Exactly one year and one day ago we arrived in Saumlaki and therefore in Asia. After two years in Australia, it was a mild shock to enter Asia through the back door. My first impressions were:
- I had no idea which side of the road is correct (after two days on the back of a motorbike).
- I have never had so much paper money and never given out thousands per hour.
- I have never had so many pieces of unintelligible paper pushed under my nose to be signed and stamped.
- Every single person we met needed a photo of us and everyone was incredibly friendly.
- There was fast Internet everywhere, even fishing hamlets on sticks had fast Internet.
From Saumlaki we worked our way north. It was like being a film star. Everywhere we landed, we were followed by children and everyone wanted a photo with us. We said yes to the first person and then there was a group photo and then a photo with the whole village. Everyone said hello and everyone laughed at our nine words of Indonesian.
Eventually we reached Papua which was also a friendly place. Someone in town killed someone else and so the opposing families declared war for a week or so and others were injured before the army got things under control. We stayed at home at night so were totally safe. Further west everyone was surprised as they all think Papuans still eat people.
We have seen some incredible places the last seven years but Wayag is unbelievably breathtaking. We spent over a week there and Michael flew out from Germany to help us celebrate Christmas and New Year.
Sulawesi was interesting. It was difficult sailing but very friendly people. We sheltered from the rain under a roof and a door opened and we were invited in for a coffee. Another time we walked past a restaurant and were invited for lunch – free lunch because we were invited.
We fought against tides all the way to Lombok. We had no wind or wind against us and once got whacked by the side of a mini tornado that ripped the traveler apart. Eventually we ran out of diesel and had to beg some off a passing fishing boat. By the time we reached the island we had decided to wait three months for the weather to turn. That gave us plenty of time to meet people, for great cycling trips and a quick holiday in Germany.
Once the wind was going the right way we sailed downwind to Singapore stopping off at a few islands full of friendly locals and great scenery. On these remote islands it was like being back in Papua with the cry of “Mister Mister Photo Photo?”
Singapore is definitely a country that needs more than a few days to explore and understand so we were really lucky that Michael and Christine lent us their house for six weeks. 700 kilometers with the bikes ensured that we saw not just “the sights” but also the hidden corners.
The west coast of Malaysia was a long slog. There was not much wind, hundreds of fishing boats and very few safe anchorages but we used every piece of wind we could find and eventually reached Langkawi and the end of our journey.
Asia was partying with locals on remote islands with no electricity and the incredible underground railway network in Singapore where everything “just works”. It was stunning scenery and mountains of plastic rubbish. It was volcanoes and jungles. But mainly it was a stream of friendly, smiling people.