Mulling museums

We strolled through 3 museums during our stay in Hanoi. First stop was the Vietnam National Museum of History housed in a colonial French building of 1932. Displays included artifacts from the earliest periods to recent history. The plethora of exhibits included weapons, funerary jars, casting bronze drums, and religious decorum to mention a few.

From there, we moved to the Hao Lo Prison Museum. This prison was significant for a couple of reasons worth mentioning. First, and sadly, it was where the resistant fighters to the French occupation were incarnated and where they were subjected to brutal treatments, torture, and death.

No means of escape

Then during the Vietnam/US war, it was where the downed US pilots were held and they coined the term "the Hanoi Hilton". The US prisoners, including Senator James McCain, were treated very well and were allowed many comforts and privileges. All were released at the end of the war. No doubt a propaganda statement of good will.

Another day we rented a motorcycle and went to the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, (www.vme.org.vn) about 7.5 km from our hotel. Not far in distance, but it took a long time to get there (and back) due to poor or no signage and heavy traffic. Ethnology means "the study of the characteristics of various peoples and the differences and relationships between them". After paying the entry fee, we were directed to the motorcycle parking by the busy staff.

Parkade security

On first entering the Museum, we noticed a bicycle with 800 fish carts attached to it. Next to it, was a framed picture of the man who actually rode this bicycle exactly as shown.

Our photo of Museum's picture

The well done exhibits represented many of the cultures of the 54 distinct peoples of Vietnam's history, many of which still occupy the country and have proudly maintained their unique features and customs. The Tay ethnic group designed the Museum in the shape of the Dong Son drums which are large round drums made of bronze.

Displayed were samples including cotton and silk clothing, aluminum and silver jewellery, weapons, woven baskets, and musical instruments. The intricate designs of embroidery, the striking colourful appliques, and the dying process of clothing displayed the workmanship involved in the creations of these contrasting ethnic villagers.

Throughout our stay in Vietnam, we saw many wearing the "pointed" hats and an example of how they are made was shown in the Museum.

Also exhibited on the grounds of the Museum were examples of some of the peoples' houses such as those of the Cham of southern and central Vietnam, Sedang of the Central Highlands, H'Mong who inhabit the highest reaches of the mountains of northern Vietnam, and many others.

Cruising Halong Bay

A 3.5-hour mini bus ride from Hanoi City (North Vietnam) got us to the coast and the famous Halong Bay. Along the way, we stopped for a break at an artisan market where we admired the stone sculptures and embroidery work. They make pictures, both large and small, all from embroidery stitches. Hardest to make are the black and white pictures and this place had only 2 young women that could accomplish the deed.

Stitching diligently

What's made this Bay so popular is its cluster of 1,962 limestone islands and islets rising out of the sea in fantasy formations. (It was pointed out to us that this number of islands is the same as the year that Vietnamese icon Ho Chi Minh died, endearingly referred to as Uncle Ho.)

We had booked a 2-day, 1-night cruise through only a small part of these fabled islands. At the boarding pier, we were discouraged to see so many tourists and so many Vietnamese cruise boats. Granted, there was some 2nd world character to these boats and one could call it an intimate cruise experience in that typically they had only about 10 double cabins. Our boat was under-booked with only 6 of us!

Embarking

Once out among the better stops, our views were distracted by the numerous other boats. We just felt that this mysteriously beautiful setting where one could understand how it inspired ancient legends of dragons should have been visited in quiet solitude. Nevertheless, the geographical weirdness was not missed.

Inspiring spires

Floating villages that once made their living from the sea now serviced the tourists by paddling them 4 at a time to the shore or under the natural bridges in a bamboo boat or by hawking menial treats.

Floating village

Natural bridge

Bamboo hulled boat

One island had a stepped path to the top for a photo op. Another had us enter a very large and impressive cave.

View from the top

We gave good marks to the cruise for their attentive service, our superior cabin, and the excellent food. On the way back before disembarkation, the kitchen staff did a small cooking class showing us how to make ornamental food presentations and how to make traditional spring rolls. The ones we made, we ate with lunch.

