Island Adventure (Perhentians) Asia Trek Pt5

Well here I am back on the Mainland being persecuted for my sins.

But first some corrections. The crystal mosque, while I am not sure where it is I am ninety percent sure it is not even in Malaysia. I think all the banners were for an Islamic celebration called Hari Raya and they were using images of mosques found all over the world. Hang on? Wait? I'll check Wikipedia!! Oops! No, it is in Kuala Terenganu and has been recently finished. I just missed it. Oh, well you win some, you lose some.

Anyway back to the story. I was intending to do some tours out of Kuala Terenganu to Lake Kenyir or Palau Redang and was promptly told that I would have to pay for two people as that was the minimum persons per booking. I balked at the prospect of paying 360RM for a one day tour. So instead I high tailed out of there the next morning with the impression that there was more fruit for the picking in Kota Bahru and from there I may still be able to get to an island; one of the main reasons for coming to the east.

Having arranged a bus and completed my laundry which was sorely necessary I got on the bus to Kota Bahru without difficulties. Two Italians that I met at the hostel and would meet again the Kota Bahru, missed it and had to catch the next bus.

In Malaysia things usually happen somewhat ambiguously and always 10min after it was supposed to happen. But even I was surprised when half an hour into the bus trip, the bus pulls up on the side of the road next to a mosque and promptly the bus driver get out of the bus followed by 90% of the other males in the bus, presumably to pray. Following that a smaller percentage of women left the bus and entered the mosque through a different entrance, presumably also to pray. Leaving about 6 of us in the bus waiting for about 30min. Really quite a good time to read my book.

When the bus driver returned we drove on to Kota Bahru and arrived in the mid afternoon. After again asking for directions and a location (no one seems to know any street names in Malaysia, even though they are well signposted) I hopped into a taxi for another pointless 5min ride to a hostel.

After puttintg down my bags I went in search of food and to get a feel for the city. I noticed on the map I was given at the hostel there was a river near by so I thought I might head for that. After inconspicuously passing through the cultural district,and passing the old treasury building (see right), I made my way to the river just in time to see a police boat travelling from the left and a hoard of 12 or ski Jet skiers racing up the river from the right as fast as they could. After letting them pass the police boat promptly turned around and went after them, continuously losing ground as time went on.

Taking mild amusement from the fact the the police were never going to catch them, I wander back towards the city along the local Merdeka (Independence) Square, where I was greeted by a few children keen to know where I was from and what I liked. After an impromptu photo shoot they invited me to play some football with them, so I spent about 1 hours running round with these kids ranging from age 4 to 13 (i am guessing) answering questions like; do you like romance? have I had sex; do I have a penis; can I see your penis. I don;t know about you but I found it a little awkward to answer these probing questions, midly amused at it and suprised that kids here find sex just as amusing as kids in Australia (a consequence of my idealism). But, I muddled my way through the inquisition without giving too much away and certainly did not show my genitalia! I was all in jest though and I had good fun with them and particularly the little guy in yellow on the left, who spoke exceptionally good English for his age, was hilarious.

We parted as it was time for them to go home and I left with the vague proposition that I may come back tomorrow as I might not be in the city. Well, it turned out that I wasn't! While the hostel I was staying at was not exceptional (except for the pet rabbits and turtles), the hostess provided useful information about how to get to the perhentian islands. But, as it is still the mythical monsoon season so she wasn't sure what would be available and if I could get to the Island.

Confident now that at least the weather would be stable after my declaration and keen for a challenge (this travelling stuff is quite easy really!) I put most of my stuff in storage and headed off with only my swimmers, towel, spare underwear and a torch, to find my way to the perhentian islands. Turned out it wasn't that hard and after some nervous moments waiting for a bus that was twenty minutes behind schedule I made it to Kuala Besut were I caught the ferry. It all went smoothly except that the ferry price was now 50ringgit one way instead of the normal 60ringgit both ways. The excuse for that as with everything on the island was that it was still monsoon season. However as the boat was about as full as it could get, it seemed that the ferry operators were making a killing through lack of competition.

The ferry ride was rough and practically everyone in the boat got wet, but we made
it safely and following the advice of some other travellers went to the Kecil (small) island and wandered over to longbeach to find accommodation.

