5/9/2021: The timing was perfect: Just as we were celebrating our 52nd wedding anniversary, relief arrived: Our health examinations at the CUF Clinic in Lisbon revealed no nasty surprises – just confirmations of what we already knew or suspected: Liliana's hip bone joint and Emil's spinal vertebrae, both caused by age-related osteoporosis. In the meantime we moved from a 183sq.ft. [17m²] small hotel room near the airport (Portela) to an apartment in the city center (Rego), where we enjoy all the amenities (incl. washing machine) – a small but nice substitute to our life on the road with our LandCruiser. Thanks to Schengen we don't have any visa stress, thus we don't rush with our onward journey. We are still not sure whether we should fly via Dubai (where the heat will soon become unbearable) or via Nairobi or Zanzibar to the Comoros. Who knows whether other possibilities might suddenly pop-up despite Covid-19.

 

5/1/2021: After the African island life on São Tomé, we experience a pulsating European city for the first time in a long time. The contrasts could not be starker. On the one hand, we miss the exotic and the "more carefree lifestyle"; on the other hand, it is also pleasant to get everything we need and our hearts desire, and "to feel safe on the pedestrian crossing". Life in Lisbon is almost back to normal. Masks are compulsory everywhere outside the "own four walls" and is strictly observed. But you can move freely again, stroll around, browse in the stores and also indulge yourself in a good restaurant indoors or outdoors. We also used our short stopover here for a long overdue visit to the doctor. The results are still pending. But of course we hope that they will be positive according to our age, and that our health will allow us to continue our beloved free travel life – at least what's within our current possibilities.
 

4/18/2021: With a nostalgic look to the colorful crowd waving goodbye to their loved ones at the airport in São Tomé, we boarded the Portuguese TAP plane to Lisbon on April 18th, 2021. A novelty for us was that we had for the first time wi-fi in the air, even for free. After six hours of a quiet flight over the Sahara in a brand new A321neoLR, we landed in Portugal on time, switching from the tropics to the European spring. But Lisbon and with it Europe will only be a stopover for us to do some shopping. What we cannot manage here, we would have to try in Dubai, before we return to Africa. Planned are still the Comoro Islands, but only after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan on May 12th.

4/18/2021 Farewell at

the airport of São Tomé

4/18/2021 Landing approach of

the 2.5 mio. metropolis Lisbon

4/23/2021 Estação (station)

de Lisboa-Oriente

5/6/2021 District Rego

in the center of Lisbon

 

4/16/2021: Reports from Georgia (June to August 2013) caught up: Georgia (1)  /  Georgia (2)  /  Georgia (3)

 

4/11/2021: Our relaxing time in the still not too well known exotic African tropical country São Tomé & Príncipe is coming to an end after three months. Despite the Covid crisis (or should we say "thanks to it"), it was a wonderful time and a free life that we'll treasure. It won't be easy to change from a peaceful island life temporarily into the big city of Lisbon, where again everything is dictated with European pettiness by Corona. But the so-called pandemic says today what is possible and what isn't! As a farewell, for the time being, we attach four photos that remind us especially of this tropical island. We will miss many things: The lively hustle and bustle we have come to love as well as the simplicity of the people who go about their often arduous daily chores in the hot tropical sun with the greatest self-evidence. And last but not least, the special moments in the "Passante-Cafe" at the sea promenade, where we often let the day end with a cappuccino while "people watching". The only regret is that out of respect for the people, who often didn't want to be photographed, we cannot show much of the colorful everyday life. Did the "pre-pandemic tourist groups", which are missing today, contribute to it? Finally an apt quote from poet Jean Paul: "Memories are the only paradises where we cannot be expelled".

2/12/2021 Drying laundry along

the main road EN2 near Água Izé

2/26/21 Wooden home with fields near Porto Alegre in the South

3/8/2021 Little girl at Bombaim

in the center of the island

3/13/2021 "People watching" at Passante-Cafe in São Tomé

 

3/29/2021: And already everything is different again! After the announcement of the new flight schedules for the (northern) summer, our last preferred route via Gabon-Cameroon to Sharjah in the UAE can no longer be realized. In addition, airfares are rising massively everywhere. Once again, we had to rethink and act quickly. We just unexpectedly managed to get hold of a cheap flight with TAP Air Portugal to Lisbon and thus also cash-in their voucher for the recently cancelled stretch from São Tomé to Accra. We have now firmly booked for Sunday, April 18th, 2021, and hope that by then new Corona regulations in Portugal won't again cause an unpleasant surprise. But there is something good about it: Maybe it wouldn't have been a good idea to travel to an Islamic country during Ramadan, which takes place between April 12th and May 12th. We have not yet decided where to proceed now from Lisbon.

Happy Easter! - once more despite of Corona

3/20/2021: Since a few days the rainy season has started and turned the dirt roads in the jungle into mud tracks. This no longer affects us so far. We still drove them in dry weather and actually saw everything on the island that we wanted to see. Now we just concentrate on asphalt and gravel roads and the colorful city life of São Tomé and make ourselves homely in our comfortable bungalow at the Hotel Praia. Emil continues to research how we can get on from here as reasonable as possible, still focusing on our original destination of Dubai. We already have two airline vouchers - from TAP Air Portugal and Egyptair - and don't want to collect more. Two flight routes are in the forefront: Either with Afrijet to Libreville in Gabon and further with Air Senegal to Douala in Cameroon and change there to Egyptair (= cash-in of a voucher) to Dubai. Or with TAAG to Luanda in Angola and further with Emirates. A flight today depends not only on its fare and workability, but also on required visas and the feasibility of the obligatory PCR tests. However, we do not necessarily see all this as a disadvantage - at the most as an obstacle - but see it as a challenge that is rewarded by less tourism and consequently by a more cordial "welcome".

 

3/20/2021: The "35th Anniversary on 16.10.2019 in Guarapuava/Brazil" is now updated.

3/20/2021 Emil in front of the

Postoffice of São Tomé

2/28/21 Pond near Fernão Dias 10ms north of São Tomé

2/12/2021 Beach with fishing boats in Pantufo 2½ms south of São Tomé

2/12/2021 Roça Água-Izé

10½ms south of São Tomé

 

3/11/2021: Today is our 56th day on the tropical island of São Tomé. An "average" group tourist usually stays here only one week to visit the lush rainforest, the ruins of the former Portuguese cocoa and coffee plantations, called Roças, and to experience the typical African hustle and bustle in the small villages with their colorful washing days at the rivers. With our advantage of having time we can get a deeper insight into the country and its people and always discover something new – be it the arrival of fishermen with fresh catch, a waterfall or the orange glowing flame tree shining through the jungle's green, deserted white sandy beaches and dugout canoes floating in the Atlantic with their white simple sails. But we are also already planning our onward journey. Covid-19 and Ramadan (in the U.A.E. and the Comoros), which takes place from April 12th to May 12th, 2021, are messing up our original program. The plan was to go first to Dubai and then to the Comoros – another African island that we are not considering with our LandCruiser. Emil is now constantly on the look for a reasonable option. It is not easy to find common ground for all PCR tests, visas, fluctuating corona regulations and Ramadan obligations. B.t.w.: A nice article about our world record tour was published yesterday in the American online magazine "Autoevolution".

 

3/4/2021: "More about the 37-Year-Journey around the World" is now updated (last time 12/19/2019).

3/4/2021: "The Journey's Chronological Sequence" is now updated (last time 9/3/2017).

 

3/1/2021: On February 24th, 2021, – Emil's 79th birthday – a heavy tropical rain is pattering on our bungalow roof all day. Two days later, after a very long time finally the sun shone again, perfect for exploring the 46ms [74km] southern coastal route EN2 to Porto Alegre, at the end of the road. The density of the primary tropical vegetation left and right of the road were once again a feast for the eyes. Everything seemed to be covered with moss, everywhere it seemed to sprout. The slow driving through the hilly areas with its many tight curves allowed us to observe the normal daily life in the small simple settlements and to avoid running over the pigs, goats chicks and dogs that ran across the road. Every now and then there were beautiful views through the thicket to lovely palm bays and white, deserted sandy beaches. At km 51 [~32ms], the landmark of São Tomé came into view: The impressive 2'175ft. [663m] high Cão Grande, a volcanic vent rising vertically from the plain. Then came the shock: A huge palm oil plantation began (currently 5'190 acres, planned up to 12'150 acres), as we know them from Malaysia (pic.22+24) and Indonesia. Tractors with trailers crammed with palm oil fruits crossed us. At the gate of the main entrance to the Agripalma plantation near the Ôbo Nature Park (!), the good asphalt road suddenly stopped, and difficult stretches mixed with deep holes, broken asphalt and coarse gravel began. Porto Alegre, the small fishing village with 800 inhabitants at the end of the road EN2, where fish is carefully spread out to dry on grates and roofs, was then for us the epitome of an original island life, as it was centuries ago and still partly is.

2/26/2021  Praia Micondó 6ms [9km] east of São João dos Angolares

2/26/2021 Cão Grande view from the eastern descent to Rio Caué

2/12/2021  Creek for washing near the beach of Água Izé

2/28/2021  Kindergarden hour in

Fernão Dias

 

2/21/2021: We couldn't resist a second visa extension of 60 days (!). Thus, we would be allowed to stay in São Tomé until April 22nd, 2021. In the meantime we made some excursions again. The nature is everywhere still largely intact and strongly tropical. The 28ms [47km] of the EN1 along the wild west coast to Santa Catarina, where the road now stops 2½ms [4km] later (earlier a ring trail is said to have continued to EN2), surprised us with the turquoise shimmering "Lagoa Azul", a wild coast with small villages with simple stilt houses and self-carved nutshell fishing boats on the basalt beaches. The exotic charm was once again provided by palm trees bending towards the sea. Sao Tome is still real "laid-back" country – as we experienced it during our Africa crossing between 1989 and 1993. The road network offers a single mini-tunnel; there are no traffic lights, however sometimes quite a lot of potholes. The women still carry laundry and dishes on their heads to the river to wash them there, their babies hanging in the back cloth. Yesterday we changed the hotel. The new one offers a fully functioning kitchen in an own bungalow. Eating always out no longer satisfies us in the long run.

 

2/9/2021: Bad news: The Portuguese TAP Air Portugal stopped its flights to Accra/Ghana due to the Corona crisis in Portugal, among them is also our booked and paid flight on February 20th, 2021, with a connecting flight of Egyptair via Cairo to Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates (also booked and paid). What now? We need to find a solution because our visa extension in São Tomé expires on February 21st. Alternative: With the Angolan TAAG on February 18th, to Luanda in Angola and there five days later with Ethiopian Airlines via Addis Ababa to Dubai (a rather expensive option). The Angolan embassy here would issue us a 5-day transit visa for Luanda (US$10/p. - to spend in quarantine). Nevertheless, we still inquired at the local immigration here about the possibility of a second extension of two weeks, since TAP apparently plans to resume their flights to Accra at the beginning of March. Big surprise: We would get our São Tomé visa extended for another 60 days (US$83/p.). What we will decide now is still open.

