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MAIL

News February 2010   (Singapore, February 28, 2010)

 
 
Website statistics:   In January we were able to welcome on our website 44'697 visitors who did 1'598'449 hits.
                                          (December = 38'469 visitors 1'308'768 Hits / November = 40'458 visitors 1'429'382 Hits)
                                  The visitors are coming from about 170 different countries!
                                  Record day since 12/17/1998 = the birthday of our website: on 11/5/2007 = 13'407 visitors and 787'456 hits
 
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Emil lies in bed with bronchitis in a hotel in Singapore and feels pretty lousy. But what happened until this occurred?
 
What has taken place until January 28th, 2010, can be read in our last "News Dec. 2009/Jan. 2010". Liliana resumed the nurture
of her leg's wound one day after our arrival on January 22nd, in Malaysia at an Indian doctor in Kuala Lumpur. It was battered
not only due the dog's bite on December 14th, in Tonga, but even more due to the subsequent negligent treatment at the Vaiola
hospital. During the following two weeks, the Indian doctor took care of the wound nearly on a daily basis, which therefore –
and certainly also thanks to the antibiotics – showed a noticeable healing. Because we were dealing already with the medics, we
decided to go ahead with more personal "maintenance" – as none of us is getting any younger. Amongst other things, Emil had to
care about his gum problems that causes him worries since more than a year. Unfortunately, no appointments were anymore
available as the Chinese New Year was around the corner. Hence up to Thailand, where it's said that the dentists are even
cheaper. But despite of the fact that also there the approaching holidays paralyzed the daily routine, we didn't find anybody we
had confidence. We checked frustrated the internet for flights to Singapore and were fully surprised to find seats at Singapore
Airlines at a remarkable low priced fare. Simultaneously, the container with our car reached Kaohsiung in Taiwan where it was
unloaded onto another vessel bound for Port Klang in Malaysia.
 
Likewise we got an appointment at a lady dentist in Singapore, who was recommended to us. Barely arrived, Emil found himself
trapped in the famous dentist's chair and "surgery" started: Called 'root planing', which is pretty painful and bloody. It's removing
tartar that advanced already to gum disease due to self-neglect. Two days later, Emil caught once more a dreadful bronchitis –
presumably caused by the extreme undercooling with air-conditioners, combined with the pollution in Asia's mega cities and the
reduced state of health as a result of the two-day oral surgery. Our LandCruiser however reached on February 22nd, its final
destination at Belawan near Medan on the Indonesian island of Sumatra – actually more than a week earlier than expected. The
Government of Papua New Guinea allowed us to enter "our" 167th country through its "backdoor", i.e. driving overland from
Jayapura in Indonesian (West) Papua to Vanimo in PNG's Sandaun province. Apparently it will be the first vehicle to cross the
only land border between Asia and the Pacific – Return to Paradise?
 
                                                              Tonga/Tongatapu: Our German friend Ernst (left) - living in Tonga - helps to stuff the LandCruiser on January 20th, 2010, into its 18th container, bound for Belawan near Medan on the Indonesian island of Sumatra
 
Hence we likely shall start on March 8th, for the second time to cross Indonesia. While we had to return from Eastern Sumatra to
Jakarta during our first visit at the end of 2006 due to a broken differential, we hope now to discover the whole huge island.
Traversing Java will be next, before sailing by ferry from Surabaya in the East to Makassar in South Sulawesi. There will be
"virgin soil" for us from Central Sulawesi onwards: First the North of the island and afterwards the Moluccas, from where we
have to reach somehow (West) Papua.
 