At the far end of the beach was a resort recommended by someone and upon arrival there were greeted by Kele, the manager who was keen to make us feel welcome, told us to sit down, relax and enjoy an orange juice before getting down to the business of rooms. After being shown around, in order to save costs I ended up sharing a room with a girl that I had only meet two hours earlier in Kuala Besut. I suspect some people who were with us thought it was a little odd, but it worked for both of and saved us both money, so why not.

Given that you are working, its winter in Europe, and you don't particularly want to read about tropical paradise I will spare you many of the details. A few things are worth mentioning though. Despite looking like paradise on the fotos on arrival you
find that the whole place is much dirtier than you expect and the respect for nature doesn't seem as forthcoming in practice as the advertising seems to suggest. With piles of rubbish in various places on the island, or conveniently buried under the sand where the tourist wont notice, or bulldozing a fire trail with the care that comes with a bulldozer to place electricity lines (though notably they use solar and wind power for energy), ideas of a real paradise quickly disappear and you are reminded that this is industry and there is money to be made. But!! Snorkeling with the giant turtles was amazing!

I had a good time, met more foreigners and played soccer with the locals, who take the idea of a working 'day' very loosely, and after two night I left back to the mainland as I needed to get moving. I leave with only the memories and a back that is completely burnt to a crisp, as I didn't put on sunscreen while snorkeling given that the day was half overcast. In addition while throwing a Frisbee, my little toe said hello to a tree stump that decided to grow on the beach, tearing some of the skin of in reply. Hence I am being persecuted for my sin, of relaxing on a tropical island and sent I clear message that I should be at home, working like the rest of the world. But unfortunately I have more money to spend and therefore must continue despite the odds.

As a general side note, after two and a half weeks travelling through Malaysia, I really have settled into the place. Despite currently being I Kota Bahru were Islam is most dominant and conservative(compared to the rest of Malaysia), I feel totally comfortable in the city. I cannot but admire the colourful dresses that the women wear with almost always a matching Hijab, especially when they are seated on the back of a scooter with helmet on. I can also certainly recommend the place. The people are friendly, honest (except maybe the taxi drivers) and extremely helpful. There is also plenty to see particularly if you catch the local buses.

Now I am heading back inland into the Jungle, via the Jungle railway. 11 hours of train, I don't no if my backside will survive it but here's hoping!

The Missing Monsoon (East coast Malaysia ) Asia Trek Pt 4)

I left you last in Kuala Lumpur and regret to say that I didn't think much of it; just a poor version of Singapore. However I think this was in part due to my mind set more than the city itself. After relaxing in Malacca, KL was to busy and stressful for me. I did see the city from the top of the Communication tower however I didn't go to any of the sites. Maybe I will be in a better mood when I go back through KL in a week or so. The one memorable days, was a trip to the Batu Caves.

You may or may not have heard that there is a big Hindu celebration at this time called Thaipoosam. The Batu caves, where the main celebration is held in Malaysia, is just outside Kuala Lumpur, just beside an industrial district. While is was not there on the celebration day, the celebrations were already beginning on the Sunday before hand when I went. What a spectacle of colour as thousand of Hindu many wearing yellow proceed up the 274 steps into the Batu Caves where a temple is now located. The Batu caves, more a cavern, than caves, reeks of humanity as you walk in, partly from sour milk which is carried up the stairs as an offering but also the many people and monkey that frequent the place. While not overpowering it make you reach for some fresh water to sooth yourself. The various rituals that people make vary from carrying a small milk pot on the head, to carrying an elaborate kavadi , or having a series of hooks placed in the skin with either fruit or a person hanging of them. You should be able to Google more images if you really want to see what I mean! The whole experience was quite moving, particularly when you seen children of 5 or 6, making there way up the stairs with the pot of milk on there heads. This is made even more moving by the fact that each person making the pilgrimage has a support person that goes with them through the entire process, to make sure that they are okay; not all make it without serious difficulties.

The view from the caves with a giant gold statues is also impressive as you walk around the area. With plenty of food available of all sorts, no doubt the big day was a massive festivity despite some calls to boycott the celebrations due to political overtones relating to racism and the lower average living standards of Indians in Malaysia.