Lotus and sunflower

Later in the afternoon, the mini bus dropped us off to the pleasant welcome of our hotel staff in Hanoi.

Essence of Hanoi

A simple joy of Hanoi (North Vietnam) was just wandering the streets and alleys, taking in the culture, and sampling the foods that make the place special.

On the street, honking motor-scooters competed with rickshaws, vendors with baskets, bicycles, pedestrians, and cars.

Rickshaw riding

A scene that spans centuries

To cross the streets or intersections, one simply steps out slowly and w e a v e s their way through the hordes of oncoming traffic with confidence from knowing that the drivers are always watching. It seems to work. We didn't see any road kill!

Running the gauntlet

The sidewalks serve a multitude of occupants and purposes. Pedestrians compete with parked motor-scooters, street vendors, eateries, as well as shop wares that spill out to the curb. We, like many others, usually ended up just walking on the road, giving way to traffic as their honking dictated.

Sidewalks but no room for walking

The umpteen sidewalk eateries (literally) were abuzz with locals and brave tourists like us. They were always an easy find. We just had to watch for the smoke from their grills or use our noses to follow the aromas to the best ones, always the busiest, and usually on the corners.

It was a great way to sample new foods because we could pick out what we wanted from the display of different dishes laid out. We squatted on low tiny stools by tables with amputated legs and ate amid the din and close proximity of all types of interesting and bustling passing traffic.

Sidewalk dining

A slightly known but special treat is the Pho Cocktail. It blends Gin or Vodka with typical flavours that go into the local soup (Pho). Sounds strange, but the party in your mouth makes this drink one that you will try over and over, which we did!

What was strikingly obvious about the Vietnamese was how energetically enterprising they were. We saw no panhandlers. Their days started early and they seemed always on the go.

Feather duster vendor

Currency is the Dong: currently 1 Canadian dollar equals approximately 20,000 Dong, and $52 equals 1,006,921 Dong. Wow - we're multi-millionaires in Dong currency!

The local women were almost always dressed up. They wore stilettos riding motor-scooters with dresses, skirts, and even shorts. They wore their clothing tight and short and often transparent blouses with fancy bras. Slim is the word here, very few overweight people. A nice change from many other countries!

NORTH VIETNAM

We figured that our auto-pilot would not be repaired and returned to us in Danga Bay (Malaysia) for about 3 weeks. We decided to take one of the many "away from the boat trips" that we plan on doing while in this area of the world. So after checking cheap flights, we chose North Vietnam as our destination.

As Canadians, we could get a "Visa Upon Arrival" as long as we had a pre-approval letter in hand. This letter could be gotten from the Vietnamese Embassy in nearby Singapore in a week or so, but we were to leave in 2 days. So we chose our only option which was to get the letter overnight from an online private agency for a fee.

Our flight departure was at 06:30 from Kuala Lumpur, about 350 km north of Danga Bay, so we took a 5-hour late evening bus ride the night before. It was a nerve racking trip, not because of poor roads (it was a modern highway), but the driver was either inebriated or unstable because his driving was erratic and all over the lanes. We almost got off the bus but couldn't find a taxi.

Kuala Lumpur is a very large city so we expected its airport to be more elaborate but it was a letdown with poor services and lack of seating for persons awaiting arriving planes. People were sitting or sleeping on the floor. Decorating was extremely minimal.

Upon our arrival at the Hanoi Airport in Vietnam, we simply presented our printed paperwork, paid $90, and were handed our Visas. We then cleared Customs and Immigration with no problems. Sometimes things just work out in your favour (not like our auto-pilot!)

At one of the Airport counters, we asked for a map and were talked into signing up for a cruise of the famous Halong Bay. They also booked us a very nice hotel at $25 US a night. We were then packed on a mini bus for the 45-minute ride to Hanoi's Old Quarter where many travellers stay.

The sprawling city of Hanoi with its 7 million population is the largest city in northern Vietnam. The hectic traffic was our first indication of the busy and energetic nature of the Vietnamese people.