 

2/6/2021: The full moon's change of January 28th, 2021, brought a temporary improvement in the weather situation – reason enough to explore more corners and peculiarities of this small tropical island. We focused on the "interior", the island covered by lush green rainforest, which thrilled us with its exuberant vegetation. One destination was the "São Nicolau" waterfall. Just getting there on one of the many jungle tracks was beautiful, but bumpy. Hidden in the sprawling greenery are ruins of the Roças – the former Portuguese coffee and cacao plantations. They were usually self-contained places with a hospital, school, mansions and tiny quarters for workers. After independence in 1975, the plantations were nationalized. Unfortunately, due to a Marxist mismanagement, only ruins remain today. Every now and then one of the Roças is converted into an "eco-resort" or slowly mutates into a "normal" village.

2/2/2021 "Our" Suzuki Jimny

in the rainforest

2/2/2021 Wild growing porcelain rose (Etlingera elatior)

2/2/2021 São Nicolau waterfall

above Monte Café

2/21/2021 Atlantic Coast 1m

south of Roça Diogo Vaz

 

1/31/2021: After 14 days of very hazy weather with milky skies and a few heavy tropical showers in between, the sky finally cleared up a bit for the first time on January 28th, 2021. We jumped into our 'Suzuki Jimny' and set off. First to Roça Monte Café – one of the oldest coffee plantations, founded in 1858 by the Portuguese. There we visited the well-stocked museum where we learned about the origin of coffee (Arabica and Robusta). Motivated by the sunny weather we continued our trip, back to São Tomé and along a part of the south coast. It took us through a landscape of deep tropical vegetation, picturesque palm-fringed bays surrounded by colorful fishing boats, fine sandy beaches and villages bursting with African street life. We are now looking forward to explore more. Immigration has extended our '15 day-free-visa on arrival' for STN2'220 (=US$110) p.p. by 3 weeks! New departure date: February 20th, 2021.

 

1/23/2021: Africa has us again for the fourth time after 1st 01/89-11/92; 2nd 07/11-06/12; and 3rd 10/13-12/15! And it is a far more authentic Africa than we would have experienced it - as previously planned - in South Africa or Namibia. After almost 20 hours of flying and 20 of hanging around from Buenos Aires to São Tomé & Príncipe, we landed on the evening of 1/15/2021 on the small airport of the island state on the west coast of Africa. A bright, clean and spacious room with sea view welcomed us at the Emoyeni Gardens Hotel. With a rented Suzuki Jimny we will now leisurely explore the 386½ sq.ms. [1'001km²] with its <1975- Portuguese past and are already dealing with the extension of our 15-day "visa on arrival". Life here is relaxed, corona masks are mandatory only in public buildings and shops and the islanders are friendly and very unobtrusive.

1/15/2021: Number of Visited Countries updated

1/15/2021  Arrival at the international airport of São Tomé

1/20/2021 Pupils on their way home in front of Hotel O Bigodes

1/28/2021  Beach of São João dos Angolares (seen from Miónga)

1/31/2021  Fishing village of Praia Melão south of São Tomé

 

10/1/2021: After three days "on the road again" we arrived in Buenos Aires on Sunday evening, 10th January 2021. Despite the intense heat of >104°F [>40°C], our LandCruiser ran perfectly during the 633ms [1'000km] through flat land. The mechanic in Posadas, who still knew about old car engines, did a great job. We are infinitely grateful to him. Here in Buenos Aires, things took an unexpected turn: Customs made real problems with certain things on our packing list, and our booked three flights to São Tomé were at stake. Not hesitating, we decided to temporarily park our LandCruiser at the "Andean Roads" campsite in Ricardo Rojas near Tigre, 25ms [40km] northeast of Buenos Aires. It is now in good company with other stranded until we return and hopefully can travel freely again in South America. Latest indications for Argentina point to late March/April. There are still many places along the Andes to the north that we don't know yet. If it doesn't work out, we'll either go to southern Africa as planned (if the Covid-19 situation eases there) or ship somewhere else. On January 14th, 2021, we were on our way as planned in a plane to a "new world".

 

12/24/2020: Everything is organized: The 32nd container is booked, as well as our three flights on the first and second day: From Buenos Aires with Aerolineas Argentinas to São Paulo/Brazil in the morning of January 14th, 2021, where - after a PCR test - we shall board TAP Air Portugal for Lisbon and after changing the plane onwards to São Tomé; arrival in the evening of the 15th. What's then depends all on Corona. The number of cases in South Africa as well as in Namibia is steadily increasing and the newly mutated virus only makes things worse. Rumor has it that on the destinations where our Toyota is supposed to arrive, a second complete lockdown could be ordered, which would mean that ships no more would be allowed into the ports of Cape Town and Walvis Bay. This was apparently at least the case during the first lockdown. Therefore we have to be flexible with our planning, because the situation can change from day to day. The only certainty is that our days in Posadas are numbered: We'll still celebrate Christmas and New Year under the sunny and hot skies of Argentina. Today we learned that "our" hotel will reopen on January 2nd, 2021. Good news for "our" extended cat family! On December 6th, four new were born, all of them snow white and very cute. Now there are 10 in total and another litter is expected pretty soon.

Despite of Corona we wish everybody a Merry Christmas and a good and healthy and better New Year!

 

12/2/2020: - The most important thing: We have now booked our departure from Argentina! We will fly on January 14th, 2021, with the Portuguese TAP from São Paulo/Brazil via Lisbon to the island of São Tomé & Príncipe on the west coast of Africa. This is new territory for us – just without car! There we will explore the island while our LandCruiser will sail from Buenos Aires across the South Atlantic to Cape Town in its 32nd container.

- The best: After a long search we are finally on the track of a shipping agent in Buenos Aires who doesn't want to rip us off in advance.

- The latest news: In the hotel garden the "Queen of the Night" (Selenicereus grandiflorus) bloomed again on 11/29/2020. The last time was on 4/12/2020.

- The saddest thing: One of the little kittens has been bitten to death by dogs; the remaining three ones (besides the four already grown up) are thriving splendidly and we still hope to be able to find a new home for them before our departure, which is quite difficult.

- The most worrying: Liliana's 3-year-old laptop Acer Swift 1 is causing problems, as does Emil's 7-year-old camera Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ70, after Liliana's same-aged Nikon Coolpix P520 already gave up more than a year ago.

- The most boring thing: Today is the 307th day in the same room in the same hotel and the 258th day of the Argentinean quarantine, which is no longer a lockdown, but still none of the 24 provinces can be left – travel "kaput". However, we have the luxury of retreating to the air-conditioned room with private bathroom and wifi, which is pleasant at the current heat wave of 104°F [40°C].

12/2/2020  Location of São Tomé & Príncipe

12/24/2020 Corona Xmas in Posadas/Misiones/Argentina

12/24/2020 Hotel La Misión Cat Family Offspring

1/10/2021 At one of the many campsites along the canal

"Río Coronel Martín"

 

11/13/2020: An apt quotation from a friend on our 36th travel anniversary on 18.10.2020: "Does it make you sad, because things may not be the same today as they were in the past, or are you happy that you can have such memories?" Since November 8th, Argentina has moved from the phase of isolation (ASPO) to the phase of distance (DISPO). However, it is just another name, but does not imply a significant improvement of our restrictions. Provincial and national borders – the most important thing for us – remain closed! This new phase is now valid until November 29, 2020. What after that? Rumors say that hardly anything will change before the New Year, but perhaps in the months after. Beautiful prospects! Since our last update there is little news: Concerning shipping offers from the ports of Buenos Aires or Zárate to Namibia or South Africa we have made some progress. But not everything is clarified yet, especially with our outbound flight. Covid-19 (tests, quarantine, restrictions, changes) complicates flying extremely. But we are still at it! Last Tuesday we were able to get a preventive vaccination against pneumococcus and flu for the trip; yesterday an eight-week young white kitten of the last quintuplets found a new home, and nature is green and blooming. Spring has definitely arrived – see pics.

 

10/18/2020: Today 36 years ago, on October 18th, 1984, we missed by a fracture of an inch the start to our journey to freedom due to a chaotic departure (http://www.weltrekordreise.ch/a_akte_20._jubilaeum.html). The adventure of our epic journey began! With nostalgia we now look back on the 36 wonderful travel years of our life and are happy to have been able to experience the world in the past 13'149 days when it was still okay. The privilege of being able to feel the great freedom in this form will probably not return so quickly anymore. Just yesterday, the Vice-Governor of the Province of Misiones in Argentina, where we have been stuck for seven months, announced that the provincial and national borders will remain closed at least until 31.12.2020. It seems that after that date, only regulated and controlled travel will be introduced in Argentina, which no longer corresponds to our free life. So we are now trying to plan for the future and to obtain shipping offers to our possible next destination - "southern Africa"; with zero success so far. Our everyday monotony, influenced by corona, is still brightened up by our lovely cat family. The "new" quintuplets are now 4 weeks old and very cute! Also the changing nature in the hotel garden always offers new surprises. At the moment the palms are bearing fruits.
 

 

 

10/18/1984  Begin of our worldtrip

at JFK Airport New York, USA

 

 

11/13/2020 Spring: Jacaranda  Tree (Jacaranda mimosifolia)

 

 

11/13/2020 Spring: Asiatic Dayflower

(Commelina communis)

11/13/2020 Spring: Blooming  Sago Palm (Cycas)

 

10/17/2020: The fourth page from Argentina with 63 nostalgic pictures from 1986-88 is now online.

 

9/29/2020: The third page from Argentina with 72 pictures from 2019/20 is now online.

 

9/26/2020: Our present quarantine routine with currently more than 13'000 daily new Covid-19 cases has now been extended until October 11th, 2020. Since our last update from 9/4/20, orchids were blooming and fading in the hotel garden, the last avocados felt down, mangoes were ripening, parrots started to build their nests, exotic birds appeared, the three now adult kittens became more affectionate every day and Liliana celebrated her 79th birthday. And, "our" cat family got five new brothers and sisters, whose birth on 9/20/20 caused quite a lot of excitement, when the highly pregnant mother cat did not appear for feeding for three full days. Our search was unsuccessful. Then, on 9/23/20 she suddenly appeared again around noon – much slimmer and very hungry. Where was she the whole time? Where did she give birth? When she only left the feeding place again in the evening, we followed her secretly and were amazed when she steered towards the locked door of the equipment shed. So we opened the door and discovered five mini kittens in a much too small cardboard box, two of them snow-white. How did she get in there? Three days ago, she apparently sneaked unnoticed into the door that the gardener had left open for a short time, which he then closed again. If he hadn't accidentally fetched the lawn mower three days later, she would not have been able to get out (again unnoticed) and she would have starved to death together with her kittens. And if we had not followed her secretly to the closed door, she would not have had access to her little ones anymore. Happy ending!

 

9/18/2020: The second page from Argentina with 96 pictures is now online.

 

9/7/2020: After a longer break we are a bit more motivated to catch up again on our trip picture pages (though it won't be possible to continue in the foreseeable future). Thus the first page from Argentina with 76 pictures is now online. Three more will gradually follow.

