News – October 2007 (Kaohsiung / Taiwan, October 15, 2007)
- Website statistics: In September we were able to welcome on our website 33'726 visitors who did 937'422 hits.
- (August = 33'447 visitors – 906'336 hits)
- The visitors are coming from about 100 to 118 different countries!
- Record day since 12/17/1998 - the birthday of our website: 2/19/2007 = 2'518 visitors and 293'778 hits
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- The overhaul of the gear box in Miri in Sarawak, which lies in the Eastern part of Malaysia on Borneo, finished just in
- time for the arrival of a film crew from Singapore that came to shoot a movie on September 27th and 28th with us. They
- produced a short video for the launch of the new Toyota LandCruiser 200 (= J14 of the 140's series) that will take place
- at the end of October in Bahrain for the Middle East. It was real fun – even loading the car into the container destined for
- Taiwan in Bintulu's port was captured.
- Hence we had to leave our travel buddy, locked into its metal box on September 28th, and flew one day later with
- AirAsia to Kuala Lumpur. The following Sunday, we spent on the train bound for Singapore, while the journey through
- the endless palm oil plantations of Southern Malaysia was rather boring. On Monday, not only our car started its four day
- sea trip from Bintulu to Kaohsiung, but it was also our "big" shopping spree in Singapore: A new camera (Panasonic
- Lumix 8.1 Megapixel with a 18x-zoom) and an external computer storage for all the
digital pictures. Our plan to purchase
- the "latest" Nokia N95 cellular phone, which could be used to access also the internet to download emails, had to be
- given a miss – it's simply still too expensive. It would have been tempting to be able to upload the latest pictures onto our
- website right after being shot; and also the built-in GPS could possibly be helpful if ever getting lost in unknown mega
- cities. But we have to survive with the means at our disposal – the gear box overhaul and the change from Borneo to
- Taiwan by freighter and planes made the bank account shrink considerably due to the many ATM withdrawals.
- JetstarAsia flew us on October 2nd to Taipei in Taiwan. Unfortunately, the weather became more and more hazy due to
- the imminent arrival of super typhoon "Krosa", what prevented our visit of the second tallest building of the world (in July
- of this year, the 'Taipei 101-Tower' with its height of 1'667 ft. has been superseded by the 'Dubai Tower' [Burj Dubai]).
- A high speed rail brought us in 1½ hours with a speed of 186 miles/hour from Taiwans mega capital Taipei to the port
- city of Kaohsiung with its 1.5 million people –.where our LandCruiser was supposed to arrive with Evergreen Line on
- Friday morning. As a first step, we visited a little bit "naive" the shipping line – still being hopeful to have it probably
- released the next day – but had soon to learn that an entry with an own vehicle in Taiwan is not a commonness and we
- might have to expected quite a few problems. Although we immediately pointed out to the invitation received from the
- Tourism Bureau, we had to learn that the customs authority and the land transportation department will have their own
- objections.
And that's how it was: Firstly our "Carnet de Passages" was refused and therefore asked instead for a bond of- US$ 4'000, and secondly it wasn't clear, whether at all and how long we should get a Taiwanese license, because driving
- around with our Swiss plates wouldn't be allowed. Our spirit dropped over the weekend to zero, but after each low
- comes a new high again: And it arrived in an obviously influential Taiwanese who was able to make the impossible
- possible thanks to his connections. Amazed and delighted we found out during the week that our "Carnet" has been
- checked by the Taiwanese Trade Office in Geneva and therefore will be accepted, and that we shall be able to drive on
- Taiwan's roads "temporarily" until the end of November despite all its time restrictions. Hurrah! – The 157th country
- became suddenly reality. Result: Car travels off the "beaten track" aren't easy, thrills and unforeseen eventualities have to
- be always expected.
To make it short: On Thursday, October 11th, we were able to leave with our car the huge port of Kaohsiung. Still we- had to settle all the terminal and other charges, which unfortunately matched in size to the proportions of the most
- important port in Taiwan: Nearly the double of what we paid usually during our last 10 container shippings worldwide.
- On the other hand, we are experiencing an overwhelming interest into our trip from the Taiwanese people. As soon as
- the the interviews with three TV stations, one radio and a lot of newspaper journalists were over, our email inbox
- started to fill up. The enthusiasm is unbelievable: On October 14th, we experienced a new record high of visitors on our
- website: 3093 in one day! Apart from six printed newspapers we were able to find also 12 online on the Internet. We
- are looking forward to experience how our island roundtrip will unfold during the coming 5 to 6 weeks.
- .
- Between mid and end of November 2007, our vehicle will be forwarded from Kaohsiung to Hong Kong. Now as before
- we have our dream to continue from there to China, and if it's only via Shenzen and Guangzhou to Macao. In a negative
- outcome – which we expect to happen due to the lack of (personal) connections – we shall ship to Lae in Papua New
- Guinea, where an absolutely new chapter and our first destination in the Pacific on another continent of our world trip will
- begin.
- Please follow on our website the 'Taiwan-Trip' and its continuation!
New Reports/Pictures
- SOUTHEAST ASIA: mouse over picture shows comments
- click a picture to see details
|
||
|
|
|
|
||
|
 |
|
|
||
|
 |
|
|
||
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| + our Taiwan Trip, 1st part | Kaohsiung-Kenting-Taitung – Oct. 2007 |
|
| + our Indonesia Trip, 6th part | Kalimantan – July 2007 |
|
| + our Indonesia Trip, within the 5th part | Tana Toraja (Toraja-Land) – June+July 2007 |
|
| + our Indonesia Trip, 5th part | Sulawesi – June+July 2007 |
|
| + our Indonesia Trip, 4th part | Sumba, West Timor – May+June 2007 |
|
| + our Indonesia Trip, 3rd part | Lombok, Sumabawa, Flores – April 2007 |
|
| + our Indonesia Trip, 2nd part | Bali – Jan.-March 2007 |
|
| + our Indonesia Trip, 1st part | Sumatra, Java – Dec. 2006 |
|
| + our Borneo Trip | Sarawak, Brunei, Sabah, Kalimantan – Sept.-Nov. 2006 |
|
| + our LandCruiser on a "Rejuvenation Cure" | in Miri/Sarawak - the East Malaysian province on Borneo Engine/Body: June-Aug. 2006/Transmission: Sept. 2007 |
|
| + added from a earlier visit to the USA: | Las Vegas (Millennium change) |
|
| + added from our Arabian Peninsula round trip: | Pictures from Yemen (May-June 1996) |
|
| + Flashbacks of our Worldrecordtour: | Pictures from "all the continents" (Oct. 1984 - April 1997) |
|
|
|
|
|
||
