Malaysia

There has been much water under the keel since my last report and we have spent time in three countries. After 4 months in Indonesia we were ready to move on and experience the modern world again, our visa was also close to expiring. It is quite surprising that the distance between Indonesia and Malaysia is quite small but the gulf in standard of living is huge. We were grateful for the well stocked supermarkets and the calm order on the roads, you didn't feel like you were risking life and limb crossing the road. The parts of Malaysia we have seen, give the impression of a wealthy country with good infrastructure - roads, schools and great hospitals. Malaysia is very welcoming and the government make it easy for us to be here. It is also an inexpensive place to be especially in Langkawi Island which is a duty free port where you can buy a 24 can "slab" of beer for less than $10 Australian. All of this sounds like we were glad to be out of Indonesia but that is not the case. Within a couple of weeks we were longing for the cultural variety that is Indonesia, where the locals perform whether tourists are there or not, the open friendliness of the people and yes, the chaos. Don't misunderstand me, the Malaysian people are friendly but in a more reserved way.

We cleared into Malaysia at Puteri in the Straits of Johor (it was very easy as promised) and spent some time exploring the area, we were entertained by very polished and skilful shows of cultural entertainment. This part of Malaysia is one big redevelopment project, the government are spending billions on infrastructure, presumably to entice business and commerce away from Singapore which is literally full. In fact the Singaporeans are reclaiming as much land as possible. We stayed in Southern Malaysia for a couple of weeks and during that time, took a bus trip across the bridge into Singapore, a journey of about 90 mins into the city centre. It cost us about a $1AUD. Singapore has some interesting remnants of the colonial days with some fantastic old buildings along the river. We also found a great brew pub which made the trip worthwhile. The most prominent feature of Singapore are the shops, shops and more shops which is frustrating when you are on a tight budget and a small boat. If you can't get it here then it has not yet been invented. We found Singapore quite tiring and were glad to get back to our boat and provision for the next leg of our trip.

All provisioned it was time to set off for the infamous Straits of Malacca, about which stories of pirates and thieves abound. We can testify that not a pirate was sighted nor was the thief who stole Jean's handbag from a restaurant in Malacca Town. As any woman will testify, to lose a handbag can be devastating, a bit like a bloke smashing up his new sports car. Jean was no different. The pain in the rear for me was having to cancel the credit cards and await their replacements. Despite the trouble in Malacca we enjoyed the town very much. It is Malaysia's most historically interesting town with remnants of the Portuguese, Dutch and British incursions, alongside the narrow Chinese streets and the many interesting antique shops.

We arranged for our cards to be sent to Penang, it took a month for them to arrive, I was under the impression that the Malaysian Post were efficient!!! It was no burden staying in Penang for a few weeks as it is similar in heritage to Malacca but with a more British colonial flavour. It is also much bigger. Parts of Georgetown, Penang are like travelling back 50 yrs in time with bicycle rickshaws carrying their passengers through the narrow Chinese streets. Little India was also a delight for the senses with the aroma of spices, the fantastic colours and Indian music blaring out from all directions (some of the sound systems leave a lot to be desired though). It was also an area where we ate on a regular basis as we could have dinner for 2 for as little as $AUD3 each.

Penang was the first SE Asian place Jean and I ever visited in 3 BC (before cruising) or 2004 as a stopover from a visit to the UK. We wanted to retrace our steps and visit the area we had stayed. On cycling around to Batu Ferringhi we found the hotel and the little beach bar we had frequented. The bar was, and still is, run by a lovely Indian couple, the lady was pregnant and gave birth shortly after we left. This beach bar was soon to become quite famous and was featured in the international press. On boxing day 2004 the huge tsunami hit this part of the world and this baby girl (now 28 days old) was asleep on a mattress on the veranda, she was picked up by a massive wave and swept out to sea, then the miracle occurred, the next wave brought her straight back to the bar, still asleep. We met the little girl playing in the bar, oblivious of her fame.


By the time our credit cards arrived the rally had moved on to the final destination, Langkawi and many of the boats dispersed . This was quite sad as we didn't get to say goodbye to friends we had made along the way who were heading towards the Red Sea and the Med.

In the middle of December we moved a short distance up the coast to Langkawi where our sons Matt and Pete were to join us for Christmas. This was the first time we had been together at Christmas for a couple of years. We had a great time for the next week travelling to different anchorages around the island, swimming, snorkelling and generally exploring. During their stay the boat was a little less ship shape than normal with 2 extra bodies, luggage and 2 guitars to find space for, still find space we did and we were grateful for the time spent together. Pete could only stay with us for 10 days and his time was up all too quickly, it is always an emotional time saying goodbye, no matter how many times we do it. Matt stayed with us for a month as we travelled up to Phuket in Thailand. More about that in the next entry.