 

9/4/2020: Due to the increasing number of corona cases, which yesterday reached 12'026/day (!), Argentina is still firmly in the grip of Covid-19. Argentina has become the worst corona infected country in the world (compared by population worse than Brazil, India and the USA). Over the last weekend, the 11th extension of the isolation has been put in place until September 20th, 2020. In provinces with a high number of cases, to which Misiones luckily does not belong, the freedom of movement within the province has been limited again and put back to level 1 (= isolation at home). At least until the end of September, there will neither be long-distance transportation (bus, internal flights) nor international "normal" commercial flights. Thus for us the monotony of our everyday quarantined life continues. Last Sunday it was broken by the invitation to a delicious fondue at Erika and Heinz's place - a Swiss couple who has been living in Argentina for 30 years and who ran the "Restaurante Suizo" in Candelaria - a village 17ms [28km] southeast of Posadas - until the end of last year. It is beautifully situated on their own park-like grounds. Chatting the afternoon away with them was a real pleasure after the long time being just the two of us and the four cats, which admittedly are always fun to watch. Now we hope that at least the provincial borders will reopen soon, so that at least we can be somewhat "on the road" again in Argentina – probably wishful thinking until next year!

8/30/2020  Enjoying Fondue

9/19/20 Moth orchid

(Phalaenopsis amabilis)

9/20/2020  Cat increase

9/25/2020  Liliana's Birthday

 

8/2/2020: Our situation in Posadas/Argentina is still the same. The lockdown will continue unchanged for us until at least August 16th, 2020 (= 150 days). But what has changed in the meantime is the environment in our hotel area. The avocado trees, which for weeks provided us with an abundance of their fine fruit, are now being replaced by mangoes, which are slowly beginning to ripen. The bushes, which were still in hibernation, are starting to blossom again and spread a springtime atmosphere with their colorfulness. Also the chirping of the birds is intensifying. The temperatures are rising and allow us to spend more time in the lovely garden. Our cute kittens are soon grown up and provide entertainment and often also excitement, when the smallest and most playful one meows miserably on a high palm tree and doesn't know how to get down anymore! Only regarding the two of us things remain the same: We are still waiting for any openings and a solution where to go next! If we are lucky, the airport of Buenos Aires might reopen in September for commercial flights, thus we might park our vehicle securely and look for a change by plane, while the provincial and land borders seem to remain closed for an indefinite time.

 

7/8/2020: Since our last update of June 26th, 2020, nothing has changed in terms of the lockdown in Posadas/Argentina – on the contrary, the next extension could come on July 18th. But there is a ray of hope otherwise: We seem to have come closer to solving the long-running stuttering problem of our LandCruiser. Thanks to Heinz, a Swiss who has been living in Argentina near Posadas for 30 years, we ended up with a mechanic, who still knows about old car engines. After a week in his workshop, where he mainly worked on the carburetor, we were able to drive the six miles [10km] back to our hotel without any stuttering. Did the miracle finally happen? A longer test drive, which is not possible at the moment because of the Corona movement restrictions, will show if we can definitely cheer. Of course the current cooler winter weather still plays a role too, but maybe we will experience yet another summer heat wave here?

 

6/27/2020: Today, June 27th, 2020, we celebrate the 100th day in our isolation in Posadas, Argentina. The country has managed to grab a world record as "the longest and most strict quarantine" – not necessarily very pleasant for us! And there is no relief. On the contrary, in Buenos Aires, where the number of infected cases is currently rising due to the onset of winter, it's now spelled back to level 1 of March 20th. We read in the local newspapers that this will mean that another 20'000 small and middle-class businesses will lose their existence. The tourist office in Posadas has announced that after the pandemic, tourism will only resume at the "post-war era" level (what ever that means). Beautiful prospects! And how are we doing? Psychologically not optimal. When we see how in many countries people are slowly but surely able to move more freely again, we ask ourselves how long we want to be "locked up" here. We are now making plans again! The days are getting colder as winter approaches, so that we can no longer eat in the garden every day, which is always one of the nice moments of our isolation. And when a hummingbird (Hylocharis chrysura) visits us, our day has been saved! Liliana continues to devote herself lovingly to the little kittens that thrive without Covid-19.

 

6/13/2020: As feared, the now already 86-days lasting lockdown continues in its 7th phase and will now last at least until June 26th, 2020! At a minimum, we received a letter from the hotel manager yesterday, which allows us to drive to the city center to buy finally what we couldn't get in the last 12 weeks in the supermarket 2 miles away. For various reasons we dropped our initial idea to take the Swiss Edelweiss repatriation flight from Buenos Aires to Zurich on June 10th, to finally be able to leave Argentina. The destinations we prefer and where we want to ship simuntaneously our LandCruiser to, are Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea. So we are waiting to see which of these three countries will be the first to reopen for tourists. "Our" cat family is still doing well; the 8-week-old kittens are growing and are simply adorable.

 

 

6/11/2020   7½ weeks old

 

 

6/27/2020  Guilded Hummingbird

 

 

7/8/2020 At the workshop of Alberto in Garupá/Posadas

2.8.2020 Spring flowers (Azalea)

 

5/27/2020: Everything is still unchanged with us! The 6th lockdown phase is running and will end after 80 days on June 7th – who believes it! The province of Misiones, where we are stuck, hasn't had any new infected persons for 3 weeks now, and yet the extreme restrictions remain unchanged. However in the neighboring province of Corrientes, which had significantly more infected people, normality is slowly returning now. We feel more and more frustrated, and having no perspective begins to gnaw at our minds too. What still remains are small things that brighten up our daily routine life: The chirping of the birds in the tropical garden and "our" cute cat family, which couldn't survive without us – actually it is the only "consolation" of our "settledness" since March 20th. An opening of the borders to our neighboring countries is not in sight, not even to the neighboring provinces. In addition, on 5/22/2020 Argentina announced a national bankruptcy. What effect this will have on us travelers, we will see.

 

5/17/2020: In today's corona virus stalemate, what do you do with its worldwide restrictions? You are beginning to dream of previous times, when the world was still in order, when traveling still meant adventure and freedom. This opportunity was offered to us by pure coincidence by Swiss Television, which yesterday, 5/17/2020, re-broadcasted our nostalgic 22-minute contribution (in Swiss German) as part of their program "Wanderlust Souvenirs on the Road (La Strada)". It was shot end of March 2004 on the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Dominica and was followed-up by a Skype interview in April 2012 from the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean. Here the link: Wanderlust Souvenir Part 6

 

5/11/2020: Here in Argentina there is still no sign of a relaxation of the coronavirus blockade for us. On the contrary, the fourth extension of the curfew imposed on March 20th, has already come as "phase 4" into force: It will now continue until May 26th, 2020! Thus the radius of movement of 1¼ miles [2km] remains unchanged for us. And our visa, which has already been unbureaucratically extended by one month, expires again on 25th May. We are checking now with the immigration authorities whether and how we can extend it again, because it doesn't look like any neighbor's border is going to open this month. Fortunately our days are brightened up by our pleasant stay in the hotel with a nice garden and birds' twittering. Also the sweet hotel cat with its three cuddly kittens are a welcome change. Nevertheless, we are more and more worried how to get out of this unfortunate situation. But we think we are not the only ones, although we are slowly becoming impatient too!

 

4/26/2020: The corona virus lockdown in Argentina has now been extended for the fourth time until May 10th, 2020. This means for us that we are only allowed to drive 1¼ miles [2km] to the next supermarket/pharmacy. For the city center we would need a permit. The government also decided to suspend all international and domestic flights until at least September 1st. What kind of country are we stuck in! The only sensation was that our cute black hotel cat that we take care of gave birth to three kittens: a snow-white, a grey and a baby tiger kitten. B.t.w.: Our visa was automatically extended by one month and will expire now on May 25th.

 

 

4/26/2020 Our hotel cat got kittens

 

 

5/10/2020   3 weeks old

 

4/12/2020: It is now decided: Argentina extends its lockdown at least until April 26th, 2020. Our visa expires one day earlier. With the help of our hotel "La Misión" at Posadas we will try to get an extension from the immigration after Easter. In the meantime, a routine and monotony has crept in: In the morning at 8am hotel breakfast – yes we get it still despite the closing – coffee drinking at the now emptied pool, surrounded by banana trees, the "queen of the night" cactus flowers and palm trees, where croaking parrots and other birds fly back and forth, feeding the black pregnant hotel cat, which follows Liliana like a puppy. At noon we are allowed to cook in the hotel kitchen as we are slowly running out of camping gas; eating under a mostly blue sky under the shady avocado tree; taking a siesta, watching the sunset in the pool area. In between we inform ourselves in the internet about the development of the spread of the corona chaos, answer emails from dear people, where partly the contact already slept for some time but now fortunately is revived again and dream from time to time about possible continuations of our journey. The LandCruiser still has to wait until we are allowed to do a test drive.

 

4/1/2020: Where, how long and how are we sitting out the Corona crises:
What: Lockdown/quarantine. Where: In Posadas/Misiones/Argentina. When: Since March 20th, incl. until April 12th, incl., for the time being. How: Because of the eternal overheating problem our LandCruiser stood several days in the workshop of the Toyota dealer in Posadas – unfortunately with unsuccessful result – we changed to the hotel "La Misión". We landed a direct hit not only in terms of price, but also humanly when in Argentina the closing of all hotels, campings etc. was ordered. Because we had a good relationship with the management, we are now allowed to stay even after the hotel closed. We now cook and eat at our LandCruiser, put table and chairs under the shady avocado tree and enjoy a kind of camping life. In addition we have the luxury of retreating into the air-conditioned room with its own bathroom and wifi, which is pleasant in the still prevailing heat of 104°F [40°C].

 

 

3/31/2020 Meals from camping kitchen

4/1/2020 Coronavirus regulations

1/27/2020 Iguazú - Ferry Paraguay - Argentina

1/27/2020 Argentina Customs Puerto Iguazú

2/21/2020 Toyota Misiones in Posadas Argentina

 

1/20/2020: Scanned slides from the pre-digital area show how much South America has changed visually since our first visit in 1987/88. Emil followed up some of the Chilean attractions based on roadmaps and with the help of Google. The immense changes are partially disappointing! Where we were alone with nature at that time, there are nowadays parking lots, fences, compulsory walkways, and a lot of more dos and don'ts. But on the other side today's roads are better (paved), investigations by internet are much easier and some other developments such as cash withdrawals, communication, border crossings (customs and immigration documents) have been facilitated. At the end of our Chile-2 photo page we added now 36 of such nostalgic pictures.

 

1/14/2020: The second page of our 2nd South America trip 2016 through Chile with 60 new pictures is now online.

 

1/8/2020: The first page of our 2nd South America trip 2016 through Chile with 75 new pictures is now online.

 

1/4/2020: Fortunately, time is on our side. Because what we really need is time and patience to organize the 32nd container voyage of our LandCruiser from South America to our new destination in Papua New Guinea. During the festivities nothing at all happened for two weeks anyway. Now slowly some movement is becoming apparent, including obstacles: The logistics firm of the French shipping company CMA-CGM announced that they don't handle cars with personal belongings inside, not even in a container "FCL". Now we just have to wait and see and drink tea!

 

12/25/2019: We are still stuck in Ciudad del Este in Paraguay and are still waiting for offers of shipping companies, which are not very cooperative here in South America. As soon as we know if our LandCruiser will be sailing either to Papua New Guinea from Montevideo/Uruguay via the Atlantic and Indian Ocean or from San Antonio/Chile via the Pacific Ocean, our onward journey will continue accordingly. Today, the two of us have been celebrating Christmas quietly at a festively set table in our air-conditioned room while outside the temperature has risen to almost 104°F [40°C].

 

12/19/2019: "More about a 35-Year-Journey around the World" is now updated (last time 5/26/2019).

 

12/14/2019: The page of our 2nd North Asia trip 2016 through Saudi Arabia with 18 new pictures is now online.

