The bangs of the fireworks hurt my ears. But the burst of star rain is phenomenal. It is Chinese New Year. The year of the pig is heralded. So it is the year of Piggy !! Unsuspectingly, I booked my flight to Singapore on this 5th of February. The reason to go to Singapore is because my Indonesian visa has almost expired. I could easily apply for a new visa for 2 months. But yeah. All offices are c...

After the three-week stay in the Philippines, I return to my hostel in Kuta, Bali, where my bike and luggage are stored in a storeroom by the friendly staff. As far as I'm concerned, Kuta is not the place where I want to stay for a long time, but the many advantages such as luggage storage, the proximity to the airport...

Here is the third and final part of the bicycle trip through Sulawesi. Again this part is written by Sjoukje and concerns her personal impressions of this trip. I want to thank her for these 3 blogs. She saved me a lot of work. Next you can expect a blog written by me again, describing my backpacking trip in the north of the Philippines.   Today, finally back on the bike again,...

Below is the second part of the bicycle trip through Sulawesi together with Sjoukje. Again, this is Sjoukje's personal diary and a continuation of her story in the previous blog that ended with the funeral ritual of the Torajas. The meat from the slaughtered pigs is distributed on the spot, so now and then one can see someone walking around, carrying an unidentifiable bloody piece of pig on a s...

It took a while, but here is the next blog. The blog is about the cycling trip on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, which I made together with cycling buddy Sjoukje between 23 September and 20 November 2018. On 21 September, after a few delays in my flight flight to Indonesia, I have to transfer Ulaanbaatar-Beijing - Jakarta to the more complicated route via Beijing and Kuala Lumpur. The pl...

Border crossings always make me nervous. Waiting times, forms in foreign languages and characters, extensive inspection of the truck, people jumping the queue and being dependent of the sometimes badly-minded officials. A good dose of Zen is essential. And when you think that everything is over, a car insurance policy must be taken out. Credit cards are not accepted. People want cash in loca...

A few days before the celebration of the annual Naadam festival I arrive in Mörön and take residence in a hotel to enjoy a normal bed and to benefit from the WIFI connection. Piggy has had to pay a lot on the Mongolian tracks in the last few days. It is frustrating to experience that he does not have the right qualities to defy the num...

Again, the border formalities between Kazakhstan and Russia take a lot of time on both sides. This time, after 5 long hours, I can finally set foot on Russian soil. Just over the border I still have to arrange my car insurance. Two small offices on opposite sides of the road, manned by two competing ladies, offer me the opportunity to do so. One lady is trying to make contact with me by stepping o...

Lying on my back in a comfortable chair I look  at the dimmed light above me. Open-mouthed. In the background I hear Candy Dulfer's famous song "Lily was here" . I see the head of a lady with a mouthcap showing me a sterile packaged needle. "Anesthetic?",...