Sailing Vessel Linda

Final Blog of sv Linda

2011-08-11T19:12:00.000-07:00

August 11, 2011—At last I sat down to write my final blog. I have been putting it off but finally realized that it is time.

We have been very busy since we returned to Albuquerque, New Mexico. We have enjoyed seeing family--Steve's mom Zelda, James (left), and Tim (right), as well as our friends. Steve has already been busy working on our home, and we have done some traveling too. We are happy to be back in New Mexico with all its wonderful food and the great climate. We are excited to be here for the fall, which is our favorite time of year, especially when the Hatch green chili harvest arrives.

We hope during the coming year to visit some of the wonderful cruising friends that we met along our journey. We often talk about our experiences during the seven years that we were on sv Linda and the one thing that was constant was the cruising community and how special it was. Without exception cruisers were always ready to assist in any way necessary to help someone in need. They unselfishly shared spare parts, knowledge, and moral support.

Some of the cruisers that we met are continuing on, and some, like us, have decided not to. To those who are continuing on we wish you safe sailing and many more fascinating experiences. The countries we visited and the local people that we met were always so inspiring. Where ever we went, we were greeted with big smiles and a request to have a picture taken with us. The people were so gracious and generous, and we always felt welcome. To those who are now landlubbers like us, we wish you the best.

A few days before we left Malaysia, we hoisted all our cruising and yacht club flags and took our last pictures of our lovely old boat. We thought that you might enjoy seeing them.

Settling in back in Albuquerque

2011-07-26T19:38:00.000-07:00

July 28, 2011--We have been pretty busy since we returned home on July 7. My Goddaughter Megan and her husband Greg were married on July 9. Brie, Riley, and Drue flew in for the ceremony, and it was a treat to see the girls together again as they have known one another since they were born.The ceremony was beautiful, and everything went perfectly, and we were were very happy to be home for this special occasion. Megan's sister Alissa is on the left, then Drue, Brie, Riley, and Megan.

On July 14 I met Vanessa, who babysat for me when my girls were very young, for lunch. She had seen my blog and recognized me so she left me a message. I have not seen her in a long time, but we picked up as though it were only yesterday. She is a beautiful young woman who is married with two children of her own, and it was such a special treat to see her again. We promised to keep in touch and see each other more often.

Steve's nephew Jonathan and his wife Erin were married in Easton, Maryland, on July 17. Steve, his mom, and I flew to Maryland on Friday and were able to enjoy dinner with Jon and Erin at a restaurant situated on the waters of Chesapeake Bay.

We enjoyed an afternoon visit to St. Michael's, which is a small community by the water. There were wonderful shops and restaurants with great food. Crab is plentiful in the area so we enjoyed crab sandwiches for lunch. We walked around for awhile and did our part to support the local community. In the evening we enjoyed meeting the wedding party and family members at the rehearsal dinner.

On Sunday we drove to Oxford, which was an even smaller community. As it was Sunday, most shops were closed, but we still enjoyed driving around and looking at the lovely homes. We also found two boat yards, one of which was a yard that built Hinkley sailboats. At lunch time, we stopped at a restaurant on the water with a lovely deck. The sea breeze felt nice, and we enjoyed watching the sailboats leaving the marinas for an afternoon sail. It did make us a bit nostalgic.

Sunday afternoon the wedding was held at The Oaks, which is a beautiful old home that is now used for private functions. An arbor was set up very close to the water on a large area of grass, and there were large trees so the setting was really lovely. The ceremony was beautiful and Jon and Erin make a lovely couple. We were again so happy to be able to share in such a special event.

We have gotten right back into life on shore as we each have a car and a cell phone. Right now we are busy working on our home, which we plan to completely renovate. First, we need to rebuild a shed in the back yard so that Steve can have a woodworking shop, and we also have quite a bit of landscaping work to do. That should keep us busy for awile.

I will travel with our younger daughter Drue to southern Michigan the first week of August where she will get settled in and ready to begin medical school at Michigan State--that will be exciting. the next big event will be in December when our older daughter Brie is expecting a boy, and we will go to San Diego to help Brie, Tim, and our precious Riley welcome a new member of the family.

I will post my last blog next week, and that will be a very difficult one to write.

Long Trip Home

2011-07-10T19:04:00.000-07:00

July 10, 2011--Our trip home was a challenge, to say the least. We repacked our bags the night of July 5 for the last time. We had to fit some clothes and other personal items that we had been using. This meant, of course, that we ended up having to shift some weight from some bags to other bags. We spent another three hours rearranging items until each of our NINE bags weighed no more than 50 pounds. Thank heavens for the scale that Wendy and Gary lent us. We thought that we would be bored our last day in Malaysia, but that was not the case.

The next day we got ready to leave, and then James picked us up at noon to take us to lunch along with Gary and Wendy. We ate at Lido's Restaurant where we enjoyed delicious fish, steamed potato leaves, pork, and rice. We had heard so much about this restaurant and how good the food was--it was the truth.

After lunch James dropped us off at the Star Shuttle Company, and we drug our nine bags plus four carry-on bags into the lobby. The people working at the counter could not believe how much baggage we had. Luckily, they did not charge us any extra for excess baggage. Our bus was about 30 minutes late in departing; however, the bus driver made excellent time so we arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport around seven that evening. We had to get two trolleys in order to move all the baggage and finding an empty elevator became quite a feat, but we finally managed to nab an empty one that had enough room for the two of us.

We had to stand in line for about an hour before we could check in, and unloading our nine bags at the counter became another interesting exercise. We had to pile all nine bags on the scale at the same time in order to weight them, so we had a very large pile sitting on the conveyor belt. When the agent finally figured out the charge for our excess baggage, it came to $750--ouch, that hurt!

After that ordeal we walked to Burger King where we enjoyed a Whopper with fries. It tasted so good and would help to hold us over until our next meal.

We went to the gate and tried to relax until our flight, which left at 10:50 p.m. We boarded on time and found our seats. We were carrying Steve's guitar so I had to ask the flight attendant if I could put it in a safer place than the overhead compartment. She was very helpful and placed it in the closet with the flight crew's jackets.

Our flight from KLIA to Tokyo took about seven hours. We had two seats together so it was not too bad, and the flight was not very full either. When we arrived in Tokyo, however, we were still pretty stiff from sitting for so long. Our first stop was to find the day room that we had booked for seven hours. We checked in and found the room to be very clean with two beds and a bathroom including a shower. We immediately climbed into bed and slept for the next four hours.

Around noon we got up and left to find some lunch. We found a bar that had food so we decided to have teriyaki chicken with noodles and rice. The food was delicious, and the cold beer tasted very good. We were a bit surprised by the cost of $40. It was good, but not that good.

Our next stop was at the American Airlines counter to see if we could get an isle seat for the leg from Tokyo to Dallas. The seats we had were the two center seats in a row of four, and we hoped to get one on the isle. We had no luck with that; however, the agent advised us that we could upgrade to business class. The amount was more than we wanted to spend, but Steve and I decided that it would be worth it for the 11-hour flight to DFW.

Knowing that we would be able to sleep on the next flight, we returned to our room, showered, and got dressed. We checked out two hours early and went to the Admiral's Club to enjoy WIFI, some food, and a drink.

At 5:30 p.m. we boarded the plane and settled into our wonderfully comfortable and wide seats. We spent the next 11 hours enjoying movies, a great dinner, and a glass of wine. We were able to sleep for several hours, and that made all the difference in the world.

We arrived in Dallas at 3:50 p.m. on July 7 and had just two hours before our flight left for Albuquerque. We went through Immigrations with no problems and proceeded to baggage claim to get our bags. We grabbed two trolley; however, they were smaller than the ones at KLIA, so we were worried about getting all nine bags on them. It took quite awhile for us to collect all of the bags, but they did fit, and as soon as we had them all, we went to Customs. We expected questions about so many bags so I had typed up a list of the contents of the bags in case the agent asked us. The Customs agent we got was very pleasant. We explained why we were returning to the states and why we had so many bags. All he asked was if we had any food. When we told him that we did not, he let us continue on. Thank goodness we didn't have to unload any of the bags. We never would have been able to repack them the same way.

We quickly rechecked our bags and headed for Terminal A to catch our flight. We had to wait just 30 minutes before we started boarding. There was a contingent of soldiers from Fort Hood, and I asked one of them if they were leaving or returning home. He told me that they were going to Albuquerque for some training and would then head to Afghanistan for another tour. When he told me that, I thanked him for his service.

Our last flight was just over an hour, and when we landed in Albuquerque, we were very ready to be done. We went out to the curb with our carry-on bags to wait for James and Zelda to pick us up. Steve then proceeded to pick up the bags two at a tiime and bring them out to the curb. Just as he finished with the last bags, James drove up in our truck, and we loaded all the bags into the back.

It felt so good to be home again. The mountains were beautiful as the sunset shone on them, and there were big thunder clouds all around. The weather was warm but not uncomfortable, and we enjoyed the ride home and caught up on the latest happenings.

We have spent the past few days trying to get over our jet lag and to adjust to being back in the states. We are waking up at four in the morning and can hardly stay awake by the afternoon, but things will improve over the next few days.

I plan to post one or two more blogs during the next few weeks, so keep checking in with us.

Sale of sv Linda

2011-07-05T19:38:00.000-07:00

July 6, 2011--On July 3, 2011, we finalized the sale of sv Linda. We fly out of Malaysia tonight and will arrive home on Thursday, July 7. I will post one or two more blogs with details of our last few weeks here at Pangkor Island.

Offer on sv Linda

2011-06-23T00:17:00.000-07:00

June 22, 2011--The latest news is that we have received, and have accepted, an offer on sv Linda. Now we are waiting for the sea trial and survey to be done on July 2 and 3. We have spent our time taking care of a few last minute small jobs; but, other than that, she is in fine shape.

Last week James’ wife Ling drove four of us ladies to town to get a shampoo and cut. The salon turned out to very nice, and the man who cut my hair did a fine job. All of us were a bit surprised, however, at the price. My cut (no shampoo) was 22 RM—that amounts to about $9. Now that may sound like a bargain, but for this part of the world it is a bit pricey.

We continue to go to lunch every few days with Gary, Wendy, and James. We have found a bakery that has amazing baguettes, egg tarts, blueberry cheese tarts, and rolls; but, actually, we are trying not to go there too often as all the good food is beginning to take a toll. We also found a great restaurant called Foos Steak House that has wonderful steak sandwiches on homemade bread.

We took the ferry across to Pangkor Island with Gary and Wendy for lunch one day, only to find that our favorite restaurant was closed. We decided to eat at another one of the local eateries, and we enjoyed soup, chicken and rice, noodles, and barbecued pork. The food was very good, and we were pleased until we received the bill. The total was 58 RM, which is about $18. We questioned the bill, and, luckily, the woman had written the amounts down on a piece of cardboard. Instead of 4.50 RM for the chicken and rice, she wrote 45 RM. We pointed out the mistake, saying that it was the most expensive chicken and rice we had had in Malaysia. All the people working in the restaurant laughed, and the one man who spoke English said that it was a mistake. We knew that it wasn’t, but we just smiled, paid our bill, and left.

We have cleaned out and packed up most of our belongings that will go home with us. James has been gracious enough to let us store our bags—all eight of them—in a room in the office. The only problem with packing things up is that no sooner have we cleared it out than Steve needs a tool or something else to finish up a chore. The two ladies in the office, Akina and Azira, are very good natured about our coming in to get something out of a bag and then returning it to the bag the next day. The three dock workers, Shar, Adam, and Bear, are also very helpful with anything we might need.

Now we will just wait until the first weekend of July. Hopefully, everything will go smoothly, and then we will fly home on July 7.

Good Fishing in Malaysia

2011-06-11T20:06:00.000-07:00

June 12, 2011—It has been busy for the past few weeks. As we work on the boat, we keep finding little things that need some work. The temperature has become even warmer so we are even more grateful to have the air conditioner. Any outside work, such as putting Cetol on the caprail or cleaning the decks, is done before nine o’clock. After that the surface of the caprail or the deck becomes too hot to work on.

We have unloaded all the aft lockers, and then Steve cleaned them and put on a new coat of paint so now they look very nice. We also took out all the sails and made sure that they were clean and had no mold on them. We then neatly repacked each locker. We also spent some time cleaning out the bilge, which had become a bit dirty.

I have spent quite a bit of time packing items that we will be taking home into suitcases. James, the marina manager, has been kind enough to let us store the bags in a locked room at the office. This has allowed us to move any unnecessary items from the boat to reduce the clutter. Before we leave, we will have to weigh the bags, as they have to be less than 50 pounds, and redistribute items as necessary.

One day about a week ago, James asked Steve if he would like to go fishing, which he did. Steve, Gary, Daniel, and Daniel’s oldest son all hopped on board. They left around 5:30 in the evening and returned around 9 o’clock. Steve had caught a lovely Queen fish, which is a nice, white meat fish. All together the guys caught 40 small tuna. We immediately set up a barbeque to cook the fish. Wendy brought some salad, I contributed some bread, and we all enjoyed a lovely meal. Some of the tuna became sushi, which as excellent. Daniel’s wife Hiro brought seaweed to wrap the rice in, and when you added some tuna, it was excellent.

On June 5, all the cruisers on the dock were invited by Mr. Ding, a part owner in the marina, to his grandson’s first birthday party. We first met Mr. Ding at the Methodist church on Easter Sunday when we learned that his son’s wife had passed away recently leaving his son with a three-year-old daughter and a one-year-old boy. The son and his children live with Mr. Ding and his wife, and they seem to be a very close family.

Mr. Ding had arranged the dinner party at the Bar Restaurant, which is on the second floor of the main building and overlooks the ocean. We have seen some beautiful sunsets from there, and that evening was lovely as well. We enjoyed the traditional food of fried rice, fried noodles, prawns, fried chicken strips, small hot dogs, watermelon, and pineapple. Mr. Ding also brought some other wonderful fruit, of which I cannot begin to remember the names, to our table for us to enjoy. To finish it all off, we enjoyed a cream cheese birthday cake.

A couple of days ago we joined Gary, Wendy, and James and went to Fat Man’s Curry Restaurant. Now the name would imply that it has Indian food, but, actually, it is a Chinese restaurant that is owned by a large Chinese man and his wife. We enjoyed wild boar in red wine sauce, bok choy, and a tofu dish, along with rice and a local beer. It was all very good, and we were especially surprised at how good the boar was.

It is overcast today, which helps a bit with the heat, but the humidity is definitely higher. The night before last we had quite a bit of thunder and lightning during the evening, but, luckily, the wind never blew very hard. Last night we again had a bit of rain, but nothing very significant.

We plan to return to the states the first week of July, and we will just wait to see if anything happens with the boat. We may take a quick trip somewhere, but it all depends on the schedule with the boat. Things are pretty low key right now, but I guess that it won’t kill us to take it easy for awhile.

Out and About in Malaysia

2011-05-24T20:22:00.001-07:00

May 24, 2011--I can’t believe that it is already May 24, and that I haven’t written a blog since May 11.

On Mother’s Day we went up to The Bar Restaurant and were surprised to see that they were offering a Set Meal that included pumpkin soup, a quarter roasted chicken with potato wedges and mixed vegetables, watermelon for dessert, and a fruit drink. We paid a total of 30 RM or $15 USD, and the meal was delicious, plus we were able to enjoy a lovely sunset from our outdoor table.

On Friday, May 13 we decided to take the ferry from Marina Island to Lumut for lunch. We boarded the ferry at 11 a.m. and arrived at Pangkor Island just in time to get on the ferry to Lumut. Before we left, we looked out the window and saw this monitor lizard swimming up to the boat. As we pulled away from the dock, Steve said that he watched the lizard actually running across the water trying to catch a bird. The whole trip took us about 30 minutes. We left the ferry terminal and walked to Jook’s Bar (the yachties call it Duke’s) where we enjoyed a steak sandwich on a baguette roll, French fries, and a cold beer. We had planned to spend the afternoon in Lumut, but it was so hot that we gave up after two hours and returned to the ferry to head back to the boat and the air-conditioning.

On May 20 we decided to go to Penang for our belated anniversary gift. We left the boat and took a taxi into Lumut where we caught the Internasional bus up to Butterworth. It was a three-hour ride that turned into a five-hour ride because the air-conditioner fan belt broke, so we had to wait in Kuala Kangsar for the mechanic to replace the belt. We took advantage of the time to eat some lunch at one of the stalls, and the food was quite good. We had chicken and pineapple in curry sauce over rice.

We arrived in Butterworth and walked from the bus station to the ferry station that was right next door, and we were able to get on the ferry immediately and enjoyed the ride across the channel to Penang. We have sailed in this channel twice on our boat and have had to dodge these ferries both times. In the picture I took on board the ferry a bird flew through the passenger level just as I clicked the shutter.

We arrived in Penang and walked to the taxi stop where we were immediately hussled into a waiting taxi and driven to the Traders Hotel Resort. As this was our anniversary celebration, we decided that a stay in a five-star resort would be nice. The hotel was beautiful, and we were pleased with our room. The pool was lovely, and we spent each afternoon relaxing there and reading our books.

We had seen much of Penang on our way through in November, so we just enjoyed a relaxing weekend. We went back to our favorite restaurant—Restauran Kapitan—each day for lunch because the Indian food there is exceptional. We enjoyed Chicken Tikka Masala, Butter Chicken Curry, and Kabobs with assorted meat on them. They also serve Naan, which is a type of flat bread that is wonderful, and you can order it plain, with butter and garlic, or one of seven other flavors.

One evening we went to the Hawkers Stalls just up the street where we enjoyed roast duck and rice with a cold beer. There were so many stalls offering so many different dishes that it was hard to choose. The area was filled with locals and tourists who were enjoying their evening meals.

On Sunday night we went to the eight-story mall next door and saw the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie. It cost us 28 RM or $9 USD, and we got to sit in a “couples” seat. We had arrived a little early so we went into a room where people were sitting on couches watching previews until their movie was scheduled to start. We thought that was a novel idea.

On Monday we took the ferry back over to Butterworth and caught our bus back down to Lumut. We grabbed dinner at Kentucky Fried Chicken and took the taxi back to Marina Island. It was nice to get away for a few days, but it was also nice to return home.

We have a few additional jobs that we need to address on the boat, and we want to finish them during the next two weeks. After that, all the work that we feel needs to be done will be finished, and we can relax a bit.

sv Linda Brokerage Listing

2011-05-11T20:25:00.000-07:00

May 11, 2011--The web page that lists Linda for sale is now online. I have included the link at the bottom right-hand side. Our listing can be found with the 40-foot yachts, and there are great pictures as well as information regarding her inventories. The listing is at

http://yachtbroker-charters.com/YBC%20monos%20page.htm

Preparing the Boat in Pangkor, Malaysia

2011-05-04T00:52:00.000-07:00

May 7, 2011--We have spent the past three weeks working hard on the boat. We spent several days preping and then repainting the non-skid on the decks and coach roof. We also washed all the exterior canvas, cleaned out closets and cabinets, buffed the interior teak, and did a lot of general cleaning. Steve spent a whole day rewiring the engine, because after 13 years in the marine environment, it was needed.

James, who is the marina manager here, has been very helpful. If we need any supplies or groceries, he always volunteers to drive us to town. Also, Gary and Wendy on sv Spirit of Sabraon are right across the dock from us, and they kept an eye on the boat while we were in the states. They are well acquainted with the town and often will use James’ car to drive us around. Often we all go to lunch together and have been to some excellent local restaurants. It is much better when James is along because he orders the best dishes for us to try. The last lunch included some “drinks” that quite interesting. One was made from peanuts, another from tapioca, and another from squash. They were all room temperature, and most were pretty good just not cold enough. We had a variety of noodle dishes and one curry dish. They were all very good. Wendy and Gary added two herbal teas. The whole lunch cost 29 RM or $10 USD.

The Eastern Sail Malaysia Rally came through last week, but it was a much smaller rally with only about 15 boats. They were here for several days and then left to head for Singapore. From there they will sail along the eastern coast of Malaysia and then across to Brunei. We knew a few of the boats from the Indonesia Rally and the Western Sail Malaysia Rally.

There are only four boats here at the moment. The rainy season is setting in and the temperatures are hotter. Luckily, we got our painting done on some dry days. Of course, our air-conditioner is on all the time. We usually work outside in the mornings and then work inside during the heat of the day in the afternoons or just relax and do some reading. The evenings are not too bad, and there is always a sea breeze that helps to keep things a bit cooler.

We contacted Paul, who is a boat broker here in Malaysia, and he told us that he might have a prospective buyer for the boat. We called him when we had finished the major projects, and this past Friday he came to Pangkor to take pictures for the ad that will be on his web site and on Yacht World. His photographer Sue took quite a few pictures, and Steve showed them the workings of the boat. Keith and Kay, a couple from Australia, came down with Paul and came aboard to see the boat. They were very positive about her, and we were grateful for the feedback. Paul also felt that she would show well.

We had taken the air-conditioner off for the pictures and had unloaded more items that we plan to take home. We also had to remove the sun shade from the boat for the pictures. Naturally, the air-conditioner was the first thing to go back on after everyone left. We got the boat organized again, ate a small dinner, showered in our swimsuits on the dock, and went to bed. It had been a long day.

Today we went to Duke's Bar in town with Gary and Wendy and Jerry and Joanie from sv Lotus. Duke's has delicious steak sandwiches and cold beer. After that we made a quick trip to Tesco for some groceries, including rotissery chicken, and then we returned to the boat to put everything away.

As soon as the listing is posted, I will put a link to them so that you can see the pictures if you are interested. We plan to do a few additional smaller projects in the time that we are still here. We still do now know exactly when we will fly home; however, I will continue to write blogs as long as we are here.

Back in Pangkor, Malaysia

2011-04-21T05:37:00.000-07:00

April 21, 2011—Our flight home on March 27 began with a five-hour bus ride to Kuala Lumpur International Airport. We arrived at approximately 7:30 p.m. and waited half an hour to check our bags. We then decided to get a small bite to eat and wait for our flight at 11:50.

Our flight to Tokyo left on time, and we were surprised that it was only half full. We were flying on Japan Airlines, and everything went well. Our flight took about six hours, and when we got off the plane, we went to the first coffee shop we could find. We were sitting on comfortable chairs enjoying a hot cup of coffee when I felt the floor shaking. Not being exposed to earthquakes before, I thought that perhaps some construction was going on close by. After just a few seconds, I told Steve that I thought it was an earthquake. He agreed and told me that the painting on the wall behind me was shaking. The shaking lasted for about five minutes and then stopped. When we were able to get Internet a little later, we saw that a 6.5 aftershock had occurred up north. It was an amazing experience, and I could only imagine what the original quake must have felt like.
About six hours later our flight on American Airlines left Tokyo headed for Dallas. We settled in for a very long flight and spent our time either trying to sleep or watching movies. The good news was that the tailwind made it possible for the plane to arrive an hour early—the bad news was that we flew over Albuquerque on our way to Dallas.

We had a two-hour layover in Dallas, which gave us time to eat lunch and walk around a bit. Our two-hour flight to Albuquerque was uneventful, and after almost forty hours of travel we were very happy to be back in the states. Tim and Zelda picked us up and took us to Zelda’s house.

The next few days were very busy. Steve and his mom finalized the arrangements for his brother’s services, and we helped Zelda with some projects around the house. David’s service was on April 5. The next day the three of us, along with our friend Dwight, spent a night up at the cabin in Chama in order to get Zelda’s room put back together after everything had been moved out because of a water leak in the roof.

Steve stayed in town to help his mom, and I left for San Diego on April 7 to see the girls and Riley. Southwest was still a mess because of the metal fatigue concerns, so I decided to carry on my luggage. My flight out of Albuquerque and the one out of Phoenix were both delayed because of weather in Chicago. I spoke with the attendant at the gate, and luckily I was able to get on the direct flight that would get me in at my regular time—good thing I hadn’t checked my bag.

Brie’s husband Tim was in Phoenix on business so it was just us girls. I had a delightful time catching up with Brie and Drue, and I had a chance to babysit Riley and spend some one-on-one time with her. It was over way too soon as I had to return to Albuquerque on Sunday.

We left on Monday at 7:50 p.m. to fly to Los Angeles and from there we flew on Cathay Pacific Airliines to Hong Kong. We found the seats on that flight to be quite uncomfortable. Also, we had paid extra for the exit row seats; however, because they were by the toilet, people were around us all night, and some stepped on our toes. Unfortunately, we were bucking a head wind all the way to Hong Kong, so the flight took us 15 hours. We were more than happy to arrive in Hong Kong and get off the plane for awhile. We had about three hours before our flight to Kuala Lumpur, so we ate lunch and walked around a bit to stretch our legs.

The final leg of our trip took four hours. On that Cathay Pacific flight, the seats were more comfortable, and we were able to watch some more movies, so we are now somewhat caught up on recent movies. We arrived just a half hour late for the bus back to Pangkor, so we enjoyed a Burger King hamburger with fries and waited two hours for the next bus.

The bus ride back took only four and a half hours, and we were so tired that we slept part of the way. When we arrived at seven o’clock, Gary and Wendy, who are our neighbors on the dock, picked us up and took us to dinner. We enjoyed a nice meal at a local restaurant and then headed back to the boat. It took us only a few minutes to drop our bags below, get ready for bed, and crash.

The trip was long and tiring; however, it was also good to be home. We found out that our daughter Brie is pregnant again. Our daughter Drue found out in March that she was accepted to medical school at Michigan State University and is on the alternate list at The University of New Mexico so she will start school in August. It will be a busy year. Our boys James and Tim were a great help to Zelda until we could get home and then to us during our stay.

I have found this a difficult blog to write and have put it off for a week now. For several reasons Steve and I have decided that it is time for us to return home. We have contacted a broker to list the boat for sale and have spent the past ten days working to get her ready. I have been cleaning out closets and cupboards of all the unnecessary items and have given away food that we can’t possibly eat before we return home. Steve has been working on the topsides.

