Hot News – January 2007 (Denpasar/Bali / Indonesia, January 18, 2007)
- Website statistics: In December, we were able to welcome on our website 31'691 visitors who did 633'408 hits.
- (November = 30'324 visitors – ??? countries* – 694'657 hits)
- Record days since 12/17/1998 - the birthday of our website: 3/20/2006, 1'474 visitors; 8/29/2006, 47'038 hits
- (*= the country counter, which stopped working March 23, 2006, has still not been repaired by the
- ISP Goldnet - frustrating! - usually there were monthly between 100 and 118 different countries!)
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- We were happy – also if it is "only" with a used differential – to continue on December 17th, 2006, in a repaired car
- our Indonesia trip and leave the "hellish city" of Jakarta in direction East. To live in such a polluted, noisy and over-
- populated place would be a punishment for us, although the Indonesians are always surprisingly nice and obliging.
- Driving through interesting regions like Bogor (President Bush was recently there on a state visit), Borobudur (a
- Buddhist monument and UNESCO World Heritage Site), Yogyakarta (with the Merapi Volcano, which threatened
- to erupt a few months ago), Solo (hometown of Abu Bakar Ba'asyir – said to be involved in the Bali bombings)
- and the Volcano Bromo (a unique beauty of nature – experienced during a storm) we finally reached the car ferry to
- Bali.
- Regarding storm and ferries: While we ended the year 2006 in a violent storm on a rim of a volcano, the sister ship
- of the same ferry company "Prima Vista", with which we shipped on November 21st, 2006, sank between Borneo
- and Java – allegedly due to open doors; result: Some hundred people drowned. Also in our voyage, the mentioned
- doors stayed open, but back then, we experienced calm weather and close to no swell. This was our luck, because
- only now and then some seawater entered the hull through the openings, which lie only about three feet above the
- water's surface, spilling between the unsecured vehicles. Looking back, we still get goose skin! But also the vessel
- running between Java and Bali did not make a very reliable impression.
- Arriving in Bali is like entering a new country: Instead of mosques, temples are spread everywhere – the predominant
- religion formed by Hinduism, Buddhism and Animism of the Balinese people has replaced the Islam from Java; there
- is no muezzin calling in the morning anymore. On the other hand, more tourists stroll around, although the numbers of
- visitors is said to be at an absolute low due to the fear of new terror attacks. The "few" guests of today are
- now predominantly originating from Southeast Asia, Far East and Russia.
- Soon, our 'Bali time' will come to an end. We had a wonderful time exploring and encountered beautiful landscapes
- along the coast as well as in the mountains. And the Balinese spirit is still present everywhere. Our journey will continue
- further East to the region of Nusa Tenggara towards the islands of Lombok,
- Sumbawa, Sumba, Flores and Timor – each island hopping requiring another "adventurous" ferry crossing.
- Therefore, please check from time to time the progress of our "Indonesia-Trip" on our pictured site!
New Reports/Pictures
- SOUTHEASTASIA: mouse over picture shows comments
- click a picture to see details
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| + our Indonesia Trip | Sumatra, Java, Bali, Nusa Tenggara – Dez. 2006 -....... |
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| + our Borneo Trip | Sarawak, Brunei, Sabah, Kalimantan – Sept.-Nov. 2006 |
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| + our LandCruiser on a "Rejuvenation Cure" | in Miri/Sarawak - the East Malaysian province on Borneo June-Aug. 2006 |
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| + added from a earlier visit to the USA: | Las Vegas (Millennium change) |
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| + added from our Arabian Peninsula round trip: | Pictures from Yemen (May-June 1996) |
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| + Flashbacks of our Worldrecordtour: | Pictures from "all the continents" (Oct. 1984 - April 1997) |
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