New Reports/Pictures
 
SOUTHEAST ASIA + PACIFIC:                                  mouse over picture shows comments
                                                                                                              click a picture to see details

 

Indonesia 2010
1 Picture Gallery
 
(March 2010 - ......)
Medan/Sumatra/Indonesia: Indonesian Serenity  

Sumatra

 

Tonga
Picture Report
 
(Nov. 2009 - Jan. 2010)
Tongatapu Island Nuku'alofa/Tongatapu/Tonga: Royal Palace
French Polynesia
3 Picture Reports
 
(Aug. -Oct.  2009)
Tahiti/French Polynesia: One type of Tahiti's main flower with many names - Frangipani, Plumeria, Tiare Tahiti 1st part  Picture Report  (Aug.-Sept. 2009)

Tahiti 2nd part Picture Report  (Oct. 2009)

Moorea Picture Report   (Sept. 2009)

Cook Islands (without car)
Picture Gallery
 
(Aug. 2009)
Rarotonga Island Cook Islands/Rarotonga: Beauty from the South Pacific
American Samoa
Picture Gallery
 
(July 2009)
American Samoa: View from Pago Pago towards the 1'718ft. high Rainmaker Mountain (Pioa Mountain)
Samoa
4 Picture Reports:
 
(April-June 2009)
Island of Upolu: 1st part
Island of Upolu: 2nd part
Independence Day  June 1st, 2009
Island of Savaii
Apia/Samoa: Coat of Arms of Samoa in front of the Government Office Building
Fiji
3 Picture Galleries:
 
(Jan.-March 2009)
Suva/Fiji: Guard at the Parliament House
1st part: Island of Viti Levu (Jan.+Febr. 2009)
 
2nd part: Island of Vanua Levu (March 2009)
 
3rd part: Island of Taveuni (March 2009)
Vanuatu
2 Picture Galleries:
 
(1st visit: July 2008)
(2nd visit: Dec. 2008-Jan. 2009)
Vanuatu 1st visit (without car)
 
Vanuatu 2nd visit (with car)
Vanuatu: Boeing 737-800 of Air Vanuatu at the airport of Port Vila
New Caledonia
3 Picture Galleries:
 
(Aug.-Oct. 2008)
New Caledonia: Nouméa and the St. Joseph Cathedral
1st part: Grand Terre: Nouméa + South (Aug.2008)
 
2nd part: Grand Terre: North #1 (Aug.+Sept. 2008)
 
3rd part: Grand Terre: North #2 (Sept.+Oct. 2008)
New Zealand
6 Picture Galleries:
 
(South Island: Febr.-May 2008)
(North Island: May-July 2008)
1st part: South Island (Febr.+March 2008)
2nd part: South Island (March 2008)
3rd part: South Island (April 2008)
4th part: South to North Island (May 2008)
5th part: North Island (May+June 2008)
6th part: North Island (June+July 2008)
New Zealand: South Island - typically
Philippines (without car) Picture Gallery
 
(Febr. 2008)

Philippines: Ricefields near Sagada/Mountain Province/Northern Luzon

Taiwan
3 Picture Reports:
 
(Oct.- Nov. 2007)
 
1st part: Kaohsiung-Kenting-Taitung
2nd part: Taitung-Southern Cross-
Island Hwy-Siraya NSA (Zengwun Reservoir)-Alishan-Sun Moon Lake -Taroko-Suao-Hualien Hwy-Taipei
3rd part: Taipei-Taitung-Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung/Taiwan: God of War at Lotus Pond
Timor-Leste (East Timor)
2 Picture Reports:
 
(May 2007)

Oecussi/Timor-Leste: Landscape East of Oecussi-'Town'

 
 
Exclave of Oecussi
 
Mainland
Indonesia 2006/07
1 Report + 6 Picture Galleries:
(Sumatra-Java: Sept.-Dec. 2006)
(Bali: Jan.-March 2007)
(Lombok, Sumabawa, Flores: April 2007)
(Sumba, West Timor: May+June 2007)
(Sulawesi:June+July 2007)
(Tana Toraja (-Land): June+July 2007)
(Kalimantan: July 2007)
 
Sumatra-Java    (= Report)
Bali
Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores
Sumba, West Timor
Sulawesi
Tana Toraja (Toraja-Land)
Kalimantan
Ke'te Kesu near Rantepao/Sulawesi/Indonesia: Traditional Toraja village
Brunei
Picture Report
 
(Sept. 2006)
Brunei (Borneo): ’The 'Ali Saifuddien'-Mosque at sunset in Bandar Seri Begawan
 