Depending on how long it takes us to get our work done, we will haul the boat out of the water and put her on the hard at Pangkor Island Marina in the next month or two, and then return home. It will be very hard to leave her. As we were walking to the marina office the other day, I turned to look at her tied at the dock. She has such lovely lines and has performed so well for us for 25,000 miles. She is truly a classic beauty!

I will update the blog again in a week or two.

Langkawi to Pangkor

2011-03-26T03:00:00.000-07:00

March 26, 2011—Our trip from Langkawi to Penang went fairly well. We left Rebak Marina around 11 o’clock on March 22 and motored just a few miles to the Fjord anchorage. We dropped the hook in the small bay and were thrilled to see that we had it all to ourselves.

We took the time in the afternoon to just relax and made our last weather checks. We decided to leave at 6 a.m. in order to have enough time to make it to Pangkor before dark. We pulled the anchor and discovered that the wash down pump was not working so Steve and I had to clean the chain by hand as it came up, and it was not fun because there was heavy mud on it. It was still dark when we left, but the moon gave us enough light to see by, and we had to dodge only a few fishing boats.

We motored most of the way; however, in the afternoon the wind picked up enough that we were making very good time. We had one heavy rain for about 20 minutes, but we had no high winds associated with it. As we approached the entrance to the channel at Penang, the waves had built and were rolling by us just off the beam. It was making the ride a bit uncomfortable; however, when we got in the lee of the island, the waves calmed right down, the current pushed us nicely along, and the ride through the channel was quite enjoyable. Our only stressful moment was when we had four ferries all crossing the channel at the same time but from four directions.

We entered Jerejak Anchorage at about 5 p.m. and looked for our anchorage spot. We saw a fishing net in front of us, so we turned and went further south to drop our anchor. After getting the anchor down and everything secure on the bow, we looked up and saw the same net coming at the boat. It was a drift net so it was moving with the current. It was too late for us to pull our anchor so the net went on both sides of our boat. We tried pulling it from one side to the other; however, the net was deep, and we could not budge it. We decided to give up and hoped that the owner would see what had happened and come out.

He did see, and he did come out with two men, and he was not happy. He started yelling at us about his net and told us to pull the anchor. Steve responded that if we did we would tear his net. The owner then was yelling at us for not seeing the net, so Steve told him that we anchored in a designated anchorage and the net drifted onto us. After much grumbling and posturing, they took one end and pulled it across our bow so that we were free. We agreed to move to the side of the anchorage so we pulled the anchor and moved.

The holding was good, and the anchor set well when I was backing down with the engine in reverse. Just when we finished, the throttle cable broke. This meant disassembling the pedestal to get at the cable. It was an hour before dark, so Steve started right in on the project. Once we had the top off, we could see that the set screw holding the cable in place had come out, so all we had to do was replace the screw. This was, of course, more difficult that it sounds. Steve had to remove a small center section of the pedestal, and the screws were tough to get loose. Then he had to remove a long bolt that was very hard to get a grip on. Working together we were able to get the set screw in and began to reassemble the whole thing. Just when we thought we were there, the bolt dropped out of the hole. Luckily, Steve had a replacement bolt, so we kept working and finished the job just as it got dark.

We slept well that night and woke at 6:30 to leave. We needed more light to leave this anchorage because a bridge is being constructed, and the waterway is filled with barges and other ships. Steve did a quick download of email and weather only to learn that his brother had passed away that morning. Steve was able to call his mom to get the details, and she asked if he could come home so we told her that we would leave as soon as we could get a flight.

We decided that we would continue to Pangkor and leave from there. The weather was nice, but the current was not being helpful. We spent most of the day in calm seas but had another major rain shower, again with no wind. The fishing boats were out in force, so we played “dodge the fleet” for most of the day. About mid-afternoon the wind picked up just enough to increase our speed so that we were able to make it through the channel and into the marina by 7 p.m.
We were greeted at the dock by James and his crew, who got us all tied up. Glen and Marilyn from sv Tin Soldier were there as well. They are putting the boat on the hard and going back to Canada in a few days. We had a quick reunion and then called it a night.

The next morning Steve began a search for flights home. Since it was short notice, he had to work at it, but we did manage to book one that worked. We spent the day getting things out to be packed to go home and preparing the boat. The sv Spirit of Sobraon with Gary and Wendy aboard are also here, and they told us there would be a pot luck on the dock at 7 p.m. so I decided to make spaghetti and garlic bread. At 7:30 Tin Soldier had been pulled out and was on the hard, so the crew from the marina joined us, as well as couples from some of the other boats on the hard. There was plenty of food, and everyone seemed to have a good time. We called it quits at 10 o’clock and returned to the boat.

It rained most of the night and into the morning so we just stayed below and worked on chores. It is quite hot so it doesn’t take much effort before one is sweating and hot. We have to pace ourselves with frequent breaks, but we managed to get things done. We will leave tomorrow night from Kuala Lumpur and be in Albuquerque in the afternoon on March 28. We will have two weeks at home before we return to Malaysia and continue down the coast.

Leaving Langkawi

2011-03-21T16:10:00.000-07:00

March 21, 2011—We have spent the past week preparing the boat to leave Langkawi. I did all the laundry from our trip and cleaned the boat, while Steve checked the systems to make sure that we were ready to go. Yesterday we spent the day in Kuah buying provisions, sailing guides, plumbing, etc. We also met sv September for one last lunch, and last night we enjoyed dinner with Melinda and Dave on sv Sassoon, who just returned from Australia yesterday.

It is quite hot here now so the air-conditioner has really helped. We worked slowly for most of the day, but in the afternoon we usually went to the pool for an hour or so to cool off and discuss the sailing situation in the Red Sea with other cruisers. Several boats from the Indonesia Rally have changed plans and will be heading to South Africa instead, either this year or next.

We will move down to Pangkor where we will say goodbye to Tin Soldier as they are returning to Canada for awhile. Then we will take several days move down the Melacca Strait and return to Danga Bay so that we can have some canvas work done.

The weather has been unsettled with rain squalls and some thunderstorms; however, it looks pretty good for the next few days. We will keep our fingers crossed.

Siem Reap, Cambodia, and the AngkorTemples

2011-03-13T06:24:00.000-07:00

March 16, 2011—We left the Silver River Hotel in Phnom Penh, thanking the staff for a wonderful stay. They were so helpful and the facility was very nice. We loaded our bags in the minivan and drove to the central bus station. Our bus to Siem Reap was there so we transferred our bags and climbed on board. The bus left on time, and we headed northwest to Siem Reap. We had read that the road was excellent, but I think excellent is an operative word. They are in the process of improving the road; however, it was a two-lane road that was quite rough. We stopped after two hours for a bathroom stop, and we stopped one more time for a quick lunch. The trip took us seven hours, and by the time we arrived, we were more than happy to be there.

As soon as our bus pulled into the parking lot, the tuk-tuk and taxi drivers came over to it, holding signs up stating their fees. Women also came running over with food or other items to sell. It was a bit overwhelming. The bus company asked us to wait in the bus while the local Cambodians got off the bus, and then they took our bags and assigned us to a tuk-tuk driver. He drove us to the Frangapini Hotel and carried our bags inside. We were checked in and shown to our room, which was quite nice. After we put our things away, we cooled off for awhile, and then we went downstairs to take a swim in the pool. It felt so good to be in the cool water. We went back to the room and got dressed for dinner at the hotel.

We got up the next morning and got ready for a day of touring. Va, our driver, picked us up at 9 a.m., and we drove out to the temples. We stopped to pay our and $40 fee for the day and receive our picture identification card. We decided to see the major temples started with the South Gate of Angkor Thom and then Central Angkor Tom (late 12th century).

From there we continued on to Bayon (late 12th century), Phimeanakas (late 10th century), Terrace of Elephants, Terrace of the Leper King (both late 12th century), and, finally, Taprohm (mid-12th century).

By now it was 12:30 and hot, so we decided to stop by the lake for a nice lunch. While we were eating we met a father, a Canadian, with his daughter who lives in Oregon. We enjoyed talking with them for a few minutes. After lunch Va advised us to see Angkor Wat because most people take a break until four o’clock, but first we stopped at Banteay Kdei (early 13th century).

After walking through Banteay Kdei, he dropped us off at the bridge that crosses the largest moat we have ever seen that surrounds Angkor Wat. This wat was constructed in the mid-12th century by Suryavarman II in the form of a massive “temple-mountain” dedicated to the Hindu god, Vishnu, and it served as his state temple. The reliefs on the walls of the long hallways were spectacular, and most were still in very good shape.

We finished walking through Angkor Wat around 3:30 so we asked Va to drive us back to town. We stopped at a few shops, the Central Market, and the ATM. We then returned to our hotel and agreed to meet him at 9 o’clock in the morning for another day of sightseeing. We were both pretty hot and tired so we just returned to our room to cool off and relax.

We got a good night sleep and met Va at 9 o’clock for our second day of sightseeing. We drove out about 10 miles to Chong Khneas, a floating village at the edge of the lake closest to Siem Reap. Houses, the school, the medical clinic, shops—everything is floating in this village. Today the government representative was announcing a shot clinic for the children under five.

We watched people moving up and down the river in different styles of boats, most of which had engines. They use car engines, and the propeller shaft in the back must have been eight feet long. Also, the prop sits just below the water because there is a plant that grows in the water, and the prop would get fouled if it was set any deeper. We are at the end of the dry season, which means that the water level is pretty low, and we actually got stuck in the mud at one point.

The tour was very interesting and better than we had expected. When we returned to the shore and stepped off the boat, three hard-sell girls who had plates with Siem Reap written on them and our pictures in the centers. One of them had taken a picture of each of us when we arrived, but we had no idea why. Now we know. We really didn’t want them; however, we decided to buy them. They wanted $3 each so we offered two for $5. The oldest girl gave me the biggest smile and rejected my offer—she held fast. They were so enjoyable that we actually enjoyed being separated from our money.

Our next stop was the Silk Worm Farm. We thought this would be an interesting tour since we had been look at silk products. A guide met us when we approached and welcomed us. We began the tour at the mulberry tree grove where they harvest leaves to feed the silk worms.

Inside a building we were shown the cocoons that lines ringed shallow baskets. When the worm is mature, they kill them by putting the baskets in the sun or by boiling them. Next they remove the worm (and sometimes fry them and eat them) and then separate the silk thread from the cocoon. Once the thread is gently pulled from the cocoon, the spinning begins.

We learned the difference between raw silk and fine silk. We were also shown how they bleach and then dye the silk, mostly using natural plants to achieve the colors but sometimes using dyes. After that the thread is wound onto spools. Our last stop on the tour took us to the weaving building where women were weaving several different patterns in different colors. It was so interesting and informative, and we now have a better appreciation for this beautiful material.

It was now almost one o’clock so we stopped for lunch, followed by a stop at the bakery for our breakfast. Lastly, we enjoyed a one-hour massage for $15 each. We returned to our hotel tired but quite relaxed. We have to pack tonight for our flight back to Langkawi in the morning.

We have been gone for five weeks, and we are ready to get back, but we have enjoyed our time in Southeast Asia, and the countries we have visited have been well worth the time and effort. Monday morning Va came to pick us up at 6:15. We drove to the airport, watching a spectacular sun rise as we went, and unloaded our bags. Va did such a good job for us that we were sad to say our goodbyes. Our flight out of Siem Reap was delayed; however, we made it to Kuala Lumpur in time to catch our flight to Langkawi.

We are back on the boat and are preparing to leave on Monday, weather permitting.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

2011-03-10T06:42:00.000-08:00

March 10, 2011—Our bus trip to Phnom Penh started out on a little rocky. The front desk at our hotel told us to be down at 6:30 a.m. for our taxi ride to the bus. We decided that it was safer to be there earlier so we went at 6:10. We checked out and waited for our taxi, but about ten minutes later we found out that they had not called the taxi, so they took us outside and hailed a taxi for us. The driver took us to the pick-up point and dropped us off. Unfortunately, he dropped us at another bus stop, but we didn’t know it at the time. When we showed our receipt for the Phnom Penh-Sorya Transport Company to the guy at the bus, he said that he didn’t know the company but offered to sell us tickets on his bus. We started to, but then Steve refused. We started to walk away when a local told us that the place we wanted was just down the street. We thanked her and walked that direction. Everything was closed so we were a bit confused until another local guided us to the right spot. Neither of these two people asked us for a thing, which was really nice. We were finally at the right spot so the man gave us our tickets, and we climbed in the van. We were now sure that the guy back down the street knew exactly where we needed to be—amazing.

It was now 6:40, and our bus was supposed to leave at 6:45 so we were a bit stressed. We tried to relax when the driver told Steve that the bus would wait. We finally got everyone picked up and drove to the bus, where we all piled on and took off. We were pleased to see that this bus was much nicer than the last one. The drive to get out of Saigon took us almost an hour because of the horrible traffic. Also, at one point a power line had come down so our bus had to cross traffic to the left lane and VERY slowly creep under another part of the power line. A little further down the road, we could hear the overhead power lines scraping against the bus. It was all a little unnerving.

The rest of the Vietnam drive was through the usual countryside filled with beautiful, green rice paddies for mile after mile. When we reached the border, we stopped and had to take our luggage in to be scanned. Our guide had collected all the passports in order to expedite the process at the border so we stood in line to wait until they called our names, and then we picked up our passports, gave them back to our guide, and got back on the bus. We drove a few hundred yards to the Cambodian processing center and again got out of the bus, without luggage this time. We went into the center and had a seat. We had also paid our guide $50 for our visas for Cambodia so he took care of everything. All we had to do was sign the visa application and then pass through Immigration and Customs. It was all very well coordinated and took very little time, and it was the first time in Vietnam that we felt we got what we paid for.

A few minutes later we stopped for a quick lunch; however, Steve and I were short on cash. Thankfully, we had eaten something for breakfast so we could wait. The last part of the drive took about three hours. At one point we had to cross the Mekong River on a ferry. The driver took the bus down an uneven road and pulled it onto the ferry, along with two other large tour buses and a truck. One family in the truck beside us had so many people crowded in that we took a picture.

When we arrived in Phnom Penh the bus pulled into the central bus station, which was a pretty busy place. We grabbed our bags and began to walk. It didn’t take five seconds before a taxi driver asked if we needed a ride so we told him no and said that we already had one. He actually followed us to see if we did. At one point we thought that we had lost him, but he then appeared from another side. We just kept walking until we found an ATM where we got some money, and we were surprised that it was U.S. currency. There was a hamburger place next door so we went in to eat lunch.

We finished lunch and grabbed a remorque-moto, which is a trailer hitched to a motorcycle, and went to the Silver River Hotel¸ where we checked in and went up to our room. The room was small but very nice, and we again have a balcony that will be great in the afternoons. We took a break and then went down to schedule our bus to Siem Reap on Friday.

Today we left with our guide Mr. Thay for a day of sightseeing in his Tuk-Tuk. Our first stop was at the Royal Palace. The grounds were beautiful with flowering trees and shrubs, and the buildings were spectacular. Unfortunately, we were limited to just two areas, but it was well worth the time to walk around and to see all the artifacts from the royal families.

After the Royal Palace Mr. Thay drove us to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, formerly known as Security Prison 21. This facility was Tuol Svay Prey High School before it was transformed into a security prison by the Khmer Rouge where political prisoners were interrogated and tortured. We walked through the cells and through rooms filled with photographs of the many prisoners who were tortured and murdered. It was a very moving experience, and everyone there was very somber. We are pleased that they have created a museum to memorialize the victims.

After the museum we felt that we needed a break so we asked Mr. Thay to take us to a restaurant for lunch, where we enjoyed a sandwich and a Caesar salad. Next we drove through Phnom Penh and headed for the Killing Fields. The drive provided us with a great view of the people and how they live and work in Cambodia. We love riding in the Tuk-Tuks because we can see all around us, which is not the case in a taxi. It was about 10 miles so we just relaxed and enjoyed the view. The best part of the ride was when a man on a motorscooter passed us with two pigs strapped on the back of his cycle--and Steve got the picture.

We arrived at the Killings Fields of Choeung Ek. Rising above the 129 mass graves is a beautiful white stupa or religious monument that serves as a memorial to the some 17,000 men, women, and children who were killed here. Encased inside the stupa are almost 9,000 human skulls found during excavations in 1980. It was overwhelming.

From the stupa we walked through the fields where large craters remain from the excavations. Every now and then we could see pieces of clothing or bone coming through the dirt. It is so hard to fathom what happened here, and we left feeling sad.

We returned to Phnom Penh and made a quick stop at the Russian Market, which is much like the Central Market. We picked up a few items, including some “Panasonic” batteries. We did not want to pack our recharger for batteries, so we figured that we would just buy them along the way. Well, we bought eight batteries yesterday, and when Steve used them today, four batteries were good for about 10 pictures—then nothing. Thankfully, we have the small camera that we can charge, but we are still going to buy a lot of “Panasonic” batteries for the next two days.

We were tired and hot, so we had Mr. Thai take us back to our hotel. We thanked him and shook his hand, and then we paid him his fee plus a tip because he was an excellent driver and a very nice man.

Now it was time to cool off since it had become quite warm in the afternoon. We relaxed in the room for awhile and then left to walk to the river. On the way we passed the National Museum, which is spectacular building. Unfortunately, it was closing in 30 minutes, so we continued on to the river where there is a very nice river walk.

Tonight we will pack up so that we will be ready to leave early tomorrow for Siem Reap—another glorious bus ride. This ride will be with the same company as the last bus trip, so it should be fine. Also, it will give us a chance to see more of the Cambodian countryside.

Saigon, Vietnam

2011-03-08T05:11:00.000-08:00

March 8, 2011—Ngoc Huyen, our tailor, delivered our clothes to our hotel at 12:30 and showed us all the items. They were all very nicely done so we thanked her and paid her the balance. We ate some lunch and then waited for our driver, who picked us up at 3 o’clock. We had to drive back to Da Nang, which took about 30 minutes. Da Nang is an international airport, and we saw a new airport being built adjacent to the old one.

We checked in for our flight and had to wait about an hour before we could board our flight. The plastic seats in the boarding area were not exactly comfortable, but it was, as always, interesting to watch all the people. The boarding attendant called our flight so we gave her our ticket and boarded a bus, which then transported us to our plane. The plane was a nice new Airbus 330. We boarded the plane and got comfortable in our seats with plenty of leg room this time.

We took off on time and headed south to Saigon. We were on the right side of the plane, and we could see a very large and very dark thundercloud off to our right. The pilot was making a slight turn to the left in order to go around the thunderhead. As we traveled along, we enjoyed an absolutely stunning sunset behind the dark clouds. Along the way we also saw lightening in the clouds, which made me wonder if this leg of our trip through Vietnam would also have an element of excitement. Alas, nothing happened, and we landed safely at the Ho Chi Ming City airport.

We had asked our hotel, the Blue Diamond, to send a car to pick us up, but when we exited the baggage claim area, no one was there with a sign for us. We found the hotel number and called them, but they just suggested that we get a cab. We had read that the taxis here were difficult to deal with, but we walked up to the taxi warden and told him where we needed to go. He signaled a taxi for us and off we drove—at the slowest pace imaginable. Usually these taxis are flying by, and here we are in the slowest one I have ever seen. Later we discussed that we had read something about the traffic being so congested that they now meter on time instead of distance, which might have been why he was driving so slowly.

We finally arrived at the Blue Diamond Hotel so we paid the taxi driver, who tried to get more money from us, but we held firm on the meter price. We checked in, and they informed us that they were overbooked so we would be put in the VIP suite for the evening and then moved to our reserved room the next day. Wow! Now things were looking up. The room was on the top floor and very spacious. We quickly changed clothes and headed out to dinner as it was now 8:30 p.m., and we had not eaten any dinner. We walked around the block but saw nothing that caught our interest so we decided to return to the hotel and just order room service instead. We ordered sea bass and baby-back ribs and waited for about 30 minutes. Finally, our food arrived, and we sat down to eat it. Unfortunately, the food had cooled off, but the bass and the ribs were excellent. We relaxed for the rest of the evening in our luxurious surroundings.

This morning we decided walk to the bank to exchange some money because we need U.S. dollars at the Cambodian border; however, the bank would not give us U.S. dollars. Next we went to the post office to mail a postcard, and we were amazed to see the post office filled with souvenirs for tourists to buy. Across the street was the Notre Dame Cathedral. We walked over to look at the cathedral but did not go inside. We have read that the government is taking a more relaxed position on religion in the country.

Our next stop was the Independence Palace. Formerly South Vietnam’s Presidential Palace, the war ended on April 30, 1975, when tank #843 crashed through the gate. A replica of the tank is now parked on the lawn outside. The building has been restored; however, everything else is original vintage 1960s—the furnishings, the radios, the phones, the kitchen, etc. There were many photos, and also the requisite educational film. We left about 2 minutes into the showing.

We returned to our hotel to move our things to our new room; however, it was not ready. They said it would be just a few minutes so we decided to cool off and relax for a bit. At one o’clock we gave up and went down stairs. We asked when our room would be ready and if was a deluxe room, which we had booked. The young lady said that since we had the VIP room last night, we would get only a superior. We took issue with this as they had overbooked their rooms and upgraded us without our asking. We said that we expected a deluxe room, and the young lady said that she would speak to the manager.

We left to have some lunch and walked around the block several times before deciding on a restaurant. We noticed that several shops had generators outside their doors, and while we were having lunch, we found out why—the power went out. It took just 15 minutes before the restaurant was stuffy and hot.

Afterward we walked to the Ben Thanh Market to look for some souvenirs as we are always the tourists. The market was filled with fruit, vegetables, meat, clothing, and, of course, the usual souvenir trinkets. It was a huge market, and we could only stay for a short while before the shop keepers got to be too much. Steve said that this market was not any different than any of the other markets we have been to—too much stuff and most it is made in China.

We retreated to our hotel and finally got into our new room. It was quite hot this afternoon, and we are trying to pace ourselves in order to get to Cambodia. Steve still has a cold, and my foot is still on the mend. We decided to go to dinner at the Barbeque Garden Restaurant so we walked the three blocks to find it without any problems. We ordered our skewers of meat, and then we cooked the skewers on the grill at our table. It was really delicious, and the place had a very nice atmosphere.

We decided to stay just one day in Saigon. Obviously, we could spend many days here; however, we need to finish up the travels so tomorrow we leave by bus for Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Hoi An, Vietnam

2011-03-06T05:47:00.000-08:00

March 6, 2011—Our bus trip to Hoi An began at 8:15 on Saturday, March 5. The bus arrived on time, and we loaded our bags and climbed aboard. The bus looked fairly good on the outside, but the inside was well worn, and the seats were very close together, which left very little leg room for Steve. We moved to about four different seats trying to find a good one for the four-hour drive. We finally settled in about three rows from the back on the left side.

It then took us another hour to pick up all the passengers who were scattered in about five hotels. Riding in the full-size bus down the narrow streets with cars and motorcycles everywhere was quite interesting. Finally, an hour later we were on our way with a completely full bus. There was an assortment of nationalities on board—Australian, German, French, and Russian. The air-conditioning system was not working, but it was a cool and overcast day, so opening the windows worked fine and the rain made everything look so clean and very green.

About two hours into the trip, the driver made a right turn, and we entered a small town. Now this is where things get interesting. Our bus suddenly swerved hard to the left, and a young Australian lady sitting on the high back seat let loose with an expletive. Ahead of us we saw trees approaching the front windshield of the bus, and then we came to a stop. The young lady told us that when we swerved to the left, a truck in the oncoming lane was headed right for us. At that time, someone said that we had hit a pedestrian. There was an EMT with the Australian group, so he ran out to see if he could help. The local man was carried across the street, and the EMT examined him. When he returned to the bus, the EMT said that he appeared to have a broken ankle. Someone loaded him up and drove him to the hospital. We think that the bus just missed hitting him but did hit his foot.

Now the police arrived, and all the passengers got off the bus. A few of us walked across the street to use the restroom, and then we waited. About an hour later, the police were finished so we got back onto the bus and resumed our trip. I swear that not five minutes had passed when, once again, the driver swerved the wheel. The young lady in the back told us that a car in the on-coming lane was passing, and our driver had to swerve to give the car room. At this point I was hoping that our life insurance premiums were up to date. Everyone on the bus was now a bit edgy.

We stopped for lunch at a small restaurant where we had just 30 minutes so Steve and I ate an ice cream and a small baguette—what a nutritious meal. We were back on the road, and now the bus was climbing a two-lane mountain road. We were approaching a hair-pin turn, and Steve and I looked up at the road above us. We saw a medium-size truck that was transporting pigs coming down toward the turn. At that point another truck of about the same size passed the transport truck, which meant that right at the hair-pin in the curve, there were three of us spread across two lanes. There was complete silence on the bus as we all held our breaths. Everyone made it through the turn, but now I had truly had enough. Unfortunately, we really didn’t have any options so we just hung on and prayed.

We passed through Da Nang, which was the area of China Beach during the war. We were amazed at the number of five-star resorts that are built or are being built all along this stretch. We arrived at Hoi An around 1:30, and as soon as the bus stopped, we got off and caught a taxi to our hotel to check in and eat a decent meal. We have a large corner room with a balcony, and we enjoyed the afternoon sitting on the balcony. Steve told me that he thought he was getting a cold and didn’t feel well, so we ordered a pizza to be delivered to the room and just took it easy. My foot was still sore so the rest helped it feel better.

This morning we ate breakfast at the hotel and then left on a motor scooter that we had rented. The drive through the streets was challenging but not nearly as bad as in Hanoi or Hue. We drove down to the Central Market and parked on the sidewalk. A woman was sitting in front of her shop and asked us to look at her designs. We agreed, and the next thing we knew, I had bought a pants outfit and Steve had bought a shirt. When we were done, we walked around for awhile, and we stopped to see a temple since we had not seen one in Vietnam.

