index by countries

08/07/2003: We cross the country, exploring the Malaysian jungle for the first time. Some kilometres out of the capital - far from the glittering skyscrapers - we drive through little traditional villages. The main economic factor here are oil-palm plantations. The oil produced from these palms is used in different foods as well as in cosmetics. After the mountains in the middle of Peninsular Malaysia we reach the famous beaches at the east coast. We install ourselves at the only official campground in the country at Air Papan: A white sandy beach under coconut palms, nearly for us alone! We rest here some time, before continuing the "tourists programme" ...

07/31/2003: In Kuala Lumpur you don't get bored. Since one week we explore the different part of the town: the modern shopping centres, the popular quarters like Chinatown, the business districts like KLCC, ... Here everything is mixed up: the styles, the cultures, the languages. KL for sure is a cosmopolite city! Our Defender arrives according to its schedule in Port Klang and we enjoy the freedom with our rolling home again. Driving a foreign registered car, we are noticeable something unusual - what leads to many new encounters. Everybody welcomes us to Malaysia, some take pictures, others invite us to the restaurant or to their homes. The Land Rover Owners Club even gave us T-shirts and caps! What a welcome to Malaysia!

07/24/2003: A short flight brings us to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. This town - locally called KL - doesn't remind us a country not listed as "developed". Splendid skyscrapers present the names of world-renown brands, the highest twin towers are at home here and also the television-tower is higher than any tower in Europe. Another thing that comes to our mind very soon is the diversity of races - and the resulting cultural variety. Malaysia can be proud of having so many different races - mainly Malay, Chinese and Indian - living next to each other in peace as well as accommodating their different religions - mainly Islam, Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity and Hinduism - in tolerance of each other. We enjoy the result of this mixture in the malay life as well as its cuisine: the cultural diversity is displayed best in the many little restaurants along the streets of KL.

07/22/2003: We relax some days in Bali for the time our Defender travels on its on by ship. The small island - one of about 17,000 of the archipelago that is Indonesia - has suffered a lot on the bomb attack in October 2002. We are surprised of the hospitality of the balinesian people and the living culture and religion on the island. Everywhere we pass by we are welcomed with a warm smile. Little baskets woven of palm leaves and filled with food and flowers are placed on the streets and entrances to honour the gods, the smell of joss ticks fills the air. We enjoy the calmness of Candi Dasa very much - but some of the islanders complain about the lack of tourists since the act of terror last year. We support the local business with visits to restaurants, buying souvenirs, donating at the temple and hiring a traditional boat to take us snorkelling at the close-by rocky islands.

07/17/2003: Darwin opens its doors to us ... and the doors of a container for our car. While it is shipped to its next destination, we enjoy the beaches, cinemas and discothèques of Darwin ... civilisation also has its positive points! But its also the end of our trip through Australia: six months criss-crossing through this enormous country. The dry outback, the wet tropics, lonely beaches and overcrowded cities. You can find everything in Australia - but between everything there are huge distances, hard to imagine for an European. And to visit every interesting place, six months are not enough. But we had many wonderful experiences and are now able to understand the country and its people a bit better - its past and its present. The situation of the Aborigines and the relation between black an white has touched us deeply, sometimes in an happy way, sometimes very sadly. It is for sure one of the most problematic issues, Australia has to deal with - now and quite some time in the future. The chapter Australia is finished for us at the moment ... who can guess, where the next chapter will lead us?

07/07/2003: Before meeting the sea again in the North, we discover the National Parks of the "Northern Territory". Katherine Gorge, Kakadu and Litchfield enchant us with nearly intact Nature (set aside the Uranium-mines) existing of rivers, floodplains and rainforests. The most interesting for us is Kakadu. It is listed by UNSECO not only because of its undisturbed nature, but also because of its cultural value: in the sandstone escarpment which crosses the park are countless of rock paintings made by the Aborigines over thousands of years. We spent a lot of time examining the caves, overhangs and cliffs where paintings in different styles and colours are to find. It is hard to determine the age of the paintings, but it is estimated that people painted here since 40 thousand years ago! The management of the park is another very positive sides of the park. It is run by a board where aboriginal people (chosen by the traditional owners of the land) have the majority and also many of the rangers we meet are Aborigines. There are many "walks and talks" lead by parks staff free of charge which give us a good possibility to learn and understand more of the park, its nature and culture. And we also enjoy the free-of-charge bush-camps very much!

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