After spending three night drinking (at least everyone else was, talking and jamming with a French impromptu rapper "Jean", I felt the need to get out of KL. I wasn't until the last moment that I made the decision to head east to Kuantan, as I was constantly hearing threat about the 'monsoon'. A quick check of the weather online gave me hope that the weather would be no worse on the east coast than it would be on the west coast. So departing all my new found friend who have chosen firmly to stay on the east coast, heeding the monsoon warnings, I left on my own to Kuantan.

I was a beautiful trip across the mountains through the heartland of Malaysia and there were still many more palm plantation to pass.

I has no idea where I was going to and what my plan was but on arrival in Kuantan I found it to be a relaxed little fishing village (well more a city) with an extensive promenade along the river. Young kids and older fisherman where fishing along the river all afternoon as I read my book. Watching the people walk past. Kuantan even has its own Hollywood style sign which is even lit up at night. I only stayed there one night as there is no that much to do, but there is a substantial mosque. The town has a very good feel to it (as do most Malaysian towns).

Worried that Palau Tioman was closed due to the Monsoon season I took the bus north to Cherating. This was more challenging than I thought as getting clear information out of people proved difficult. After receiving extra help, and breakfast, from the receptionist at the hotel and talking to another three people I was still clueless as to which bus to take and at what time. So I sat with my backpack hoping a bus would arrive that would have a sign on it saying Cherating. Fortunately, not ten minutes later one came (i found out later there is one every 30 min) and after double checking with the driver sat it my seat, waiting to pay. trying to get off proved, not difficult, but fraught with uncertainty. Asking the person behind me if he could tell me when to get off only resulted in him getting confused, as sent me off to the bus driver. The bus driver indicated he understood but I was not convinced, particularly after crossing a river, he stopped and the whole bus preceded to tell me to get off. I hopped of the bus only to find there was little to indicate I was in the right spot.

I proceeded to walk down the road I was pointed to, and promptly found the guest house I was looking for. Well not a guest house but a collection of huts. I waited in the communal area as there was no one home and 20min later a middle aged lady came wandering up and asked if I wanted a room. I negotiated a price for to nights on what was to be my home away from home. I little hut painted white and pink with own shower and toilet (am I glad I payed the extra money for it). After settling in I made may way to the beach. The main road is a road, with the footpaths currently under construction lined with little cafes, art shop and resorts. Much like your typical Australian beach town, only built with old wood and corrugated iron roofs. The beach itself is marked b to facts. The sediment (i presume for the river) make the seawater look brown, but you can still swim in it, and the way the water hits the beach means that as the tide goes down it leaves large lagoon on the beach whose later warm up over the day allowing you to talk a warm bath on the beach. That is about all I did for to days.

Expect for the fact that on the first evening I had a beautiful lime fish dinner at a restaurant on the beach that was nice and spicy. So much so that the next morning my bowel were all upset and going to the toilet resulted in a ring of fire. Hence I was glad that I had my own toilet to deface. But after spending the morning working it off, I headed out for another day on the beach, this time staying away from overly Spicy foods. I would have undertaken more except stupid me forgot to get money before I left to Cherating, which as no ATM and no money exchange facilities. So I spent little after that and headed further north with 6 ringgit and US$500 in unusable travelers cheques (I have now taken steps to avoid it happening again).

The bus trip out was relatively painless and after a short stop off in Kemanan, I made my way further north to Kuala Teranganu where I am now. This city gives me the same sort of feeling of entering Canberra after driving round in rural Australia. A large but not over large city, it is the state capital and the wealth shines (though at a markedly lesser level than Canberra). All the streets tend to have curbs and there is more parkland and cultivated public spaces than i have seen elsewhere. There is also the case of a Crystal Mosque being advertised everywhere, but i can't for the life of me figure out where it is. Also Kuala Teranganu has also got the friendliest children anywhere I have been. After only walking around for a few hours I have had a least five different groups of kids coming up to me asking my name. It makes you feel so ridiculously welcome.

As for the so called Monsoon season. Well, I don't know where it is,as currently I am enjoying the hottest driest weather of my trip so far and it is expected to continue for days. I haven't had a thunderstorm since leaving KL and only had light rain after dark. So I am now declaring the Monsoon a myth that should not be believed. Although in a way it is a good thing as it means that prices are low for me as noone else is here.