Next we decided to drive out to the beach to have lunch. We found a lovely restaurant right on the beach where we enjoyed a meal of prawns and cold beer. There was a cool breeze coming in from the water, and it was so relaxing and beautiful.

It is interesting here because people use round boats, actually large baskets sealed with tar, to fish. One man brought in jellyfish and was cleaning them.

We decided to drive a little further out of town to enjoy the country side. Hoi An is a lovely town on the shores of the South China Sea. The area seems to be handling growth much better than the other cities we have visited, and we really liked it here.

We returned to the hotel for awhile and then went back to the tailor shop to check on our order. We tried on our clothes and they needed only minor adjustments. Steve was so pleased with his shirt that he ordered two more. She promised to deliver the clothes to us tomorrow before we fly to Saigon in the afternoon.

We are glad that we stopped here in Hoi An.

Hue, Vietnam

2011-03-04T06:32:00.000-08:00

March 4, 2011—Our train boarded on time, and we found our berth in Car 7, Berths 19 and 20. We were traveling in “hard sleeper,” which meant six berths, three on each side. Our berth mates were three Vietnamese women, but, luckily, our berths were on the bottom so it was easy for me to get in and out. We put our bags away and waited to leave. Since there were only bunks in the berth, we had to lie down all the time. Our train left Hanoi at 7 p.m.; unfortunately, it was too dark to see any of the countryside.

We went to tried to go to sleep early, since there was nothing to do, but our berth mates were having too much fun talking until late in the evening. Our sleep was marginal that night, and at 6 a.m. our ladies decided that it was time to get up, so we had no real choice in the matter.

We decided to go to the Dining Car for some coffee. We had to go through about five cars, but the reward was a place for us to sit down for awhile. We ordered coffee, Vietnamese coffee that is made from a syrup, and enjoyed the very green and lush countryside. It had rained the night before so everything looked nice and clean.

We returned to our car to find that the ladies had put up the two middle bunks, so it was possible for us to sit, almost. One of the women picked up their plastic coffee cups, so we were happy to see that they were conscious of trash, but that came to an end when she dropped them out the window. That was disappointing because we knew there were trash bins on the train. Then the oldest woman started asking us question such as where we had come from and where we were going. When we answered her, she gave us a hard time about our pronunciation and continued to do so throughout our conversation. We just kept smiling and even gave them “Albuquerque” to pronounce, which was quite interesting. If we had it to do over again, we would not take this train.

We arrived in Hue at 8 a.m. and found a taxi to the Romance Hotel. It is a new hotel, and the room was very nice. Yen, the front office manager, welcomed us and gave us tour information. We booked a tour of the DMZ for the next day, and then we went to the room so that I could rest my foot.

In the afternoon we walked around the block looking for a place to have lunch, and we found a small, local restaurant that served hamburgers. After lunch, my foot was becoming sore so we headed back. We relaxed during the afternoon and then ate dinner at the hotel restaurant on the top floor. Our server was the most delightful young woman named Pha. Her English was quite good, and she was very happy to talk with us. The next morning she was back at work so we chatted again during breakfast.

When we booked our tour of the DMZ, we decided to take a private tour, mainly because of my foot. The public tour could have included up to 50 people and would last 12 hours. I couldn’t see climbing up and down the bus steps all day long. Our driver Tien picked us up at 8:30, and we began our two-hour drive to the DMZ. We drove through small towns and a country side full of rice paddies. When we arrived at Dong Ha, our guide Mr. Tahm joined us. He is 57 years old so he was 15 in 1968, and he shared some stories about the area with us.

On our way to the tunnels, we stopped at a monument to the couriers during the war. There was also a statue dedicated to the women in the south waiting for their husbands to come home.
We drove to the Hien Luong Bridge on the Ben Hai River. This bridge divided the north and south from 1954 to 1956, when reunification was to take place. This did not happen and, for a number of reasons, America was eventually drawn into the war after the withdrawal of the French.

Our next stop was the Vinh Moc Tunnels. We had to drive quite a distance on a dirt road through the country side. Mr. Tahm took us to the museum on the site, and then we walked to one of the entrances. The tunnel went down about 36 to 40 feet. We saw alcoves off the main tunnel where families lived. The alcoves were about 5 feet high, 4 feet wide, and 10 feet deep. There was a maternity alcove about the same size. There was also a hospital, a nursery, and a kindergarten. The tunnels were on the shore of the Gulf of Tonkin so they had fresh air coming from the sea that funneled through the tunnels. We went down to the second level, which was about 47 feet. The tunnels were dark but illuminated by lights every now and then. The tour was very interesting; however, I was happy when we exited the tunnels.

After the tunnels, our tour seemed to fall apart. Mr. Tahm and our driver drove us by the beach on the Gulf of Tonkin and then back to Dong Ha where we ate lunch at a nice restaurant. After that Mr. Tahm said that he needed to leave, and our driver would take us back to Hue. Tien drove us back by another road so at least we had a chance to see new scenery. We did get caught in traffic when we came upon a traffic accident. Tien just drove past the backed-up trucks until he pulled up right at the wreck. Then it was only a few minutes before we were able to squeeze on the side of the road to get past the wreck.

We returned to Hue around 3:15 and Tien dropped us off at our hotel. We were very disappointed in our tour and regretted booking the private tour. We felt that Mr. Tahm and Tien were rushing us through so that they would be done early. We continue to learn as we go.

Today we went out on our own and walked across the river to the Citadel, which houses the Forbidden Purple City. The construction started in1805 under the reign of Emperor Gia Long and was completed in 1832 under the reign of Emperor Ming Mang. We saw a model in the palace that showed the complete layout. It was square in shape, was almost 7 miles in circumference, and included around 140 buildings. We enjoyed walking around the grounds and looking at the remnants of different buildings, some in better shape than others. This was well worth our time.

We walked back over the river and ended up eating lunch at the Hot Tuna Restaurant, which was just average. My foot was beginning to ache so we returned to our room. Later we enjoyed dinner at Little Italy Restaurant where we had ravioli and lasagna.
We leave in the morning on the bus to Hoi An. It is supposed to be a 4- to 5-hour bus ride—we shall see.

Hanoi, Vietnam

2011-03-01T00:42:00.000-08:00

March 1, 2011—We took off from Vientiane right on time. This time we flew in a bigger, newer turboprop plane. We even received a nice little snack and a drink on the way. We landed at Hanoi Airport and were transported in a bus to Immigration where we turned in our letter authorizing a 30-day visa. One is not allowed into Vietnam without either a previously applied for visa or a letter authorizing a visa. It took only a few minutes and our visas were ready. We paid our $50, received our passports, and headed to our baggage claim.

As we left with our bags, we met our driver, who took us to his car. As we pulled out of the parking lot, we were amazed at the traffic. There were cars and motor scooters everywhere. We drove for about an hour to get to our hotel. The most amazing site on our drive was a man on a scooter with a small cow on the back of the seat. The cow was alive and hogtied with its back against the driver, and its legs were hanging off the back. Steve tried to get a picture, but our kamikaze driver was going too fast. We did, at one point, get a picture of this man with a tree on his cycle, and a family of four sharing their scooter. If we thought that Thailand was bad, Hanoi is even worse.

He stopped on the street, and Sun, from our Especen Hotel, met us. He helped Steve with our bags, and then we followed him down an alley, made a left into another alley, and there we were at the Especen Hotel. We checked in and were shown to our room—on the fifth floor, which meant climbing 80 stairs because there was no elevator. The room was large was pretty basic. It was clean so it was fine.

We put our things away, relaxed for a little while, and then headed out for dinner. We found a nice restaurant in our alley and enjoyed a delicious meal. The city at night is vibrant. There was still traffic going in all directions. Red lights apply only to cars, usually. Motor scooters don’t seem to pay attention to them. We walked along just enjoying the sights and watching the people. People were out on the sidewalks eating or just enjoying a drink. They sat on child-size stools sitting at child-size tables.

We walked along for quite awhile and went into several shops to browse. We stopped at a bakery and bought some tiramisu for dessert. The people were not as friendly as in Thailand and Laos, but they were not unfriendly either. They were just a bit standoffish. After about three hours, we decided to call it a night and returned to our hotel.

The next day had to spend some time dealing with hotel and airline reservations for our trip to Hoi An. We then walked a few blocks where we found a nice coffee bar so that we could get a caffeine fix. The coffee here is quite strong so I usually need to add some water. Steve, on the other hand, loves it.

We continued down the street to the Hoa Lo Prison Museum, better known as the “Hanoi Hilton.” We walked through the museum. The French built the prison during the 1880s but was used in the 1930s to imprison the Vietnamese revolutionaries led by Ho Chi Minh. There was a section on the American POWs with pictures and written documents, and we found that part quite biased. The pictures of the POWs eating Christmas dinner, decorating a Christmas tree, playing basketball, and shooting pool were hard to take. We had read about the bias, so we thought that we were prepared; however, it bothered us more than we expected. It did, however, cause us both to feel a tremendous amount of pride in and respect for the Americans who were held here.

We left in a somber mood and decided that we should eat some lunch. We ended up at a local restaurant close to our hotel and enjoyed noodle soup with beef brisket and shallots. From the restaurant we walked around Lake Hoan Kiem to the post office, where we bought some post cards and stamps. We continued around the lake to the market district where there were too many stores to look in. Steve did find a baseball cap for $4. We stopped to have a cold beer at Legend’s Brew Pub on the second floor of a building. From our table on the balcony, we sat and were entertained by the traffic chaos that was occurring in the street. There was a roundy-round, but the traffic ignored it. It turned out that the only thing it was good for was parking spots.

Now it was time to return to the hotel for a few hours. We had decided that we would climb those 80 stairs twice a day. Once in the afternoon and once at night—it’s all our bodies could take. Around 6:30 we left to find a street-side food hawker that we had seen the night before. It took us a little while, but we finally found it and sat down at a miniature table on miniature stools. Steve went up and ordered chicken, beef, and prawn shish kabobs with bread for us. A young lady soon delivered the skewers and bread spread with honey and grilled. It was very good food, and we were stuffed when we left.

We needed to walk off dinner, so we just strolled around the streets for awhile. I wanted to find some orange juice, but after looking up and down our street, we gave up. Steve stepped off the curb to cross the street, but I stopped to check for traffic. When I did step down, I rolled my left foot on the curb and went down—hearing cracking as I went. The curbs here meet the street at an angle so it is easier to fall. Steve came running back toy see if I was alright. I was able to get up, but I could not walk very well. We managed to get back to the hotel, where I had to deal with the 80 steps. We immediately put ice on my foot, and I took Ibuprophen. We decided to wait until morning to see how it was.

I had an uncomfortable night and in the morning my foot was swollen and very sore. Steve went online to check the U.S. Embassy site. He was able to find a medical clinic listed there, so we called and were told to come in at 9 o’clock. We had packed the night before, so we left the room and made our way down to the lobby. We had scheduled a city tour for the day so we had to cancel it. We checked out, and Sun, the manager, called a taxi for us. We were driving in morning rush hour, so it was again quite entertaining. The motor scooters would go by the taxi, scraping the handlebars as they went. What’s really amazing is that we have seen very expensive cars—BMWs, Mercedes, Audis— on these streets.

We arrived at the clinic early, but the doctor came to look at my foot almost immediately. He ordered an xray and then called me in. Luckily, I had not broken any bones. He felt that I had a severe sprain and perhaps a pulled tendon. He gave me a long-acting anti-inflammatory and the nurse wrapped my foot in an ace bandage. He said that I should stay off the foot for two days, and after that I should take it easy for a week or two. I thanked him for the excellent care and went to pay the bill, which was $149 USD.

Our next step was to find a hotel where we could hang out for the day since our train did not leave until 7 p.m. Once again, Steve got online and found one close to the train station. We were able to get a room for the day at the Eternity Hotel, which turned out to be a lovely hotel. I worked on the pictures and the blog. Steve was able to soak in a large bathtub—what a treat.
The train to Hue will take about 13 hours. We should arrive around 8 o’clock in the morning. We have read contradictory information about this trip, so we will just have to wait and see how it goes.

I hope you enjoy this video. I was not able to edit it, but we got a kick out of it.

Travel through Laos

2011-02-26T06:42:00.000-08:00

February 26, 2011—We checked into the New Daraphet Hotel and then went to enjoy dinner. The hotel was in the middle of the tourist area so we did not have any trouble finding some delicious Lao food. When we returned to our room for the night, we discovered that it was not really very clean, but since it was late, we stayed that night and then checked out the next morning. Luang Prabang is a popular tourist area, so rooms were not easy to come by, but we were able to get a lovely room at the Villa Nagara, which overlooks the Nam Khan River.

We left the Nagara on bicycles to find a good place for lunch. First we stopped at the All Lao Travel Agency to book our flight to Hanoi. Unfortunately, we could not get a direct flight to Hanoi, so we booked a flight to Vientiane, the capital of Laos, and from there we would fly to Hanoi. We then enjoyed a wonderful hamburger at the Restaurant Luang Prabang where we met a lovely couple from England.

After lunch we rode down the main street to get an idea of the area. We returned the bicycles later in the afternoon and then got ready to meet Gemma and Bennie for dinner. We met them on the street and decided to eat at the Coconut Garden Restaurant, where we enjoyed a wonderful meal of Lao food. After dinner we said goodbye to Gemma and Bennie as they would be heading back to Holland soon.

We spent the next day looking through the shops along the main street. We visited several wats, one of which was at the top of a hill and to get to the top we had to climb over three hundred steps that were quite steep. From the top of this hill we had a 360-degree view of Luang Prabang. We walked along the hilltop enjoying all the Buddhas. One site was of the footprint of Buddha, which was on the side of the walk and painted with gold paint. When we were done, we decided to enjoy a very good pizza.

After lunch we decided to stop at a silversmith’s shop to look at a necklace. We were able to watch the workmen hammering decorative silver bowls, and I found a very nice necklace that we purchased. It was quite warm so we returned to our room to relax and cool off. Later in the evening we returned to town to have a light dinner and then walked around a typical tourist night market. We could not believe the amount of “stuff” that was for sale.

Our last full day in town we got up at 5:40 in the morning so that we could witness the “giving of alms” to the monks from the temple. A young man from our hotel walked with us up one street to the temple and helped us buy two baskets of sticky rice for the monks. We crossed the street and stepped onto the sidewalk where mats had been laid out. We tied a sash diagonally from our left shoulders down and under our right arms, and then we waited. It was dark when we arrived at the street, but now the sun was coming up, and we finally saw the monks approaching. All along the street tourists and locals had lined up with their offerings for the monks. We knelt down, and when the monks passed in front of us, we put a spoonful of rice into their alms bowls, while other people gave fruit or something else. We were glad that we participated in this ceremony, but while it was once a traditional event, it has really just become a tourist attraction.

After the ceremony we returned to have a good breakfast and then got ready for the day. We went to the Post Office to drop off some post cards, and then we walked to the Luang Prabang National Museum and walked through the displays. The royal family was overthrown in 1975 when the Communists came into power and taken to a re-education camp where they died in 1980. The display consisted of the thrones, furniture, and clothing of the last three kings. The displays were sparse, but it was still very informative. We also viewed the king’s car collection from the fifties and sixties. There were three Lincoln Continentals that were gifts from the United States.

After the museum we walked through the royal wat that was built on the same grounds. It was the most beautiful one that we have seen. There was no Buddha inside, but once a year the Buddha is carried from the museum to the wat for a festival.

We decided to eat lunch at the Joma Bakery just down the road where we enjoyed a Reuben Sandwich and a Taco Salad, both of which were quite good and gave us a break from the local Lao food. We then worked our way back to the hotel to finish making reservations for the next few legs of our trip and to allow me to write the blog. That evening Steve went out and brought back a wonderful pizza--the best that we have had in a long time.

On Friday, January 25, we enjoyed another delicious breakfast and the packed up our bags. Our driver arrived at 11 o’clock to drive us to the airport. When we arrived and went to check in, the ticket agent told us that there was an earlier flight leaving in about 20 minutes, and there were seats available. We checked our bags, went through security, and the hurried to the boarding station. Soon after we boarded the plane and took off for Vientiane.

The 40-minute flight on Lao Airlines was uneventful. Steve purchased a taxi ticket, and after we picked up our bags, the driver took us to Hotel Win. The hotel was basic but clean and the owner was very helpful. She scheduled us for a guided tour the next day. We decided to eat lunch at the Swedish Bakery where we enjoyed delicious lasagna. We then took a walk around the downtown area. We passed the U.S. Embassy and found some interesting stores. Then it was back to the hotel to cool off and get ready for dinner.

For dinner we decided to walk back down to the area of a local food festival. There were many food stalls set up, but we decided on a grilled-food restaurant. We went inside and took a seat. The place looked brand new, and only later did we discover that it was their opening night. Unfortunately, things were not going smoothly. Steve ordered a filet, and I had fish. The food was delicious; however, the service was slow, and when we finished, it took me forever to pay for the meal.

The next morning we ate a quick breakfast and then met Va, our guide for the day. He drove us first to the Patuxai or Victory Gate, which included a lovely fountain. The concrete for the monument was donated by the U.S., although it was supposed to go towards a new airport instead. So now it is nicknamed “the Vertical Runway.”

From the monument we went to That Luang, which is the national symbol of Laos. There were two wats around That Luang so we walked around to look at them, but we were not allowed inside because they were under reconstruction.

Our next stop was Buddha Park. The park was built in 1958, and it has statues of just about every Buddhist or Hindu deity imaginable. It was Saturday so the park was filled with children in their school uniforms, which made it a bit hectic. We did, however, enjoy walking around all the statues.

By now we were hungry so Va stopped at a restaurant. The grounds had small, covered sitting areas around a pond. The atmosphere was quite nice, but, unfortunately, the food was lacking. The chicken was the toughest we have ever had.

Our last stop was at two more wats. The first one, Thanon Setthathirat held a replica of the Emerald Buddha, which is really quite small. The original somehow ended up in Thailand. Across the street was the oldest standing temple, Wat Si Saket. We are now completely watted out so don’t expect too many more wat reports.

By now we were pretty tired, and it was getting hot, so we asked Va to take back to the hotel. We had seen everything that we wanted to, and Va was a very good guide. We cooled off for awhile and then went out to buy some French bread and Gouda cheese for dinner. We spent the evening downloading our pictures and getting ready for our flight in the morning. Next stop Hanoi.

Mekong River Cruise

2011-02-23T18:08:00.000-08:00

February 23, 2011—The morning of February 20, we ate a quick breakfast and then waited for our ride. Mr. Adisak arrived right on time and drove us to the Thai boat dock where we checked out of Thailand. We then boarded a small, narrow boat that took us across to Huay Xai on the Laos side of the Mekong. We had our paperwork prepared so it was just a matter of handing the officials our passports and papers. The problem was that there were about 100 people there at the same time trying to process their visas.

We had to wait a few minutes for the processing, so Steve took our bags across the street to a restaurant to wait while I stood with the hordes. I thought that the official would call out our name, but I quickly realized that she would just hold the passport out the window with the picture showing. I was lucky to spot Steve’s passport, so I elbowed my way through the crowd, collected our two passports, and paid our $72 fee. Then it was just a matter of waiting for the rest of our group of 15 people to finish.

We were driven to our boat on the river, where we loaded our bags and took a seat. The boat was approximately 100 feet long, quite narrow, and made of wood on an aluminum hull. The captain sat at the helm in the front, and then there were two sections of seats facing inboard with a sliding panel overhead to let in the sun. The middle section contained about eight rows of bus-like seats, two on each side, with a table in front of the seats. Further aft was a large table for buffet lunches and a small bar. After that came two toilets, and, finally, the engine compartment and the family’s living quarters in the rear.

We left the shore and headed down the Mekong River. There was quite a current, and the boat was moving right along at about eight knots of speed. We are at the end of the dry season, so the water level was low, but the current was still quite strong. At regular intervals we would be passed by the “high-speed” boats that also take passengers down river. The smart passengers wore helmets as there have been fatalities in these very fast boats.

As we moved along the river, we saw many women panning for gold along the shoreline while the men were fishing from the rocks at the edge of the water. We saw this scene all along the river. Also along the river were herds of water buffalo who were lounging in the shallow water in order to stay cool and some goats grazing on the grass near the river.

Phet, our guide, was very informative about the Lao people and how they live. Just before lunch we stopped at the Lao village Ban Huoy Phalam and were allowed to walk around. The people were a bit elusive but courteous. They went about washing clothes—one little girl washing her dress was about three years old—and cooking. Their homes were made of bamboo and wood with thatched roofs and were built on stilts. The usual roosters, ducks, pigs, and dogs were present. The government recently brought electricity to the village, and there was the ever surprising satellite dish. We made a contribution to the school fund in appreciation for their allowing us to visit their homes.

After our visit we enjoyed a delicious lunch that was prepared by the captain’s wife. The meal included fish, rice, sautéed eggplant with chicken, yellow curry with chicken, and fruit. There was always tea, coffee, and water for us to drink.

We continued down the river, at times going through some amazing rapids. We were both surprised by the geography of the river bed. Because it was low tide, there were many large rock formations that were quite jagged. Also, where the water flowed in a bend of the river, huge amounts of beautiful sand that had piled up after being carried down during the wet season when the river was full. Many times, the river channel became quite narrow, and that is where the rapids would develop. Steve and I gained a great deal of respect for the captain as we watched him navigate his 100-foot long boat through these narrow gaps. It was quite thrilling!

In the afternoon we passed the point of the Laos and Thailand border. The scenery down the river was really quite beautiful but not as lush as we had expected. We had to remind ourselves that it is the dry season so things are not as green. All along the way we saw teak trees that had been planted on the hillside. The locals also plant peanuts and other vegetables in the sand mounds during the dry season.

Around five o’clock the captain pulled the boat to the shore at the town of Pak Beng. We walked up the hill to the Villa Phathama, which was quite nice with floors and walls finished in teak. We put our things in the room and then left to have dinner with Phet, Gemma and Bennie from Holland, Arin and Simon from Australia, and Roy from New Zealand. We walked up the road to see the town, and then we enjoyed a nice dinner at the Bakery Café. After dinner Phet brought a bottle of Lao-Lao, which is Lao whiskey, to the table. We all had a taste, and I have to say that it was pretty bad. Lao beer, however, is quite good.

By now it was getting late, and I needed to download our pictures so we returned to our hotel with Bennie and Gemma. I spent the next hour working with our photos, and then we called it a night. Unfortunately, we did not sleep well, but we were ready to continue early the next morning. After breakfast, we packed up and walked down to the boat.

Our boat left at 8 o’clock, and we continued down the river. It was quite cool in the morning because of the fog in the canyon so we ended up using the blankets that had been placed on our table. The sides of the canyon now became steeper and the vegetation, greener.

Around 11 o’clock we stopped at a Hmong Village. The Hmong homes were different in that they were built on the ground. Only a few homes had electricity, but there was another satellite dish. As we approached the village, several girls came to meet us with souvenirs to buy. Most were items with embroidery on them that had been sewn by the women. We continued up to the village and walked around. Most of the women had laid out their goods to sell, and the children continued to follow us with their items. Unfortunately, it made it difficult to focus on the people and buildings, but we did enjoy the tour.

After the village we continued down the river and enjoyed another great lunch with fried chicken, rice, sautéed vegetables, and watermelon. As we moved along, we passed many fishermen casting nets from their boats or using a net from the rocks. There were also boats moving up and down the river carrying cargo. One boat had a cargo of brand new motor scooters. The Mekong really is a river of life for the Laotian people.

We went through more rapids, some of which were quite exciting. At the top of many of the rock ridges in the middle of the river were concrete depth markers, some of which had been hit by boats coming down the river at higher water. The rocks where quite jagged all the way down the river.

Our last stop was at the Pak Ou cave, which contains many Buddhas of different sizes brought by local people over the years. We left the main cave and climbed 187 steps to smaller cave higher up the hill, which gave us a great workout. Once we went inside, it was dark enough that we needed a flashlight in order to see. Inside there were more Buddha icons and trinkets grouped around a larger Buddha.

After leaving the cave we returned to the boat and made our way down the last section of the river to the main pier at Luang Prabang. Once the boat was tied up, we thanked the captain and walked up the hill to the main street. Phet had arranged for a tuk-tuk for us, and the driver was waiting for us when we arrived at the street so we climbed in and rode to the New Daraphet Hotel down the road.

Our trip down the Mekong River was very special, and we are so happy that we were able to experience it. It was the trip of a lifetime.

Future Plans of sv Linda

2011-02-22T19:01:00.001-08:00

February 22, 2011--Well, things change frequently for those of us cruising the oceans of the world. That seems to apply to us so we will update you with our latest change of plans.

With the recent capture and murder of the crew of s/v QUEST (4 Americans aboard), the expanding range of the Somali pirates into the Indian Ocean, and the increasing instability of the Middle East, we think that the best course of action is for us to choose a different direction to point the bow of sv LINDA. The only other reasonable choice for us is to round the Cape of Good Hope around South Africa, head across the Southern Atlantic Ocean to Brazil, and then go through the Panama Canal to Mexico.

This change definitely has implications for our travel plans. Since the best travel time in the Southern Indian Ocean is in the Southern Ocean summer, we will begin heading back south towards Singapore in April/May. We will do some minor repairs and major provisioning and then head back south through Indonesia in July with the intention of reaching Jakarta, Indonesia, in the August time frame. Turning west we will sail the thousands of miles across the Southern Indian Ocean to Mauritius Island with possible stops at Rodriguez Island, Cocos Keeling Islands, and possibly Christmas Island. Hopefully, that will position us for the eleven hundred miles passage to South Africa sometime in mid-November. Working our way southwest to Cape Town against the southeast Agulhas Current will be our biggest weather challenge, but, hopefully, we will be in Cape Town by early December such that we can make a quick trip home for Christmas.