We soaked up the scenes that make the Old Quarter so interesting. Generally situated around a small lake, it is an interesting mix of narrow streets and very narrow tall buildings draped with a cobweb of wires.

"Which one to connect?"

Interestingly, we learned that the reason for such skinny buildings was that for decades, if not centuries, up till around 1950, taxes were based on the width of buildings. When we inquired why buildings were still being built that way, the answer was that it's what the people are familiar with.

Many building were a mere 3 metres wide (including the thickness of outside walls) with some even narrower, and anywhere from a few stories to several stories high. What they lack in width, they make up for in depth. One art gallery in the Old Quarter is just over 2 metres wide! The hotel we stayed at was about 4 metres wide and 9 stories.

A few skinnies - a mere 2.2 metres wide

A hotel - 4 metres wide, 10 stories

A traditional outdoor entertainment of the humble lives of the rice farmers was water puppetry. We attended an authentic popular reproduction of this at the indoor Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre.

Included in the repertoire of 400 of the ancient wooden puppets were human figures, dragons, frogs, a fox, ducks, fish, a unicorn, and a mythical phoenix bird. The scene was of a pagoda in a waist deep pond where, behind a screen, up to 8 puppeteers operated.

Pagoda stage with band at left (photo copied from web)

The puppets effectively did their splashing and cavorting to a storyline while attached to unseen strings and submerged control rods. We were warned that "water scooping" would happen and those in front rows could get wet, but no one did during the performance we were at. Water scooping involved the puppets splashing scoops of water with their paddles.

"Rowing" merrily (photo copied from web)

The entertainment was supported by a small band and singers who also provided the voices for the puppets. Even though it was in Vietnamese, it was still to the delight of even this modern audience (www.thanglongwaterpuppet.org).

Lots of movement (photo copied from web)

A day out

Back at Danga Bay Marina (Malaysia), it was out with the auto-pilot and off to FedEx it back for repairs. So we were faced with waiting time.

We don't usually go on group tours, you know the type, "round them up, load them up" where you feel conversing with words like "Mooo." But we were not keeping busy with anything else so we said why not join the day tour arranged by the Rally organizers! We weren't even sure what the tour included.

So we were loaded on the bus as we kept a close watch for the cattle prods and off we went. The driver managed to get lost twice before finding the first stop which was for some quick "brekkie". In a small seaside town where the residents were a strange ethnic mix of Chinese, East Indian, and Malaysian and most evidently of the Muslim persuasion, we had a chance to sample the locals' typical breakfast.

We watched a woman swirl around her dough to make home-made roti at her sidewalk stand and decided to join the breakfast lineup. Simple and tasty!

Roti production

The next stop was at a 40-hectare fruit farm (100 acres) promoting eco-agriculture. A guide walked us all through the farm pointing out the different fruits and herbs, some we had never heard of before. We later were treated to a colourful and large buffet of all the fruits from the farm along with cold lime juice and hot tea made with the herb called Cat Whiskers.

Cat Whiskers herb

Fruit feast

A list of some of the fruits, vegetables, and spices grown: Basil, breadfruit, cocoa (to make chocolate), curry leaf, daun belalai (claims to be an anti cancer agent), dragon fruit, gourd, Hawaii papaya (NOT from Hawaii - just the name of this type of papaya), jackfruit, jambu, lemongrass, mango, mangosteen, mulberry (the leaves of which are favoured by the silk worm),  noni and durian (both of which are stinky), pamelo (similar to grapefruit), pandan (to get rid of cockroaches), passion fruit (I wonder what it claims to do?), pink guava...

At a point in the walking tour, we stopped for an exotic drink made fresh from their fruits. As a first for us, we tried the one made from the Rosella fruit and really enjoyed it.

We saw hives of small black stingless bees. Normally I am quite frightened of bees but these tiny fly-like bees were great in their busy bee business.

There are many, many types of bananas throughout the world and here they had several. One very unusual type had a stalk of very teeny tiny bananas growing solid on a stem over 2 metres high...