Anyway dinner time!
Note this image is from back in Singapore, when I tried to eat a take away curry. I failed miserably, even pouring half of it on me when trying to throw it out and ruining one of my t-shirts! Pay close attention to the arrangement of cutlery!

Palm Oil - Opportunity or Curse

One thing that is very noticable upon entry into Malaysia is the Palm Trees. The highway is lined with endless plantations of Palm trees.

Now I doesn't take long in Asia for the issue of Palm trees and Palm oil to become apparent, whether through reading the newspaper or travelling, but is seems to be to be a major issue. The growth in trade of Palm oil for I presume cosmetics, potentially bio-fuels and other products has led to many palm plantations being created at the expense of natural rainforest. Driving through Malaysia it seems devastating the amount of palm tree plantations there are. I know I should look at them the same way as I look at cattle farms and pine plantations you see in Australia, but here it is noticable that these plantation are quite new and that the existing landscape has been cleared quite recently.

This issue is of course worse in Sabah and Sarawak, both located on Borneo, where the clearing of rainforest for palm plantations is going ahead full steam with, what I have read in the newpaper, little intervention and even support from the Malaysian government. Having just been to the Singapore Zoo which houses many of the animals that live in these regions and the evnironmental and scientific benefits that come from rainforest, it seems a dreadful shame. Long term opportunities losing out against short term economic interest.

I thought I would just raise this issue in the hope that the awareness can help reduce the impact.

Enter Malaysia (Asia Trek Pt 3)

I have crossed the bridge into Malaysia, which as usual was a nervous affair for me. Crossing borders always makes me nervous but this one went completely smoothly even though I hadn't filled in the custom declaration section of my immigration form. I wanted to ask some questions but there were no customs officials around to asked. So I just walked through and when I was back on the bus I completed the form to say that I had nothing to declare.

The bus trip to Malacca from Singapore took about four and a half hours and is very easy and straight forward. It is like travelling from Canberra to Sydney, only with the small matter of going into a different country in the process. The Highway is smooth and after a small stop off at a road side restaurant, we arrived in Malacca in the mid afternoon. On the way I picked up another backpacker from America called Matt and a backpacker from the Netherlands called Andre (more about him later). Neither off which had booked accommodation and so followed me to that place where I was booked in; Ringo's Guest House. Ringo's guest house is run by Howard and is a nice little place whose greatest redeeming feature is the roof top terrace. Where you can sit as the sun sets, with and cool breeze and hear the Muslim call to prayer (announced at the many Mosques) echo over the city. For the first time I really knew I wasn't in Australia anymore.

Malacca has a complex colonial history, as does a lot of South East Asia. Sitting on the Malacca straight it has long been a place of trade and since before the 15th century has been colonised by the Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch and English, before Malaysia as a whole gained independence in 1957. This implies a whole stream of conflicts apart from the handover between the Dutch and the British which was done by agreement as a land swap. Of the different colonial power to this day the Chinese influence is still quite prominent and the preparations fro Chinese new year where significant. However Malacca tries to pull as much tourist value as it can out of the ruins and old buildings of the Dutch and Portuguese even though there are no many of them left today. Two of the main streets in Malacca are still referred to as the Heeren (Gentleman) street and the Jonker (hard to translate, but a status below Gentleman) street. Those those streets have little Dutch influence visible in them.

I spent two days walking around and had of course to take a look at the actual straight and while no where near as impressive as the entry to Singapore, I could see between 10 and 15 ship dotted around the horizon. Malacca also sits at the mouth of the Malacca river so it has a nice little canal running through it which they are in the process of fixing so that there will son be a nice promenade on either side. I can't be sure but it seems that the town economy is doing reasonably well, though at one stage I saw a whole warehouse type building available for lease.

In the evening I spent the time with Matt and Andre, where we spent much of the time talking about international politics and a monastery in Greece (Matt's last name is Kostakis)which I can't recall the name of. It also emerged that Andre is quite the traveller and has thus far seen approx 107 countries around the world and has in recent years hitchhiked and travelled through such illustrious places as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and many other such countries not usually found on the tourist map.
He works ridiculously hard for 4 months and then goes on holiday, usually flying to somewhere in the world (such as India) and then making his way back overland to the Netherlands. His perspective on travel and the dangers thereof were much more modest then you generally hear, though he does call his trips; reizen voor gevorderde (travelling for experts - approx, someone can correct me on this!)Very interesting guy and certainly sparked in me the inkling to take a few more risks in my own travels, though I don't think hitch hiking is on the cards yet. After dinner we went and bought some beer and sat on the roof top terrace to talk some more.