It will be a short trip home as we need to get back in order to leave South Africa by mid-February. The trip diagonally across the South Atlantic Ocean is 5,000 miles with stops at St. Helena (Napoleon's island of imprisonment), and then, with a little luck, after 30 to 40 days at sea we should arrive in Brazil. From there the trip is only a few thousand miles through the Panama Canal and up the west coast of Central America to San Carlos, Mexico.

We feel that, given the world's situation, this is the only reasonable decision we could make. This decision results in the addition of many miles to our voyage but will actually get us back to the US a bit sooner and, most importantly, will minimize the risk of being captured, or even killed, by pirates. When we look at the decision in this light, it is not a difficult decision to make.

From the Crew of s/v LINDA (Currently touring Laos), Steve & Linda

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Chiang Rai and Chiang Khong

2011-02-19T04:36:00.000-08:00

February 19, 2011—We woke up the morning of February 16 and found that we were still quite sore from riding the elephants plus we were a bit tired from our travels so we decided to spend an extra day in Chiang Rai. We enjoyed our breakfast and then returned to the room so that I could work on the blog, and Steve could write in his journal.

Around noon we walked to the main street looking for a place to have lunch. We ended up at da Vinci’s where we enjoyed a Hawaiian Pizza and beer. After lunch we again returned to our room, which was nice and cool because of the air-conditioning. I was able to finish the blog and catch up on my journal as well.

For dinner we walked to the Night Bazaar, which was only a block away. I ordered two shish-kabobs, and Steve ordered grilled prawns, which turned out to be overcooked. We also found some yummy looking fried insects—cockroaches, caterpillars, etc.

We then took our time walking around the bazaar looking at all the lovely things for sale. Steve bought a woven bracelet, and I found an elephant necklace. We then treated ourselves to a Swenson’s ice cream, and as we were on our way back to the hotel, we saw a barber shop that was still open. Steve went in and had a haircut and full shave for 120 baht or $4. The barber was quite a "ham" when I took the picture.

On Thursday, we walked to the post office to mail some postcards, and on the way we discovered the Wat Klang Wiang (more temples). Then we walked until we found the Central Market, which was very interesting. From there we went by the new Mosque, which was very impressive. Next we discovered the Golden Clock that was very ornate and beautiful. I wanted to have my hair cut so we returned to the same barber, and he cut my hair and gave me a shampoo for 120 baht or $4. I was very happy with the cut.

We enjoyed lunch at a local restaurant and made our next stop the Peak Spa where we scheduled massages for 4 p.m. We didn’t have time to make a trip up to a hill tribe, but we did visit a museum in town that had excellent displays and a video about the hill tribes. As we left the museum, we passed the remains of the prison so we walked around to have a look at it.

Now it was time to return to our room to change for our massage. We returned to the spa and enjoyed a head/neck/back massage, as well as a foot massage. An hour later, we were done and felt much better. Around 6:30 we walked to the Phu-Lae Restaurant for a spicy curry dinner.

The morning of February 18, we got up early and ate breakfast. We had packed our bags the night before so that we would be ready to leave at 9:15 to catch the bus to Chiang Kong. Luckily, the hotel was just two blocks from the bus station, so we loaded our backpacks and headed over there. A lady asked us where we were going, and when we told her Chiang Kong, she directed us to a bus; however, this bus did not leave until 10 a.m., but that was fine so we loaded our bags and picked a good seat by the door.

We left on time and enjoyed the ride on the third-class bus filled with locals. There was no AC, but the open door gave us plenty of air, and it even got a bit cool for me. We realized on the ride that these buses are privately owned so the woman had sent us to her bus that was driven by her husband and not the 9:30 bus. The ride took two hours and the scenery along the way was very pretty. It is the end of the dry season, so things are starting to become dryer, but when the rains begin in April or May, I am sure that things will become much greener.

We arrived in Chiang Kong at noon and hired a motorcycle tuk-tuk to take us to our hotel. When we put our bags in the back and climbed in, the cycle came up off the ground. We had to move our weight forward and when the driver got on the cycle, it came all the way back down. It was worth the fee because the hotel was further than we thought.

We checked into the Nam Kong Riverview Hotel, which is situated right on the Mekong River. Our room looks out over the Mekong and Laos on the other side. It is a nice facility with a restaurant. We enjoyed lunch there and then took a quick walk just north of town. When we returned, we enjoyed some time sitting on the deck overlooking the river.

At dinner time, we decided to have a light meal so we returned to the restaurant. Unfortunately, two buses of tourists had arrived and filled the hotel. We arrived at the restaurant before the hordes descended, but we received only our drink order. After an hour of waiting for our soup, we just got up, paid our bill, and left. We ended up at the Bamboo Mexican House where we enjoyed pumpkin soup and chicken quesadillas. The food was marvelous, and it was nice to have some good Mexican food for a change. When we returned to the hotel, the tourists were really enjoying themselves and were setting off fire crackers well into the evening so it was difficult to get any sleep.

In the morning we waited to eat breakfast until the large group was finished. Unfortunately, by the time we could get a table, the food was basically gone. We decided not to stay another night if another bus would be coming in. While the buses were being loaded, we walked up the street and found a lovely new hotel that had a room for us. Knowing that, we returned and asked to speak to the manager. We told him about the problems we had the night before and asked if another bus was coming in. He told us no, so we said that we would not check out but would stay another night. After that he offered to serve us a hot breakfast, and we agreed.

We walked through town after breakfast, but there is really very little to see here. It is a small town, and the only real reason people come here is to catch the boat ride down the Mekong to Luang Prabang, which is what we will do tomorrow morning. Therefore, we decided to buy some wonderful home-made bread at the Bamboo Mexican House and go back to the hotel so that I could write this blog, and Steve could check into our schedule for tomorrow.

In the late afternoon we walked down to the Mekong so that we could dip our feet in the water, and a little later we enjoyed a delicious dinner of green chicken curry, which would give green chili a run for its money. Tomorrow we leave to take a two-day boat trip down the Mekong River to Luang Prabang, Laos.

On another note, the news regarding the Somali pirates taking a U.S. flagged yacht, and the fact that the world governments are hesitant to deal with the situation, we are now rethinking our plans for continuing west through the Suez Canal. We are monitoring the news carefully and following the boats that we know are crossing this year. Our other alternative is to go to South Africa, which involves sailing more miles but a lot less stress; however, it will mean leaving Malaysia this year instead of next January. We will decide within the next month what we will do.

Bangkok to Chiang Mai, Thailand

2011-02-15T21:26:00.000-08:00

February 16, 2011—Our train for Chiang Mai did not leave until 6:10 p.m. so we took our time getting ready in the morning, and around noon we left for the train station. We were able to leave our bags at “Left Luggage” and then walk to China Town. Unfortunately, it was Saturday and the streets were packed. What a surprise!

We walked down the main street and then turned up an alley way that was filled with shops. The path through the shops was so narrow that we walked single file; however, that did not stop motor scooters from using the path as well. At one point, a small truck was trying to drive through as well. We soon made our way out and found an air-conditioned restaurant for lunch.

After lunch we walked back to the train station. We had a few hours to wait, but it was interesting to watch all the people at the station. An hour before our train was to leave, we were able to board and stow our bags. This trip was in a second-class car, which meant that Steve and I each had a wide seat during the day, and then at night our two facing seats made up one bunk with a drop-down bunk above. There were curtains for privacy, and the bunks were quite comfortable plus the car was air-conditioned.

Across the aisle from us were an American and his Pilipino wife who live in the Philippines but travel six months of the year. Larry and Helen sat and talked with us for quite awhile, and we really enjoyed meeting them.

The porter made up our bunks around 9 o’clock, and we called it a night. We did not sleep very well, but we came into Chiang Mai at 7:30 in the morning and were able to check into the Galare Guest House when we arrived. The Galare is a lovely Thai styled facility by the river with a restaurant, and they offer wifi, laundry, and tour services.

We decided that we wanted to take an elephant tour, so they booked us for Monday. As soon as we could, we walked into town to look around. Chiang Mai is a city of around 174,000 people, and it is so much more enjoyable than Bangkok. It is still a tourist city, but it is very clean, the people are friendly, and we didn’t have any trouble with scammers.

We spent the day walking around to see even more Wats. The temples here are not as grand, but they are still beautiful. We enjoyed lunch in town, and we walked through the market that was being set up near the old wall that used to surround the city. Later we walked to the Night Bazaar to look around. The Bazaar is definitely a tourist event, but it was still interesting to look at all the stuff that was for sale. We enjoyed dinner at an Afghani restaurant, and then went to McDonald’s for an ice cream. After that we were pretty tired, so we headed back to our room.

Monday morning we got up early to have breakfast and wait for our driver to pick us up at 8:15. When he arrived, we climbed into the van and took off to pick up two other groups. One of the groups included three young ladies from Uruguay. We ended up getting to know them very well during the day, and we exchanged emails with them to share pictures.

We drove quite awhile before we arrived at in Maetamann and the Thai Elephant Home. Joe, who is one of the owners, introduced himself and then explained how we would spend the day. He gave each of us a top, pants, and a hat that we would wear. He taught us five basic commands for the elephants and also gave us some interesting facts about the Asian elephant and how it compares to the African elephant.

Our next step was to practice getting up on the elephant and giving voice and leg commands. The word “malong” meant lie down, “bai” meant go forward, “what” meant stop, and “bend” meant turn either left or right depending on your leg command. Steve’s elephant was named Boonsee, and the mahout’s name was Wimon. My elephant was named Noi and the mahout was Porn. The mahouts are the trainers, and each has his own elephant. Both elephants were rather large, and mine seemed to be a bit stubborn. Anyway, we all got up on our elephants and headed to the Waan River. We crossed the river and then began a climb up the hillside.

At first I didn’t feel very secure on the elephant, but after awhile, I became more comfortable. The only problem with my elephant was that she kept sneezing so I ended up with snot on my legs, but it wasn’t all that bad.

It was amazing to see these huge animals climbing up a narrow path on a hillside. We reached our lunch spot just about noon and dismounted the elephants. There was a covered shelter with tables and benches where we were given a delicious meal of Thai noodles with chicken and prawns that was wrapped in a banana leaf. We sat and talked with Ximena, Fernanda, and Camen from Uruguay and enjoyed our food. When we were done, the elephants got any left-over food plus the banana leaves. They didn’t really need the food because they had been grazing on the lush grass on the hillside while we were eating.

We rode the elephants up the hill a short distance and then watched as the elephants were allowed to enjoy a luxurious mud bath. It was fun to watch them throwing mud on themselves and scratching their bodies against the side of the hill. When they were done, we headed down the hill to the river for a bath. Steve and I decided to walk for awhile because if you have ever been sore after riding a horse, just imagine riding a very large elephant.

At the river Steve walked across, but I decided to ride Noi across. At the other side the riders all got off, and the elephants were allowed to get into the river and take a bath. Some of the water was deep enough for the elephants go be completely covered with water. We all joined in the river bath and had a great time splashing water on the elephants. In return the elephants would hose us down with water from their trunks, which felt good because it was a hot day so the cold water felt really nice. I got an opportunity to ride in the river on one elephant’s trunk.

Now it was time to return to the facility. We all got back on our elephants and made our way from the river to the facility. When we got back, we got off and thanked our mahouts as they led our elephants to their stalls. Then we changed our clothes and enjoyed some watermelon and cold water. It was a very interesting experience, and we thought that this was a fascinating way to spend Valentine’s Day in Thailand.

We said our goodbyes to Joe and made a donation to the facility. We all slept in the long van ride back to Chiang Mai, and Steve and I returned to the hotel very sore but determined to have a lovely dinner out. We found a place called The Duke’s and enjoyed a wonderful dinner of steak and baby back ribs. A woman came in selling roses, and Steve bought me a lovely red rose for Valentine’s Day.

The morning of February 15 we ate breakfast, and then we packed up our things so that we could check out at 11 o’clock. We took two hours to walk to the post office and then around town for one last round of looking in shops.

We caught a ride to the bus station for our bus to Chiang Rai at 2:45 p.m. We booked the VIP bus because of the larger seats and fewer people, plus the fare for the bus was only 265 baht each or $9. The drive was lovely since we are moving to the northern border of Thailand and the terrain has higher hills. After three hours we arrived in Chiang Rai and found our hotel called The North. It was now dinner time so we went to the Night Bazaar where we bought some pork satay sticks for dinner. Tomorrow we will explore Chiang Rai.

Bangkok, Thailand

2011-02-11T17:08:00.000-08:00

February 11, 2011—Yesterday we started fairly early in the morning by leaving the hotel in search of donuts. Believe it or not they sell Dunkin Donuts here in Bangkok. Good coffee, however, is a little harder to find. We bought our donuts and sat while we enjoyed eating them, and then we took the sky train and then the subway to the Central Pier.

At the pier we boarded a local water taxi to head up the canal to the Grand Palace. The current in the river was truly amazing—even more amazing was the skill of the driver in maneuvering up to each dock in order to allow passengers to get on and off. The docks were moving up and down with the waves, and it made for a thrilling departure from the boat.

We walked to the Grand Palace, and after having a local try to scam us, we decided to go on to the National Museum first. On the way we found the Amulet market area where collectors, monks, taxi drivers, and people in dangerous professions buy small talismans for protection from evil. We also saw dentures for sale along with the amulets.

We found the museum without too much difficulty and paid our fee to go in. The first exhibit was the history of Thailand, which we found very interesting. The other exhibits included examples of textiles, wood carvings, gold treasures, and weapons; and they were all very well presented. The gold, combined with small pieces of glass, gave many of the items an amazing sparkle.

After leaving the museum we walked back to the Grand Palace but stopped to enjoy lunch at a nice sandwich shop just across the street. We crossed the street and entered the Grand Palace, and grand it was. The entrance fee was 700 baht or about $24 for both of us. We were required to wear long pants, and my blouse had to cover my shoulders.

The grounds include Wat Phra Kaew Temple and the Grand Palace, which is the former residence of the Thai monarch. The grounds were consecrated in 1782, the first year of Bangkok rule. The 94.5-hectare grounds encompass more than 100 buildings that represent 200 years of royal history and architectural experimentation. There are no less than 394 gilded Buddha images, and the mosaic glass and tile work on the exteriors of the buildings was impressive.

We enjoyed walking around the grounds for about two hours. There was so much to see—so many buildings and temples. There were tourists everywhere, and it was difficult to take any pictures because someone would usually walk in front of the camera. Unfortunately, our camera just can't capture the beauty of the site. By the time we were done, we had had enough of being around so many people for awhile.

We left the palace and walked across the street to find a taxi or a tuk-tuk to get to the Golden Mount. We asked a taxi driver, but he quoted a fixed price and would not use the meter; therefore, we moved on to a tuk-tuk driver. We found one that agreed to take us for 120 baht so we got in the tuk-tuk and left. After five minutes, he pulled over and tried to pawn us off to another driver, so we started to get out. He stopped us and said everything was okay so we continued on. The drive was not fun as he was driving very fast, and the traffic was very heavy. I think that he was a bit frustrated.

There is a program here that allows you to borrow a bike and take the green path to see the downtown area. Unfortunately, the motor scooters and the tuk-tuks use the designated lane. You could not pay me enough money to get on these streets on a bike. Talk about a death wish.

Finally the driver dropped us off at a temple. We saw that it was not the one we wanted, but we were more than happy to exit the tuk-tuk. As Steve handed him the money, he said that we owed 150, but Steve just said, “You agreed to 120, and we are not even at the right temple.” We walked off and did not look back.

We were at Wat Traimit so we entered the grounds, paid our fee, and then walked up several flights of steps to the top. Inside was an amazing golden Buddha, which is 3 meters tall, weighs 5.5 tons, and is said to be solid gold. This image was “discovered” some 40 years ago beneath a stucco or plaster exterior, when it fell from a crane while being moved to a new building within the temple compound. It was worth the trouble of getting here to see it.

When we were done, we left and walked back across the canal to the train station where we took the subway and then the sky train to get back to the hotel. After resting up a bit, we left to have a nice meal out. We found a nice restaurant with good food, but the prices were a bit high.

This morning we left a little later in the morning, and we decided to try riding a local bus for a “real experience.” We walked about 10 blocks and then picked up the #79 bus. When we paid our fare of 24 baht, the conductor asked us where we were going so we told him. He informed us that we were on the wrong bus—again—and needed bus #59. We thanked him and got off at the next stop where we did finally get on the right bus.

We were looking for our stop but were not sure which one it was. Steve asked the conductor, but she did not speak English. We came to a stop and all of a sudden the monk beside me, the conductor, and the driver were all telling us to get off, so we thanked them and left.

We walked just down the street and came to the Golden Mount. The Mount part of the name comes from the fact that you must climb many steps in order to reach the temple at the top, but the good news is that you have a 360-degree view of Bangkok. The dome at the top is gold in color, but I don’t know if it is actually gold, and there was a wonderful breeze at the top, which helped to cool us off. The temple was beautiful, and the view was excellent.

After descending all the stairs, we walked to Ban Baht or the Monk’s Bowl Village. We just happened to look down an alley and saw what we thought was the village so we entered. A woman asked if we were looking for a bowl. When we said yes, she led us to Mr. Somak Buppachart, who is master in the craft. The bowls are used by the monks to receive alms from the people. The craft has been carried on for a long time, but it almost died out several years ago. The tourist business has helped to revive it, and Mr. Buppachart hoped that it would continue.

After leaving with a beautiful bowl, we walked over the canal and found a local shop for lunch. The food was good, although a bit spicy. After lunch we went to the Wat Suthat, which is another temple. This one has very large grounds, and the priests were performing what we believe to be prayers while we were in the temple. The ashes of Rama VIII, the current king’s deceased older brother, are contained in the base of the main Buddha.

We have now had our fill of Wats or temples, at least here in Bangkok. We left and walked back to our bus stop. On the way we stopped to enjoy a cold beer just across from the Golden Mount. It turned out to be a very warm day, and the beer tasted great. We were just about at the bus stop when we came upon the King Prajadhipok Museum so we went in to look. There was no fee, and it was air-conditioned, so we decided to walk through.

The museum was actually focused more on his wife, Queen Rambhai Barni. It discussed their life together in Thailand and then in England after his abdication of the throne. It was beautifully done with many personal items belonging to both of them. There were many wonderful photographs, and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit.

By now we were pretty tired so we found the #59 bus that took us all the way back to the Victory Monument. We got off and headed to the mall for an ice cream before returning to the room. Two hours later we left to have dinner. On our way we stopped and bought some pork on a stick for 5 baht each. They were so good that we ended up buying several more, some rice, some corn, and some papaya from the street vendors. We returned to our room where we thoroughly enjoyed our dinner, which cost us 300 baht or $3.

Tomorrow we leave round 6:30 on the train for Chiang Mai. We will have some time in the morning to walk around China Town before we leave Bangkok. We have enjoyed seeing the sights, but this is a very large, very crowded, and very busy city. There are many scammers ready to take advantage of tourists; but, luckily, we had read about it in a guide book, and that helped us to avoid any problems. There were also many wonderful and helpful locals here who are honest, hard-working people.

Langkawi to Hat Yai and Bangkok

2011-02-10T05:38:00.001-08:00

February 9, 2011—The morning of the seventh we got an early start by catching the 7:15 morning ferry across to Langkawi where a taxi driver quickly drove us to the Langkawi Ferry Terminal about 30 minutes away. We checked in with the ferry company and then went to enjoy a Starbuck’s coffee and donut. At 8:30 we cleared Immigrations and then boarded our ferry boat, which was a nice, high-speed craft.

The trip took just one hour, and then we were in Thailand where we filled out our Immigration cards, walked by Customs, and went to find our transportation. The tour company led us to a small pickup with very narrow seats in the rear. We piled in, along with 14 other people (three of whom were standing on the back bumper), and headed in to Satun. In Satun we transferred to an air-conditioned van and left for Hat Yai. I nicknamed our driver Parnelli Jones because he was driving between 80 to 85 miles per hour and weaving in and out of traffic. I closed my eyes so that I wouldn’t see the end coming; however, Steve was very interested in the situation.

After a delay because of traffic, we arrived in Hat Yai an hour later and had the driver drop us off at the train station, happy to still be in one piece. We found the Advanced Ticket Sales office and purchased our tickets to Bangkok and also Chiang Mai from a very friendly ticket agent. We were able to get first-class tickets for the train to Bangkok, but we had to buy second-class tickets for Chiang Mai.

After the train station we walked to the New Season Hotel and checked in. We needed to relax for a short time, and then we decided to go for a walk. We walked quite a ways because we were fascinated by all the shops and stalls along the streets. The most interesting thing was that a block would have large buildings on it, but then every so many feet a walkway through the building would go clear through from that street to the next parallel street. On either side of the walkway were stalls selling everything imaginable, and every walkway seemed to be selling the same stuff. It was amazing.

We found a good local restaurant where we enjoyed dinner and a cold beer. Afterward we walked a little more in order to work off the meal, and then we returned to our hotel and called it a night.

We checked out at noon the next day and walked back to the train station where we stored our bags. We needed to find an Internet store where we could print out our hotel voucher for Bangkok and Chiang Mai. We also wanted to look for a new backpack, a hair brush, and some food for the train. We took care of the first two items and then stopped to have some lunch at the Sizzler, but unfortunately, the food was not that good. After lunch we found some good local food and fruit for our trip.

At 4:30 we went back to the station to wait for our 6:05 train. I was pretty tired and was grateful for a place to sit. This afternoon I decided that my cold had gone into a sinus infection because I had not been feeling any better for several days and had other symptoms so I decided to start an antibiotic.

Our 6:05 train ended up being late, which created some stress for us because the announcements over the speaker were mainly in Thai so we were not sure when our train would arrive. Steve asked a local lady sitting close by about our train and after that she listened to the announcements for us and told us when ours was arriving.
We boarded the train and found our berth, which was fine, but I am not sure I would classify it as “first class.” Our train did not leave the station until after seven o’clock so now we would not arrive in Bangkok until noon on the ninth.

The train left the station, and we spent the last of daylight looking at the scenery going by. At nine o’clock we asked the porter to make up our bunks and, and we went to sleep. Sleep was difficult because of the movement of the train and the noise, but we did manage to sleep a bit.

On February 9 we woke up fairly early and had the porter take down the bunks. It was a lovely day, and the scenery was interesting so we just sat an enjoyed the morning. We arrived in Bangkok after noon and were able to exit the train station without being accosted by too many taxi drivers. I wanted a picture of the station, but we decided to skip it for the time being.

We found that the MRT or subway was very close and clearly marked, so we bought our tickets and headed for the River View Resort--resort is another loosely used term. We had to transfer from the MRT to the sky train, but again we found everything clearly marked and very easy. We got off a few blocks from our hotel, exited the platform, and then stopped in a mall where we had a very nice lunch and a beer for $3 each.

After lunch we walked to our hotel and checked in. A few hours later we left to just walk around the neighborhood. We found a beautiful park where many locals were relaxing, and some were eating a meal. The main street was very busy with traffic and people so we could hardly walk along the sidewalk.

We found the Victory Monument that commemorates a Thai victory over the French in 1941. It stands in the middle of a roundabout, and the six lanes of traffic were so busy that we decided not to try to cross the street but to just take a picture from the opposite curb. All along these sidewalks there were stalls selling merchandise or food and some were giving manicures. We just cannot get over the huge number of people in this country.

We ended the evening by enjoying a light dinner at a small local restaurant. After a quick stop at the Seven to Eleven we returned to the hotel and watched some TV before calling it a night. It was time to catch up on our sleep before heading out for a big day tomorrow.

Traveling to Southeast Asia

2011-02-05T22:04:00.000-08:00

February 6, 2011—Tomorrow morning we leave for a month-long tour of Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia. We had planned to leave a week ago; however, Steve came down with some virus just after we returned from Kuala Lumpur, and three days later I was sick. By the time we felt well enough to leave, we were into celebrations of the Chinese New Year when accommodations and transportation were either booked or cost three times as much. Since I wasn’t completely well, we decided to just wait until the seventh when things slow down.
The two weeks that we have been back on the boat have been spent emptying, cleaning, and removing unnecessary items from the interior lockers. I can’t decide if I am glad, or sad, to say that we found very little to get rid of. So far, we must be storing only items that we feel are important. When we return, there are storage compartments under our berth that need to be cleaned out as well.

The weather has been a bit cooler and dryer than when we left in December. The northeast trade winds have filled in, which helps to cool things off. Four or five boats that we know personally have left for Sri Lanka and the Red Sea, and we are keeping in touch with them to see how they are doing.

During our trip, I plan to post regular blogs with pictures provided we can find decent Internet, which we have heard is not always available. We are excited to visit these countries as the history is rich, and the historical sites are numerous. We hope that you will follow us along our land travels during the next month.

Lovely Way to End 2010

2011-01-28T22:35:00.000-08:00

January 28, 2011—The morning of December 8 we caught the water ferry over to Langkawi Island and took a taxi to the airport. Everything went just fine as we checked our bags, waited for the plane to arrive, and then boarded Air Asia flight 737. The flight to Kuala Lumpur, or KL as the locals call it, was just one hour, and we landed at the LCC (low cost carrier) terminal.

This is where things got interesting. We were flying EVA Air from KL to LAX via Taipei, Taiwan, so we had to get to Kuala Lumpur International Airport for that flight. You can see KLIA just across the field from the LCC terminal; however, we needed to take a bus or taxi to the international terminal. I waited for the bags while Steve purchased two tickets on the bus. We grabbed our bags and headed out the doors. We spotted the bus, hurriedly pushed our baggage cart up to it, and loaded our bags into the lower compartment. Then we hopped on board and thought we had it made.