1,000 Fingers Banana

Another oddity was the poisonous banana. How can one tell? The flower is purple and is unique in that it grows pointing UP. So be forewarned for your next marauding foray.

Purple means poison

There was also a mini zoo at the fruit farm that had ostrich, monkeys, tortoise, python, pygmy chicken, rooster, many goats, and the cutest rabbits! I couldn't resist holding and feeding carrots to this little one...

Next we attended a short lecture on a variety of honeys and their associated properties and qualities, with lots to purchase for those in need of sweetening.

Another stop was at a palm oil factory where we were hit with an earthy, fetid odour from the culled compost pile. Unripe fruit clusters cannot be processed and are made into compost so there is no waste product. This factory at Felda Semenchu produces about 100 tonnes of oil per day.

Palm oil production

Next up was lunch where we watched a few traditional dancers, drummers, and a mock wedding while we feasted on a delicious vegetarian meal except for 1 chicken dish. Weddings in Malaysia are very costly for the families, easily running in the 5-figure sums. When guests leave, they are given a hard-boiled egg signifying new life (then the egg would be part of their next morning's breakfast).

Another stop was at Kota Johor Lama historical site on the banks of one of Malaysia's largest rivers. In the mini-museum, we learned that this was the site of the Old Johor fort built in 1540 by a Sultan who was driven out of the north by the Portuguese. But it came to ruin in 1587 when the Portuguese sacked and burned it. The museum contains recent archaeological finds including weaponry and artifacts of daily life.

Final stop: again on the river banks, a privately owned crocodile farm (Taman Buaya) with over 1,000 crocs. Evidently, there roam the escaped crocs that now skulk the rivers and estuaries of southern Malaysia.

"Hmmm, why are so many sailboat dirty bottoms around here not cleaned?" News too little too late for Jordan. He had been diving to clean Sea Turtle's prop!

Crocodiles are cold blooded reptiles and can live to be 200 years old and one here is 155. There were some impressive specimens laying about in a petrified stance. Our guide would yell loud in Malaysian and bang on the wall to get the attention of the reptiles before a feeding.

At the den of the larger ones, he would toss frozen chickens onto the dry concrete area where the big crocs would depart from their still pose to advance slowly, mouths agape before snapping up the morsels. What type of chickens did they use? Stupid ones. The smart ones we saw were running around just outside the dens.

You snooze, you lose

In the den of the juveniles, they were all gathered in the shallows like a listless bunch at the mall. They wouldn't listen to their moms who would say "Get a job or you are going to end up as a purse!" But all hell broke loose as the guide heaved in a shovel load of chicken pieces!

Snack time

As well as older and larger crocodiles, there were also tiny ones and deformed ones. These had a variety of abnormalities like missing or deformed tails or limbs, kept separate no doubt to protect their self image. The baby crocs were kept separate in a "kindergarten" away from their cannibal elders.

These crocodiles were farmed for food and products like belts and purses. How do they taste? We were told "like the other white meat" but Jordan and I won't be sampling!

In the shadows

Let the ties go?

We dropped the ties to the dock of Danga Bay Marina (Malaysia) at 13:30. We had to make sure the tide was high as the inlet just outside of the Marina gets very shallow at low tide. We motored down the west channel that separates Singapore Island from Malaysia mainland where we were under constant surveillance by vigilance of the small Singapore border patrol boats.

After a couple of hours, we had to go under a bridge. Even though we were following Sea Turtle's inbound GPS track, it was still nerve wracking for me as I was at the helm. Is the bridge high enough for our mast? Is the water deep enough for our keel? I haven't been at the helm since we anchored at Mentok (Indonesia) back in mid-January. But I guess it's like riding a bicycle...it's something you never forget.

Half an hour later, where the channel widened, we dropped anchor (N01°19.200' E103°37.410') close to a very small Malaysian island. Did you know it is illegal to anchor anywhere in Singapore waters?