 

12/14/2019: Liliana is feeling better again! We are now preparing our take-off from South America at the beginning of 2020. If everything works out, our next destination will be Papua New Guinea for the second time. According to our principle "Never give up", we finally received after another attempt another permission to explore the country with our own LandCruiser on a temporary basis (the first time was in 2010). Now we are working on the tricky task to find a shipping line taking our LandCruiser in its 32nd container from South America to the West Pacific region.
We wish everyone a Merry Christmas and health and happiness in 2020!

 

11/27/2019: It's the first time in her life that Liliana was on a drip As the stomach flu symptoms with abdominal cramps and vomiting sickness did not improve for days and the fever yesterday reached already mid-afternoon over 102°F [39°C], she pulled herself up for a consultation at the Santa Lucía Hospital opposite of their Nova Hotel. She has been diagnosed with food poisoning. With medication she feels already a bit better today but it means to remain still a bit longer in Ciudad del Este in Paraguay.

11/27/2019 So fast it happens: Liliana on drip

12/14/2019  Merry Christmas!

 

 

12/25/2019  Xmas table 2019

 

11/24/2019: The daily temperature raises up to 104°F [40°C] what reduces considerably our activities. After all we finally found a voltage regulator in Ciudad del Este in Paraguay and endured also three days in the heat under a corrugated iron roof of a car electrician in order to solve the overheating problem of our LandCruiser. But despite of installing a fourth electric gasoline pump with direct access to the tank and renewing all the other fuel lines, barely having left the workshop we got stuck again in the midst of the city's rush hour traffic: No matter what "goes on" around us, it means unscrewing the carburetor feed line and suck in fuel . Air bubbles still interrupt the gasoline flow. Where does it come from? Slowly we are out of ideas, but also the "experts". To make things worse both of us have been affected since days by a nasty stomach flu. As soon as we feel better again and the heat wave is over, we are off again, most probably towards the South, where it's less hot.

 

11/13/2019: The page of our 2nd North Asia trip 2016 through Ukraine part 3 with 33 new pictures is now online.

 

11/3/2019: After 3½ workshop days at the Sassa Car Service workshop in Cantagalo/Paraná/Brazil the big worry on our Brazilian visa expiring day of October 30th, 2019, was: Is the problem now really solved in order to be able to reach the 190mi [306km] to the Paraguayan border without any breakdowns to leave the country on time? Until about one mile [1½km] before the border everything went well. There, however, at 104°F [40°C], we got stuck in stop-and-go traffic of a double line due to the 35-years "teething trouble" of our LandCruiser. The carburetor was overheated insomuch that the recently installed three new electric fuel pumps weren't anymore able to build up the necessary pressure. That meant: Cool down the carburetor with water, disconnect the petrol pipe from the carburetor, suck in the fuel and after refitting make new starting attempts - and this not only once! But finally we reached customs where its procedures were fast and easy.

 

10/27/2019: We are stuck at the Sassa Car garage in Cantagalo/Paraná, 190mi [305km] short of Foz de Iguaçu, due to the increasing stuttering, stalling and misfiring of our LandCruiser at the slightest ascent. As soon as the gas pedal has to be floored more than half of its way, the problem starts. Last Thursday, 10/24/2019, we have exchanged some of the electric parts and replaced the three fuel pumps - to no avail. Friday it was once more the cleaning of the carburetor despite of having done it only two weeks ago. The compression shows fine data after 9'000mi [15'000km] of its last engine overhaul. When Emil came back with the workshop boss from their umpteenth test drive with finally his thumb up, it felt almost like a miracle. But the joy didn't last long. On Saturday the old problem returned; the carburetor was once more cleaned and a new big gasoline filter was installed. The test run was again OK. But we aren't trusting it anymore and want to take down the gasoline tank, clean it and check the fuel pipes tomorrow, 10/28/2019. We are a bit under time pressure because our Brazilian 90-days stay will expire on October 30th, 2019. At least the lovely "Pousada Espaçu Verde" with its camping is only 1½mi [2¼km] from the workshop, where we can relax fairly from the stressful situation under a bougainvillea tree in full bloom.

 

10/18/2019: Today in the South of Brazil in South America, we are celebrating another milestone in our world record tour: Our 35th anniversary on the road! It was October 18th, 1984, when, with a chaotic start, we swapped our ordinary life in Switzerland for an adventure into the unknown. The goal was to explore the world free of schedules at least for one year and enjoy the freedom. From one year it became two and afterwards it never stopped. A special imprint left three more prominent milestones: Our 30th travel anniversary in Angola in Africa under an unlucky star, our 25th travel anniversary in our dream destination Tahiti/French Polynesia in the Pacific, and our 20th travel anniversary under palm trees on the island Saint Martin/Sint Maarten in the Caribbean. (15th: Canada, 10th: Pakistan, 5th: Egypt).

10/18/2019 Passport fotos at start 35 years ago

10/27/2019 Camping Pousada Espaçu Verde

10/30/2019 Brazilian Customs in Foz do Iguaçu

11/20/2019  Once more below the hood

 

10/10/2019: "When the drive matters more than the destination" - article in The New York Times about people inspired by wanderlust as far back as 1894.

 

10/3/2019: The page of our 2nd North Asia trip 2016 through Iran with 78 new pictures is now online.

 

9/30/2019: The day when our LandCruiser reached its 777'777.7km [= 483'289mi], it was greeted by the Tarpan Toyota in Blumenau, which granted it a long overdue lubrication service.

 

9/27/2019: On September 27th, 2019, the odometer of our LandCruiser jumped to 777'777.7km [= 483'289mi] in charismatic Blumenau. Of course we make a remembrance picture and at the same time flash back to some more interesting figures and milestones on our epic journey: The 700'000th kilometer [434'960mi] we celebrated in Abkhazia (which we recorded but got lost due to the robbery of both our cameras in Abkhazia). The 600'000th [372'823mi] was in French Guiana; the 500'000th [310'686mi] in the United Arab Emirates; the 400'000th [248'548mi] in Estonia; the 300'000th [186'411mi] in Australia; the 200'000th [124'274mi] in Libya; and the first 100'000th [62'137mi] in the USA. The heyday of our worldrecordtour was 1999 in the UAE where we drove up at a Middle East Conference of IBM with exactly 500'000km (310'686mi] on the odometer on which occasion we were presented with a IBM Thinkpad – our first laptop – followed by a Mavica Floppy Disk Camera from Sony. Due to the huge media coverage, we were offered by the Wallenius-Wilhelmsen Shipping Line a free ride from Dubai to Japan for the LandCruiser and us, arranged by the Toyota representative Al-Futtaim Motors in Dubai.

 

9/22/2019: The last two weeks were weather-wise not a pleasure: Rain, dense fog, wind, storm and overcast skies. Who wants to explore the world in these circumstances. We have been sitting out this period – still in our apartment at the Island Santa Catarina near Florianópolis – and have been working on our website's photo pages of Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan that are now online. Now it's Iran's turn with 78 beautiful pictures of our 3rd tour in 2016 to North Asia. In any case we'll spend still a few more days here, as it's Liliana's wish to celebrate her 78th birthday on coming Wednesday at this lovely place. Then we have to look first of all once more for a Phonak hearing aid representative, because after her left earphone, which was repaired in Asunción/Paraguay, now also her right one is dead (there's always something that breaks: material fatigue within 2¾ years).

9/22/19 Sunrise in Praia dos Ingleses SC

9/27/2019 777'777.7km in Blumenau

9/27/2019 Lubrication service in Blumenau

10/10/2019 The New York Times

 

9/17/2019: We found a nicely written article on the net from a Swiss 4x4 Online-Magazins of 11/9/2018: "Toyota LandCruiser Weltrekordreise".

 

9/14/2019: The page of our 2nd North Asia trip 2016 to Kazakhstan with 57 new pictures is now online.

 

9/5/2019: "It is harder to move on when everything feels right". Thus, we still enjoy our little apartment at the beach front at "Praia dos Ingleses" on the island of Santa Catarina near Florianópolis. Nearby Satinho Beach with its white sand dunes belongs to our favorite places on the island. What next? We will first head to "Ciudad del Este", the Paraguayan duty free border town near the Iguazú Falls. We need one or two new cameras – our present ones are already over 6 years old (19'000 resp. 13'000 pictures), and we will also check a DashCam.

 

9/3/2019: The page of our 2nd North Asia trip 2016 to Turkmenistan with 45 new pictures is now online.

 

8/26/2019: We are back on the coast – at the moment at the island of Santa Catarina near Florianópolis. Here we are now enjoying some relaxing days. We got now in the off-season in an apartment house of the Pietra Flat at the "Praia dos Ingleses" an offer that we could not resist: A room with balcony and ocean view, a small kitchen, breakfast buffet included, for R$177 a day = approx. US$46. We enjoy the soft sound of braking waves, the sun rising at the calm bay, the powdery soft white sand of the beach and filet mignon as well as cheese fondue on our balcony. There is almost a Caribbean feel to it! Further north (Curitiba, São Paulo) the impact of the disastrous wild fires of the Amazon forest are already felt in the air, thus we are not really in a hurry to move on. Btw: At the "Cambará do Sul" plateau" on August 16th, we have seen ourselves several fires caused by human activities, even at the entrance of the "Aparados da Serra" National Park.

 

8/23/2019: Our second side trip from the coast into the mountain region lead us from Criciúma in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina to the "Serra do Rio do Rastro" mountains. The narrow mountain road climbs from the small town of Lauro Muller along a steep cliff within 15 mi [24km] in 284 curves and switchbacks (we did not recount them!) to an altitude of 4'662 ft. [1'421m]. Is a truck or bus approaching, then it gets precarious and the adrenalin flowing. There are some turnouts enabling us to enjoy the view over the lush green plain right up the Atlantic Ocean. The "Serra do Rio do Rastro" counts to the most beautiful places in Brazil. That our LandCruiser braved the long 10% steep ascent without its notorious overheating problem added to our lovely mountain experience.

 

8/17/2019: As the four-lane coastal road BR 101 north of Porto Alegre does as before not run directly along the Atlantic Ocean, but often through big cities, we decided to do a side trip to the "Cambará do Sul" plateau, lying at an altitude of 3'300 ft. [1'000m]. It is a region with deep canyons and high towering Araucaria trees. Our goal was the "Aparados da Serra" National Park with the Itaimbezinho Canyon. A trail along the canyon revealed many wonderful sights into the deep gorge. It was a welcome change from the monotonous lowlands. Having explored most Brazilian main attractions already 1988 – by then luckily without today's flow of tourists – we are now concentrating on less spectacular places, but still worth visiting. Thus, from the city of Criciúma we will undertake another side trip into the Farofa mountain range.

8/16/19 Araucarias in Itaimbezinho Canyon

8/19/19 Ascent "Serra do Rio do Rastro"

8/25/2019 Chilling out near Florianópolis

9/5/19 Praia Sotinho Island Santa Catarina

 

8/7/2019: On August 2nd, 2019, we changed from the Uruguayan city of Chuy to the Brazilian one of Chuí – from a pretty expensive, very clean, Spanish speaking but rather "sterile" country into a more vibrant, more affordable and Portuguese speaking country. Always along the coast, we drove up to now 438mi [705km]. What did we experience? At the Rio Grande beach, we marveled at the endlessness of the Brazilian beaches, and in Tavares, 89mi [143km] more northern, we visited the 'Lagoa do Peixe National Park', where in October flamingos on their migration route to the South make a stopover. Now we saw at least a big colony of cormorants and some other water birds. The access road procured us a kind of thrill: The soft sandy track was often under water for long stretches, and at the small wooden bridges we asked ourselves: "Do they withstand the Lancruiser's weight of nearly 4 tons?" Otherwise the whole coastal stretch was flat, agrarian oriented with grazing cattle and horses and huge grain elevators. The road was never following directly along the seashore.