The bus left about 15 minutes later, and we were rolling along on a very nice freeway and enjoying the lush scenery. After about 5 minutes I saw a sign that said “terminal,” but the bus just kept going so I thought that there might be more than one entrance. About 15 minutes later I told Steve that I wasn’t sure we were on the right bus. We decided to ask the local passenger in the seat across from us, and he said the bus was headed to KL Sentro—in other words, downtown KL. Panic immediately set in because we had just two hours left to get checked in with EVA Air. Steve ran up to the driver and made sure that we were on the wrong bus—which we were because they had sold us the wrong ticket —so the driver was good enough to pull over and drop us on the side of the road, along with all our baggage. As Steve was unloading the bags, I was madly waving at any passing taxi, hoping that one would pick us up. The bus pulled away, and I am sure that the occupants thought that this was all very entertaining. If we hadn’t been so busy, I would have loved to have taken a picture of the situation.

Finally a taxi pulled over, but when I turned to tell Steve, the driver started to pull away. I again began waving my arms wildly and yelling so he stopped. We loaded up all the bags, hopped into the taxi, and told him to take us to the KLIA International Airport. It took just 10 minutes to get there, and we happily paid the driver, even though our fare was about double what it should have been. Oh well, at least we would make our flight.

Our check-in went fine, security was easy, our wait was minimal, and we boarded the plane and settled in. We decided to book with EVA Air because of the larger, more comfortable seats, and it was worth it. Our flight to Taipei was about 5 hours long, with a four-hour layover, and the flight to LAX was another 15 hours.

We arrived in LA around 8 o’clock in the evening, and after clearing customs and immigration, we headed to the Radisson where we had booked a room. The next morning we walked to Budget to pick up our car, and then we headed south to San Diego. Steve’s license had been lost in Singapore so that meant that I had to drive, and I handled it all quite well, if I do say so myself.

We arrived in San Diego around one o’clock and stopped by quickly to visit with our daughter Drue at her work. We then returned the rental and caught the shuttle to the terminal. Steve was flying on to Albuquerque, but I was staying for a long weekend with the girls. Our daughter Brie, along with our precious granddaughter Riley, picked me up at 3 o’clock so Steve had a chance to see them before he left.

The weekend was great fun. I got to babysit Riley on Friday morning while Brie and her husband Tim were at work, we girls all took a long walk on Saturday afternoon, and I babysat for Riley and Parker (Drue’s dog) on Saturday night while Brie and Tim, and Drue were at office parties. Then it was time for me to leave for Albuquerque on Sunday afternoon.

The days until Christmas were filled with taking care of our annual appointments and catching up with family and friends. It was great to be home with Zelda, James, and Tim. We finished our Christmas shopping and helped Zelda decorate the house and put up the tree.

By December 24 all the kids had arrived from San Diego, and they joined Zelda, the boys, and us for candlelight service. Before the service James and Tim helped us set up the luminarias and light the candles, which is a New Mexican tradition.

Christmas morning everyone gathered at Zelda’s for breakfast and to open gifts. It was really fun to watch Riley opening her gifts, although she found the wrapping paper and bows or anything with buttons more interesting. The girls, Tim, and Riley had to leave around noon, but James and Tim stayed for dinner later in the afternoon. It was a great Christmas!

Over the next few days, we spent time with the kids and Riley, and Steve and I took Riley to the Aquarium one afternoon. By December 30 they had all headed back to San Diego, so now our attention turned to all the parts we had ordered for the boat. The boxes had been coming in on a regular basis, and we had to figure out how to pack it all in our suitcases. Our goodies included 12 yards of canvas material, a jig saw, new wiring, a sink faucet, books, a percolator, four jars of green chili sauce, and six jars of Zelda’s homemade grape jelly, four of which were for the kids in San Diego, as well as our clothes, shoes, and sundries. We were able to get it all into two large rolling suitcases and our two backpacking packs, all of which were quite heavy.

We spent the last two weeks in Albuquerque enjoying lunches and dinners with friends, and we were able to spend time with the Zelda and the boys.

We ate out way too often as the scales would show, and before we knew it, it was time to catch our plane back to San Diego on January 15 to spend our last three days with Riley and the kids. Monday was a holiday for Drue, so she joined us in taking Riley to the San Diego Zoo for an afternoon of fun. Tuesday afternoon Brie picked us up and drove us up to LAX to catch our late-night flight back to Kuala Lumpur.

The return trip was a little longer with the same stop in Taipei. We arrived in KL at 2:30 in the afternoon and spent an hour in line to clear in with Immigrations and Customs. We then found our driver who had come to take us to the Hotel Maya in KL. Before we left Malaysia, we booked an online special of a deluxe suite for three nights for the price of two. The hotel was lovely and the room was grand. From the 18th floor we had an excellent view of the Petronas Towers just two blocks away.

We spent the first afternoon and evening just recovering from 30 hours of travel time, and Steve took advantage of the oversized bath tub and hot running water. The next day we walked to the Towers and spent quite a bit of time taking pictures of this amazing structure. We walked all around the square enjoying the lovely grounds, and then it was time to go inside to walk through the four-story mall. We enjoyed lunch at a Thai restaurant and then returned to the hotel for a quick stop.

We wanted to get some exercise so we decided to walk to the KL Tower. On the way we stopped at the visitors’ welcome center where we found a shop that sold nothing but chocolates—all types. After a decent walk we arrived at the Tower, which is 1370 feet high and has a 360-degree view of Kuala Lumpur. We purchased our tickets and rode the elevator to the observation level, which is about two-thirds of the way up. The view was spectacular, and at each of the eleven stations there was a picture of the view that labeled the major buildings. After returning to the first floor, we walked through the adjoining reptile and bird exhibit that had more snakes than I care to see. The exhibit was really quite extensive and each cage gave information about the species and its natural habitat.

On our walk back to the hotel, we stopped in at the Hard Rock Café to enjoy a cold beer and an apple cobbler. Thank goodness we split it because it was huge. We arrived back at the hotel late in the afternoon and a bit tired, but overall we really enjoyed the day.

Our last full day in KL we decided to take the KTM train to see Little India. When we got to the station, we walked a short distance to the Masjid Jamek Mosque, where we were welcomed and invited in. I was given a gown and a head scarf to wear while we walked around the lovely structure.

Our next stop was Merdeka Square, which is an open cricket field. On August 31, 1957, Malaysia’s independence was proclaimed here. Across the street were some wonderful colonial buildings, which are a mix of Victorian, Moorish, and Mogul architecture, and include the National History Museum and the Memorial Library.

We left the area and headed to Little India where we walked around looking at all the goods in the shops. The number of fabric stores was amazing; one store had four floors just for fabric. We stopped at the Sabar Café to enjoy a lunch of chicken tikka masala and curry butter chicken, both of which were excellent.

We decided to walk back to the hotel to rest for a few hours, and then we returned to the light rail and headed to China Town late in the afternoon. Red lanterns strung overhead made it easy for us to find the right area. One street, named Petaling Street, was completely closed off and filled with hawker stalls. There was barely enough room to walk between the stalls, and people were everywhere. We never knew that one could cram so much stuff—watches, purses, cell phone cases, shoes, shirts, jewelry, etc.—into such a small area. It was quite interesting to see Rolex watches, Tiffany jewelry, Gucci handbags, and other name brand items, which really weren’t authentic, for sale.

Next we walked a few blocks away to see the Sri Mahamariamman Temple with its beautiful and ornate façade and then decided that we had seen enough for one afternoon. It was a wonderful experience of sights, sounds, and smells, but it was time for us to catch the train back to the Petronas Towers and return to the hotel.

On Sunday we checked out of our hotel and were driven to the LCC airport to catch our flight to Langkawi on Air Asia. The airport was busy but well organized so we quickly checked our bags and enjoyed a bite to eat. The flight was short, and we arrived in Langkawi at 3 p.m., collected our baggage, and then took a taxi to the ferry dock where we caught the water ferry back to Rebak Marina. We got to the boat and found that she was in fine shape. We hoisted our baggage on board and began unloading most of our “stuff,” but we left some of it in the cockpit until the next day. The boat was a mess for about three days until we got everything stored in its proper place, but it felt good to be home.

Arrival at Langkawi Island, Malaysia

2010-12-07T00:39:00.000-08:00

December 6, 2010—We left Penang on November 26 at 6:45 in the morning because we had about 58 miles to cover during daylight. We began to pull our anchor, but half way through the process our anchor windless quit so Steve had to pull in the last 100 feet of chain up by hand—not a fun job. As soon as he got the anchor up, we headed north toward Langkawi.

The shipping lane created some concern for a few miles, but soon we were clear of it and only had a few fishing boats along the way. We enjoyed some wind along the way and that helped us to motor sail at a good speed. The seas were calm, but it was unusually hot. It was amazing how many jelly fish we saw along this route. At first they actually looked like plastic trash bags, but when you took a closer look, you could see the body with the long tentacles floating by.

We arrived at the “Fjord” anchorage around mid afternoon and dropped our anchor in 40 feet of water. There was just one other sailboat in the anchorage, so it was perfect. The landscape reminded us of the Pacific Northwest, only warmer. We decided to take a quick swim, so we checked for jellyfish and then went in for a cool dip. That evening we just enjoyed the quiet surroundings and the stunning landscape.

We had planned to spend four days in this group of islands; however, the next morning Steve suggested that we just go ahead and call Rebak Resort to see if we could get our slip a few days early. I called on the cell phone, and Rebak said that we could come in early. Finding the entrance to the marina was another story. We had the coordinates; however, it was hard to see until we were right at the entrance.

We entered at low tide so we had just 8.5 feet of water under the boat. We were assigned to slip B-26, but the B dock was hard to see, and the dock worker had not come down to meet us just yet. We ended up going around a very wide catamaran and then pulling into our slip with “no fuss, no muss.” It felt good to tie up to a good, solid marina and park the boat. We immediately got our lines tied and made sure that they were secure. We also put up our shade awning to keep the temperature in the boat down. We did have electricity and water, which was a treat after so long without it. In the late afternoon I looked down in the water by the boat, and I saw a huge jellyfish. It was beautiful so I took a picture. I have since found out that the jellyfish in these waters can be fatal so we will be more careful in the future.

Rebak Marina Resort was hit by the 2004 tsunami. The wave came in the entrance and created a toilet bowl effect. Two docks were taken out and all boats were pushed around. Luckily, none were sunk and no one was seriously injured. Unfortunately, it has not quite returned to its former state.

Two days after we arrived, I saw an ad posted at the laundry for an air-conditioner. Brian and Jackie on board Songster are leaving for the Red Sea in order to complete their circumnavigation. They are both in their seventies and are wonderful Brits. About four days later we received the AC, and we spent a few hours modifying the hatch opening for our boat. We have found “heaven.” The AC keeps us cooler and lowers the humidity as well. While we are gone to the states for Christmas, it will help to keep the humidity down and thus reduce the mold growth inside the boat. It was well worth the money that we paid for it.

One day we took the ferry across to the main island of Langkawi, where we rented a car (if we dared to call it that) for only 40 RM or about $13 USD. We drove about 30 miles to the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club to see sv September and sv Black Pearl, both of whom are from Austria and to enjoy lunch before heading off for duty-free shopping in town. We were also amazed to find some excellent hardware stores and one boat chandlery.

We have spent the past 10 days working on the boat, but at a more relaxed pace. We have enjoyed sitting by the swimming pool and spending time with of some of the many cruisers that we met during the Indonesia and Malaysia Rallies. Some boats will go on this year, and others will spend a year in Malaysia and then leave the next year.

We logged 6, 385 miles since leaving Fiji at the end of April. We have traveled to Vanuatu, the Louisiades and Port Moresby on Papua New Guinea, the Torres Straits, the north coast of Australia from Thursday Island to Darwin, then Indonesia, which included Banda (Spice Islands), Wakatobi, Bau-Bau City on Buton, Bone Raté, Flores Island, Gili Islands including Komodo Island, Lombok and Bali Islands, Kumi on Kalamintan (Borneo), Belitung, Batam, Singapore, and finally the entire west coast of Malaysia to Langkawi, which is on the border between Malaysia and Thailand.

It has been an amazing season, and we have been exposed to so many wonderful experiences and friendly people. Our best experiences were in Indonesia. The people, the culture, and the landscape were all so exceptional that we were saddened to leave. Now we are anxious to go home to visit family and friends and to enjoy Christmas in New Mexico. I will post my next blog on the first of February after we return from the states. We would like to wish all our friends and followers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Palau Penang

2010-11-25T01:36:00.000-08:00

November 25, 2010—Today is Thanksgiving Day for us here in Penang. On November 21 we left the marina on Marina Island at Pangkor and went 12 miles to Monkey Island to spend the night. There was not much protection at this island; however, we had a very pleasant and calm night. At 6:30 the next morning we got underway for Palau Penang. It was dawn, and a full moon was out, which helped our visibility, so we began to dodge the numerous fishing boats in our path. Luckily, about half of them went back to port for the day, so the numbers were easier to deal with. The boats that we encountered were going the same direction as we were, so it was just a matter of passing them without interfering with their nets.

We found ourselves, once again, motoring along, but this time the seas were almost like glass. Unfortunately, that meant no wind, and it was very hot. We thought about stopping for a swim but decided against it because we saw so many jelly fish in the water.

We arrived at Palau Penang (Palau meaning island) around 3:30 p.m. and began making our way up the channel. We found ourselves dodging the usual fishing lines, but at one point it was just too difficult so we simply motored up between the buoys marking the lines, put the engine in neutral, and coasted over the lines, which were just below the water. We would then watch the buoys to see if we were dragging them. We made it through all of them without any problems, although we did stress a few fishermen who were wildly waving at us to stop.

A new bridge is being built just south of Penang, and there were quite a few construction barges and tugs at work. We ended up going between two floating concrete platforms on which they were making the concrete for the bridge, and as we passed, we had smiles and waves from the workers on the platforms. A pile driver was also hard at work setting pilings for the bridge.

We continued on and approached the Penang Bridge, which was opened in 1985 and won an award for engineering excellence in the United States is 1986. The bridge spans 13.5 kilometers and connects Penang with mainland Malaysia. An annual marathon over the bridge was held while we were here, and it began at 12:30 in the morning so that it would be cool enough for the runners. It is always a little stressful going under a bridge, but this bridge was very high so we had room to spare.

We arrived at the Junk Anchorage, which is located right next to the ferry dock and a very short distance from the Tanjong City Marina. A racing rally was in Penang and had taken all the slips, so we just picked a good spot and dropped our hook in the anchorage at 5:30 in the afternoon. At 7 p.m. we joined Tin Soldier, once again, as well as Ruth and Tim on Victory Cat for dinner. We walked into town and through Little India, which is always fascinating. We decided to eat at Sri Ananda Bahwan Indian Restaurant, and, happily, it was air conditioned. We enjoyed a delicious meal of Butter Chicken Marsala, along with some naan or flat bread. After dinner we returned to the boat because we were tired, and the other two boats were leaving early in the morning for Langkawi.

On November 24 we decided to go ashore to look around. We were able to wave down a passing small boat and met Soon, who was happy to take us to shore for a small fee. We decided to first check in with the Port Captain and Customs. After taking care of those formalities, we walked across the street to Fort Cornwallis, which was built in 1786 when Captain Light from Britain stepped foot on the almost uninhabited island.

From there we took a pedicab ride, finally, over to China Town, where we walked down the streets looking in the interesting shops. We stopped for lunch at Restoran Tho Yuen, a favorite with the locals. We were the only anglos in the place, and some of the patrons found it humorous to watch my trying to eat with chopsticks.

After lunch we walked by the Kapitan Keling Mosque and were invited in for a tour. Steve had to wear a robe because he was in shorts, but my crop pants were long enough so I did not have to wear one. A young man was our guide, and he was quite entertaining. He also explained to us the etiquette that is followed when in the mosque. When the tour was finished, he took us to an air-conditioned room and asked us to sit down and have some water. He then gave us more information about Islam, which we found very informative. It seemed to us that this mosque was trying to foster goodwill.

After the mosque we returned to the boat for a few hours to rest during the very hot afternoon. Around 7 p.m. we called Soon to pick us up so that we could go to shore for dinner. On our way we stopped at the Mahamariamman Temple, built in 1883 and the oldest Hindu temple in Penang. A distinctive feature of the temple is its gopuram with 38 carved Hindu deities. A local took us inside the temple and allowed us to take pictures.

After the temple we walked to Restoran Kapitan and enjoyed another delicious Indian meal of Tangori chicken and naan. By now the wind had picked up, and we could see lightning overhead, so we decided to go back to the boat. Soon was not available; however, we happened to arrive just when another boat was taking some men out to a commercial ship, and the driver was happy to drop us off. We arrived just in time as it began to rain and the wind picked up to 20 knots. We spent the next two hours watching the eight boats in the anchorage dance around, some coming pretty close to others. We had a catamaran anchored by us that came close to us a few times. Finally we gave up worrying about it and went to bed figuring that we would survive the evening. Things did soon calm down, and we actually had a pretty decent night’s sleep.

Today we took the "Hop on Hop off" bus, which is free, to visit the Penang State Museum, which had some wonderful items on display. The history of Penang was also presented, and it was very interesting and informative. After that we walked through China Town one more time and found a fabulous bakery with a large variety of wonderful bread, so we, of course, bought several items. We then returned to Little India for one last fix of spicy Indian food. Then it was time to return to the boat to rest up from the heat and get ready for Thanksgiving Dinner.

Our Thanksgiving Dinner this year consisted of pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes with gravy, coleslaw, and fresh bread. We waited until later in the evening so that it would be cooler while I did the cooking. The meal was delicious, and for dessert we enjoyed a sweet role that we also bought at the bakery. Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family in the states.

We have really enjoyed our time here in Penang. It is an interesting and colorful city with friendly people and a wonderful history, and it is a nice mix of old and new.

We will leave early in the morning to go about 58 miles to an island just south of Langkawi, and we plan to stay there until December 1 when we will go into Rebak Marina.

Palau Pangkor

2010-11-21T16:28:00.000-08:00

November 21, 2010—We left the marina at 8:30 a.m. and had a nice ebb tide to carry us back out to the strait, where we made a right turn and headed up the channel to the shipping ports at Port Klang. On this leg we were traveling with sv Sassoon and sv Umbra Luna because Tin Soldier had gone to Kuala Lumpur. As soon as we entered the main channel, things got interesting. Large cargo ships and tankers were entering the same channel so we stayed along the outside edge. We decided to cross the channel to the left side so that we would be out of the way of any ships. We passed the docks where the cargo ships are unloaded and watched two tugs as they spun a ship around 180 degrees and then with one tug on the bow and one tug on the stern, they pushed the ship into its small spot at the dock. The dock had rows of huge cranes that were unloading the cargo. It is truly amazing to see so many ships coming and going.

As we were passing the docks, a very large tanker passed us on our starboard side. After that we had no problems moving through the channel and up through a very large anchorage where ships were moored very close to the marked channel. We were weaving our way though them and noticed one ship washing the anchor chain, which meant that it was preparing to get underway, but we couldn’t see any black smoke from the smokestack. Just when we were in front of it, the anchor came out of the water, and then it began to move. We quickly turned to starboard to move out of its way, and as we passed the ship, the workers on the deck were waving and giving us “thumbs up” signals so I guess they weren’t too put out with us.

We exited the channel into more open water and soon arrived at Palau Angsa. There were fishing nets all around, so we carefully made our way through them and up to the island, where we found a decent place to anchor beside some local fishing boats. We made sure that the anchor was well set, and right after we were done, the engine overheat alarm went off so we quickly shut off the engine. Steve began to look for the problem, and he found that the bracket for the alternator had broken so the belt was not turning to run the water pump.

The engine was hot and so was the cabin, so working on the engine was not much fun. We began pulling out tools so that Steve could fabricate a new bracket. We had a length of aluminum stock on board, so we drew an outline of the old bracket on the aluminum and then used a hack saw to cut it out. Steve then drilled holes in the right places and proceeded to install the new bracket. I had every fan on the boat pointed at him while he was working to try to cool him off.

After two hours of work, he had the mount installed and the alternator back in place. We started the engine, and it ran just fine so now we just had to get the boat put back together. We took the rest of the day to get ready for an early departure, and we went to bed early, but neither of us slept very well. Another boat had anchored close to us and came near to us during the night so I kept checking our positions at regular intervals. It was also a bit rolly in this anchorage, and that made sleeping difficult.

We left at 1 a.m. and watched carefully for any small fishing boats or nets. Around 2:30 a.m. the boat slowed dramatically, so we knew that something had fouled the prop. Steve decided to go into the water to check. We had a lot of current so we tied a rope around his wrist, and I held a spot light on the water while he dove under the boat. He came up and said that he had to have his swim fins because of the fast current. We dug out his gear and also a rigging knife, and then he went back and cut away an old piece of nylon line from the prop. It took only 10 minutes or so to fix the problem, so we were soon on our way.

Our next challenge was a sailboat coming past us from the opposite direction. The three of us were side by side, and the sailboat seemed to be coming right at us. The boat did come quite close to us, and none of us can figure out why he decided to come right through the middle of three boats when he could have gone outside us. Anyway, we were now wide awake.

We approached a line of lights from the fishing fleet that stretched from our left all the way across to our right. At one point Steve counted 55 lights, and boats were moving across our path constantly. We stayed on our course, looking for an opening in the line. When we were almost to the line, an opening appeared in front of us so we sped up in order to get through as quickly as possible. Umbra Luna and Sassoon were in a line right behind us. Once we got through that group, there were fewer boats for the rest of the trip.

We passed one last group of fishing boats a few miles out from Pangkor, but it was now daylight so we had no problems. We arrived at Marina Island, which is built on reclaimed land, around noon and called the marina on the VHF radio. They sent a pilot boat out because we had to enter the marina through a dredged channel that was not very deep. Actually we had only 12 feet of water when we were in the main channel, and this entrance channel was a little deeper. We pulled in along a long finger dock, and the marina staff tied us up. This marina is so new that they were installing the cleats on the dock just before we arrived. All three boats were now in and secure. It was a very long day with very little sleep so we were all pretty tired and very glad to be here. We all got together aboard Sassoon for cocktails to celebrate our trip, and then we all relaxed for the rest of the day.

The next day we took care of some chores and then headed to town for groceries. The driver dropped us off at the Giant supermarket, but first we walked across the street to eat lunch at the White Coffee Café, where we had an excellent meal. We then quickly did our shopping and headed back to the marina. That evening Dave and Melinda on Sasson had Dale and Lorraine from Umbra Luna and us on board for a lovely taco dinner. We had a great time and really enjoyed getting to know these couples from Australia.

Yesterday I did laundry in the morning and then at noon we took the ferry across the channel to Pangkor Island. We walked to a local restaurant where we enjoyed lunch of barbecued chicken and rice. The meal, along with two sodas, cost us $3.00 USD. We then took our lives in our hands and rented a motor scooter so that we could drive around the island. Driving here is on the left side and there are rules, but no one follows them.
We drove around to the west side of the island where there are several “resorts” and stopped at a restaurant where we had a cold beer and cheese cake—an odd mix.

We continued up to the north tip and back down the east side. On the east side we came upon a boat building business, and the men were working on two large fishing boats. The boats were made of teak, and there were very large timbers of it at the site so Steve was drooling! They allowed us to walk on the scaffolding so that we could get a better view, and we found it fascinating to watch the process. The workers did much of the work using only hand power tools, and they used a manual chain fall to lift large pieces into place.

Next we came upon the satay factory where fish is dried, packaged, and sold. Fish of every size and type were available for sale, along with other local products. It was fun to walk around the store, but I had no desire to buy anything since eating dried fish is not our thing.

Our last stop was at the southern tip of the island to see the remains of a Dutch fort that was built in 1670. It was not very large, but we enjoyed seeing it and reading the informative signs describing the history of the Dutch on this island.

We left the fort and returned to the ferry jetty in time to catch the 3:30 ferry back to Marina Island. It was an interesting trip because we had three or four families with small children, and it was quite rowdy. By the time we got back to the boat we were pretty tired so we just stayed on board for dinner and a movie.

Today we returned to Pangkor Island with Sassoon and Umbra Luna to rent scooters and drive around again. We had an excellent lunch on the beach. We went back to the fort, and this time I had enough time to do a little shopping at the souvenir shop. We returned on the 4:30 ferry, and at 6 p.m. we all went to dinner up at the marina.

We will leave tomorrow for Penang, where we will spend a few days and then it is on to Langkawi.

Port Dixon and Melaka

2010-11-16T05:18:00.000-08:00

November 16, 2010—We left Danga Bay mid-morning on November 7 and headed back down Johor Straits to Melacca Strait. We made good time considering the tide was against us, and we went back under the bridge without much stress this time.

We turned to head northwest up the Strait and were enjoying excellent weather. Our plan was to travel overnight to Port Dixon and Admiral Marina. We were making good time until about 3 p.m. when a squall hit us with 40 knots of wind. The seas were suddenly short and steep and right on the nose. We were already double reefed on the main sail, but Steve went to put in the triple reef, and when he lowered the main sail, our lazy jack that holds the sail in place broke. Now we had loose sail flapping around plus the lines of our lazy jack blowing in the wind. We turned the boat 180 degrees so that we were going directly down wind, and Steve was able to get all the loose stuff contained and tied down. We had already passed the only real anchorage, but we decided that, all things considered, it would be better for us to double back a few miles and pull into the anchorage for the night.

We pulled into the anchorage on Palau Pisang just after dark. Tin Soldier was already there and helped us with directions, so we anchored securely in mud and then got the boat put back together. We were pretty tired, so we ate a quick meal and then went to sleep on our settees because the anchorage was pretty rough. When the wind died down later, the boat began to roll, and it was impossible to sleep. Then at 2:30 a.m. we heard a clang and looked at each other. Steve ran up in the cockpit and called down that a boat had drug its anchor and was coming down our starboard side. The couple on Cheekabee were fending us off, and we joined in the struggle. They made it past us and were able to reset their anchor a short distance behind us. Steve checked the starboard rail and found only some varnish damage. It was now 3 a.m. so I decided to stay up on anchor watch while Steve got an hour or so of sleep. At 5 o’clock we pulled the anchor and left.