Stay tuned and keep the comments coming.

Best Wishes
Dave and Jean
WdtW

Comments [4]

After 2 nights at sea we approached the Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) coast but could see nothing of it due to the smoke haze and the low lying nature of the coastline. Even in the Kumai estuary we could see none of the coast. It took us most of the day travelling up the estuary to reach the start of the Kumai river where we were glad to anchor in a shallow bay as the trip up river to the town was 11 miles and we were not prepared to do this in failing light. Some of our friends were already in the town and radioed to tell us of a bus tour laid on by the local government and was leaving at 8am the following morning . We awoke at 6am and resigned ourselves to missing the tour as it would take us 2.5 hours to travel up the river, anchor and then get ashore, the tide was also against us. I then realised that with the 2day journey from Bali to Borneo we had changed time zones and the local time was actually 5am; we had an extra hour up our sleeves. The diesel engine on WdtW has never worked as hard, pushing us up river against the outgoing current, it is said that diesel engines like to be pushed hard and ours certainly got its wish for a few hours. We arrived a little after 8 am, performed the quickest anchoring ever and jumped into a passing dinghy to get to the bus just as it was about to leave. We were taken to a town 30mins drive away to see the annual river festival where all the locals dress up their boats and file past the Regent - we were again guests of honour and welcomed by the local dayak tribes people who danced in our honour, Jean as always likes to join in the dancing and was encouraged to do so. We were seated alongside the regent and his entourage and had a great view of the event which was full of fun and colour, well worth the effort to see.

This region of Borneo is not what I expected at all; we have seen some very poor areas within Indonesia and expected Kumai to be the same if not worse. It is one of the more forward thinking and socially modern regions in the whole of Indonesia. The current regent has ploughed money back into the community giving free health care and schooling for all - unique in Indonesia. He also instigated a refuse collection system that keeps the town clean, again rare in Indonesia.

Our main reason for visiting this area was to travel into the jungle to see the orang-utan sanctuary, only accessible by the narrow local boats (kloteks). With our friends from Pacific Express, Peter and Dell, we signed up for a 3 day 2 night trip up the river and into the heart of the reserve. The river started of quite wide but gradually narrowed allowing us to almost touch the trees on both sides. Along the way we saw crocodiles, snakes, lots of monkeys including the strange looking proboscis monkey, lots of birds - hornbills, kingfishers etc- and also caught site of a wild Orang-utan high in the trees. Our guide spent 7 years as a ranger in the national park and was a great source of information. After 5 hours travel we arrived at Camp Leakey, world renowned for their work with the rehabilitation of young Orang-utans who have been orphaned or rescued from illegal trading. There are over 200 Orang-utans that visit the camp on a regular basis and the rangers know them all by name, some of the rangers even converse with them. 3pm is the feeding time when the Orang-utans come in for a supplementary feed of bananas. It is astounding to see these huge creatures climbing the thinnest trees and slowly making their way to the feeding platform. All communities of Orang-Utans have a dominant male, in this area Big Tom, a 26 yr old was the undisputed king. Whilst we were at the feeding station we heard lots of activity along the nearby path and saw one of the rangers running in our direction shouting for us to get out of the way as big Tom was heading towards us. He was huge much larger than the females and juvenile males who hang around the camp. The other orang-utans quickly cleared the platform to give him free reign and just looked on while Tom ate his fill. As he climbed off the platform a young female caught his eye and he was off up a tree chasing her, she swung onto another tree and Tom followed jumping onto the same tree, his weight causing the tree to be up rooted and fall very close to where we were all watching, nearly hitting another of our friends who was unaware of which way the tree was falling. After a few hours at Camp Leakey we went back to the boat and motored away into a remote part of the river where the crew tied up against the bank and prepared dinner for us whilst we relaxed with a beer or 3 taking in the sights and sounds of the forest. One of the strangest sights is to see a fully grown Orang-utan climb to the top of a thin spindle of a tree and build a nest for the night, it is so incongruous to see these huge beasts in nests. Sleeping arrangements for us on the klotek were primitive but comfortable, the crew would clear the deck, layout foam matresses and place mosquito nets over the sleeping areas, there was plenty of space for 4 people to sleep. On our way back , just after dusk we went through a Nappa palm area illuminated with millions of fire flies, just like Collins St at Christmas. The 3 days we spent on the river were memorable and one of the best things we have ever done. The cost for the 3 days was about AUD$130 per person and included the guide, skipper, cook, and helper plus twice as much food as we needed. I call that good value.