 

8/1/2019: Four years ago today we experienced the worst night: An armed robbery in Malawi.

 

7/30/2019: It was only a 85mi [137km] drive from Montevideo to Punta del Este in Uruguay. Faithful to our intention for Brazil (see below July 20th), we already chose here the coastal roads wherever we found access to them. The many white sand dunes lining the shore were a fascinating foretaste to what lies ahead of us: The 5'800mi [9'300km] long drive from Chuy in Uruguay along the Brazilian Atlantic coast to French Guiana that we already visited April 2003 and again in June 2005.

 

7/21/2019: Merely 114 mi [184km] into Uruguay's good roads, we got stuck in the small city of Trinidad due to a broken water hose of our modified heating system. The water of the radiator, colored with red antifreeze, inundated our LandCruiser in the front. It was a real mess! Emil fixed it provisionally. At least we reached in the meantime Montevideo despite leaking still a bit. It is the second time that this in 2012 additionally built-in heating system in Miri/Sarawak/Malaysia (see pic. #451) makes this problem; but at 37°F [2°C] temperature a bit of warmth is appreciated.

7/21/2019 "Mess in Trinidad"

7/30/2019 South coast of Uruguay

8/2/2019 left Chuy uy/right Chuí br

8/5/19 'Lagoa do Peixe'-NP at Tavares

 

7/20/2019: Despite of Emil's persistent low back pains and Liliana's persistent bronchitis that still bothers both much, two days ago we left Santa Fe heading southeast through a landscape dominated by farming. However we aren't yet driving towards our planned project "Tierra del Fuego in wintertime". Due to our prevailing health problems, we postponed the visit to the "southernmost permanently inhabited place" to a later date. New goal now: "Driving along the Brazilian Atlantic coast from Chuy in Uruguay to Saint-Georges in French Guiana" – 5'800mi [9,300km]; that's from the southernmost to the almost northernmost point of Brazil. We hope hereby that the warmer climate in tropical Brazil will speed up our recovery. Currently we are in Colón in the Argentinean province of Entre Ríos along the Uruguay River, opposite the Uruguayan border town of Paysandú.

 

7/5/2019: We are still stuck in Santa Fe. Despite of further injections and medication, Emil's low back problem hasn't improved noticeably; fortunately it seems that the backbone itself is ok. But: Liliana starts to show slight temperature and it looks like she caught a flu somewhere. Shouldn't we get our health under control soon, we'll have to postpone our project "Tierra del Fuego in winter" to the month of August.

6/30/2019: The Route Map around the World is again updated (last time 1/23/2018).

6/30/2019: After 537 miles [865km] and 17½ driving hours into the first quarter of our >2'500 miles [>4'000km] long journey to Punta Arenas, Emil's low back pains (see 6/15/19 below) increased in such an extent that we had to consult a doctor in Santa Fe. Today he got an injection (Dexamethasone/Diclofenac) and we hope to be able to continue tomorrow Monday. But we are still on track for our "winter project Tierra del Fuego": For the remaining miles, it will probably take us about 65 driving hours = for us almost 15 driving days, in order to reach the ferry in Punta Arenas on July 25th, 2019, to Puerto Williams.

 

6/23/2019: Tomorrow, June 24th, 2019, we are leaving Paraguay definitively and will start to our winter journey to Tierra del Fuego. 2'500 miles [4'000km] are lying in front of us until Punta Arenas, where on July 25th, 2019, we will board the ferry "Yaghan", which will sail with us in 32 hours (349 miles [561km]) through 9 different sea channels to Puerto Williams on the island of Navarino at the Beagle Channel, the most southern "city" of the world. The municipality of Cape Horn is running once a month a complimentary ferry to Puerto Toro, a hamlet at the eastern side of the Island of Navarino (coord. -55.08294/-67.07578) and therefore about 7½ miles [12km] more southerly than the well known Argentinean Estancia Moat, 80 miles [129km]east-southeast from Ushuaia. Around 30 people live there permanently in near complete isolation. The mayor of Cap Horn kindly allowed us to join this tour with our LandCruiser on July 28, 2019, also free of charge, in order to give us the opportunity to reach the "southernmost permanently inhabited place" of the world within the frame of our "Longest driven journey". We are really excited!

6/23/19 Winter project 2019 "Tierra del Fuego"

6/27/19 Ruta RN11 Chaco-Santa Fe

7/20/19 View from Colón/Arg. to Uruguay

 

6/15/2019: We are still in Luque in Paraguay! Emil caught a very bad, surprisingly afebrile bronchitis, which brought all our actions for two weeks to a halt. Hardly back on his feet and his adventurousness returned, he got shot with lumbago! But one can still plan: In order to experience in South America still something new, special and exciting, we chose the option "Tierra del Fuego" in wintertime after we explored the region 32½ years ago in summertime. Will camping get too uncomfortable, we will book into a hostel, and will the roads become too icy, the tires will get fitted with spikes. We will start in the coming days to this journey.

 

5/29/2019: The page of our 2nd North Asia trip 2016 to Kyrgyzstan with 88 new pictures is now online.

 

5/26/2019: "More about a 34½-Year-Journey around the World" is now updated (last time 8/8/2018).

 

5/21/2019: After Liliana was able to repair her broken Phonak hearing aid yesterday in Asunción/Paraguay, our top issue is now: "Whereto next?" At the moment we are discussing five possibilities (the order does not say anything about the priorities): 1) In wintertime to Tierra del Fuego. 2) Along the Brazilian coast from Chuy in Uruguay until Saint-Georges in French Guiana. 3) From Manaus with boats via Leticia, Iquitos to Pucallpa in Peru. 4) Shipping from any South American container port to another corner in the wide world. 5) To remake our grills of the front side windows, which went missing in Salta/Argentina; to have some body work done (cracking and chipping putty) and to find a solution of the never-ending engine overheating problem of our LandCruiser in the workshops of the Mennonites in Filadelfia in the Paraguayan Chaco.

 

5/8/2019: Today is a very special day for us: We will celebrate our "golden wedding anniversary". Of the 50 years of married life, we spent with our LandCruiser 35 years on a journey around the world, which makes it even more special! As a festive setting, we are incidentally surrounded by lush green in the beautiful tropical garden of the camping site 'Quinta Tiffany' in Luque near Asunción /Paraguay. And for today, we are not sleeping in our LandCruiser but in its "Cabaña". Three days ago we entered Asunción after having crossed the plains of the Argentinean Chaco, affected by heavy rains. At the moment the rainy season is here still in full swing and some roads of the Paraguayan Chaco are not drivable due to flooding.

 

4/27/2019: Because we found it hard to leave the Andean mountains, we lazed away more time in the South of the Bolivian border. Especially in Tilcara/Jujuy – another village with a Bolivian flair. But on Easter Sunday we took the gloves off and began our journey to the East. Luck had it that in the little village of Tumbaya/Jujuy an Easter procession was underway and later in Cobos near Salta a Gaucho festival – two special highlights on this Easter Sunday. The third surprise was that for the first time in his life, Emil was asked by a police woman to blow into an alcohol detector: Result negative! That he drank on that day exceptionally only one can of beer at lunchtime feels like a premonition. After stopovers at the already known camping sites of Salta and Cafayate, we continued yesterday from Cafayate over the 10'000 ft. [3050m] high "El Infiernillo"-Pass to Tafi del Valle/Tucumán on 6'560 ft. [2000m] altitude. Tomorrow we will drive further to the East.

5/8/19 "Golden Wedding" in Luque/Paraguay

 

 

12/30/1986 Ushuaia/Argentina

 

4/14/2019: Cafayate-Salta-Cachi-Salta were the next legs since our last "What's happening". This triangle with its outstanding scenery captivated us already 32 years ago. And it did also today! Definitively worth a second visit was the stretch Cafayate-Salta with its gorgeous stone formations of different forms and colors stretching for about the first 37 miles [60km]. But also the spectacular hairpin bends from Salta to Cachi over a 11'320 ft. [3450m] high mountain pass were a pleasure. Lovely and interesting were also the encounters with a couple of motivated overlanders. Among them also the Swiss Yvonne and Alois, who, inspired by our worldrecordtour website, hit the road now for already six years. Salta was also the place where we actually wanted to repair the reinforcement panel that broke between the textile cover and the roof. But being not a supporting element, the local Toyota suggested us to leave it as the Argentineans would do it. We also adopted now the Argentinean way of thinking!
In Salta we also needed to plan our next sector. To the North through the Andes or to the East to the warmth. Finally, the North won. From now on, it was partly new territory for us, as we drove 1987 a slightly different track. The little adobe though by now touristy village of Purmamarca, embedded in red stone formations, and the 39 miles [63km] drive on the very good tarmac road until Humahuaca with its Bolivian flair were the highlights of that stretch. There, in Humahuaca, lying on an altitude of 9'850 ft. [3000m], we suddenly were not anymore enthusiastic to spend more cold and wet evenings on the front seats of our LandCruiser. We therefore changed our plan and are now heading East towards Paraguay and Brazil instead.

 

3/22/2019: After we enjoyed relaxing days at the camping "El Rincón del Leo" (-33.04906 -69.07883) west of Luján de Cuyo (Mendoza) and could refill in town at "Faveri" also our four gas bottle cookers from South Africa, Brazil, Oman and Qatar despite of the different adapters (-33.03639 -68.87661), on March 13th, we hit the road northbound again. Our daily stages were to San Juan (province San Juan) - San José de Jáchal (prov. San Juan) - Guandacol (prov. La Rioja) - Chilecito (prov. La Rioja) - La Ciénaga (prov. Catamarca) - Santa María (prov. Catamarca). New territories and highlights were especially the 20 miles [33km] ride through the Ciénaga Nature Park near San José de Jáchal with sweeping views over reddish mountain ranges, remembering us to the West of the USA. Equally inspiring was the drive over the "Cuesta de Miranda", which took us from Chilecito to the province of Catamarca. The mountain road meandered in many bends through eroded red rocks and stately candelabra cacti. The vast empty land and the mainly traffic free roads rose our traveler spirit! Less motivated were some camping with always barking dogs, unclean and dilapidated sanitary complexes. We started to dream of the wild nature places of the past! But since our armed robbery in Malawi we are not anymore very keen for rough camping. And how did perform our LandCruiser? No overheating anymore so far! But a reinforcement panel broke between the roof and the textile cover, banging at the minor bump. In Salta - approx. 180 miles [300km] further - we will have to take care of it.

 

3/1/2019:  "News – January/February 2019" is now online.