The next day I spent the morning looking at the local museums on History and Ethnography and development of democracy in Malaysia. Both where very well setup with many interesting artifacts. These small museums gave an good overview of the history and development in Malacca, to give you a bit of an idea of how things have developed and changed, including the large amount of land reclamation completed by? (I'll leave you guys to guess)
Following that I went to the St Paul's ruins on top of a hill which is not particularly interesting except for the fact that there are quite a few gravestones written in old dutch from the colonial era.

Descending from the mount; after trying so long to avoid get lured onto a Trishaw and Old man called Ali managed to lure me onto his. And I am glad I chose him and not one of those trishaw's with flashing lights, pumping out the latest Santana hits. Ali turned out to be a local, having moved to Malacca in 1958 and had been riding a Trishaw since 1968. Can you imagine riding a bike, all day, everyday for forty years and still be able to have a smile on your face. I take my hat of to the man even though the trip ended up costing me 100 ringgit. He took me to the Kings well which was renowned for its fresh water, so much so that walls were built up around it and during the dutch era it was permanently guarded.
After that he sent me on a walk through Bukit Cina which is an Old Chinese graveyard that takes up a whole mountain in the city (i.e Prime real Estate). Now through some administraive confusion the owners of the graveyard had not been paying rent and at one stage the Malaysia government wanted to reclaim the land. This caused uproar in the Chinese community so much so that the Chinese government stepped in and made sure that the land would be protected which it now is. It is a very beautiful and solemn as each grave is quite large, however the older one are crumbling and disappearing in the undergrowth. But definitely worth walking through. When you get to the top of the mountain you get a great view of the city..

After that Ali and I went onto the Portuguese district passing another fort relic on the way. There we stopped for a meal (me not realising that Ali was still clocking the minutes)and we shared information about each others lives. Life has been pretty good for Ali, riding a bike for a living. His children are doing well with two working for Siemens and Ali has 8 grand children. He owns his own home and has had the opportunity to travel a bit. Most surprising is that in the 40 year of riding his trishaw amongst the cars in the busy street of Malacca; not one accident! After lunch, during which it conveniently rain we headed back and said our goodbye. I gave him my address to add to his 200 other addresses to which he sends a post card every year.


After that I returned to the hostel and spent the evening again on the roof top terrace and listened again to the call to prayer. That brings us to this morning where after breakfast I made my way with Matt to KL.

Asia Trek part 2

Hello Friends

Before I go any further there are two announcement I have to make. The first is that I have a website where I will post some images as well as additional stuff that I won't email at http://ignatris.blogspot.com. Feel free to check and comment at any time. Secondly, if anyone can think of a good title for these emails let me know. I am struggling to think of anything good.

 

Anyway, I made it to Singapore and I am staying at the InnCrowd Hostel in Little India which I can recommend to anyone as a nice hostel where you will meet plenty of people. The throughput is phenomenal. So much so that I am starting to get tired off meeting new people and telling my story again and again. But the small nature of the hostel means that you are forced to interact with each other. I am told that this is not the case in the rest of Asia. But the thing I love about the hostel is the location in Little India, definitely one of the best places in Singapore. You step outside in to the street and there are people everywhere and not tourists, but people living there lives. Buying their groceries catching up with friends or just hanging around watching life go by. And so I spent about two days wondering around the area looking at all the shops and people. Though be careful, as one small street which had a few stores in it turned out to be the local red light street. But back on the main street one fine young salesman even managed to get $60 for a camera tripod out of me that I wasn't really intending to buy. It took him over an hour but he was persistent and in the end I gave in. Luckily, I have made use of it and it has not been wasted money, but I have my doubts about how sturdy it is. I will let you all know if it breaks.