So this small Malaysian island is a good spot, just outside the busy freighter area and it provides for an early start in the morning to make it all the way around Singapore Island before once again being able to anchor in Malaysian territory. Then just before sunset, 3 catamarans and 1 sailboat pulled up and anchored.

During our transit down the channel, the auto-pilot refused to work properly. Jordan checked and tried various things but to no avail. We had internet connection from cell phone towers so after Skyping the manufacturer, it was determined that damage was done when the wires were cross connected during re-installation.

Our only wise option was to return the next morning to Danga Bay Marina and send it back to the USA manufacturer for repair. Double darn...this will now delay our distant explorations.

Oh well, what can one do but go with the flow, so we settled in with a relaxing sundowner in the cockpit. It was a pleasant change to be at a quiet anchorage for the night with no loud bar music...what a treat!

Back at Sea Turtle

Back at Danga Bay Marina (Johur Bahru, Malaysia) from our trip to Canada and with not much to do, we spent a lot of time in the Marina's air conditioned library/internet room where a few other cruisers hung out. It was a good time to bring our blog more up-to-date and get out of the heat. With internet in Indonesia being so poor, and far between connections, we had gotten quite far behind.

We thought the Marina was rather pretty at night with all of its bright lights. They were in the man-made trees, running along the bottom edge of the dock, strung above the dock, fancily lighting up poles, etc. Especially vibrant were all the lights on the Danga Cruiser 8 at the dock.

A local cruising yacht

A disturbing sight was the garbage that would collect in the waters all around the boats after rainfall would wash it downstream and out into the bay. People here can be indifferent towards using the open waters to toss their waste out of their hands, but not as bad as the Indonesians. What an ugly shame. Hopefully as we continue our passages to other places in Malaysia, out and away from the heavily concentrated populated areas, we will discover more pristine locations.

Drifting from shore towards boats

There are 2 dining establishments and 2 drinking establishments, 1 being very loud from 10 at night till 3 in the morning! And did we mention there is no hot water? But that is not a negative situation as it's so blistering hot that a cool shower feels pretty good.

We were surprised at the number of people who attended a potluck since we had seen a lot of boats tied up but hardly ever saw any cruisers hanging around! Food was excellent and karaoke provided for entertainment had both good and bad songsters.

On our trips to the large city for groceries and miscellaneous, we have noticed so many similar available businesses as back home: Honda, Panasonic, LG, Sony, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Domino's Pizza, Kawasaki, and the list goes on. Not so foreign in a foreign country!

Motorcycles here, as in other Asian countries, are a main means of transportation. We learned that here the motorcycle repair shops are open 24/7. These service hours are crucial for the masses so that their vital means of daytime transportation is without interruption. When bypassing these shops, they always seem to be full. Motorcyclists don't concern themselves with the little things such as broken rear lights, etc. so defensive driving is a must.

May is the start of the rainy season, the southwest monsoons. It's the time of year where the Intercontinental Convergence Zone (ITCZ) here is extremely potent from the moist winds of the Northern Hemisphere colliding with the Southern Hemisphere moist air. The results are frighteningly huge thunder clouds with their intense lightning displays. During more than 1 of these storms, the frequency of lightning bolts was about 2 seconds apart.

The lightning, now almost daily, has been striking very close to the Marina and boats. A boat was just hit causing a great deal of damage. Apparently, it damaged most of their electrical systems including taking out their alternators, chart plotter, and other cockpit devices and they said daily they are discovering further damage.

The boats from the "Sail Malaysia Rally" were passing through making the Marina and city a major stop. This particular rally's route is from the general area of west Thailand down to the eastern water of Indonesia via a northern route (over the top of Borneo). It tends to accommodate Australian sailors making their way back home.

The major sponsor of the rally is Tourism Malaysia. We were invited to attend a "Sail Malaysia Rally" dinner at the Marina's Convention Centre one evening even though we had not signed up for the Rally. The meal was excellent and consisted of several courses, thankfully with a short break in between each course. Entertainment consisted of dancers in costumes performing Malay traditional dances as well as pop singers.