 

2/26/2019: Still escaping the cold we followed the legendary, now mostly paved "Ruta 40", to the North. In touristy Bariloche we decided to meander once more through the densely forested lake region of "Siete Lagos". Under a brilliant blue sky which accompanied us since the beginning of our nostalgic South America journey (1/11/19), the lakes embedded in pristine nature were gleaming in deep blue. After the bleakness of the steppe it was a refreshing sight. But there was also new land for us. For many kilometers we rolled through wide hilly highlands, followed by a (still) 50 miles [80km] long unpaved and corrugated stretch through a beautiful landscape between Barrancas/Mendoza (exactly -36.57094/-69.82873) and Bardas Blancas/Mendoza (-36.07503/-69.72234). But this had a price: Bothering was not only the heat of 95°F [35°C] (yes, we finally have our much anticipated share of warmth!), and the dust that penetrated into the interior of our car despite having sealed newly its doors. But it was especially our good old LandCruiser itself that after a climb-up the overheating problem popped up again and forced Emil to suck gasoline in order to continue - something he swore in Tajikistan, where we had this problem over and over again, he would never do it again. But he had no choice! In the meantime we reached Mendoza and are relaxing at the camping "El Rincon del Leo". It is a beautiful quiet place where finally also wifi works and where Emil celebrated his 77th birthday. South America keeps us really on the move. Until now, we traveled so far 3'170 miles [5'100km], with a gasoline consumption of 12 miles per gallon [22.8 lt. per 100km].

2/15/2019 Camping Portal Norte in El Bolsón

3/16/2019 RN40 South of Catamarca

3/16/19 Cuesta Huaco San José de Jáchal RN40

3/30/19 On RP33 from Salta to Cachi

 

2/12/2019: Five days ago we changed from Chile Chico into the neighboring country of Argentina, from snow covered mountain peaks and crystal clear lakes into the inhospitable and windswept Pampa, where the wind howled continuously and complicated camping life. Despite of it, it was lovely to drive for hours through the deserted flat dry steppe towards the North, occasionally only interrupted by remote estancias, tucked between high cypresses. Shy guanacos and fast rheas (a kind of ostriches) crossed our way. About 250 miles [400km] after the border – near Gobernador Costa – the landscape changed abruptly. Bleak desert hills lined the road and a meandering river with lush green trees and yellow flower carpets at its shores gave the brown landscape color and a special touch. We want now to escape the penetrating cold of the South and are now on our trip to the North and the warmth. But Argentina is also long: 2'360 miles [3'800km] (Chile 2'670 miles [4'300km]) – and internet access is still very very lousy!

 

2/4/2019: Since days we are now moving southwards on the Carretera Austral. Only once at the beginning we were surprised by drizzle; otherwise we rolled under a deep blue sky past turquoise lakes, rushing mountain rivers, always accompanied by snow covered mountain peaks and glaciers and steep forested slopes. In the valleys we crossed little hamlets and farms, and at campgrounds we met some same-minded overlanders but also some who do not have anymore the same overlander-spirit like us. After a few frigid nights we have now midsummer temperatures, but mid-week the weather is changing. We have therefore no pleasure to "trudge along" with our old bones and simple camping style for the second time through the notorious bad weather zone towards Ushuaia, where we already were in 1986/7 celebrating Christmas and New Year. After 385 miles [620km] on the Carretera Austral - today mostly good asphalt, yet about 60 miles [100km] of bad gravel left - we therefore plan to take the ferry from Puerto Ibañez to Chile Chico and entering afterwards Argentina.

 

1/22/2019: Back to our camping life: Since we left Santiago in Chile towards the South on January 11th, 2019, we traveled 1'055 miles [1'700km]. Only on our 11th camping, on the "Turismo Tell Camping Los Suizos" in Punaco, 6 miles [10km] east of Los Lagos in the XIVth Region of Los Ríos (-39.87382 /-72.72009), we found functioning Wifi, where we finally are able to update "What's happening"; also the mobile network (Entel) is hardly usable with 2G. Highlights of our chosen route were among others three National Parks: The "Laguna del Laja National Park" with the Antuco volcano, the "Conguillío NP" with the Llaima volcano and its impressive Araucaria forests, as well as the "Villarrica NP" with the Villarrica volcano. All three perfectly coned volcanoes greeted us in a brilliant white under a steel-blue sky. The nights are already getting chilly (about 43°F [6°C]), but our sleeping bags keep us cozy warm. We are continuing now to Osorno and Puerto Montt, where the Carretera Austral starts, which we would like to drive more to the South. Since the oil leak at the engine's front keeps within bounds, we didn't take action yet, but we keep an eye on it.

 

1/3/2019: In Santiago/Chile, on January 3rd, 2019, we had a wonderful reunion with the two people who inspired us in August 1983 in Cape Mclear in Malawi to embark on this epic journey around the world. We met them 35½ years ago on our common yearly holidays on the African continent. Brigitte and Gerhard from Germany. At that time, the two were touring Malawi during an Africa crossing with their 4x4 camper mobile. The idea of such a life of freedom took especially possession of Emil. He slowly tried to win Liliana for it. The result is known!

1/3/2019 Brigitte & Gerhard in Santiago

1/17/2019 Llaima-Volcano Conguillío NP

2/3/19 Lago Las Torres (-44.79075 -72.20676)

 

 

12/31/2018:  "News – November/December 2018" is now online.

 

12/30/2018: On December 24th, 2018, we reached from São Paulo/Brazil with the Chilean low cost carrier Sky Airline our destination Chile, and since December 28th, our team is complete again. In the port of San Antonio, we managed to do all the paperwork for the release of our LandCruiser by our own and in two days only (we couldn't convince any agent to do the job during the holiday season). But the red tape worked out only with the kindness and helpfulness of all the places involved, which helped us to reach the next step. The last authority, the customs comptroller, was more interested in the LandCruiser's country ribbon and in our first visit of Chile in 1987 but also in our current plans than in what we have loaded. No questioning what we carry along and not a glimpse into the vehicle. Thus our 31st container release will belong to one of the easiest and most pleasant ones! Expense: Around US$960; in Montevideo/Uruguay we would have paid twice as much. Currently we are in Santiago with summery temperatures. Unfortunately after the 90 miles [150km] drive to the capital we observed a loss of oil from the engine, and this after only 530 miles [850km] since the engine overhaul in Sarawak/Malaysia – probably from the timing gear. We will need to check it out before we head South.

 

12/23/2018: Our challenging nostalgic tour through four culturally different countries has ended; the big jump crossing the Atlantic Ocean lies behind us. We left Casablanca on December 19th, 2018, and after an one-night stop in Lisbon, the Brazilian air carrier "Azul Linhas Aéreas" took us in ten hours to the mega city Campinas northeast of São Paulo in Brazil. Conclusion: Our four chosen exotic destinations – Nepal, Oman, Egypt and Morocco – were perfect, exciting and a lasting experience; we wouldn't like to miss any of it. They included 11 flights and via 10 different countries (besides the four above mentioned main targets also layovers in Malaysia, Thailand, UAE, Portugal Brazil and Chile), just as many hotels, which summed up especially in Morocco as we were constantly on the move with a rented car. The onward flight to our final destination Santiago de Chile is booked for Christmas, December 24, 2018. Now we are looking forward to a less hectic time in South America with our LandCruiser, which arrives also on 24th December in San Antonio/Chile coming from Sarawak, i.e. to more camping life, to barbecues and Chilean and Argentinean wines. In this respect, the past time (since begin of 2017), which we spent mainly on the northeastern Indonesian islands, Borneo and in Malaysia, were not really brilliant.

We wish all our friends and everybody following us on our tour around the world a peaceful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

12/20/2018 Christmas preparations Campinas

12/22/2018 Railway station in Campinas

12/27/18 Discharge of Evergreen's "Ever Lovely"

 

12/16/2018: Morocco, the 4th stage of our nostalgic tour is in its second halftime. This country has a very special meaning for us: 1968, exactly 50 years ago and one year before the wedding, Emil took Liliana with one of his old Volkswagen Beetle to Morocco. There he wanted first to test her willingness to travel. She obviously could convince him! Now we are on tour with a rented car: Casablanca - Marrakech - Quarzazate were our first three destinations. After the first disappointment in the chaotic polluted port city of Casablanca we continued to Marrakech through a very green spring like landscape caused by the heavy October and November rains. The snake charmers, the legendary water sellers and the trained monkeys are still there. But for us, the many green tent canopies on the square are diminishing its attractiveness. Still nice however was our journey through the High Atlas. The little mountain villages have still not lost their peculiar timeless charm and the view to the already snow capped mountains made the journey from Marrakech to Quarzazate a nice experience despite the many construction zones. Evergreen Line's ship "Ever Lovely" finished its stop in Buenaventura/Colombia and is with our LandCruiser on its way to Callao in Peru – always in time since the begin on 11/6/2018.

 

12/8/2018: After 6 interesting days in history-charged Egypt, we pack our suitcases again. Our last visit was dedicated to Cairo's citadel with its beautiful view over the city right to the pyramids of Giza and its wonderful Muhammad Ali Mosque ("Alabaster Mosque") – a kind of replica of Instanbul's Sultan Ahmed Mosque, also called "Blue Mosque". Hence the 3rd stage of our "nostalgic tour" ends tomorrow Sunday, 12/9/2018, by taking off on Egyptair towards Casablanca in Morocco. Our LandCruiser reached two days ago as scheduled the North American continent in Manzanillo/Mexico, before sailing to its first stop in South America – Buenaventura in Colombia.

 

12/5/2018: Halftime of the third stage of our nostalgic tour. Three days ago, we landed with Oman Air in Cairo/Egypt – a country that we cruised intensively in October 1989 with our LandCruiser. From the roof terrace of our hotel "Pyramids Village Inn" in Giza with view to the pyramids and the sphinx we enjoy the lively colorful atmosphere all around. Coming from Oman, we immersed into a different, more lively world: Cocks are crowing on the rooftops and ducks and goats are roaming around. In the inner courtyards horses are neighing, donkeys are braying, dogs are barking and in between the muezzin is calling to prayer. On the streets colorful saddled camels are waiting for tourists. Yesterday, under a blue sky, we explored once more the wonderful examples of architecture of the ancient Egypt. Actually, we expected more tourists at such a world-famous place, but maybe it is rather quiet because it's so close to Christmas, although it is now climatically very good (daytime 68-72°F, night 57°F [daytime 20-22°C, night 14°C]). Egypt was again a good choice on our nostalgic tour to South America.

12/3/2018 Breakfast at the hotel in Giza

12/6/18 Cairo midtown (from Citadel)

12/10/2018 Casablanca Hassan II-Mosque

 

12/1/2018: The South of Oman, the second stage of our nostalgic tour on our way to South America, comes to an end. We refreshed pleasant memories, discovered new jewels in the desert and indulged once more in the oriental flair. The twelve days were relaxed with eternal sunshine and comfortable temperatures. The "beautification" unfortunately did also not stop in Salalah. At the wide sandy beach of "Ad-Dahariz", where we could camp 2013 freely under coconut trees – being by then also an overlander meeting spot – a well lit walkway and unattractive sun canopies have been built and cars are banned. We wonder now how we will experience Egypt, our third nostalgic destination, which we explored with our LandCruiser in October 1989.

Because we hadn't any "car experiences" since "News – September/October 2018" there won't be any "News – November 2018".

