Blog
Following my gut
I stayed on the beach for a few more days after the night of the fishermen. They didn't come back to disturb me, and my sunbaked utopia...
The Risks I Choose
When I'd spent enough time in the bosom of humanity, I decamped to Lemo-Lemo Beach. Rocky track. Palm trees, bamboo shacks, white sand....
The Matriarchy
My time at Bira Beach was peaceful; I ate fruit and drank coffee with the family at my homestay, and the father, Riswan insisted that I...
Apparalang
At Bira Beach I snorkeled amongst the boats, over the seaweed and clean white sand. Small fish flitted. The ankles of the other swimmer...
Where will you sleep?
Fresh and fattened from my days in Makassar, I rolled out in brilliant sunshine and high humidity. The objective was the white sand bea...
At home in Makassar
In Makassar, I followed Google's cyborg-voiced directions into the scrum of morning traffic.
Indonesians tell me that Makassar drivers ...
Docked
The enforced stillness of the long ferry ride to Sulawesi was a calming buffer between islands. I lay on my vinyl shelf as night seeped...
Just cruising: the roro ferry life
The Indonesian archipelago is connected by a network of giant RORO ferries. They take cars, motorbikes, and passengers, but those are t...
All aboard: Sulawesi
The stretch of sea between Java and Sulawesi is quite big, and in the rainy season, wild enough. The scheduled departure day for my fer...
Random Acts of Friendship
Sulawesi. That big island with four limbs, spreadeagled the way you sleep alone in a king sized bed on a summer night. One arm tossed a...
Sleep with the lights on
Landing in Kuala Lumpur, I am immediately assailed by vistas of glass and plastic and concrete. The airport is all bright lighting, smo...
How not to fly
When I rolled into Surabaya to jump a plane for my visa run, it was already dark. My flight was scheduled for the morning and all I had...
Get thee to an airport
So all good things come to an end, including my Indonesian visa. After exhausting the monthly extensions available, I had to get myself...
Unspeakable Bliss
After the night in my private dungeon, I was less than refreshed but perfectly safe. Could be worse.
I dug out my cooking pots and used...
My dungeon on Route 3
So I was in East Java, overnighting in Jember, town of clean cheap hotels and nasi rawon. The next night I wasn't so lucky.
I'd been on...