Borneo
3 Picture Reports:
(Sarawak: 1st visit: June-Aug. 2006)
(Sabah: Oct. 2006)
(Sarawak: 2nd visit: Nov. 2006)
Picture Gallery:
(Borneo-Trip: Sept.-Nov. 2006)
 
Sarawak part 1 Northeast (Miri)
Sabah
Sarawak part 2 South (Kuching)
Borneo (Sabah, Brunei, Sarawak, Kalimantan)
Sepilok near Sandakan/Sabah/East-Malaysia (Borneo): Orang Utan Rehabilitation Center
Rejuvenation
Picture Report
 
(Engine/Body: June-Aug. 2006)
(Transmission: Sept. 2007)

Miri/Sarawak/East-Malaysia (Borneo): Overhaul of our LandCruiser in 'Full Swing'

 
Report of the first overhaul of 
our LandCruiser in Miri/Sarawak
- the East Malaysian province
on the island of Borneo
Myanmar (South) (without car)
Picture Report
 
(May 2006)
 
Myanmar: Waiting for customers in Kawthoung
 
Thailand
2 Picture Galleries:
 
(1st visit: Nov. 1993 - Jan. 1994)
(2nd visit: Nov. - Dec. 2005)
(3rd visit: Febr. - April 2006)
Thailand: Ho Phra I-Suan Temple in Nakhon Si Thammarat
Temples, Pagodas, Shrines

People, Beaches, Nature

Laos
Picture Report
 
(February 2006)

Laos: The ’Patuxai’, the Laotian replica of the French ’Arc de Triomphe’ in Paris

Vietnam
Picture Report
 
(January 2006)
Vietnam: Two women cultivating a rice field
Cambodia
Picture Report
 
(December 2005)

Cambodia: The main temple of Angkor Wat with its five towers viewed from the hill of the ’Phnom Bakheng’ - Temple

Malaysia (West)
Picture Report
 
(Oct. - Nov. 2005)
(May 2006)
Malaysia: The four minarets of the ’Sultan Salahuddin’ State Mosque in Shah Alam are visible already from far
Singapore
Picture Gallery
 
(September 2005)

Singapore: Merlion - the Land- and Trademark of the Lion City

Macao   (without car)
Picture Gallery
 
(September 2005)

Macao: The ’St. Paul’ ruin is an inspiring sight also at night

 
 
 
 
Hong Kong
2 Picture Galleries:
 
(1st visit: September 2005)
(2nd visit: Dec. 2007-Jan. 2008)

 

 
 
Hong Kong 1st visit (without car)
 
Hong Kong 2nd visit (with car)
Hong Kong: From ’Hong Kong Peak’ we get an excellent view of the ’skyscraper jungle’
The visit of 13 Pacific Islands with and 1 without our LandCruiser

Pacific   February 2008-January 2010

The visit of 13 Caribbean Islands with our LandCruiser

Caribbean   June 2003-Dec. 2004

+ added from the United Arab Emirates:

Fairytale Wedding in Dubai   (March 1999)

+ added from a earlier visit to the USA:

Las Vegas    (Millennium change)

+ added from our Arabian Peninsula round trip:

Pictures from Yemen (May-June 1996)

+ Flashbacks of our Worldrecordtour:

Pictures from "all the continents" (Oct. 1984 - April 1997)

+ Follow-ups about Toyota-Experiences:
Encounters resp. "Ups + Downs" with
Toyota Companies since 1982
On July 7th, 2005, we were able to celebrate after a journey through 150 countries the car's
600'000th Kilometer - very prosaic in front of the post office in Cayenne/French Guiana.
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On June 10th, 2009, we were able to celebrate after a journey through 163 countries the car's
400'000th Mile - in a beautiful landscape in the West of the island of Savaii/Samoa.
Are you interested into the LandCruiser History, prepared by Toyota Motor Sales USA and taken over by
Toyota Motor United Kingdom? (after some loading-time please klick "IN LEGEND" and afterwards "HAIR TO MAGELLAN"

 

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