The next few hours were difficult because of the head seas that were slowing us down quite a bit. The bow was dipping and scooping up water which would then come running down the side decks and exit off the stern, or at least most of it. Finally, the seas calmed down, and we were able to motor sail comfortably at a good speed. Later in the afternoon we were again slowed down by waves and current and figured that we would not make the next anchorage by dark. An hour later everything calmed down, and we made enough speed to pull into the anchorage right at sunset.

That night we slept much better because there was so much less roll. We awoke and left at 7 a.m. for the last leg. Once again the seas were nasty—short and steep waves, but this time it lasted only an hour before calming down. We actually had a nice run for the day and arrived at Port Dixon at 2:30 in the afternoon, just ahead of another squall.

We got a slip and secured the boat. Admiral Marina is a resort with a marina that is in need of repairs. We did have water but no electricity. The good news was that there was a lovely swimming pool for us to enjoy in the afternoon as well as a good restaurant. We spent the evening packing our things to go to Melaka the next day. Melaka was a scheduled rally stop, and there was a marina there, but it is rolly and shallow.

We decided to take a hire car to Melaka and made it just in time for the organized tour, which was disappointing because they took us to a resort to see the facilities and then dropped us off at a mall for lunch. The afternoon was much better with a tour of St. Paul's Church, which has old tombsones from Dutch time that are carved with poignant inscriptions. A' Famosa/Porta de Santiago is the old stone gateway to St. Paul's Hill, and finally the old traditional palace. It was all very interesting and informative.

When we stopped at the Queen Victoria Clock Tower, we found a man who had two pythons, one of which was an albino, in a rickshaw. For only $10 rincas or about $3 we were able to take our picture with the larger one. It was “interesting.” There were also the usual pedicabs that are beautifully decorated by their owners, but we did not have time to take a ride. Very close by were the remains of an old Dutch fort, which were in very good condition.

We left the tour at this point and took a cab to the Mahota Hotel. We checked in and went to our room. It was air conditioned so we just rested and relaxed. At 7 o’clock we were picked up by bus and taken to a restaurant about 7 miles away. There was the usual band and speeches. We were quite disappointed by the meal as were most of the participants.

The next day we were free to explore on our own. We made a quick run to Tesco, which is similar to a Walmart, to get water filters. We then went to China Town to tour the Chen Ho Cultural Museum. Admiral Chen Ho was the leader of the great Chinese navy around 1421, and his exploits are covered in the book 1421, which Steve has read. It was a very interesting place with many excellent pieces and some beautiful pottery from the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. Jeff was our enthusiastic guide and gave us a lot of history about Admiral Ho and Melaka.

We joined Dave and Jan from Baraka for a late lunch in Chinatown, and then we returned to the hotel. We went with Tin Soldier for a late dinner at the Seoul Garden Restaurant, where we chose our food and then cooked it at our table. That was quite fun.

The next morning we returned to Chinatown to do some quick shopping. Marilyn and I had a good time looking in all the shops, and then we joined the guys for lunch at Raffles Restaurant for some wonderful Malaysian food. We returned to the hotel at 3 p.m. to meet our hire car; unfortunately, he was almost two hours late, so we arrived back at the boat at 7 p.m. We shared the car with seven other people, so we were all tired when we got back to our boats.

November 14 was spent preparing the boat to leave. Steve had some projects, and I went with the ladies to town to pick up some fresh vegetables. We enjoyed a nice meal at the marina restaurant and then called it a night. At 7 o’clock in the morning we left the marina headed north to a new marina on Selat Lumut at the south coast of Palua Indah. We had lovely conditions and made the 46 miles by 2:30 in the afternoon.

There was quite a bit of current here so it was tricky pulling into the slip, but we had a lot of help from cruisers who had already arrived. The facilities are minimal for a “brand new marina,” so we were disappointed. We spent the evening on board, and today we took care of some minor boat projects that had to be done before we leave tomorrow.

We want to keep moving while the weather is good. The one problem here is the afternoon thundershowers, and they are pretty amazing, producing a lot of rain, thunder, and lightning. We had a real downpour this afternoon. We are making our way to Pinang, where we will stop for a day or two. That should be an interesting place to see, and it will give us a good break.

Danga Bay, Malaysia

2010-11-06T02:15:00.000-07:00

November 6, 2010-Our exit from Singapore was much more dramatic than our entrance. We left the marina at 7 o'clock so that we could catch the tide. We passed the breakwater of the marina and looked out at the two markers that we had to pass between. There were standing waves because the wind had piped up to 15 knots in the opposite direction of the current. It was truly amazing. We motored through that and in about 10 minutes we were at the Immigration anchorage. The waves were still pretty rough, but we were able to hold our position without too much trouble.

We called Western Immigration but discovered that our main VHF radio had gone off, and Steve was unable to get it to work. We then pulled out our hand-held radio and called. We were told to stand by. We placed the radio in a holder, but because the waves were bouncing us around, it fell on the cockpit floor, and the clip that holds the battery broke off. Steve was able to hold it together with a rubber band so we called again. Again we were told to stand by. It was a bit uncomfortable on board so we were getting a little frustrated. Finally, the boat came along side and took our papers. The clearance process did not take very long, and soon we were on our way.

We had to cross the northwest fairway, which is where ships leave the main channel to enter or exit the anchorage. We had our AIS beeping alarms as fast as I could mute them, and we soon realized that we had two large cargo ships in the fairway coming at us. We had to slow down and actually make a circle until the two of them crossed in front of us. After that it was safe for us to continue.

The current continued to be rough and there were rips in several places, but we made it out to the main channel and then headed west and around Raffles Lighthouse. The waves there caused some major bow plunges, which sent the water spraying out from both sides. We finally entered the Johor Straits, where the water settled down, and the current was now in our favor. There were tankers of all sizes anchored here, as well as a huge oil derrick. We motored about 10 miles up the Strait, and then we had to sail under a bridge. That is always a little nerve racking to do that because it always looks so close.

We continued up the Strait staying between the markers. It was quite interesting to see the Singapore side, which had an electrified wire fence and large signs with skulls and crossbones on them. There were also dire warnings to anyone who tried to go over the fence. Police boats were spaced about every mile, and helicopters flew overhead. They are very serious about their borders.
We arrived at Danga Bay Marina and were directed to our slip. The dock was just finished the day before, so it is still a work in progress. We have power and water; however, the amenities are still a bit rough. Overall, though, it is quite nice. Steve was taken by van to a ferry terminal in order to clear Customs and Immigration for Malaysia, which was pretty painless.

On the 30th we went to a Welcome Ceremony and then had the rest of the day free, which gave us some time to catch up on things. We also enjoyed a wonderful meal at the Lazio's Italian restaurant at the marina.

On October 31, a kayak competition was held in the morning. That was followed by a technical briefing on the route up the coast, and the anchorages where the events would be held. Around 4 o'clock, we made a ghost from a sheet and used a balloon for a head. We put a stick through a coat hanger to hold out the sheet, and then we hoisted the ghost up into the rigging. About 15 kids arrived around 5:30 so we passed out candy and were impressed by some very creative costumes.

That evening the official rally dinner was held, and the food was amazing. We had a very large Lazy Susan on our table, and we were given appetizers, cuttle fish with squid, prawns, chicken, fish, rice, soup, and dessert-all served one at a time. It was exceptionally good food. A live band performed great music for us, and everyone got up to dance. We had a wonderful time and stayed until close to midnight-- late, at least for us.

November 1 was another free day so we walked to a nearby mall and purchased a SIM card for our cell phone. We ate lunch at Seven Spices Indian Restaurant and had the most amazing curried chicken with rice and vegetables.

The next day we took a taxi to Jesco Mall, along with Tin Soldier, and did some shopping, ate lunch, and picked up some groceries. The grocery stores here are well stocked with western foods and beautiful fruit and vegetables, many of which are from the U.S. We also bought a dongle for the USB port so that we can access the Internet without all the usual problems that we have had in the past.

We were able to get diesel fuel the next day, and I dropped off my laundry to be done. We also got our new dinghy all put together, put the new engine on, and went for a spin. The engine ran great, and we are very pleased that it is a bit bigger. We immediately pulled it out of the water and washed it off. We didn't want to spoil that "new" look.

On November 4 we were all taken by tour bus to see the province of Johor, which is at the southern tip of Malaysia. We went to a brand new marina that is close by. After that we went to the southern most point of Asia/the Malay Peninsula, where we walked a long way over a boardwalk and then took pictures with the Johor Strait in the background. Our next stop was to participate in a mock wedding and feast. The bride and groom were all dressed up in traditional outfits. We were served a fabulous lunch, and afterwards we each went up to toss rice over the bride and groom. Our last stop that day was at the pineapple museum, which turned out to be quite interesting. They had examples of the different kinds of pineapples and the different countries where they are grown. They also had two beautiful shirts that were made with pineapple fibers.

The tour was very informative and interesting, and the landscape was once again very lush and beautiful. There is a tremendous amount of building going on-mostly homes and freeways. So far we are impressed with Malaysia. The people here in Johor Province have been very friendly and helpful, and we feel very safe.

The past two days have been pretty relaxing. We did our last provisioning run to the Giant supermarket yesterday. Today we finished up the few chores that needed to be done before we leave tomorrow to head north to Port Dixon and Admiral Marina. We also wish our granddaughter Riley a very happy first birthday!

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Singapore

2010-10-26T19:42:00.000-07:00

October 28, 2010--October 28, 2010—On October 18 we left Nongsa Point Marina in the morning. We headed west and stayed parallel to and just outside the shipping channel. The amount of traffic moving from both east and west was really amazing. There were cargo ships, tankers, tugs with barges, and even a cable-laying ship. Our AIS system was sending out warnings as fast as we could mute them, and our screen looked like a video game.

As we approached our waypoint for crossing the shipping channel we approached quite a few local fishing vessels. There was a tanker approaching from the west and seemed to be close to one of the boats. The fisherman just went about his work, while behind him loomed a huge ship. We thought the picture came out well and shows quite a dichotomy. Look closely at it.

We began to look for a gap in the traffic and noticed one after a large tanker passed us from our left. As soon as we could, we headed across the channel and crossed right behind the large tanker. We were close enough that our boat got caught in the ship’s prop wash, which moved us around a bit. Once we were behind the tanker, we checked to our right and saw that we had quite a gap before the next ship would cross our path. We pushed on and watched out AIS screen to see how close any ship would come. The closest point of approach was never less than 0.3 nautical miles, so we were fine, and we soon entered the western anchorage.

There must have been 50 commercial ships anchored in this area. We called Immigration and after about 15 minutes, their boat pulled up close to ours, and the officer held out a fishing net for our passports and ship’s papers. When we had placed our papers in the net, he took them and asked us to wait. About 10 minutes later the boat returned, and our papers were in the net. Steve had to sign a few papers and return them to the officer via the fishing net. It was all done very efficiently, and the officials were friendly and helpful.

We then proceeded through the buoys that mark the harbor and slowly motored through the breakwater for the One degree 15 Marina on Sentosa Island just south of Singapore Island. The marina is a very large and upscale marina with several mega yachts moored here. It is quite a change from Indonesia. We were directed to slip D 03, where we tied up and then headed to the office to check in. We returned to cleaned up the boat and hooked up the water and electrical. A little while later we received a tour of the facilities, which include a pool, a gym, a spa, several restaurants, and a laundry. There is regular shuttle service to Vivo Shopping Mall where we can catch the MRT.

The MRT is a light rail system that gets us around Singapore Island pretty easily. Once we understood the schedule and the system, it was easy to make our way around. Sometimes the MRT can be pretty crowded, but it is still the best way to get around.

Sometimes the MRT is not crowded--and sometimes it is.

One afternoon we took a long ride on the MRT looking for boat parts, and then we met three other couples at the Raffles Hotel Long Bar, where the Singapore Sling was invented. The Raffles Hotel has been here since the mid-1800s and is quite famous. The four ladies all ordered a Singapore Sliing, while the guys had a beer. We all walked around the facility for awhile, and then we headed for Little India and the Banana Leaf Restaurant. The food at the Banana Leaf Restaurant is served on placemats that are made of banana leaves. You can order from a buffet line or order from the menu. We ordered a tandori dish for two, which turned out to be very spicy.

Afterward we walked around the Little India Arts Belt and walked through the arcade, which was fascinating because of all the items that were for sale. The streets are decorated with lights for the upcoming Deepavali Festival, which is a Hindu celebration.

Our dinghy is on its last leg, so we began to shop around for a new one. Luckily, there is a Mercury dealer here, so we just ordered the exact same dinghy plus a new 8 horsepower engine. We also needed a few other parts, which Steve was able to pick up. Unfortunately, on one of his runs, his wallet didn’t make it back into his pocket and was left in the front seat of a taxi. He reported the loss to the taxi company, the police, and the U.S. Embassy, hoping that someone might turn it in.

We spent the next few days seeing some of Singapore. One day we went downtown, where we walked along the river and enjoyed lunch at a local restaurant filled with business people. We went to see our first movie in a year in a wonderful, air conditioned theatre. On another day nine of us left to go to the zoo; however, it started pouring rain, so we decided to go to the Asian Civilizations Museum instead. It was quite interesting, and there was a special exhibit on Sumatra that we really enjoyed.

By the 23rd Steve was feeling very poorly. His intestinal bug that he had in Belitung returned, and it really laid him low. He went to see a doctor, who ran a test to find out exactly what it was. We should have the results in less than a week; however, the doctor told Steve to begin the medicine for Giardia right away. Two days later Steve had a cold that has been going around all the cruisers, so we are taking it easy and keeping a low profile for now. We have not heard anything on his wallet, so we assume that is a total loss, which creates hassles since we are so far from home. The good news is that we can go to the pool and relax where it is nice and cool.

Yesterday we received our brand new dinghy, and it is so pretty that we have decided to just leave it on the deck and not use it. It was hard to put the old one in the trash bin, but its time had come. It did, however, give us six years of excellent service.

Today we decided to go to Chinatown for lunch and to do some shopping. It was quite a place, and we did find some interesting things.

We will leave tomorrow, October 29, and motor the 36 miles to Danga Bay Marina. We have a slip reserved at this brand new marina, and it is where the cruisers are all waiting to begin the Sail Malaysia Rally the first week of November.

Belitung Island and Crossing the Equator

2010-10-20T04:20:00.000-07:00

October 16, 2010—The past ten days have been a swirl of activity. The day after we arrived at Belitung, we took care of getting fuel. Steve took our jerry jugs ashore and watched with interest as the diesel was siphoned from a 55-gallon drum into a large open pan and then transferred to the jerry jug using a one-liter ladle. It took awhile to fill our four jugs.

The next day we went into the town of Tanjungpandan to use the Internet and buy some groceries. It was Sunday, so the Internet spot was packed with kids all playing video games with the volumes turned all the way up. I wanted to upload the last blog, as well as some pictures, and it took all my concentration to get that done. All around me I could hear “Fire in the hole” followed by explosions. What an experience.

We had a fast lunch at KFC, which included a delightful chocolate sundae, and then picked up our groceries—important things such as Oreos and Ritz crackers. Now it was time to catch the bus back to the anchorage.

Steve was not feeling well the next day, so I went on an all-day tour with the Rally. We drove over to the East Province of Belitung where we stopped at a museum. It was a very small and sparsely filled building, but it was interesting. The best thing was the school across the street. Janet, Marilyn, and I walked across the street to say hello to the kids. You would have thought that we were rock stars. They all began yelling and waving, and they wanted to shake our hands. The teachers joined right in and even asked to have their pictures taken with us. It was the most amazing experience we have had.

From there we made a quick stop at a dam and then went to the Regent’s for an excellent luncheon. The building was quite old but well maintained and ornately decorated. From there we went to Panai Beach for more traditional dancing. On our way back to the anchorage we stopped in a town renowned for its coffee and had some time to shop. Marilyn and I were stopped by some local women to have our picture taken with them when all of a sudden another woman appeared and handed me her baby boy so that he would be in a photo as well. Another wonderful experience!

Our last stop was the Kwan Im Temple, which is a Buddhist temple overlooking the ocean, and it was very interesting. By now it was getting quite late so we all climbed in our vans and headed back. It was 6:30 before we arrived at the beach, and we were all very tired. It was a long but interesting day.

Steve stayed on the boat the next day since he was still suffering from Montezuma’s Revenge. Dave, Marilyn, and I decided to take a bicycle ride on vintage 1950s bicycles, and as we rode along the street, we were greeted all along our way with waves and “hello mister.” We rode quite a distance and then stopped to have a cold drink, but there was no ice available so we just got a warm drink. We drank our sodas and spent some time talking with an elderly local who stopped to chat with us. We stopped on our way back to pick up some vegetables and eggs and then returned to the anchorage very hot and tired but happy with our excursion.

By now Steve was still feeling ill, so we went ashore and went to the medical clinic that had been set up. No one spoke English so one man went to get a guide to translate for us. After he arrived, we got the information across, and the people got busy gathering several drugs for Steve to take. We thanked them and started to pay, but they told us that there was no charge. We think that he picked up Giardia, and the one of the drugs that they gave him was for that.

October 13 was the last day of the Indonesia Rally. We had to do a few things to prepare the boat to leave the next day, but we took it pretty easy during the day. Luckily, Steve was beginning to feel better. At 6:30 we went ashore for the Farewell Party. There was live music and some local dancers. The dancers came over to our seats with a brass box. Inside were some leaves and spices. They instructed me to take a leaf and then put a pinch of three spices on it. I then was to roll it up and taste it. I have to say it was very bitter and not good at all. After a minute or two my mouth was numb and the bitter taste was still there. Local fare can be so interesting.

It was now time for us to eat. There must have been ten tables, all of which had different dishes laid out for us. The food that we tried was excellent, and Steve was able to eat most of it. Dinner was followed with speeches by the local government representatives. It was getting late, and we had to leave early in the morning, so we snuck out and headed back to the boat, where we loaded the dinghy and went to bed. We found out later that we only missed more speeches.

Belitung was lovely because of the white sandy beach named Tanjung Kelayang. It felt as though we were walking on powdered sugar. Also, there were some very interesting rock formations on two of the surrounding islands, which we visited twice. One of these formations had a passage through the rocks, and we drove through it several times one day. Steve began to sing “It’s a Small World” as we were going through the last time. The people here were friendly and welcoming, which is what we have found all across Indonesia. It has been well worth the time and effort to see this country.

Now it was time to leave for Batam Island. We pulled anchor at 5:30 a.m. on October 14 and motored out of the anchorage and for the rest of the trip because of very light winds, but we did have a current helping us along. We had the usual fishing boats through the night, as well as a lightning storm to the west of us. Luckily, it never came close, and we had no big winds from it.

On October 15 we continued to motor with calm seas and a good current. This was a special day because we would cross the equator for the second time. On our Pacific crossing we arrived at the equator at night. This time we arrived right at sunset so we took pictures of us on the boat with the sunset behind us. Right after that we reached the equator, where we stopped and each of us swam around the boat. We then gave King Neptune the obligatory shot of rum and toasted each other with a shot of Damiano, which we have been carrying since 2007. After that we happily continued on our way.

The next morning we were entering Riau Strait, which was filled with commercial shipping. It was interesting trying to figure out all the lights on the ships to determine their direction. The AIS system really helped to figure out which ships presented a danger to us. Luckily, only a short time after we entered the strait, it was dawn, and the light really helped us to see the situation more clearly. We entered the Singapore Straits for a short time and then went through the breakwater to Nongsa Marina on Batam Island.

The marina is very nice with very few boats. A pool, a laundry, and a restaurant make it a nice place to rest for a couple of days. The evening that we arrived we invited Tin Soldier over for some champagne to celebrate crossing the equator, as well as our trip together through Indonesia. We spent a lovely evening together sharing some of our favorite moments of the rally. Next stop is Singapore!

Kalimantan Orangutan Tour

2010-10-09T20:26:00.000-07:00

October 9, 2010—We, along with Tin Soldier and Baraka, arrived at the Kumi River at dawn on September 30. We proceeded carefully up the river following behind a ferry and a tug towing a barge. We were able to safely pass the tug and barge and motored 10 miles to the anchorage just across the river from the town of Kumai.

The next day we were busy working on the boat and meeting with Harry of Borneo Holidays to plan our three-day trip up the river to see the Orangutans at Tanjung Puting National Park. Nine of us would be together on one klotok or boat, which included Tin Soldier, Baraka, Air Stream, and us. We packed our bags and got the boat secured for our absence.

At 8:30 a.m. on October 2, Harry dropped off our boat boy, who would be staying on the boat to watch it and do some stainless polishing for us, and then he dropped us off on our boat named Dolphin. We would be sleeping and eating on the upper deck of the boat, while the crew stayed on the lower deck.

We enjoyed a relaxing ride up the river and did see one Orangutan and a macaque monkey on the trip. We arrived at the park in time to change and go ashore for the 2 p.m. feeding. There was a long, elevated wooden walkway from where the boats tie up to where Camp Leakey is located. Camp Leakey, the primary site, was established in 1971when Canadian researcher Biruté Galdikas began taking in rescued orangutans with the assistance of the Leakey Foundation, the U.S. philanthropic foundation.

We were half way there when a female Orangutan named Swisi was sitting in the middle of the walk and would not move. One by one we made our way past her, but when Janet went past, Swisi grabbed her arm and stopped her. She had a captive audience for about five minutes before letting her go. The next captive was Steve. Swisi grabbed his leg and proceeded to unzip his pockets and leg zippers in order to look for food. When Steve tried to pull away, her grip got stronger but not painful. Finally, Steve was able to extricate himself from her grasp, and then the rest of us made it by Swisi without any problems.

Our next thrill was seeing a Gibbon monkey up close. He was hanging down from a tree and was entertaining the tourists while eating bananas. They have a very interesting looking face, and it was great fun to watch him for awhile.

We proceeded to the viewing platform and took our seats on one of the benches. There were several females, some with infants, sitting on the platform eating bananas. We did not have to wait for very long before the “King” appeared. Tom is a 25-year-old male who is the dominant or alpha male. He is very large, very powerful, and just amazing to watch. He went up to the platform, sat down, and began to eat bananas. The females who were on the platform took to the trees to keep a safe distance from him. He spent about 10 minutes eating and then took to the trees and vines and put on a spectacular show for us. He would hang by all fours and just look at the group, and it was amazing how unsettling his stare was. He entertained us for a good 30 minutes before he took off after one of the females, who started screaming and climbed as high as she could to the small branches that would not hold Tom’s weight. We were told by our guides that Tom can be quite a bully.

By now it was 3:30 and time to return to the klotok as we were all tired but thrilled at the day’s events. We had just set out some chips and peanuts when suddenly Pan, a male and son of Princess, came aboard the boat, climbed to the top deck, and swiped the chips from the table. He then ran off the boat and climbed a tree where he sat eating the chips with great pleasure.

That evening we enjoyed a delicious dinner and several hours of just relaxing. The crew then put down our mattresses with mosquito netting, and we all prepared to crash. It was only 8:30; however, we had put in a long, full day and were all very tired.

The second day we ate breakfast and then went ashore to visit the Information Center, where we watched a wonderful documentary on Kusasi, who was the previous alpha male. He was orphaned at two, rescued and taken to Camp Leakey, ran away to the jungle and survived without a mother for

18 months. He then returned to the camp for several years, which is when Dr. Galdikas was able to study him. He left the camp as a young adult male and became the alpha male at 25 years of age. Tom then became the alpha male about eight years ago after winning a fight with Kusasi. The guides at the camp are not sure if Kusasi is still alive or not because no one has seen him recently.

The guys went for a two-hour trek while the ladies took a shorter walk around the grounds. We then wentback to the boat for a rousing game of Scrabble. The guys soon returned, and Steve showed me a leech thatwas trying to burrow through his sock to get to his skin. The leech looked like a small earth worm—about an inch long and very thin because it was not gorged with blood. He picked it off and disposed of it quickly. Steve told me that on the trek they had encountered Princess, a 35-year-old female, and he was able to actually hold her hand for awhile. He thought that it was an amazing experience and was thrilled by it.

We just had time for a delicious lunch before it was time to go back to the 2 p.m. feeding. On the way I was met by Percy, who is Princess’s son. He took hold of my little finger so I stood quietly for a moment, but when he tried to grab me to pull me closer, I decided that it was time to leave.

At this feeding Tom appeared from behind the viewing benches so we all had to scatter in order to clear his path. He just sauntered up to the platform, sat eating his bananas for about ten minutes, and then left. We were so glad that we had seen him the day before because this appearance was not nearly as good. We watched the females and infants for awhile and then headed back to the boat.We returned to the dock walkway to find Peta, a female with her infant, standing to the side but hissing and swiping at people as they walked by. We waited for a minute and then each of us quickly made our way past her. At the head of the dock, Pan was once again lounging close to the boat boys who were sitting under the gazebo. He was so relaxed that it was funny.

Once again we set out our snacks but this time we kept an eye on Pan. He didn’t try to come on board that day. We let go the mooring lines and motored downstream a short distance where we tied up for the night, and then we enjoyed another delicious meal. It was another early night, but most of us did not sleep well because it rained heavily almost all night.

The next morning we went to visit the local village on the river. Unfortuna

tely, because of the rain the village was flooded. Luckily, most of the homes were built on platforms, so they were not flooded inside, but most of the walkways were under water.

Our last stop was at another camp with a feeding platform for Orangutans that were a bit wilder. We ha

d to walk on a wooden walkway that was under water to a home and then get into a canoe that was pushed by our guide to dry land about 500 feet away. From there we walked to the platform and

watched the Orangutans come quickly down from the trees in order to stuff as many bananas into their mouths as possible and then run back up to the safety of the trees. It was very interesting but nothing compared to watching Tom on our first day.