Dancing for the diners

Jordan re-installed the repaired auto-pilot and the refurbished watermaker that had sprung a slow but constant leak after 5 years of use. But lo and behold, once again the auto-pilot did not work! We just had it repaired.

Jordan tried different things but nothing worked so he contacted the manufacturer of the unit and explained the symptoms. He told Jordan where to zero in on the problem and sure enough, Jordan found a loose crimped connection which explained why we occasionally had one type of intermittent malfunction during the last few years.

After a quick fix, Jordan reconnected everything but unfortunately he inadvertently crossed the positive and negative wires. He switched them back again hoping for the best for our departure the next day...

Together again

Jordan had made the passage from Mentok (Indonesia) to Danga Bay (Malaysia) without me as I needed to return to Canada at the end of January. Once he arrived in Malaysia on February 16th, he was able to quickly check in and book his flight to join me.

Upon arriving in Victoria BC, Jordan had a good catch-up visit with his son Aaron and daughter-in-law Dee and started to get all the necessary items we needed for Sea Turtle replacements and repairs. He then joined me in frosty Alberta where we spent much needed time with my parents and helped out as much as we could.

We spent our days at the hospital where I discovered something new about my Mom that I had unbelievably never noticed before - she has 1 blue eye and 1 green eye!

Unusual eye colours

I felt very lucky to be home for my Mom's birthday. My daughter was also in town for the event making for a joyous occasion. We celebrated with a homemade dinner of Mom's favourite ribs, cake, and presents in a separate dining room that the hospital had graciously allowed us to use. Mom was soon exhausted and upon her retirement, we returned to the house.

A long but happy day

Another day when energy levels were a bit higher, I convinced my Mom to dance to the music we were listening to in the room. It had been awhile since my parents danced but I believe both enjoyed the short waltz to a tune of Willie Nelson.

Dancing once again

Unfortunately, too soon, it came time to leave. I sadly said my goodbyes and we then drove towards Penticton BC where we spent a couple of days with Jordan's parents. It was a worrisome drive as we were hearing constant avalanche warnings on the radio. We had to holdup a night in Canmore BC because the highways ahead were closed due to avalanches. But the next day all was fine.

Our journey back next took us through Seattle and Bainbridge Island in the States to pick up our auto-pilot that had been repaired.

Once back in Victoria, we continued to mark everything off on our list of things to do and things to pick up to bring back to Sea Turtle. We also found time to visit friends.

A few years ago, Jordan's close friend passed away just after he finished restoring a classic 1966 MGB Roadster. His widow offered to sell it to Jordan. He gladly accepted and we had some fun running around in it. It will remain in storage for our future returns.

New toy

Finally on April 8th, we boarded a plane for the lengthy flight to Malaysia. We crossed the International Date Line and lost a whole day! It was so nice to have had the family visits and we will miss them greatly, but it was also necessary to return to Sea Turtle.

There was such a huge weather difference from Canada's -40°C freezing winter to Malaysia's 30°C rainy season and high humidity!

Squirrely sailing

I now know how a squirrel feels when attempting to cross a Los Angeles freeway in rush hour. After a full week of waiting on Indonesia Customs and Immigration to clear me out of Batam Island, I finally got the green light. So February 16th at 07:00, I headed out into the large channel that separates Indonesia from the island nation of Singapore for a 1-day solo sail to Malaysia (Judy was back home giving support to parents).

This is probably the world's busiest channel with ships of all sizes and types coming and going and from all points of the globe.

B U S Y !

My destination was the Danga Bay Marina (Malaysia) which is across a much smaller channel that creates the border on the north side of Singapore.

For the 1st couple of hours, I sailed west with a nice breeze on the starboard beam and with a 2-knot current. I paralleled the designated shipping lanes which is noted on the charts, a redundancy because all 1 had to do is observe the string of ships going in either direction to know where you shouldn't be. However, I had to cross those lanes at a prescribed place, which I did as I jogged around the hugest mega super tanker that was evidently loaded.

At any 1 time, I could count 50 to 100 ships either in route or anchored or berthed. I would guess that there are at least 1,000 ships in this immediate area at any given time.