Once back on our own boat I thought things would get back to normal but there is no such thing as normal in Indonesia as we found out on another organised trip the next day. After visiting the historical sites of a nearby town we were whisked off to what was described as a boat race where the participants go in opposite directions, we just couldn't work out what they meant until we arrived at the site and found the activity well under way. It was tug o war in a long boat were a pair of paddlers at one end were competing against a pair at the other end of the boat to drag the boat in their direction. Of course they wanted volunteers from Sail Indonesia to have a go and of course I put my hand up as always. Four of us (2 Frenchmen , a kiwi and myself) were ushered toward the starting platform amid the cheers of the locals, thinking we were to battle with each other. But no, we were to paddle against the local dayak men who spend all their life paddling around. The 2 frenchies lasted about 2-3 mins before they were beaten. Then came our turn and to everyones surprise including ours we beat the local tribesmen after frantically paddling for about 10 mins.
Later that evening we witnessed one of the strangest games I have every seen - fireball football- 2 teams of 6 per side playing soccer with a large coconut doused in kerosene and flames reaching half a meter. Once again they asked for volunteers and yes I did, shaming other sailors into join in too. After all, if the locals can do it why can't we. The only concession I made was to wear sandals and not go barefoot. Good fun was had all round and the locals loved us to participate. The only injuries sustained on our side were a bruised toe from one guy and singed leg hairs for all. (Some good photos see gallery). Its definitely time to leave Kumai before they have us wrestling Orang-utans or something else equally dangerous. So we head for the notorious South China Sea (perhaps I should wrestle an Orang-utan instead) and Belitung, the last stop in the official Sail Indonesia rally. We initially discussed not going to this stop and head straight for Singapore but are so glad to have visited Belitung; for us the jewel in the Indonesian crown. The island is beautiful, the people once again very welcoming and also organised (quite unusual in Indo). Jean and I lay in the water off a beach and wondered if we have ever been to a more wonderful setting. Our time a Belitung was soon over and here we signed out of the country to head for Malaysia, some 4-5 days away. Along the way we crossed the equator at 7:15 am on 26 October 2009 and later that evening celebrated the crossing with a fancy dress party on Cilantro our friends boat. Jean was dressed as a coral reef (Bommie lass) and I went as King Neptune. Good fun was had by all.

The next day we headed for the dreaded Straits of Singapore, one of the busiest stretches of waterway in the world. From our anchorage that evening I sat and timed the large tankers and container ships go by, there was one every 7-10 mins. These ships in the Strait are confined to traffic lanes, one procession of ships going one way and another in a separate lane going the other with a central reservation in the middle. It was necessary for us to cross these lanes to get into Malaysia. Our dilemma is that the lanes are almost 2miles wide and travelling at 6 knots it takes us 20 mins to get across the lane and the ships are passing every 7 -10 mins. When the morning came we motored towards the lanes and picked a gap in the traffic, full steam ahead we went for it. Going almost a full speed and well timed to get through the gap both Jean and I saw rows of white buoys on the surface of the water at right angles to our intended path, the local fishermen know where to place their nets to cause most havoc. 20 mins later we found a way through the nets, found another gap in the traffic and were across to the other side and into Malaysian waters without any other drama. All in all crossing the lanes was quite easy but being the first time in so busy a water way the fear was worse than reality.

It is with a tinge of sadness that we say good bye to Indonesia, we have had experiences way beyond our expectations. Do your self a favour and put this country on your list of places to visit, not Kouta Beach, Bali unless you want the nightclub scene but the other islands will give you the true Indonesian experience.

On the blog front page I have added a link under favourites titled "Where are we now" It transfers you to a map showing our exact location, I update this via a radio connection on a daily basis (unless we are staying for a couple of days in one location) so if you want to see where we are just click on the link.

Indonesia in a nutshell:
Wonderful scenery; genuinely friendly and helpful people; living culture (not just tourist entertainment); fresh fruit, vegetables and eggs from the local markets; cheap food in restaurants (although you may pay a premium as a tourist it is still very cheap).
Good beer (Bintang)
The people are very industrious and inventive.
Always felt safe during our stay.
Untidy, the curse of modern packaging but with out the means to get rid of it. You need to have your wits about you walking in the street or you will find yourself down one of the many holes.
Supermarkets where you can find them do not sell the range of items we have grown used to.
Notes for future Indonesian rally participants
If any future rally participants are reading, here are some points to consider.