 

11/26/2018: Halftime in Salalah in the South of Oman. Yesterday we drove with a rent-a-car the 100 miles [160km] to the Yemeni border, which comprise three spectacular hairpin ascents and descents of up to 3'000 ft. [1'000m]. Heartwarming in this Dhofar region are the many camels roaming freely, be it along the roads, on beaches, in front of shops,– just everywhere. They convey a real desert feeling! We saw many well fed cattle herds on higher altitudes of about 3'600 ft. [1'100m], where there is more greenery. Before the Yemeni border there are still vast damages visible, caused by tropical cyclone "Mekunu" (category 3) when it made landfall near Raysut on May 25th, 2018.

 

11/22/2018: Our 6 days in Nepal – a country which we visited from 12/25/1994 - 1/20/1995 also with our LandCruiser – belong already to the past. The beautiful monasteries, stupas and Buddhist holy sites in Kathmandu are still impressing, but the chaotic traffic, the air pollution and the steady decay (unfortunately also by earthquake) is on the negative side. On our "nostalgia journey by stages" to South America we arrived yesterday with Air Arabia, after a stopover in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, in a country, which was already "love at first sight" on our first visit in March 1994 and to this day it's still one of our most favorite countries: The Sultanate of Oman. We will spend now about 10 days in the South around Salalah before we are heading by Oman Air on December 2nd, 2018, to the third stage.

Our LandCruiser is sailing currently (11/22/2018 - 14:00 GMT) on Evergreen's "Ever Lovely" through Tsugaru Strait between Japan's mainland and Hokkaido via the Pacific in direction Mexico, to its next stop in Manzanillo.

11/18/2018 Boudha Stupa in Kathmandu

11/20/2018 AirArabia in Sharjah/UAE

11/25/2018 Camels east of Salalah/Oman

 

11/14/2018: On November 12th, 2018, we left Malaysia. The last highlight was the visit of the beautiful complex of the Hindu Batu Caves, about 7 miles [11km] north of Kuala Lumpur. Positive are also the good results of our blood tests; according to our GP we are fully fit to travel further on. To avoid the monster direct flight to South America (Norwegian 33½h via London, Ethiopian 32½h via Addis Ababa) we are now on the way in different stages eastwards to countries with different cultures around half of the world: The first one being Nepal with Thai Airways. Yesterday we landed in Kathmandu coming from Malaysia via Bangkok/Thailand. Meanwhile our LandCruiser is sailing in its 31st container westwards over the Pacific, currently in Kaohsiung in Taiwan (see also: "Where is the car now?: Kaohsiung (MV Ever Lovely)".

 

11/4/2018: After the successful 3rd rejuvenation 2017/18 of our LandCruiser it's time to say farewell to Miri in Sarawak: Mr Lance Lau of the "Yung Lee" workshop invited us with some of his good friends to a good-bye lunch in a Chinese restaurant. But it is also time to say temporarily good-bye to our LandCruiser. Since yesterday, November 3rd, 2018, it is stuffed in its container in the port of Bintulu. On December 24th, 2018 – quasi as "Christmas gift" – it should arrive at the port of San Antonio in Chile.

 

11/4/2018: "News – September/October 2018" is now online.

11/1/2018 Farewell lunch "Yung Lee"

 

10/25/2018: Our onward journey is finally set: Our most favoured destination, a second Pacific tour, on which we worked since April, unfortunately failed due to the bureaucracy for the temporaty import of our LandCruiser. Therefore plan B – South America – comes into effect. The container with our LandCruiser will leave Bintulu/Sarawak/East Malaysia with the Evergreen Shipping Line in direction San Antoio in Chile on November 6, 2018, and will arrive at its destination on Christmas Day. Its journey goes from Sarawak to Taiwan, China, the Pacific, Mexico, Colombia and Peru to Chile. The freight itself costs US$1'800, the port fees in Bintulu $290 and in San Antonio between $800 and 1'000.We will firstly fly from Miri to Kuala Lumpur, where we have to decide where we shall spend our time until the arrival of our LandCruiser in South America.

 

10/18/2018: Today 34 years on the road: Flashback to the chaotic start of our epic journey on October 18th, 1984, which we missed by a fraction of an inch!

 

10/3/2018: After its "3rd Rejuvenation (2017)", our LandCruiser seems to be fit again. At least that's what our test drives showed so far. Our investment of US$3'038 seems to have paid off. The spare parts cost us US$1'766, whereby we contributed additionally some parts from our "stock": the work was US$1'272. Apart from that there is nothing to report – that is why there will be no "News September". Until our next destination is fixed, we shall still stay in the 'Place2Stay' Hotel in Miri for US$22 a night.

 

9/25/2018: On Liliana's 77th birthday we are on our first test drive with the LandCruiser.

 

9/21/2018: The "3rd Rejuvenation (2017)" is drawing to a close: See picture No. 567 and 568 at the bottom of the website.

 

9/14/2018: After almost two "motorless" months its re-installation has to be celebrated! Another three pictures (No. 564-566) of the "3rd Rejuvenation (2017)" can be found at the bottom of the website.

9/14/2018 Engine installed

9/25/2018 Liliana's Birthday

10/3/2018 Hotel Place2Stay in Miri

 

9/10/2018: The continuation of the "3rd Rejuvenation (2017)" shows now three more pictures at the very bottom (#561-563).

 

9/7/2018: The second page of our 2nd North Asia trip 2016 to Russia (Gorno Altaysk - Altai Republic) with 105 new pictures is now online.

 

9/5/2018: Before the final assembly of the engine, the oil pump must be ground, as a replacement can no longer be found (pictures #558-560).

 

9/3/2018: The japanese email interview with "Muji" is published in the "Booklet #20" on page 8.

 

8/31/2018: "News – August 2018" is now online.

 

8/28/2018: The engine assembly started yesterday. After a careful cleaning the main bearings and the crankshaft are put together (pictures #555-557).

 

8/25/2018: The first page of our 2nd North Asia trip 2016 to Russia (Altai Krai - Lake Teletskoye - Gorno Altaysk) with 78 new pictures is now online.

 

8/24/2018: We received today from the cylinder grinding workshop the disassembled motorblock back – it's just checked by Liliana.

 

8/20/2018: On August 15th, 2018, we drove with the workshop car to Brunei for a visa run. We finally got at the border another three more months of stay granted. But the main immigration office in Miri/Sarawak had to give its approval.
After the 3rd attempt the connecting rod bearings from Kuala Lumpur finally arrived in perfect condition. The cylinder grinding workshop "King Engineering" in Miri started today, August 20th, to hone the crankshaft.
We added to the "3rd Rejuvenation (2017)" three more pictures at the very bottom (#554-556).

 

8/13/2018: Things go wrong: The second spare parts delivery from Kuala Lumpur – which made an odyssey to Limbang – arrived today, but some parts are still not in perfect condition: Once more four connecting rod bearings show small “storage blisters”! That means that we have to re-order them and need to wait and hope again. In the meantime our three months' visa of Malaysia is expiring mid-week. Up to now it was possible to get a two months' extension at the immigration office in Miri, even for free. Not anymore! A new boss apparently enforced a new regulation a month ago that an extension of another two months costs MYR 1'500 per person, i.e. US$368 (!) – a so called security bond for “long term visitors”! Yes, things change and mostly not for the better! We are now making a visa run to Brunei.

8/13/2018 Bandar Seri Begawan/Brunei

 

8/8/2018: "More about a 33¾-Year-Journey around the World" is now updated (last time 1/23/2018).

 

8/7/2018: As mentioned in our "News – June/July 2018", the cylinder head repair ended up in an engine overhaul. Emil could get the spare parts yesterday that had to be ordered in Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur. Unfortunately the bearings showed "blisters" what means that waiting for replacement will continue to delay the work. 3 new pictures are shown on the "3rd Rejuvenation (2017)" at the very bottom.

 

8/4/2018: The eleventh and last page of our “Borneo-Sulawesi-Moluccas-Papua Trip” with 48 new pictures from Makassar in Sulawesi/Indonesia until Miri in Sarawak/Malaysia is now online.

 

8/1/2018: "News – June/July 2018" is now online.

 

7/31/2018: Flashback to our up to now "worst case scenario" in the night of 7/31 to 8/1/2015 at Lake Malawi, when we feared for our life during an armed robbery on a campsite.

 

7/30/2018: Continuation of our 3rd Rejuvenation (2017) of our LandCruiser: 3 new pictures of the cylinder head overhaul in Miri/Sarawak/East Malaysia (Borneo)

→ see right at the bottom

 

7/28/2018: The tenth page of our “Borneo-Sulawesi-Moluccas-Papua Trip” with 84 new pictures from Manokwari and the 'Trans Papua Road' on the Bird's Head Peninsula in eastern West Papua is now online.

 

7/25/2018: Continuation of our 3rd Rejuvenation (2017) of our LandCruiser: 3 new pictures of the cylinder head overhaul in Miri/Sarawak/East Malaysia (Borneo).

 

7/16/2018: We delivered today once more our LandCruiser to the workshop Yung Lee of Mr. Lance Lau in Miri. The necessary spare parts arrived finally from Japan (TMC) on July 12th, 2018, thus the repair of the cylinderhead and some other minor mending will start now. We got for free a replacement car, an "ancient" dilapidated Toyota Corona, which serves us however fully.

 

7/8/2018: The ninth page of our “Borneo-Sulawesi-Moluccas-Papua Trip” with 75 new pictures from the Island of Biak in Papua (Irian Jaya) of Indonesia is now online.

 

7/5/2018: "List of Supporters" updated (→ "Various" undermost).

 

7/1/2018: There was actually little activity in June 2018 – so little that we have to refrain from any "News – June 2018". Except for Liliana's visit at the dentist and a visit of friends, we were not only searching desperately for spare parts for our LandCruiser but also for a solution where our journey is going to be continued. Currently we are just waiting until eventually the Japanese "express delivery" for the inevitable repair will arrive. Due to this unfortunate delay we are however able to update our website – shortly "Papua 2 = Island of Biak" will go online – but the good climatic time of the northern hemisphere is fading away, where two of our favorite destinations are resp. were situated. Future will reveal where we shall end up.

7/1/2018 Miri/Sarawak/East Malaysia

7/16/2018 Miri: Yung Lee Workshop

 

6/22/2018: We exhausted in the meantime all possibilities in Malaysia to get the required spare parts for a cylinder head overhaul. They are here simply not anymore available. Today we were able to order them at the local Toyota dealer. Through Toyota Switzerland we knew that the parts are still on stock at TMC in Japan. What we didn't know is that the delivery time lasts three months unless we pay a surcharge of 25% to reduce the time to three weeks. Do we have another choice? Now we can only hope that the parts arrive within this period and that they are the right ones. This is the current status! At least now and then Miri in Sarawak surprises us with new "curiosities".

 

6/20/2018: The eighth page of our “Borneo-Sulawesi-Moluccas-Papua Trip” with 66 new pictures from the Island of Yapen in Papua (Irian Jaya) of Indonesia is now online.

 

6/8/2018: The repair of our LandCruiser is being delayed steadily due to the search for non-available spare parts. Luckily our waiting time was sweetened by the encounter with Anja and Chris, German overlanders on their way to Indonesia and Australia with a 'Landrover Forward Control'. We spent three lovely days at beautiful camping spots along the sea shore in their company and enjoyed the get-together very much. Regarding our next travel destination, we are not one step further. To get freight quotes becomes also more and more difficult. But we keep trying – somehow we have to go somewhere finally!

 

6/2/2018: "News – May 2018" is now online.

