freezing temperature, which isn't necessarily recommended for our
"outdoor-lifestyle" in our advanced age.
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- 9/25/2016: Today there is again sunshine after two
rainy days. At freezing temperatures this is not only nice for our
journey's continuation to the Russia-Mongolia border, but of course
particularly for Liliana, who celebrates today a "half-decadal" birthday.
Emil however recovers still from a pretty bad cold.
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- 9/20 to 22/2016: We drove from Gorno-Altaysk via
Onguday and Aktash 300 miles [485km] by varying weather (beautiful,
cloudy, overcast and rain showers) on the Chuysky Trakt
through the wonderful Altay Mountains to Kosh Agach, where - 45 miles
[73km] before the Mongolia border - the rather treeless steppe starts.
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- 9/19/2016: It's raining and we decide to use the day
for internet research on yesterday's "Mongolia
horror story". If the 'Carnet de Passages' isn't accepted, we won't
place a caution but would go on without visiting our next new 187th
country.
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- 9/18/2016: The test-drive was OK. We discovered on the
internet a "horror story", saying that Mongolia introduced recently an
import bond on cars of US$ 4'500 + 15% of the current value (presumably
due to the Mongol Rally). This shall apply also for temporarily imported
tourist vehicles, excluding trucks.
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- 9/17/2016: Repair finished. Test-drive follows
tomorrow. Liliana stops with antibiotics - the toothaches decreased, but
the cause isn't remedied yet and therefore deferred until later.
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- 9/15/2016: Due to yesterday's rain, we were able to
start fixing the front axle only today. Because of missing a tool we were
stuck. Thanks to our friend Stas from Kazakhstan, who managed everything
from there, the problem is solved. Tomorrow work will continue.
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- 9/13/2016: The spare parts from Moscow arrived.
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- 9/12/2016: Update to our "More about a
nearly 32-Year-Journey around the World"
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- 9/10 to 13/2016: Waiting for the spare parts from
Moscow. Liliana is taking now antibiotics and is waiting also that their
toothaches go away.
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- 9/6/2016: Liliana's toothaches don't stop anymore and she decides to
make an appointment with a dentist while waiting for the arrival of the
spare parts.
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- 9/5/2016: It shows that the upper knuckle bearing is destroyed
completely and also the lower one is damaged. Toyota Russia in Moscow
confirms that the spare parts are available, but needed time (1 week) to
arrive in Gorno-Altaysk. They refer us also to a specialized website:
http://www.exist.ru/.
The other parts (main bearings etc.) seems to be unaffected.
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- 9/3 and 9/4/2016: Emil dismantles himself the front axle.
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- 9/2/2016: A visit to a workshop doesn't show any result due to
insurmountable language difficulties.
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- 9/1/2016: We leave Uznezya near Chemal and drive on the "ultra smooth"
Chuysky Trakt, the 205 miles [330km] long highway 'M52" in direction
Mongolia. Because it's so smooth we notice a shimmying of the front
wheels. Jacking them up on a rest area, we detect with horror that the
right front wheel wobbles between 4 to 6 inches [10-15cm]. For a better
check-up and to be on the safe side we decide to return the 50 miles
[80km] to the small town of Gorno-Altaysk (about 60'000 people)
(guesthouse coord. 51.97660/85.89301).
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- 8/28/2016: The front pillars, which keep the windscreen in place, had
to be welded in Gorno-Altaysk, after they broke completely while returning
from Teletskoe Lake - otherwise we would have driven suddenly without any
"window".
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