Eating and shopping is the Singaporeans favourite past time and the there is lots of it and reasonably cheap too. They have these hawker centres which are like food courts but instead of food chains you have small little stalls selling all kinds of food, purchased from the wet markets directly behind. I particularly like the Indian stalls  who sell a particular thing called Prata, which you can get made with banana and served hot. Fantastic breakfast along with some Marsala tea. So that has been keeping me healthy now that my appetite has improved as I get used to the hot weather.

There is a lot to do in Singapore and I would like to do more but it is time I moved on. But I talk about a couple of things that stood out. Firstly going to a Chinese tea house in Chinatown. Chinatown itself I did not find that amazing, as it is like all other Chinese shopping streets around the world, and you don't get the feeling people are living there in the way you do in Little India. But after all the hustle and bustle of the shopping streets, to step off the street into a little tea house called the Tea Chapter. With many kinds of tea, most of which even I hadn't heard of, you are taken to the top floor where you sit down on the floor, select your tea and your teas set is brought to you. Now unfortunately I can't recall all the finer details of how you prepare your tea but it is quite an interesting and convoluted process, much of which is about keeping the tea hot. I tried to replicate it, but I fumbled my way through it and split water all of the table and must have looked rather foolish. Despite this it was nice just to sit relax take in the atmosphere and if you are alone, definitely take a book with you of something to do. (Photo)

Secondly was the Chinese Opera. Held in a smallish but modern theatre in the Singapore National Library, it was a very interesting, enjoyable though somewhat taxing experience. The Singapore National Library is an impressive building and though completely different in style to the National Library of Australia, it has a similar aura as a centre of scholarship and community. The plot of the opera was very complicated. Just quickly; King takes concubine, concubine loves scholar, concubine gets killed as a result, scholar leaves, meet another woman how is an exact replica of the concubine and start a relationship, king hears of woman and wants her as concubine, woman acts insane in order to avoid becoming concubine, original concubine comes back and talks to scholar, long debate, king senses something is up and tries to assasinate scholar, etc... and that is only half the story. The whole show lasted 4 hours and hence it was taxing to get through, and it didn't help that I was out the night before till 5am. Stylistically it was accompanied by traditional Chinese music and involved spoken word, singing and stylised movement. Particularly the drums are rough on the ears to start with and then first time the woman sings you need to take a moment. But after a while you get used to the sound of it and you follow it (with surtitles) in the same way you would any musical or opera. Due to the complex story it is continually engaging and apart from the length and my weariness it was a great night out.

Thirdly, was a free concert at the esplanade, Singapore's equivalent of Sydney's Opera House. It is a Concert and Theatre hall that look a bit like a pair of Hedgehogs. The outside is very unique, and the inside is one of the more beautiful contemporary concerts hall I have seen. Being more ornate than many others. The concert was by a group called GENUS who are a 50 guitar and percussion ensemble, I believe from the local university. Now I for one have never before seen an ensemble of fifty classical guitarist playing together like an Orchestra and it was interesting to contrast the two. A professional orchestra is very attuned to the rhythm of the conductor so that 20 violins can almost sound like one. In contrast on a regular basis your could hear the guitarists ever so slightly out of time with each other. I presume this is largely because guitarists as a whole are not used to playing with a conductor  and thus are not as competent in following him. Secondly, the volume that 50 classical guitars output is not a lot and the range of volume is quite small, which make for a much quieter concert in comparison to even a small orchestra. It was also interesting to see the different sizes of guitar, from what looked like 3/4 size down to a guitar that looked about 30cm thick and was held vertically like a cello. They played a selection of pieces from Asia, South America, Disney and Glenn Miller's In the Mood. All in all a good concert and a very beautiful concert hall.

Beyond those three things I have been doing the usual such as the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari which were both fantastic but largely speak for themselves.
They are very well setup with only a few of the animals in cages, and for the rest the use water and other means to contain the animals. As in any other zoo the feeding times and animal shows allow for further entertainment. I also went to the bar on the 72 floor of the swisshotel to see the view, took the bus through orchard street (shopping, shopping and more shopping) but never bothered to get out, went for a walk in the rain forest, took the train all around the island, went partying and the Ministry of Sound (which was surprisingly average) and the The Attica at Clarke Quay, did a tour of the oldest buddist monastery (Shueng Lim temple) and walked around the colonial district. I like Singapore and in particular Little India, but it is now time to move on. Shortly I will be traveling to Malacca for a few days and we will see what happens after that.