 

5/31/2018: We finished the more than 435 miles [700km] mostly very bad asphalt road with the countless construction sites from Kuching to Miri. Thereby we chose the shorter (60 miles [100km]) version along the coast via Sebuyau and Pusa with 3 ferries (one ferry drops out mid-June 2018 thanks to a new bridge). We spent this time the nights in Sarikei and Bintulu. Our LandCruiser will be in "our" workshop only on June 4th. But in the meantime it already got a new muffler, and the new tires we bought in Sorong/West Papua could finally be balanced. Liliana got an appointment at her dentist for next week. That's all not very exciting, but the planning about our journey's continuation doesn't make any progress: Since about a week South Korea doesn't allow anymore Swiss licensed vehicles (cars and motorbikes) to circulate! That makes a reasonable access to Russia's eastern part impossible (ferry Donghae-Vladivostok).

 

5/24/2018: Yesterday was a good day for us in Kuching/Sarawak/East Malaysia. Mr. Wong Hieng Kee exchanged the worn out rear LandCruiser tailgate lock for free – the troublesome weeks with a strap solution in Indonesia are over. In the evening, we were invited by the 4x4-Travel & Adventure-Club Sarawak. It was an interesting evening with nice people over some glasses of beer, who at the end gifted us with Club T-shirts and Jamboree Cups as Souvenirs. Tomorrow Friday, May 25th, we start our 450 miles [720km] ride to our workshop in Miri, where our LandCruiser needs again some attention.

– "Route Map" updated; "List of Supporters" updated (→ "Various" undermost).

5/23/2018 Kuching/Sarawak/East Malaysia

5/26/18 Selangau/Sarawak/East Malaysia

 

5/18/2018: The chapter "Indonesia" is now closed after 254 days. We left the country after 5'441 miles [8'756km] resp. 317 driving hours in Entikong in West Kalimantan on the Island of Borneo for Sarawak in East Malaysia. During our 4th car journey we were able to visit (1st = 2006: 4'966 mi [7'992km], 2nd = 2007: 2'943 mi [ 4'736km], 3rd = 2010: 2'089 mi [3'363km]) in North and Northeast Indonesia another 8 islands (Ternate, Tidore and Halmahera in the North Moluccas, West Papua in former Irian Jaya, Seram and Ambon in the Moluccas, Yapen and Biak in Papua). Hereby we used during 24 ferry rides 16 different vessels, have been shipped 4'413 miles [7101km] and spent 14 nights on their floors. Together with the earlier trips mentioned above, the figures are 15'439 miles during 938 driving hours on 18 different islands, whereby totally 41 sailings happened on 32 ferry boats where we spent 27 nights aboard. We are missing only 7 of the overall 34 provinces in Indonesia: Aceh, Riau, Riau Islands, Jambi, Bangka-Belitung, Southeast Sulawesi and North Kalimantan. (Our ferry distance covered

 

5/13/2018: The seventh page of our “Borneo-Sulawesi-Moluccas-Papua Trip” with 45 new pictures from the Island of Ambon in the Central Moluccas of Indonesia is now online.

 

5/11/2018: After a night at the airport hotel of Makassar in Sulawesi we had a swift 53 miles [86km] drive north along beautiful rice paddies to the little village of Garongkong. But at the ASDP ferry terminal for Batulicin in South Kalimantan, we had an unexpected surprise: Full! It was the first time on 16 different ships during our current Indonesia trip – our LandCruiser was many times the only vehicle. The departure was foreseen for 2pm on 8th May. Some minutes before, a small place was yet still found for our vehicle between eleven trucks carrying cows and one with ducks. Was it a game of nerves or just coincidence (?) ..... anyway, we spent the next 23½ hour on a calm sea, exactly on the ship's floor.

5/8/2018  on the way to the 16th ferry

5/10/2018 Pagatan/South Kalimantan

 

5/7/2018: We made again one step forward: Yesterday, Sunday May 6th, we flew with AirAsia for a visa-run from Makassar to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and today, Monday, we returned. The look of the Indonesian Immigration was a bit odd after our arrival due to our many visa extensions and they questioned us by every trick in the book – but finally we received the free, but not extendable 30-days VOA (visa on arrival). We could park safely our car during our 20th visit to Kuala Lumpur at the airport's parking lot (2 days = Rupees 140'000 = US$10.50). We took in K.L. the opportunity to celebrate our 49th wedding anniversary.

 

5/4/2018: After a six hours' delay – instead at 10pm on May 1st, – we left Manokwari on May 2nd, at 5am on the Pelni ship "KM Ciremai" in direction Makassar in South Sulawesi. While we were waiting at the berth, not only the sea level receded but we received also some work: An employee of the Pelni office shocked us with the message at 2am that due to the low tide, we couldn't drive anymore into the hull but would have to put our LandCruiser into a container and pay about 11'100'000 rupees (~US$845) more. Neither being keen on a nightly container exercise nor paying more for the freight, we refused heatedly – very much to the entertainment of the also waiting huge crowd. Of course we had finally to containerize, but at least we didn't have to grab for more money. Thus we take down at 4am the spare tires and the "washing machine box" from the roof – an exercise we did already 29 times before. Afterwards we maneuvered into the box, which was loaded onto the vessel that arrived in the meantime. Meanwhile all the waiting passengers disappeared into the ship and occupied unsurprisingly every  possible spot. It looked very much that we might have to spend the coming 13 hours to the first stopover in Sorong by "standing". However Indonesia is functioning differently, always someone wants to earn money somehow: Two crew members offered their indeed very basic cabin for Rp. 500'000 (~US$38) per night, what corresponds according to amount with an Indonesian 3-star hotel (in the Papuan region = 2*); but better than nothing or the floor! Hence we arrived after 66 hours (= 1'220 miles [1'963km]) of very calm sea and most beautiful weather in Makassar and were able to release our LandCruiser shortly before midnight from its 30th cage.

 

4/30/2018: "News – March/April 2018" is now online.

 

4/27/2018: Where next? The geographic direction is set: On May 1st, we are heading from rainy Manokwari in the province of West Papua with the Pelni ferry "KM Ciremai" westwards to Massakar in South Sulawesi, after it didn't work out with the car permit for our second entry into Papua New Guinea from the Indonesian border of Jayapura/Papua. Thus, our 8 months long island hopping in Indonesia will come to an end on May 8th, 2018. On this date, our visa will expire and isn't anymore extendable. During this journey we did 26 ferry rides on 16 different boats between 10 various islands (Indonesia totally together with the years of 2006/07/10: 44 ferry rides, 32 boats, 18 islands).

 

4/24/2018: The sixth page of our “Borneo-Sulawesi-Moluccas-Papua Trip” with 81 new pictures from the Island of Seram in the Central Moluccas of Indonesia is now online.

 

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.

4/11-12/2018 on KMP Kasuari Pasifik IV

4/27/2018 Rain near Manokwari

 

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.

 

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.

3/20/2018  Indonesia

3/29/2018 Serui/Yapen/Papua

2/9/2018  Trans Papua Highway

2/24/2018  Saleman

1/12/2018

1/20/2018  189th flat tyre

 

1/5/2018: The third page of our “Borneo-Sulawesi-Moluccas-West Papua Trip” with 45 new pictures from the island of Ternate in the North Moluccas is now online.

 

12/31/2017: "News – December 2017" is now online.

 

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.

 

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.

 

12/23/2017: 30 pictures more – the last from Sulawesi – are on our website of the “Borneo-Sulawesi-Moluccas-West Papua Trip”.

 

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.

12/15/2017

Merry Christmas!

11/30/2017

11/30/2017

 

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.

 

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.

 

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!

 

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.

 

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.

11/4/2017 – Visarun @ Kuala Lumpur

11/18/2017 Ternate

 

11/1/2017: The second page of our “Borneo-Sulawesi-Moluccas-West Papua Trip” with 72 new pictures is now online.

 

10/27/2017: Twenty-one pictures more from North Sulawesi (Minahasa Highland) on our current website of the “Borneo-Sulawesi-Moluccas-West Papua Trip”.

 

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.

 

10/16/2017: The "News – September/October 2017" is now on our today's 33rd anniversary of our world record tour online.

 

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.

 

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?

 

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.

10/1/2017 – 40th Equator-Xing

10/1/2017

9/8/2017

9/16/2017

 

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).

 

9/6/2017: We crossed today without any problems our 531st border from Malaysia (Tebedu) to Indonesia (Entikong).

 

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

 

8/31/2017: "News – May-August 2017" is now online.

 

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.

 

8/28/2017: Six pictures more on the website of the “Borneo-Sulawesi-Moluccas-West Papua Trip”.

 

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!

8/22/2017: "More about a 32¾-Year-Journey around the World" is now updated.

8/20/2017: The picture site “Borneo-Sulawesi-Moluccas-West Papua Trip” of our next stage is now online: It leads from Miri (Northern Sarawak) via Kuching (South Sarawak), Pontianak (West-Kalimantan) to Balikpapan (East-Kalimantan) and by means of ferries onwards to Sulawesi (North), the Molucca Islands (North) to Sorong on the Bird's Head Peninsula in the West of the Island of New Guinea (West Papua). It's now our 3rd try to reach Indonesian Papua, formerly Irian Jaya, with our car.

 

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!

8/17/2017

8/27/2017

6/1/2017

6/17/2017

 

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).

 

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).

5/10/2017: Our picture on the start-up website has changed again: From the 3rd overhaul of our LandCruiser in Miri/Sarawak/East-Malaysia on March 27th, 2017, to a beautiful earlier picture of 10/11/2011 from the "Avenue of the Baobabs" in Marofototra near Morondava in Madagascar.

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.

 

5/2/2017: Three pictures more of the "3rd Rejuvenation of our LandCruiser".

 

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!

 

4/30/2017: "News – March/April 2017" is now online.

 

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.

4/21/2017

5/1/2017

 

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.

 

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.

 

3/27/2017: Eventually we changed once again our picture on the start-up website: From the 15’272 ft. [4‘655m] high Ak Baital Pass in Tajikistan on June 26th, 2016, to the current 3rd overhaul in Miri/Sarawak/East-Malaysia on March 27th, 2017.

 

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.

3/18/2017

3/25/2017

 

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.

 

2/28/2017: "News – February 2017" is now online.

 

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.

2/14/2017

2/24/2017

 

2/13/2017: "3rd Rejuvenation of our LandCruiser FJ60 - 1982" is now online.

 

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!

 

2/1/2017: "News – January 2017" is now online.

 

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.

1/26/2017

2/3/2017

 

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.

 

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.

1/3/2017

1/8/2017

 

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.

 

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.

12/17/2016

12/20/2016

 

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.

11/24/2016

12/1/2016

12/4/2016

12/10/2016

10/16/1984

10/21/2016

9/3/2016

9/13/2016

10/13/2016

 

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!

 

10/6/2016: "News – September 2016" is now online.

 

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.

 

10/4/2016: The Uzbekistan website is now online.

 

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.

 

9/29/2016: The bad weather front reached us at Gorno Altaysk!

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

9/13/2016: The spare parts from Moscow arrived.

 

9/12/2016: Update to our "More about a nearly 32-Year-Journey around the World"

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

9/3 and 9/4/2016: Emil dismantles himself the front axle.

 

9/2/2016: A visit to a workshop doesn't show any result due to insurmountable language difficulties.

 

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).

 

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".