1 of the smaller freighters

Once I had passed along the south side of Singapore, I turned and started up the Perkins to motor up the smaller channel on the west side heading north towards Danga Bay Marina. It was later in the afternoon when I turned into the Marina, and as the tide was at its lowest, I had only 1 metre under the keel at 1 point.

I tied up (N01°28.44' E103°43.38'), and just as I made the last snap on the sail cover, the sky opened up for a short but heavy shower. But this squirrel was safe and snug and to boot, Sea Turtle was getting a nice rinse off which is always good after a passage.

Assault on the senses

Indonesia (and Bali especially) is often stated as an assault on the senses. Now we understand why this is said. There is so much to see, smell, taste, hear, and touch that you become overwhelmed at times.

Sight: Our first impression was of all the sights and scenes that we absorbed as we travelled along scenic paths and roads or through picturesque terraced rice paddies; as we strolled quaint alleys of villages, towns, and cities; as we contemplated the unique traditional architecture as we passed or entered buildings, residences, and temples; as we watched the beautifully decorated traditional dancers. Everywhere the sights were amazing. Handmade carvings of wood, stone, marble, etc. were beyond words to describe. 

We watched as traffic cops helped pedestrians to jaywalk, stopping traffic as they led the pedestrian across! And even more surprising, was seeing so many, very young, motor-scooter drivers. These capable youngsters would ride them to and from school and all around the towns or villages. After all, they grow up as passengers on them from the day they are born.

How old are you?! (courtesy of Aaron)

As well as young drivers on motor-scooters, we saw adults on loaded motorcycles or bicycles with their wares to sell. This man on bicycle is actually moving down the street, fully loaded!

He must be in there somewhere...

Smell could be positive or negative. When walking or driving past areas where garbage had been dumped was very bad. We would have to plug our noses until we passed by! The smell of smoke could be rampant as almost all men and most women smoke in Indonesia. (There were also many large billboards advertising cigarettes, something no longer allowed in North America.)

But the aroma of delicious food cooking was very enticing and the odour of stunning flowers intoxicating.

Come close...

Taste: And speaking of food, we found the food in Indonesia to taste delicious whether from roadside stands or restaurants. I can't handle real spicy foods but when we asked for mild, it almost always was. We tasted many dishes that we have never even heard of before and it was usually something that we thoroughly enjoyed.

A large lunch buffet

Due to high humidity, liquid sugar was served with coffee, etc. What we lacked for our taste buds was good wine! It was very difficult to find any wine in most of Indonesia, and when we did, it was quite expensive, so come well stocked.

Hear: Our ears could hear all sorts of different sounds. Throughout the day at specified times was the sound of the Muslim call to prayer. For us, at time, this was an annoying sound but we soon learned to blank it out. And of course there were the typical roosters crowing in the morning. In larger centres, blaring bar music.

Gleeful laughter of adorable children

But there was also the sound of silence when in the outlying areas which was a nice change from city noise.

Touch: What can we say about touch? Well, all the new fruits and vegetables never tried before; the soft leathery pads of monkey and orangutan paws, the soft sands on our feet, the tickle of the butterflies when they would alight, and all the different textures of cloth such as the exquisite silks, linens, cottons, etc.

Super soft feel

Riding in a van bus assaults several senses. Drivers honk their horns as a warning of their approach, quickly swerving through hand-drawn carts, pedestrians, and hundreds of motor-scooters. It's a mystery how they can see where they are going as their windshields are tinted and cluttered with many small round mirrors, gadgets, stuffed animals, etc. usually stretching from 1 side clear over to the other side.

This is 1 of the less cluttered windshields with several items hanging from the rearview mirror, 3 round mirrors stuck to windshield, 5 Happy Faces, stuffed animals all along the dashboard, and tinting at top and bottom, leaving only a narrow strip of clear vision...

All in all, the new and unique stimulating senses added to the memories that we cherish. Yes, Indonesia was definitely a fabulous assault on our senses!