I am still well but I think I was going a little too hard as today I started to get a sore throat, and runny nose and kept on falling asleep in Buses and trains. So tonight I am going to bed early catch some sleep and then go a do some more shopping (particularly shirts) before I leave. Thanks for reading.



--
Political assets, unlike financial ones, are not apt to increase over time. If not made use of, they can, in an instant of crisis or war, evaporate - John Shell, 2007

MV Theodor Ships Particulars

Here are some details of the MV Theodor Storm

Call Sign P3XN9
Length: 213m
Width: 32.3m
Dead Weight: 33,282mt
Displacement: 45,881mt
Crew: 20
Containers Below Deck: 1518
Containers on Deck: 958
Engine Output: 25,270kw
Propeller Diameter: 719,0cm
Max Speeed: 23.0kn
Registration Country: Cyprus
Manager/Operator: Reederei Karl Schulter, Germany
Master: Victor Solovyev (Russian)
Engineers: Ukrainian
Crew: Phillipino

AriensAsia Trek : Part 1

Hello Friends

First things. I have arrived safely in Singapore and am making myself comfortable in Little India at a nice little backpackers that I can recommend to anyone coming to Singapore. No sea sickness, some non-motion sickness since I arrived on shore, and struggling to get used to the humidity, particularly with my propensity to faint! Otherwise all is good. I give you this intro because the rest of the email is quite long and you might want to allocate some time to read it.

Now for the details.

I managed to get on my boat the MV Theodor Storm without any difficulties (on the afternoon of the 28th of December) and also managed to get off, get on, get off (to pick up my toiletries bag which I left behind) and get back on. Then I waited it out till 1 o'clock in the morning when we finally left. We were supposed to leave at 9pm however the Wharfies didn't seem in any kind of rush to fill up the boat, so it took longer than expected. I woke up and watched the departure from Deck 'D' which was my home for the ten days.



The departure and sailing out of botany bay was not that exciting cause it was the middle of the night and I couldn't see much, but still it was nice to finally get moving! With the safe assurance that the boat passed the south head in a southerly direction, I said my goodbyes to Australia with a few SMS's and with two motion sickness pills in my stomach, I went to bed. I woke up the next morning, arrived a little late for breakfast and received some advice from the messman as to the best time to eat, so I would eat with the crew, which I rigidly stuck for the ten days in the way that only I can. After breakfast I stepped outside of the port (left) side of the ship and saw land passing me by in the distance. It was calm the sea had a light swell and air was warm however something seemed a little odd. If land was on the port side, either I was looking at Tasmania or New Zealand. One, too far South, the other too far East (and why would you anyway) for us to travel in the one night. Come to think of it the sun had apparently risen in the west that morning? It clicked that something wasn't right and I spoke to the 3rd Officer. Indeed we were not heading South to Melbourne, we were heading North to Brisbane. The delays caused by the Christmas period had put the vessel so far out of schedule that they canceled the trip to Melbourne and Perth and would head straight back to Singapore to try and catch up with the next cycle. This meant a shorter trip, travelling pass the great barrier reef and the possibility of seeing a volcano (which didn't work very well at night!)

The days following were fairly uneventful, lots of ocean, lots of reading and few movies (10 or so) and plenty of scenery, particularly along the coast from Cairns north.



Of course reaching Fraser Island the weather did turn pretty bad and the ship was rolling 20 degrees each way (At that amount your better off sleeping against an wall or on the floor). You would think that we might have lost a few containers. But I don't know how the lashings work but those containers were rock solid. Not even bumping into each other let alone falling off. That night it was confirmed that I don't have much of an issue with motion sickness as I passed through the whole trip with taking any more tablets. The rest of the time the weather and seas varied from overcast to isolated showers and the swell went from from to 1 to 2 metres. I got two maybe three goos sun sets but generally it was better to sit indoors. One thing about those big freighter ships is that there is little nuance on the open ocean in the way they travel. You just set the speed to maximum, set the direction and just plow through whatever comes your way and if the boat rocks, turn and pivots, you just let it rock, turn and pivot.