Indonesian officialdom, whilst a pain in the neck at the time was not as bad as I first expected. Just be patient and smile.
About 70% of the time we motored, ensure you carry sufficient fuel.
Water from the tap is not for drinking but 20litre containers of purified water are available for about AUD$1-2 and can be delivered to your boat.
The normal way to buy diesel is to give your jerry cans to a boat boy or restaurant owner, they take them away and fill them. It would be a good idea to mark the containers so you know you are getting the correct amount. I filtered all the fuel I bought but it seemed to be quite clean.
Breakdowns were not uncommon, engines being the most problematic. It is very hard to get things fixed here. One boat had fuel injector problems that hadn't been fixed after 4 weeks or so, in the end the owner flew to Singapore to buy new parts. A number of boats were towed into port. Refrigeration seemed to be an issue for some boats in these high temps.
The only problem we had was due to the engine overheating and demolishing pump impellors. I traced this to an error by the installer in Hastings fitting a wrong sized component in the raw water feed. We also ran out of cooking gas in the last week or so but carry a camping stove which worked fine.
All electronic charts are up to a mile out in some areas, a friends navionics chart did not show the large reef that they nearly ran onto. The pirate version of CMap has very good detail but suffers from the same issues of accuracy as mentioned. You will be offered photocopies of charts for the whole sailing area whilst in Darwin, the quality is poor as is the paper they are printed on. There are other options, email me if you want to know more.
Beer is widely available, wine is not. Some towns are completely dry.
You will be anchoring in 25 plus metres at some anchorages, you need plenty of rode.

Can't think of anything else stay tuned for report on Malaysia.

Best Wishes
David and Jean
WdtW

Comments [4]

Indonesia Part 2

OK OK, I know I said I would be updating within a week but life has been very full on. Never the less here goes. From Ambon we headed west to Wakatobi off Sulawesi. Wakatobi is trying to build its tourism industry based on some fantastic diving and snorkelling areas. It took us 2 or 3 days to get from Ambon to the island of Wangi Wangi, we arrived early morning and picked up one of the newly laid moorings the local government had laid for the rally boats. Later that day we were invited to a welcoming dinner at the regent's palace, it was totally unexpected as we were ahead of the main rally. The crew from about 6 boats attended and were treated royally with a wonderful dinner and entertainment. The day after we sat for most of the afternoon in the gutter watching the school kids marching around town for their annual marching competition. Later that evening we were told that Saturday was a day when the families, grannies, grandpas and other groups were out marching. Over too many bottles of the local brew, Peter, Dell (Pacific Express) Jean and I thought it might be a good idea if we joined them. In the morning, before going on a tour we inquired with local liaison people about entering a team and they seemed so excited by the idea that they called the government, before we knew what was going on we were officially registered into the march, at this point of time there were only 4 of us. A general call was put out to all Sail Indo boats and by the time we arrived back from the tour we had a team of about 20 dressed in SI tee shirts and looking like a right motley crew. With only half and hour to practice, Peter and I (both ex military) turned this group into a group that looked like they had had half an hours practice. To put this in context ahead of us in the march was a team of Moslem woman immaculately dressed and marching with military precision and behind us another group of women in a pseudo navy uniform also marching with style and precision. The march lasted a couple of hours through the streets lined with thousands of the town's folk. To cut a long story short we went down a treat and were invited back to the Regents house for refreshments after the march so he could thank us. That evening we were featured on TV and became overnight celebrities. We were invited to be official guests at the Independence Day celebrations, etc etc. We had a wonderful time and were made so genuinely welcome.

After Wakatobi we headed south again to the island of Flores, a 3 day sail and spent a week anchored off the Sea World resort where once again we were treated so well. The owners of the resort put aside tables in the restaurant specifically for the visiting yachts and we were allowed to use the facilities of the resort at no charge. Whilst in this area we took a trip into the interior and had our first view of the intricate patterns of rice paddy fields as well as cocoa trees and other exotic plants. One of the things we have found amusing is the way Indonesians cram as many people as possible onto the available transport. The record so far is a family of 6 on a Honda 125 moped. On our way down from the mountains we were passed by a bemo (mini bus taxi) full of young men and 4 or 5 on the roof holding on whilst the driver negotiated the mountain bends!! Another first was a visit to the local market by ojek (moped taxi). The markets are quite big and full of excellent quality local produce, most stalls sell the same things for around the same price, we were amazed as to how they could make a living.