There was one more feeding station; however, the mosquitoes were supposed to be quite bad there, and we decided that we were very happy with what we had seen so we skipped it. We decided to just take a leisurely boat ride back to the anchorage so that we could relax and enjoy the beautiful scenery of this beautiful and interesting land.

We arrived back at the boat around 4:30 and were thrilled to see that the work our boat boy had done was excellent. The stainless looked fantastic so it was well worth the 210,000 rupia that we paid him. We quickly unpacked and then downloaded our 100 or so pictures.

The last day in Kumai we were taken to a memorial in Pangkalan Bun, a large city a few miles from Kumai, where we helped to plant trees in a reforestation effort. From there we went to a soccer stadium to attend a local festival. There was the usual dancing, but we were also treated to a soccer game that was played with a burning coconut instead of a soccer ball. Now those were real men! There was also top spinning, and I tried out my aim with a blow dart gun. It was really interesting and fun, and the locals welcomed us very warmly.

Our lunch was with the Regent of Kotawaringin Barat Regency and was held at a local restaurant. The buffet food was good, and singers and dancers entertained us. After lunch we were taken downtown so that we could do some souvenir shopping. When we returned to the boat at four

o’clock, I was exhausted. Steve had stayed on the boat because of a stomach ailment, but it had been a very long day for me. I collected my laundry from Harry and then began preparing the boat to leave the next morning.

Our passage from Kumi to Belitung got off to a rocky start. We headed back down the river following the same course as when we arrived. We were doing fine until the last turn in the river where a tug and barge, as well as a freighter, were coming up the river. We moved to the right to give them plenty of room and were okay until the freighter decided to pass the tug. This put him between the tug and us and forced us closer to the shore. I was watching the depth meter and saw it start to shallow quickly. The next thing we knew we were aground. We immediately dropped the main sail because the wind was blowing us up on the shoal, and then we used the engine to try to push us off. Luckily, the waves actually helped to rock the boat so after a few minutes, we broke free and were off. As the freighter passed us, all the guys were waving and yelling, “Hello” to us. A few minutes later, the freighter was aground on the same shoal and the tide was falling. It appeared that it would be there for awhile.

Our trip took three days and was challenging because of squalls, fishing fleets, and commercial cargo ships. At dawn one morning I was on watch and was trying to weave through about five fishing boats. Not until the last minute did I see a line of floats attached to a drift net. I immediately put the engine in neutral and coasted over the net. Not five minutes later I went over another net. Our keel design makes it easy for us to pass over the nets without catching them on the propeller so we were lucky.

Next we started to receive AIS alerts from commercial ships. We had two coming from starboard and two from port. The fifth alert was from a vessel coming towards us. Our closest point of approach was very slim on several of these ships, so we had to time our direction and speed to cross the shipping lane without getting too close to one of them. We spent an hour dodging these ships before we were safely across.

The last night out was difficult because of all the small fishing vessels, but we made it though and arrived at Belitung in the early morning. The anchorage is large and shallow so we had no trouble anchoring. We settled in, straightened up the boat, and then slept for several hours. Now we will prepare to attend the last events on this rally. Three months have gone by very quickly.

Around Bali

2010-10-05T20:23:00.000-07:00

September 30, 2010-We left on September 20 and headed to Lovina Beach on the island of Bali. We had light winds but made decent time for awhile. In the early afternoon, the winds died down to about 8 knots so we decided to put up the spinnaker along with our jib so we were able to move along at a nice 7 knots. This was the first time that we have flown both the spinnaker and the jib, wing on wing, and we were very pleased at the performance.

We arrived at Lovina Beach and made our way through the channel in the reef to find a nice spot in 30 feet of water with good holding. We got the boat all put away and then decided to go to shore for dinner. It was Steve's birthday so the crews from Tin Soldier, Scarlett, Pó oino Roa, Baraka, and Airstream all joined us to help him celebrate. The band even sang "Happy Birthday" to him. We had a great time and an excellent meal.

The next day we joined Chay, Katie, and Jamie from Esprit for a drive down south to Despensar to shop at the Carfour grocery store. We drove up steep, winding roads to the ridge, and then descended into a valley. Along the way we enjoyed the lovely scenery with all the terraced rice paddies. In one small town we enjoyed seeing all the traffic, which were almost all horse-drawn carts and motorcycles. We arrived in Despensar where we stopped at a dive shop and Ace Hardware. At the mall we purchased a new camera to replace the one that we lost, and we then we ate lunch at Kentucky Fried Chicken. Next we took care of our grocery shopping and grabbed an ice cream sundae before leaving.

The drive back was by a slightly different route that proved to be just as lovely. This island is quite green and beautiful, and many crops are grown in the central valley. Most Balinese are Hindu so we saw many temples on our drive. There was also the usual monkey forest where one could see more monkeys, but we declined this time.

On the 22nd we spent the day taking care of government paperwork and patching our dinghy. In the evening we attended the welcome ceremony and were treated to some wonderful Balinese dancing. One dance by a beautiful young woman in a stunning costume included picking men from the audience to dance with her. Steve was chosen once again and put on quite a show for the audience. He was a very good sport. About six men danced with her including one young local man. There were three dances in all, and the costumes were amazingly beautiful and colorful. After the entertainment we walked to the Sea Breeze Restaurant for a buffet dinner, which was quite good, and we enjoyed the music that was played for us.

On September 23 we left on a road trip with Esprit and Tin Soldier. We decided to go to Ubud, which is an artist and handicraft town in the south central part of Bali. Our first stop was at a beautiful temple called Obyek Wisata "Ulun Danu" at the edge of a lake. We walked around the peaceful grounds, and we had a chance to watch men making a new roof for one of the buildings. One type of palm tree on the island has a thin, black fiber that grows around its trunk. These fibers are layered to create a thick roof for the temple buildings. Next we stopped at a coffee plantation where we sampled Mongoose coffee, which is made from coffee beans eaten by the mongoose. The beans are then recovered from the poop of the mongoose, washed three times with boiling water, and then roasted. The coffee was good but very expensive. One taste was good enough for us.

We arrived in Ubud around noon and checked into Sama's Cottages, which is a quaint place with small cottages and a lovely pool. We walked into town and enjoyed lunch at the Lotus Café. After lunch we walked to the central market, which was huge. Everything you can imagine was sold there, and it was a maze of isles and shops stacked to the ceilings with goods. I bought another hand fan and some small wooden spoons. The vendors are open to bargaining, so I usually paid about half the asking price. It then began to rain, so we decided to return to our cottage. That night we decided to eat at Miro's Restaurant because it was still raining and the restaurant was very close by.

The next day we went with Tin Soldier to the Monkey Forest on Monkey Forest Road. We hired a taxi driver named Yomen, who turned out to be very funny and helpful, and he waited while we went through the forest. We bought some bananas to feed the monkeys and entered the park, where we were immediately set upon by the monkeys because they could smell the bananas in our pockets. Steve decided right away to ditch the bananas, but Glen held on to quite a few. One monkey jumped on Glen's back trying to get into his pockets to get the bananas and actually got quite aggressive. Glen then decided to hand out his remaining bananas, and from that time on we just enjoyed the scenery and watched the monkeys carrying on. It was very entertaining and a nice way to spend an hour.

From the Monkey Forest we drove to a weaving shop where we purchased some nice pieces for back home. We then had Yomen drop us off back at the market so that we could walk through it again. Steve and I left after a short time and found the Mumbul Restaurant where we could have lunch, and Tin Soldier soon joined us. Steve ordered pumpkin bisque, which was exceptional and chicken curry. I enjoyed a lovely chicken avocado salad.

We returned to the cottages and enjoyed a refreshing swim in the pool. For dinner we decided to return to the same restaurant because the food had been so exceptional. This time Steve had fish curry, and I ordered a tuna steak, both of which were excellent.

At 10 o'clock the next morning our drivers picked us up at Sama's, and we drove back to Lovina Beach by a different route. This trip took us to the very large Tuluk Biyu Batur Temple in Kintamani. Before we could enter the temple, we had to rent a sarong with a tie sash so that we would be appropriately dressed. We were very lucky because It was a special day in the Hindu faith so the temple was decorated with brightly colored flags and banners. The locals were all bringing offerings of food such as whole roasted pig, fruit, rice, etc. It was quite interesting to watch them make their offerings and then sit down to say prayers.

After the temple we ate lunch at a restaurant that overlooks two of the volcanoes on Bali. Mount Batur was spectacular, and we could see where the last eruption had blown part of the cone away. The larger Mount Abane was hidden in the clouds. We all decided that we were now ready to return to Lovina Beach so that we would have enough time to stop at the local Carfour grocery store for some last minute items, which just happened to include ice cream.

In the evening we went ashore once more for more dancing. After the dancing we returned to the Sea Breeze Restaurant for the Regent's dinner, where there was the usual speech and buffet dinner, but it was a lovely evening, and we had a very good time.

Our last day in Bali was a busy one. We enjoyed lunch with Scarlett O'Hara and then took care of posting a blog. About five boats got together at Tropis Restaurant for dinner and then walked to J.B.'s to enjoy a dessert of Death by Chocolate. What a way to end the day.

We left for Kumi the next morning. The passage was mainly motoring because of very light winds. It was a challenge with all the fishing boats, cargo ships, and tugs pulling barges. We arrived in Kumi on Kalimantan on the 30th after a three-day passage. I will write about our adventures in Kalimantan in the next blog.

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Lombok

2010-09-25T19:00:00.000-07:00

September 20--Our time in Lombok for Sail Indonesia was wonderful. Medana Marina is a "virtual" marina, meaning that there are no docks--yet! The owners are planning to put in floating docks in the future. Right now, you can pick up a mooring ball, or you can anchor in depths up to 80 feet. They have cleared out a place inside the reef and have built some very nice facilities ashore such as bathrooms with showers, a lovely open-air restaurant, and a small store. We were able to order diesel and have it delivered, water was available at the dinghy dock, and laundry service was available at very reasonable prices.

When we arrived on the 14th, we were able to pick up a mooring ball just off the beach and then run a stern line to a post on shore. The area was a bit crowded because of the rally so we were pleased to get such a good spot.

On September 15 we attended a cooking class presented by two local women with an interpreter provided to translate for us. It was quite interesting, and we got to eat the food that was cooked when it was over. In the afternoon, I had a one-hour massage that cost me 75,000 rupia or $7.50--it was wonderful! That evening we joined three other couples and walked down the beach to the Oberoi Lombok, which is an absolutely stunning resort. We enjoyed cocktails at the bar overlooking the ocean, and then we joined Walter and Tiggs from sv Marne for dinner. I ordered seared yellow fin tuna, and Steve ordered rack of lamb. Both meals were exceptional.

The next day we hired a driver to take us to Mantaram to do some grocery shopping at a mall. We enjoyed eating lunch at McDonalds. We then stopped at a wood carving shop and saw some beautiful pieces of furniture. We also stopped at what is called the "Monkey Forest: where you can feed peanuts to the monkeys. There were quite a few when we stopped, including two mothers with small babies clinging to them. It was very entertaining to watch them climb the trees and sit while they ate the goodies. All the roads were very crowded with car, motorcycles, and horse-drawn carts.

That afternoon a "Welcome Ceremony" was held at which the usual speeches were made, and a group of men dressed in costumes and carrying large drums performed a dance. We were fed some very nice treats and were served soda and even Bintang beer. There was a two-hour break during which we walked around the many booths that had been set up by local vendors. Then dinner was served and additional performances by a band and several singing groups were presented to our group. It was a lovely evening.

On September 17, I had another massage while Steve joined Glen and his son Jaryd for a motorcycle trip. They drove up to see three waterfalls. The last one in the series was especially beautiful, and they were able to climb a ladder in the waterfall, enter a cave behind the waterfall, and find the second waterfall plunging from 40 meters above through a hole in the roof of the cave.

We left Medana Marina around noon and motored to Gili Air, which is an island about a mile away. We had to wind our way through a few reefs and made our way to the anchorage. Unfortunately, there were so many boats there that we decided to continue another mile to Gili Trawangan. We were able to pick up a mooring ball there because only two other boats were around us.

Gili Trawangan is the largest of these Gili islands, and it is a very popular place. We went to shore to enjoy lunch, but just as our food arrived, so did a huge thunderstorm. The winds picked up, and the rain came down in sheets. It was raining so hard that we could not see the boat anchored just 50 yards away. We quickly finished our lunch and walked back to the dinghy in the rain. We found the dinghy half filled with rain water, so we quickly drained it and then braved the waves to return to the boat. Everything was all right except for a small amount of water below that had come in through the port lights.

We spent three days at this anchorage and enjoyed it very much. The restaurants were excellent, and the beaches were beautiful so we can understand why it is such a popular place. Our next stop is Bali.

Ferocious Komodo Dragons

2010-09-17T20:07:00.000-07:00

September 16, 2010—On September 8 we left Labuan Bajo with Tin Soldier and moved southwest to the Island of Rinca. It was a beautiful day so we had good sunshine that would help in spotting the reefs along the way. We had a lovely trip except for one uncharted reef that was difficult to see until we were close to it.

We anchored with four other cruising boats at Loh Buaya Rinca, a beautiful bay surrounded by mangrove trees, and then we ate a quick lunch. By now it was overcast and sprinkling rain, but we all decided to go ahead and go see the Komodo Dragons. We tied our dinghies at the dock and stopped at the small shelter to allow the rain to stop. Just a short distance away an older dragon was sleeping. There was also a small group of monkeys that immediately came up to us when we got the camera out of the backpack—not because of a picture, but because they thought there would be something to eat.

We walked a short distance to the Komodo Dragon National Park office and purchased our tickets for the tour. Our guide’s name was Obie, and he spoke very good English. He showed us two dragons hanging around the kitchen hut hoping for some scraps, but he informed us that they never feed the dragons.

The Komodo dragon is a ferocious looking lizard with enormous claws, fearsome teeth, and fiery yellow tongues. The Komodo dragon is actually a monitor lizard. All monitors have some things in common: the head is tapered, the ear openings are visible, the neck is long and slender, the eyes have eyelids and round pupils, and the jaws are powerful. The dragons also have massive bodies, powerful legs (each with five-clawed toes) and long, thick tails (which function as rudders but can also be used for grasping or as a potent weapon). The body is covered in small, non-overlapping scales; some may be spiny, others may be raised and bony.

The dragons’ legs allow them to sprint short distances at a pretty fast speed. They have a very keen sense of smell. The Komodo dragons feed on deer, wild pig, and water buffalo. They bite their larger victims and wait for the potent bacteria their mouths contain to take effect—waiting for up to two weeks for the buffalo to die. We have since heard that there is some doubt about the bacteria aspect, but we don’t know for certain.

The Komodo dragon lays the largest eggs of the monitors, and the female lays 15 to 30 eggs at a
time and usually buries them in the wall of a dry river. The incubation period is nine months, and after they hatch, the female will protect them for three months from predators. The young then spend about five years living up in the trees in order to protect them.

The one-hour tour was very interesting, and our guide was very knowledgeable. We saw one female protecting her nest, and we saw a water buffalo as well. After the tour we returned to the main base and enjoyed a cold soda while watching two dragons lounging on the ground.

It was now late afternoon so we returned to our dinghies, which were now almost out of the water because of the tide. We had to walk them out a ways before we could get in and discovered some sea snakes along the way. Not my idea of a good time.

It was now raining pretty hard so we quickly returned to the boat and put the dinghy on board since we were wet anyway. We fixed dinner, took showers, and then read for awhile. It was a rainy evening, but we really enjoyed it, and the rain gave the boat a nice bath.

The next morning we headed north to Gili Lawa, which is a popular anchorage on the northern tip of Komodo Island. We pulled into the bay and anchored in beautiful, clear water. We enjoyed a snorkel in the afternoon, where we watched two turtles digging into the coral, and a beach bon fire in the evening with three other boats. By the time we left the beach, however, the north wind had picked up, and now the bay was quite rough. We spent a miserable night sleeping on the settees with the boat rocking and rolling.

The next day was beautiful again. We went for another snorkel and again enjoyed the beautiful coral and sea life. In the afternoon we joined four other boats for happy hour on the catamaran Orono I and had a great time. In the evening the swell came in again, so we were rolling and spent another uncomfortable night.

In the morning we had planned to go on a dive, but it was overcast and raining so we left and moved west to Batu Monco about two hours away. This bay was also lovely, well protected from most winds, and had only our four boats in it. We got our anchors down, enjoyed some lunch, and then met for a dive at one o’clock. The dive was not deep, but the coral was lovely, and there were so many types of fish around that we enjoyed it very much.

That evening we had another beach bon fire, mainly in order to burn our plastic trash, but it was again a lot of fun. We returned to the boat around 6:30 and got her ready to go early in the morning. This anchorage was much calmer so we were able to get a good night’s sleep.

We left at 5:20 in the morning when dawn gave us just enough light to see. Three of us left, but sv Imagine decided to stay. Because of light winds we motor sailed. There was a narrow channel a few miles out, and the tides and currents produced a very sloppy sea plus the current was against us, so we spent a lot of time trying to make it through the two-mile wide and 10-mile long channel. That put us into our anchorage at Batoc Basar at dusk with barely enough time to see where we could anchor. At least there was no roll here so we spent a pleasant evening in this spot.

From Batoc Basar we went to Medang, which took another long day of motor sailing. We arrived at dusk but had no trouble anchoring along with about 12 other boats. We left Medang at 2:30 the next morning so that we could arrive in Lombok by dark. We had a lovely trip and passed Mount Rinjani, a beautiful volcano that rises to almost 13,000 feet.

When we arrived at Medana Bay Marina, we heard that there was very little space. This is a virtual marina with no docks, just mooring balls and anchorage space. We were lucky because we were able to pick up a mooring ball just off the beach. We ran a stern line to the beach to keep us in place, and then we settled in to get ready for the next festivities.

Labuan Bajo

2010-09-09T18:24:00.000-07:00

September 8, 2010--We enjoyed several days at Gili Bodo Island. Several local boats came by to sell carved masks and Komodo dragons. They also had a lovely assortment of pearls. We went out twice to snorkel and the spots were all right, but snorkeling through plastic trash was not very fun. We did, however, find some good shells. While we were there, Grant aboard sv Imagine celebrated his 10th birthday so his parents had a party on the beach. Quite a few cruising kids were in the anchorage, so they all had a good time. Just about every day we also saw monkeys on the beach, and they were a lot of fun to watch.

We left Gili Bodo on September 5 and headed to Labuan Bojo. The anchorage was actually a mile or two away in front of the Ego Lodge, which was very welcoming to the rally boats. They had a pool, and we could buy cold Bintang beer. There were about 30 boats in the anchorage, which was only about 20 feet deep with a thick mud bottom so we had good holding.

There were quite a few local boats with boat boys who would provide services. We ordered diesel and water from them, and they delivered it all to our boat. They also took our garbage for us. They also provided transportation to town for just 20,000 rupia or $2.

We went in to the pool at the Eco Lodge in the afternoon along with several other boats, where we sat in the lukewarm pool drinking a cold beer. We agreed to meet Esprit, Tin Soldier, and Imagine for dinner later at the restaurant next door so around 6:30 we dinghied ashore in a light rain and walked quickly to the restaurant. Steve and I ordered tenderloin steaks, and Steve's was great, but mine was a bit tough. We were stuffed when we returned to the boat.

The next day we went ashore and hired a "Bemo" or van taxi to drive us into town. We stopped at the bank to get 1,500,000 rupia ($150). We dropped off our laundry and then found a good grocery store that actually had mozzarella cheese and Cheetos. We picked up a few items and then walked around town where we ran into the crew of Tin Soldier. We all decided to stop for lunch and found a great restaurant with a view of the bay and excellent food. We did a little more shopping and then caught a ride with them back to the anchorage on a local's boat.

Katie froom sv Esprit was celebrating her 50th birthday that day so I baked her a chocolate cake. We all met on the beach at 6 p.m. and then returned to the same restaurant. This time I ordered the sautéed beef dinner, and it was excellent. Steve had another excellent tenderloin steak. After dinner we all sang "Happy Birthday" and then enjoyed cake, brownies, and ice cream. We were again stuffed as we walked back to the beach to head to the boats.

The next morning, Marilyn and her son Jaryd from Tin Soldier joined us for another shopping spree. The Bemos here all have names decaled on their wind shields so that you can remember which one is yours. Our Bemo was "Rocker." We headed for the traditional market where we were able to find green beans, cabbage, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, and even a watermelon. It is always fun at the markets because the locals are very friendly, and it is always interesting to see what is offered. The Bemo then took us to the bank for another 1,500,000 rupia. We wanted to be sure to have enough money to last us until Lombok in about a week. Next we stopped in town and went to the Corner Restaurant. They had wireless internet, although it was slow, and excellent hamburgers. After that we went to the grocery store for some more mozzarella cheese and some Bintang beer. Our last stop was to pick us our laundry. The woman was very nice but did not speak any English. Her friend was able to help us out and told me that the bill was 40,000 rupia or $4. The woman's daughter was quite precocious and wanted her picture taken, so I took a couple of pictures of her and her friends and then took some of her and her mother. They all giggled when they saw the pictures on the camera.

It was time to head back to the boat so the Bemo driver returned us to the Eco Lodge, and we paid him 170,000 rupia ($17) for three hours. We got to the beach and saw that the wind had changed and the waves were pounding the shore as well as our dinghies. It took some effort to load all our stuff into the dinghies and then get them off the beach. We got soaked on the ride back to the boat, but most of the goodies survived in good shape.

We had planned to stay on board for the evening, but sv Orono called us on the radio and asked if we would like to join them, Tin Soldier, and Finale for dinner in town. We said we would love to go, so they picked us up in the boat taxi, and we headed in. It was just misting rain so I grabbed my umbrella before we left, and I was so glad that I did because it started raining pretty hard. We walked about a block to the Corner Restaurant and looked like drowned rats when we arrived. We did enjoy an excellent dinner. Steve ordered a vanilla milk shake but ended up with something that was like cream, ice, and cucumber--it was very strange so he skipped it.

It was still raining when we left so we hurried back to the water taxi. We left the dock and were all huddled under the small piece of canvas and watched as lightening lit up the sky. The boat boys were having a difficult time with the engine as it kept dying on them, and they worked very hard and got us back to the anchorage. These little 16 horsepower engines (Mr. Engine) make a lot of noise, but they do get the boats from place to place. The first time I heard them, I thought a helicopter was coming nearby. Our next problem was that the boat's rudder would not turn the boat enough to easily pull up to our sailboats. One boat boy would have to stand on the bow and use a pole to finesse us up to a boat. The cruisers took this all in stride, and we eventually made it back to our boats, wet but happy.

Our next stop is Rinca Island to see the Komodo Dragons.

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South to Flores Island

2010-09-01T18:13:00.000-07:00

September 1, 2010--On Thursday, August 26, Marilyn from Tin Soldier and I went to town to pick up some last minute items. We enjoyed an exciting ride in a van/bus to the MGM grocery with about eight teenagers. I was lucky enough to find some JIF peanut butter, which made Steve very happy, as well as some other "goodies" for our enjoyment. On this return trip we were able to get a motorcycle pedi-cab, which we had not done before.

When we returned to the boat, I worked on the last blog during the afternoon. Around 6:30 p.m. we went ashore to meet the crew of Tin Soldier for dinner at the same restaurant that we had dinner at the night before. The food is exceptional, and no one wanted to cook because of the heat, so it was perfect. We arrived first and had just ordered dinner when we saw a couple on the street who looked to be Americans. They came into the restaurant and we exchanged greetings. They told us that they had planned to eat next door, but when they saw us (Americans), they decided to come into our restaurant.

Caleb and Tiffany are from the states and are in Indonesia teaching English. They also take divers out to the nearby dive sites. We asked if they would like to join us for dinner, which they did. Soon Glen, Marilyn, and Jaryd arrived so we had a merry group at the table. We learned quite a bit about Bau-Bau and Indonesia from Caleb and Tiffany. Tiffany asked if we had found everything that we wanted, and we said, "yes" except for ice cream and grape jelly. After dinner she took us to a local store that had an large freezer, and in it were Magnum ice cream bars! We hadn't had those since Fiji, and they were just as good as we remembered. Caleb asked if we would like to do a dive the next day, and since we were planning to leave Bau-Bau, we agreed to head south to Nirwana Beach and meet him there.

The next morning Steve and I went in to shore to take some last-minute pictures. We pulled up to the dinghy dock and climbed the stairs. Steve wanted a short of the dock with the local boats at it, so he went back only to find that the navy was removing the dock. The strange thing was that the navy guy helped us tie up the dinghy and never said a word. Steve ran back down, climbed into the dinghy, and took it to anchor it at the shore. We went to town, quickly took our photos, and then returned to the boat.

We headed south and arrived at Nirwana Beach around 10:30. Caleb arrived at 11 o'clock so Glen, Marilyn and Jaryd headed in with us to shore. We all geared up and entered the water. Marilyn, however, stayed to snorkel. The dive was along a rock ledge that ran quite a distance, and we saw some interesting fish and pretty coral. It was a very relaxing dive. When we all returned to the beach, we found that the wind had really picked up, and the boats were bucking around on their anchors. We thanked Caleb and hurried to leave, but we agreed that their family would meet us at our anchorage at the south end of the island in the late afternoon.

Getting the dinghies off the beach was a real challenge. There were large waves rolling in, and we got drenched when they hit the dinghy, sending water all over us. We were able to get the dinghy engine off and the dinghy aboard without too much trouble. We then pulled the anchor and left the anchorage, bucking like crazy over the large waves.

We continued south for another 10 miles and then carefully made our way in to shore. There were numerous fishing floats in the water, and at one time we were about to go over a long line, so we had to reverse and find another way toward shore. We anchored in about 30 feet of water in a beautiful spot where the southern tip curved around to give us good protection from the ocean.