Everyday; two or three times a day I would go up to the navigation deck. Check the charts, the Radar and speed and make sure that we were traveling in the right direction. Of course we got a pilot on board to navigate the tricky bits (Great Barrier Reef) but generally the crew were up to the task. It was fun talking to the crew and in particular the Third Officer  who I managed to talk to about some of the finer points of a maritime career. How does 7 months work, 4 months holiday sound to you. For Captains it is 4 months work, 4 months holiday!  Wouldn't mind some of that would you!





Anyway, back to the trip. The most exciting part of the trip would have to be the arrival in Singapore which  of course means passing through part of the Malacca Straights. For those not in the know, the Malacca Straight is one of the key route of international trade, connecting the Indian and Pacific oceans. So I was expecting some ships and activity. Due to our birth not being available until after 22:30 we waited at the entrance to the Malacca Straights (MS) at which point there were a few vessels visible on the horizon. However at the time when we entered the harbour a stream of lights lit up the horizon. Silly me! I thought that it was a few vessels and the rest of the lights were the cities on land. But no! Looking on the radar, it was covered in little yellow blobs, three time longer than they are wide. These were all ship and the stream of lights continues for the whole 2 - 3 hours that took to get to Singapore harbour. I couldn't seem them for real but looking at the lights and the blob on the radar we must have passed hundreds of ships, and I don't mean 30ft yachts. Most of these were between 100 and 300 metre long commercial freighters (Just as a note, the largest commercial vessels in the world are over 300m long and carry 300,000 metric tonnes of goods and have a draft of 20 metres (Depth of the ship below sea level)). Some were active and moving goods but many were waiting offshore. The area to the east of Singapore is a international holding ground where ships from around the world are allowed to anchor while waiting for, whatever?



This is were I really came to realise that freighter shipping and key hubs like the Malacca Straights are the engine that drives and enables a global economy. The scale was beyond anything that I could imagine, it makes airports feel insignificant. So sailing onto Singapore is like receiving a royal entry as you travel through the clearway in the middle and saluted by the myriad of ships on either side of you.

The actual berthing in Singapore is also impressive. Again a specialist pilot is brought on board to navigate into the port. Now those of you who saw me of at the port in Botany Bay, imagine something at least ten times as big. As a rough estimate I think that Singapore harbour could load and unload about 100 container vessels simultaneously. The logistics of the operations there are incredible. There are tens of thousands of containers which need to be  loaded or unloaded, moved around and  taken away. How this works I don't know, I just see and endless amount of trucks driving round with containers going to a particular cranes which load/unload onto a vessel or the wharf. I just hope they have a damn good IT system to manage it, because apart from location there is little to identify those containers. Now docking the Theodor storm, a 212 metre ship, is no mean feat. The vessel is squeezed with a few metres on either side into a berth that is not much longer than the vessel itself. But it was done without a scratch, bump or dent. I had arrived!

As you can tell it is an exciting way to travel particularly when arrive in Singapore. I wasn't sure what the captain did as out on the open ocean most of the navigating and operations is completed by the officers. But watching the Captain move this 212 metre vessel, elegantly amongst all the ship, primarily by radar (as it was night time) was impressive and being Russian, he didn't look at all fussed at what he was doing.

After arriving, at 1am, I went to bed but was woken at 3am to sign some immigration papers that I had not been told about and went to bed, again. Waking up at seven I showered had breakfast and left the boat at around 9am. By which time already a large amount of the containers had been already been removed (They do about one every 1 to 1.5 minutes and have three cranes working simultaneously). With the assistance of a bus provided by the freighter company I managed to make my way out of the terminal, after one of the customs ladies felt the need to search my guitar after I moved it (apparently suspiciously) to stop it getting damaged. No harm done. Then I put my lousy taxi skills to the test to take me to a backpackers I saw on a map. This took 30min as I haven't much practice in getting a taxi (I must have missed about 10, before getting one to stop). Anyway the backpackers in Little India turned out to be a good choice and I am settled in, eating well and am easing myself into doing things about which I will tell you more later.

Thank you for your time and I wish you all the very happiest of new years! End part 1

Arien



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Political assets, unlike financial ones, are not apt to increase over time. If not made use of, they can, in an instant of crisis or war, evaporate - John Shell, 2007