Continuing along the coast of Flores we stopped at the island capital of Labuan Bajo and anchored 3 or 4 miles south of the noisy main harbour, even before we had the anchor in place we were approached by the local boat boys offering to sell us diesel, petrol, water etc at highly inflated prices. Having negotiated an acceptable price we made use of their services. It was quite handy to have them ferry us into town of an evening in their water taxi and be waiting to take us back at an appointed time. Having said that these were no luxury craft, they were narrow and noisy, driven by a big single cylinder Chinese engine without any silencer. Conversation was impossible and vision became difficult when the engine was cranked up. Jean pointed to something in the water saying can you see that, my response was no as my eyes are bouncing like ping pong balls in the sockets. Labuan Bajo is a major tourist centre being the main departure point for Komodo national park. As a result we were constantly bombarded by hawkers trying to sell carvings of dragons or local cultured pearls etc. I know they are trying to make a living but it does become tiresome after a while especially when you say you are not interested, in the nicest possible way, yet they still persist.

From Labuan Bajo we headed for the Komodo National Park spending a week dragon hunting (camera only) and relaxing in some fine anchorages where the snorkelling is the best we have ever done. We had a guide for a few hours who told us all about the Komodo dragons; he was very knowledgeable and passionate about the subject. The dragons are on only three islands and you cannot fail to see them, sometimes however, they are so well hidden that it is possible to trip over them, not recommended. Hence the need for a guide. They feed on deer, buffalo, monkeys and the occasional human who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. When you consider the relative size of a dragon and buffalo you would think it impossible for the dragon to win the battle however it takes only one bite and the deadly bacteria in the saliva does the rest over a couple of days. If a human is bitten immediate hospitalisation is required and the antidote applied within 3-6 hrs. However in typical Indonesian style the nearest antidote is in Bali at least a day away!!!! There are no dragons in Bali.

The snorkelling was superb in our bay were a couple of manta rays which would come up close before gracefully gliding away. When one is heading straight for you with its large oval mouth wide open, the thought does enter your head, "I hope I am right and these are plankton eaters" Around the other side or our island was a drift snorkel where by timing the tides correctly we drift through schools of small and not too small fish lingering over a deep gully and waiting for a feed. We saw giant trevally over a meter long and on one occasion about 10 mtrs down was a large shark. Time to get out as I can't tell the difference between a dangerous shark and a goldfish.

We were having a great time in the national park but because of the time constraints of our visa we had to keep moving. From Komodo to Lombok we had to travel past Sumbawa an island not noted for its friendliness to visitors. At one anchorage we were inundated by local villagers wanting donations of tee shirts, hats cigarettes etc. We did however buy some fish from one of the boats and asked if he had papaya as our friends had bought some from him and were happy with the purchase. The boatman came back 15 mins later and with a long yellow fruit that resembled a papaya. The day after, Jean was preparing it for breakfast and to our disappointment found we had been duped and given an unripe coconut.

Onto Lombok we had a great time at the organised rally events which included the welcome ceremony with its obligatory speeches, local dancing displays and music. Lombok like many Indonesian islands is predominantly Moslem and to see young men and women dressed in robes and headdress, playing a mixture of traditional music and rock music was charming.

After Lombok we sailed onto Bali, a place where I was looking forward to. We expected to stay a few weeks but were disappointed and managed only a week. We hired a motor cycle and rode to Ubud said to be the cultural heart of Bali and indeed there are some very attractive parts to it IF you can see past the commercialism that in my opinion spoils the whole experience. Bali was just one large market place with hawkers and sellers everywhere. We didn't bother going to the infamous Kuta beach on the south of the island as it is meant to be infinitely worse. After a week we were more than ready to leave Bali and set off on the 400 mile trip to the jungles of Borneo to visit the Orang Utan sanctuary. The blog is now up to date as I am writing this in site of the Borneo coast. The water is cloudy, the visibility is hazy, a warm wind is blowing, its hot and sticky, there are flashes of lightening, looks like we are in for an interesting time. Can't wait.

Thanks for all the comments after the last episode it is heartening to know people are reading.

Best wishes Dave and Jean WdtW Have fun we are.

Dave and Jean WdtW

---------- radio email processed by SailMail for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

Comments [3]