Are you travelling on a budget? Always wanted to do a cooking class? Me too! I have always wanted to learn to cook food from a different country, in that country, by a native of that country… know what I mean? I don’t want to learn to cook Khmer food in Australia by a New Zealander for example. I’m a good cook, and I cook a huge variety of food. Thai, Indonesian, Italian, French and good old Aussie roo on the BBQ, to name but a few. BUT this was my chance to learn to cook Khmer food from a Khmer chef! FOR ONLY USD$10!!!! It was cheap enough that Dwayne also chose to do it with me. And let me tell you it is a lot of fun doing it as a couple.
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Sailing from Langkawi to Ao Chalong in Phuket was our first experience sailing into Thailand waters and clearing customs and immigration at Ao Chalong. Once there, we had to get into our chores… i.e. find a supermarket, laundry, scooter hire, fuel and an engineer! But first we get to explore some of the beautiful Thai islands…
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We finally arrived in Batam and grabbed a berth at the Nongsa Point Marina next to fellow Aussie sailors Gary and Libby of SV Aquarius. It was nice to talk to fluent ‘Aussie’ speakers. Finally I didn’t need to think about what I wanted to say and how to say it! We also met another Aussie couple, Mick and Janice off SV Zoa. WHY DID IT TAKE US A WEEK TO CLEAR OUT OF INDONESIA?
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We happily left Pontianak behind – without a backwards glance – as we begun our journey across the South China Sea. We soon arrived at Pulau Pengiki-besar… This trip was delightfully packed full of visits to villages, schools, local restaurants as well as many local visitors to our boat. We barbecued on shore and enjoyed a bit of snorkelling.
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Kuching was a surprise. Not only did this small city have amazing food, bustling markets and interesting ornate buildings but it was clean, tidy and not in the least chaotic. It was a wonderful break from the vehicular chaos from whence we had come. The first thing I noticed as we drove to our hotel was the tidy streets and beautiful green gardens. Our taxi driver told us that Kuching has been divided into North and South Kuching and if the mayor in one does something (e.g. put in a nice garden) the other mayor, not to be out done, will then follow suit. So gardens, tidy streets and up-kept buildings are everywhere!
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Pontianak… I promised you pirates! In this case we thankfully didn’t meet our pirates but the act of piracy that befell us went like this….
After a 24 hour, overnight sail, we arrived at Pontianak in a torrential downpour. Pontianak is about 10 mile up river and, once there, we anchored, had some dinner and fell promptly to sleep. We woke the next morning to find our newly acquired (and near new) motor had been stolen. The pirates had pinched our little putt putt and we were not happy! The day didn’t get any better…
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We discovered a paradise of sapphire blue seas, palm fringed islands and white sands as well as coral gardens over run by Nemo and his mates. It was amazing and it quickly went to number one on our list of favourite places in Indonesia. This tiny archipelago of little islands is a conservation area and although its hard to say exactly what that means in Indonesia the area has certainly benefited from it. The snorkelling was amazing; by far the best we have done in Indonesia so far. Hardly any dead coral, no rubbish to swim through and clownfish by the hundreds.
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Two nights and three days of awesomeness! Awesome place, awesome people, awesome animals, and an awesome experience! I would do this trip again in a heart beat if given the chance. I loved everything about it. The orangutans and other wildlife we saw, the delicious food, the wonderful crew, sleeping on an open boat under a mosquito net, the gorgeous sounds of night descending and the raucous awakening of birds, bugs and gibbons in the morning!
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A little jewel in the Java Sea! We spent six days exploring this beautiful area. White sandy beaches, uninhabited islands, coral reefs, monkeys and friendly local people. After the big city chaos of Surabaya, Bawean was just what we needed! We left Surabaya and motor-sailed, the Java sea, into head winds as we crossed to Pulau Bawean. The crossing took 13 hours…
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