Around 5 p.m. Caleb and Tiffany arrived with their 4-year-old daughter Alethia and their one-year-old son Asher. Glen picked them up in his dinghy and brought them out to Tin Soldier. When Tiffany got aboard, she gave me a bag that had a jar of Smucker's Organic Grape Jelly--I couldn't believe it! Now Steve would be really happy. We enjoyed several hours visiting and learning even more about Indonesia. Asher stayed in the cockpit with the ladies and Steve, while Jaryd entertained Alethia below, and Caleb received a tour from Glen. When it was time for them to leave, we all exchanged email addresses so that we could stay in touch. Perhaps we will see them in the states some time in the future.

We spent the next day catching up on chores and relaxing. Glen had an issue with his autopilot so Steve went over, and they were able to fix it. I joined them a little later for a game of Scrabble with Marilyn. Soon it was time to go back to have supper and call it a night as we planned to leave at 5 a.m.

At 5 a.m. we pulled our anchor and headed south for Bone Rate anchorage, which would required an overnight run. The conditions were excellent, and we had a knot of current pushing us along. During the day we actually put a reef in the main because we were going too fast. We continued on and eventually pulled in some of our jib to slow us down some more--we did not want to approach the pass into Bone Rate in the dark. The worst thing was the "fishing rafts" that were out there. These are rafts that are unmanned, and they just float along catching fish. We don't know exactly how the fish are caught, but these rafts are not small, and if we hit one during the night, it might do some damage. They do not show up on RADAR, and they are very hard to see if it is dark. While I was down below sleeping around 9 o'clock I woke up because of a loud thumping on the hull. I immediately thought that we had hit a raft, but Steve swept the water with the spot light and saw nothing, so we decided that it must have been a log in the water.

Our timing worked out well because we entered the pass at 8 a.m. with an ebb tide, which pushed us through at 9 knots. We worked our way to the village at the eastern end and anchored not too far from the pier. Tin Soldier followed us in and anchored next to us. Unfortunately, about 30 minutes later, a very large local boat pulled anchor but started drifting down on another local boat. Then both of them came close to us, so we pulled the anchor and spent another 30 minutes looking for new spot. Tin Soldier ended up moving to get away from the local boats as well.

We did not go ashore since we were tired and planned to leave in the morning. We enjoyed visiting with some of the locals that came by to visit. We took a swim in the afternoon and then showered. While Steve was showering some locals came up to the boat. He was standing there dripping wet with a towel wrapped around his waist trying to tell them that he was bathing, but they just continued to come up to the boat. I went through some hand signals to explain that we had to go below to eat our dinner so they finally left. They don't seem to have the same view of privacy as we have, and it can be frustrating at times.

We were off at 7 o'clock the next morning. Tin Soldier was a bit behind us as they all slept in because they were sick with colds. We made good time with the tide helping us along again. We saw dolphins on our way but were very surprised that they came close to the boat but did not swim in the bow wake. That is the first time they have not done so. It was a beautiful day with light wind so we motor sailed the whole way. We arrived at Lingeh Flores around 3 p.m. and did not even have the anchor down before we were inundated with local canoes filled with children. They completely surrounded the boat and began asking for writing pads, pens, fishing gear, etc. We told them that we did not have any more, and they were obviously disappointed. Steve did give some fishing line to an adult who brought out some nice bananas. I bought a piece of Ikat from one of the boys, but that was it. Tin Soldier arrived so some left to visit them. Finally, about two hours later, we told them that we were tired and had to go below so they left.

As it happened before when Steve went for a swim and then took his shower, a local boat came pretty close to the boat. This time he didn't stop showering but just continued on. I waited until it was almost dark to take my shower, and a local in his canoe was only about 50 feet away. We stayed down below for the rest of the evening and then made a hasty retreat early the next morning.

We now headed west along with Tin Soldier to reach Gili Bodo Island, which is an uninhabited island with white sandy beaches. We need a respite from visitors and some down time, and everyone on Tin Soldier needed to recover from their ills. We made good time with the help of the current, wound our way through the fringing reefs, and anchored in 20 feet of crystal blue water over sand. It is spectacular here, and we even saw monkeys walking on the beach. All is well aboard sv Linda.

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Bau-Bau

2010-08-25T18:58:00.000-07:00

August 26, 2010—Bau-Bau City is rarely visited by westerners, and the rally has never come here. As a result, this city of 250,000 pulled out all the stops for our group. The dragon at the right overlooks the harbor where we are anchored, and at night his eyes are lit with red lights--pretty scary looking.

We arrived at dusk on the 21^st. It was sprinkling rain, and the anchorage was a bit full, but we finally found a small spot. We dropped the anchor and waited. It was not holding, so we re-anchored, and this time it held. We were a little tired, so sv Esprit invited Tin Soldier and us over for drinks and appetizers.

The next day a trip to a cave was scheduled in the morning, and a pedi-bike ride (a rickshaw powered by a bicycle) was scheduled for the afternoon. We did not attend the cave because we had to mend a seam on the dinghy. Around noon we went ashore, leaving our dinghy at the temporary dinghy dock, and enjoyed lunch. While we were there, the wind came up, and it looked pretty rough in the anchorage. We hurried back after lunch to find our dinghy pulled up onto the dock along with several others. The waves were coming over the dock, which was getting pounded against the stone steps by the waves coming into shore. The guys watching the dinghy dock helped us get the dinghy back into the water, and we made a hasty retreat back to the boat.

When we were back on board, we discovered that we were too close to another boat, so we pulled the anchor and moved--again. We had planned to attend the pedi-bicycle ride; however, with the rough conditions and having just moved the boat, we decided to stay aboard to make sure that the anchor was holding. The current here creates real problems here because it affects the position of the mono-hull sailboats, but the wind affects the position of the catamarans so we all moved in different directions. Several boats have bumped each other during our stay. Luckily, we are not one of those.

The next day was a very busy one. In the morning we were taken by bus, with a police escort with the sirens blaring, to Nirwana Beach to enjoy some swimming and snorkeling. Unfortunately, it began to rain after two hours so we returned to the anchorage.

At 3:30 we returned to shore to attend the welcome ceremony that was planned by the locals. The elders were there, and all were dressed in their traditional clothing. Five of them sat on a blanket and prepared water for a blessing on us. Each cruiser then knelt in front of each elder, shook his hand, and then moved on. The last two elders dipped leaves into the water and then sprinkled it on our heads. After that we received a lei made of flowers, and then we walked between two lines of the other representatives from the area. There must have been 50 men, and we shook every man’s hand. The welcome that we received was really quite impressive.

Next we got back into the buses and were again escorted to a handicraft shop where there was weaving, jewelry making, and sewing of the very decorative cloths for the traditional costumes. Across the street we entered a traditional house that was built on stilts, and we were given a tour. In the rear room, we were allowed to put on the headdress and jackets that are worn for a wedding, and we had our picture taken. It was great fun.

The Keraton Fortress was our next stop. This fortress sits high on the hill overlooking Bau-Bau, and this palace fortress is recorded as the largest fortress in the world with a length of 2.74 km. It was begun in 1591 and was finished sometime around 1645. There are quite a few homes inside the perimeter walls of the fort, and some government buildings as well. It was quite impressive and in good condition as it has been restored.

Within the fort, we went to Keraton Hall, where some local dances were performed for us. Inside the hall, there were families from all the different villages, and they had all prepared their traditional food dishes for us. Steve and I sat with one family—a mother, her sister, and her daughter Amy, and a friend of Amy’s. They served us portions of at least 10 different items, all of which were just wonderful. There was fish, chicken, lobster, crab, several types of rice, banana and coconut custard, and sweet treats. I don’t know the names of all the dishes, but all of them were the most delicious foods we have had here in Indonesia, and it was obvious that they had spent days preparing the food. Amy spoke very good English so we learned quite a bit about her family and the traditional foods.

During dinner, some young children walked through the hall dressed in traditional wear, and they were absolutely adorable. After dinner, the locals all wanted pictures with us. We must have had 50 pictures taken of us--it was really amazing. We left the hall so full that we could hardly breathe and returned to the buses to head back to the boat. Everyone on the ride back said that they were overwhelmed with our reception and many were moved to tears, including us.

Tuesday began with a bus trip north to a Hindu village where everyone turned out to warmly greet us and where we were treated to three Balinese dances. The locals provided us with a delicious lunch, and then we were off to see the rice fields. The Balinese people came to Bau-Bau 30 years ago, installed a dam and irrigation system, and cleared the land by hand. The rice fields are quite impressive, and the landscape was beautiful.

That evening the Mayor invited all of us to his home and put on an amazing dinner and presentation of local custom dances. One of the dances is actually named the "Linda Dance." Bernie and Diane on sv First Light III volunteered to wear traditional outfits for the event, and they gave a speech thanking the mayor and the Sail Banda committee for all their hard work. After dinner all the cruisers were taken by a local to dance. None of us seemed to grasp the steps, but we provided some entertainment. Then there was the usual line dance to local music, so I enjoyed participating in that for awhile. We left around midnight, once again tired but pleased with all we had seen that day.

Yesterday was very busy with shopping for vegetables and fruit at the central market and the MGM supermarket. Marilyn and I rode motorcycle taxis to the MGM, which was a real experience because of all the traffic here. Three of us ladies found a few hours in the afternoon to go shopping for clothes. In the late afternoon we hosted a happy hour for Esprit and Tin Soldier, and then we joined Tin Soldier ashore for dinner.

Today we will take care of any loose ends and last minute shopping. We plan to leave in the morning to head south to Flores Island, stop at Bone Raté reef for a day or two in order to break up the passage, and then hook up with the southern group of Sail Indonesia. Bau-Bau has been an absolutely wonderful experience, and we are so glad that we came here to enjoy its hospitality and meet the people.

Wangi Wangi to Hoga Island

2010-08-21T15:35:00.000-07:00

August 21, 2010--On August 15, a Welcome Dinner was held for Sail Banda at a new resort about 30 minutes north of Wangi Wangi. At 6:30 we all assembled at the restaurant and then piled into cars for the drive. We drove along a single-lane paved road and were amazed to see that it was lined with houses for almost the whole drive.

We arrived and were shown to the open-air restaurant, where we sat at a table with the crews of three other boats. The dinner was buffet style with rice, fried noodles, fish, fish soup, kasava, and greens. The food was good but spicy. We talked at the table until the Regent of Wakatobi got up to give a PowerPoint presentation about the area. He was pushing hard to have a Sail Wakatobi instead of Sail Banda next year. When he finished, we watched another traditional dance, and then the crew members from each boat were called up and given lovely hand-woven scarfs with Wakatobi embroidered on them. We were then invited to dance with the local dancers, and everyone had a very good time.

The next day we walked up to Telekom to take care of some last minute internet business, and then we walked to the Morning Market to get some veggies and some eggs. We went to the Alpha Market for bread; however, they had none. Bread is hard to find here as there are only two markets that carry it.

A festival was scheduled for 4 o'clock that afternoon so we went ashore at 3:30 and began to walk over with a few other crews; however, we were told that we had to go as a group. We were a bit confused since the field was only a five-minute walk, and we knew exactly where it was. Anyway, we waited and finally quite a few of the local guides left with us. The walk was straight down the main road, but the guides made us turn and walk inland for about five blocks, then south for about eight blocks, then back to the main road again actually going through some people's back yards on the way. We arrived at the field and were shown to our seats under an awning. About five minutes later the excitement began.

We had heard that a protest was planned, and we noticed that there were quite a few police around the area. Two young men, followed by quite a few locals, ran onto the field and began tearing down a display that had been built out of bamboo and palm fronds. The police stood around for a few minutes, and someone was speaking on the microphone. Finally, the police moved the locals back off the field. A young man who was the speaker and interpreter told us that the event was done for the day, and we should return to the anchorage. Many of the cruisers were filming all of this, including us, and many of the locals were filming the cruisers. It was a bit unnerving to say the least. We were told to wait for a few minutes, and then our guides led us from the field with the police stationed along our route.

At the restaurant the cruisers were all discussing what we had heard about the protest. Supposedly the small group of protestors was upset because food had been prepared by all the villages in the area, and we were to be able to sample it. That went against Ramadan, and they were upset. Now, just about everyone of us felt that the organizers would have made sure that no food was served until sundown; however, we also heard that this group was upset with the moderate Regent who is up for re-election next year. This was their chance to create problems for him.

We ate dinner at the restaurant that was the central area for the rally. Tin Soldier joined us, and we even enjoyed some wine. We then returned to the boat and made her ready to leave early the next morning. We were very glad that we had all our clearance papers completed and on board.

At sun rise we pulled the anchor and went out the pass in the reef. Esprit and Tin Soldier were just ahead of us, and there was a mass exodus of boats behind us over the next few hours. Some had planned to leave anyway, but others went ashore early to get their papers and take off. We were sorry that we didn't have time to say goodbye to everyone on shore, especially our young guides, and we were sorry, too, that this situation would hurt Wakatobi with future rallies.

We had no wind so we motored the five hours to Hoga Island. Luckily, we three boats were the first ones there so we were able to pick up mooring balls. Esprit took one, and we rafted up with Tin Soldier on the other. These moorings are better protected from wind and seas than the anchorage is. Hoga is supposed to have some fabulous diving, and we planned to find out.

The next day we all went snorkeling along the reef and saw quite a few fish and some pretty coral. In the evening we joined 18 other cruisers, with kids, to celebrate Jaryd's (Tin Soldier) 14th birthday. It was an excellent meal, and the company was great fun. Jaryd and his friend Jamie from Esprit then stayed ashore in a tent for the evening.

On the 19th we did a dive of the Pinnacle. The visibility was not great, and there were few fish, but we still enjoyed the dive. We went ashore in the afternoon to walk along the beach and stop in at a scientific marine research facility. We were hoping to get our dive tanks filled, but we had no luck with the dive people ashore.

Our last day in Hoga we found another dive site, and this one was exceptional. We ended up down to 120 feet for a short time; however, the best depth was about 90 feet. We came to one spot where the fish were so abundant that we were surrounded by them, and they were all swimming in a large circle above, below, and all around us. It was just spectacular. We also saw so much beautiful coral, especially fan coral, on this dive. It was hard to go back to the dinghy.

We left at 4 o'clock this morning headed up to Bau Bau, which is another stop for Sail Banda. The winds were very light so we had to motor sail the whole way. Luckily, we had a knot of current with us so we were able to arrive by sunset. The festivities begin tomorrow, so we shall see how it goes at this stop.

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2010-08-14T18:54:00.000-07:00

August 14, 2010—Our first day at Wangi Wangi in Wakatobi was very busy. We motored through the pass in the reef and anchored with five other boats in the lagoon. As usual, we straightened up the boat and got some rest.

We heard over the radio that there was a parade in the afternoon, and the Sail Banda fleet was asked to attend, so at 1:30 we all met at the restaurant and walked to the soccer field to assemble. We wore our Sail Banda shirts and carried our U.S. flag mounted on the oar from our dinghy. The group consisted of one boat from Canada, two from Australia, and three from the U.S.

We were put in the middle of the other local groups and began our walk around the town. Joining us were students from a private school in town who were studying English, and they acted as guides for us in order to practice their English skills.

All along the way the locals had come out in large numbers to watch the parade. When our group went by, everyone would call out to us and wave. Many asked to have their picture taken with us , and they made sure that our flag was included in the picture. They were so friendly and were enjoying themselves immensely. When we stopped in front of the Regent’s residence, we all saluted, and then we continued on. We ended up walking in a large square pattern through the town.

After returning to the restaurant, we were told that the Regent was so impressed with us that he wanted our group to come to his residence for a lobster dinner that evening. Steve and I were very tired; however, we agreed to join the group. Cars were waiting for us at 6:30, and we were driven to the event. We were given seats in a long row behind the “official” seats. We did not see dinner tables anywhere and sat for two hours before the proceedings began. They call it “rubber time” here.

While we were waiting, we watched young people in beautiful costumes come in and sit in a group to our right. The costumes were quite unusual and were very diverse in style. Finally, the show began. We were all given snack boxes with a spring roll, a piece of cake, and a glass of water—so much for lobster! There were several awards given out by the dignitaries, and when that was done, the dancing began.

The groups came from all over Indonesia to represent the different provinces. They had been together for a week getting to know one another and sharing their different cultures. Each group was called up to perform a traditional dance from their province. It was very interesting and very diverse. One of our favorites was a group dressed in beautiful oriental clothing. The young ladies sang is very high pitched voices and performed the most amazing dance. The body position and posture were all very controlled, and the dance was performed very slowly. The leg and foot work appeared to make it hard to keep one’s balance; however, none of them waivered during the whole performance. It was wonderful to watch.

We enjoyed every one of the dozen or so performances, but around 11:30 all the cruisers decided that we needed to leave. The entertainment was not quite over, but we found a good place to say, “Thank you” to the regent and then slip out. Our cars took us back to the anchorage, and from the boat we could hear the party continuing.

The next day we relaxed in the morning but went ashore to find a bank so that we could exchange some money. We did not have any luck. There are two banks here—one does not exchange money, and the other bank does, but the rates are horrible. Neither of our bank cards would work in the ATM so we got nothing done.

On August 10 Steve returned to the bank and was able to change U.S. dollars to hold us for awhile. We then took two guides and went with Marilyn from sv Tin Soldier to the central market. It had been raining all day so there were large pools of water along the road and most of the paths through the market were wet with puddles. This was a whole new experience, and we all agreed that this was the poorest market we had ever been to. The vendors were all very friendly and polite. We purchased some limes, some red chilies, and peanut clusters, and all were very inexpensive. I got four nice limes for 2,000 rupia or $0.20 U.S.

Ramadan began on August 11 so from 4 a.m. to 6 p.m. there is no eating, drinking alcohol, or smoking in public. Some restaurants close as do some shops, but we could still find places open to buy things that we needed. The hardest thing for us is that the mosque down by the water broadcasts prayers and music five times a day beginning at four in the morning. They use loud speakers, so even with the hatches and ports closed, ear plugs in, and our two fans running, we can still hear the music.

The next day eight of us loaded into two cars and took a tour. We stopped at the Bajo Village. The houses were built over the water on stilts, and then the people would build a stem wall around each house with coral rocks. The first village was very poor; however, we found that once again the people were very friendly and welcoming.

The second stilt village was newer. The houses were separated by water so boats were the only way to get from one house to another. Some of these houses had already begun to build up the stem walls around the perimeter. The ocean water flowed freely in and out with the tide so the water was much cleaner, and there was a nice breeze.

After the village we visited several water caves where the locals go to swim, bathe, and do laundry. These are fresh water springs that fill the caves so the water was very clear. At each one we watched women doing the laundry while the kids played in the water. We also drove up to the top of the hill to get a view of the whole area, and then we finished the tour by stopping to watch women weaving cloth on a loom. The material was beautiful, and I never would have known by looking at it that it was hand woven—it was perfect.

Last night we took Anna, our guide, to the Night Market. There were vegetables and fish available for sale; however, the real treat are all the food vendors that set up booths and sell all sorts of wonderful things to eat. We found donuts, steamed rice, fish squares, and vegetables in a spicy peanut sauce. The food was all delicious and ridiculously inexpensive. The crowds were out, and everyone was enjoying the evening. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and returned to the boat absolutely stuffed.

Today we had a fairly lazy day. We did get some chores done, and I did a load of laundry. Earlier in the week I sent in my sheets and towels to be done by someone in town. I was very pleased when the laundry came back as it was very clean and smelled great. It was just a bit damp so I did have to hang it out a little longer to get it dry enough to put away.

The official festivities for Sail Banda begin this evening. We will attend that event and one tomorrow, and then we plan to head south to Hoga Island in order to do some diving.

Arrival at Wakatobi

2010-08-10T02:16:00.000-07:00

August 9, 2010--We left Banda on Thursday morning with light winds and overcast skies. We motored for about an hour until we cleared Run Island, and then we were able to sail. The winds were a nice 15 knots and were aft of the beam, so we had a good point of sail. The seas were a bit confused, which was probably a result of some current, but we were happy with the conditions.

The passage went well with winds from between 15 and 23 knots. We did experience squalls almost every night; however, they did not produce any major rain or wind. On the second night when I came up for watch, there was a vessel off to our starboard. Steve stayed up until we had safely passed the ship. There were still two targets on the radar, which we thought were fishing vessels because they were fairly close to each other. Steve went below and told me to call him up if they presented any problem. When the closest one was about three miles out, the AIS alarm went off. This meant that it was a commercial ship, not a fishing vessel. The AIS system gave me our closest point of approach of about two miles, so I held our course, and the ship passed our starboard.

I thought that we were clear for now, but a few minutes later I spotted lights once again off to starboard. The radar showed that it was the second ship, which was moving in the opposite direction from the first and headed across our bow. The AIS again picked up the ship and showed that it would pass in front of us about two miles off. The AIS also gives information about the vessel such as the name and the size. This ship was almost 1,000 feet long and 160 feet wide--a very large ship. I held our course and watched. I thought it would never get past us, but finally it was clear, and now there were no more targets on the radar screen.

About a 150 miles from Wakatobi Steve noticed a large tree floating in the water, and later we spotted another one. It would not have been good to hit one of these during the night. The wind lightened up a bit in the afternoon so we shook out a reef in order to pick up some speed.

As luck would have it, we arrived at Wakatobi about two hours past sunset. We had received some directions from sv Esprit, who had arrived at noon, so we made our way into the bay. We had expected a fairly deserted island with perhaps a village. What we found were lights all along the shore and fishing huts with lights in the bay. We wove our way in very slowly with Steve on the bow checking with a 1,000,000 candle spot light. When we reached the last way point, nothing made sense to us. We called Esprit to clarify and were told that it was correct. Finally, Ghno called on the VHF radio and told us that he would be out to guide us in. We continued into the bay at a very slow pace, and when we found Ghno, he led us to a mooring ball, which we tied up to for the night. It turned out that the last way point was further out in the bay than Esprit realized--better than too far in the bay.

We thanked Ghno for all his help and then got the boat straightened up a little. We called sv Tin Soldier, who was about two hours behind us, to let them know the situation. We stayed up until they arrived around two in the morning. We finally got to bed at 2:30 and slept soundly until 6:30 the next morning.

In daylight we could clearly see the entrance through the reef into the anchorage, so we left the mooring ball and made our way to the anchorage. There were only six boats so we found a good spot and dropped the anchor in 33 feet of water. This was a nice change from the 160 feet in Banda. We cleaned up the boat and enjoyed a good breakfast and decided to relax for awhile before we went ashore.

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In and Around Banda

2010-08-03T16:00:00.000-07:00

August 3, 2010--On Thursday the 29th we relaxed in the morning and then joined sv Tin Soldier and sv Esprit on a tour of a nutmeg plantation. We all got aboard one of the longboats and motored through a pass and over to the village of Lonthoir. As we walked through the village, the people were very friendly, and the children would say hello and then follow us for awhile.

We saw the communal water well where a young boy was dropping his bucket and hauling up water to fill jugs. Next we climbed 150 steps and walked through some more of the village until we were at the plantation. The nutmeg plantations also have almond trees, which shade the nutmeg trees, and cinnamon trees. We met two young girls who were picking up nutmeg nuts from the ground and were told that the price of nutmeg is up, which is good for the local people. They also harvest the almonds and cinnamon.

Our guides, Jufri and Wiwinn, were very informative about the history of the nutmeg trade in Banda. In the 15th century, the Banda Islands supplied all the world's quality nutmeg, which was in great global demand. They traded nutmeg with the Arab, Chinese, Javanese, and Bugis merchants who anxiously waited in line to do business. Then in 1512 the Portuguese arrived, followed by the Dutch in 1599. The VOC or Dutch East India Company played a major role in the area. In 1621, because the Bandanese would not hold to a monopolistic trade agreement, the Dutch carried out the virtual genocide of the Bandanese people by killing any male over 15 years of age. The English gave the Dutch problems for awhile; however, a deal was made (I don't know the exact year) for the Dutch to give the English Manhattan Island in exchange for Run Island in Banda. This gave the Dutch a monopoly in the Spice Islands for the next 200 years.

After the plantation tour we went down the hill to Fort Holandia, which was built in 1619. The walls were about the only thing left of this fort, but it was still very interesting to walk around. One of the locals asked us to sign a guest book, which we all did.

That night we ate a quick meal and then went into town for entertainment, dancing, and an awards ceremony. David, a representative of Sail Indonesia, gave out a prize for First Over the Start Line, Best Dressed Boat, and Best Dressed Crew. We were totally shocked when we won the Best Dressed Boat. The prize was a very nice foul weather jacket. Since it was a size medium, I thought that I would get to wear it; however, it swims on me so Steve has a nice new coat.

There were more local dancers who performed the traditional dances of Banda. They were followed by a young band who performed the AC/DC song, "Shook Me All Night Long." After that we all got up and did a Country and Western line dance to Bandanese music. It was great fun, and we were again fed local treats along with ginger tea, which was delicious. We got back to the boat at midnight and called it a night.

We have been SCUBA diving at three locations here. One was at the lava flow of Gunung Api from the eruption in 1988. The other dives were wall dives at two outer islands. The coral here is spectacular and the fish are abundant. Unfortunately, on our last dive, our underwater camera case came open, and we lost our Cannon camera with some great photos on it.

Yesterday we took time to work on the boat, but today we took a tour of Benteng Belgica, which is a fort that was built in 1611 and gave us a wonderful view of the surrounding islands. The fort was extensively restored in the 1990s and was well worth the visit. We also took a stroll through the streets to look in shops and meet some of the locals.

We have loved our time here in Banda. The people have been very gracious hosts. They have fed us and greeted us with warm smiles and friendly, "Hellos." We are very grateful that we came the extra miles up here to be a part of the Sail Banda celebration. We even skipped going to Ambon in order to stay a while longer. We plan take care of last minute items tomorrow and then leave on August 5 for Wakatobi and the Wakatobi Marine National Park, where should be some more wonderful diving opportunities.

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