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News September 2007   (Miri/Sarawak / Malaysia [Borneo], 20. September 2007)

 
Website statistics: In August we were able to welcome on our website 33'447 visitors who did 906'336 hits.
                                           (July = 34'295 visitors 785'379 hits)
                                The visitors are coming from about 100 to 118 different countries!
                                Record day since 12/17/1998 - the birthday of our website: 2/19/2007 = 2'518 visitors and 293'778 hits
 
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Unfortunately, our task lies once more in repairing. The age is showing more and more its face, although we overhauled
one year ago here in Miri in Northern Sarawak – one of the two East Malaysian provinces on the island of Borneo – the
engine and the whole body. Today, it’s the gear box and clutch, actually not much later since the rear differential
collapsed in Indonesia. But we want to continue with the same vehicle to extend also our Guinness World Record. A
few days ago we received the pleasing news that the 383’609 driven miles during the past 23 years in 156 different
countries have been checked and accepted. Despite of this, repairing here is still cheaper than to buy another car, even if
it’s a bit riskier and more stressful.

Our break in doing “house-sitting” at a friend’s place in Kuala Belait in Brunei was relaxing. It was nice to live temporarily
in a house enjoying all the tempting amenities, moreover if the weather is not so pleasant. Besides having a roof over the
head, WiFi, TV and a hot shower, we liked also the bed in an air-conditioned and mosquito-free room. If it wouldn’t be
possible to recharge our own batteries in this or a similar way from time to time, the “Indonesian-style” traveling could
become quite tiring in the long term. It’s simply not possible to run “his own engines” endlessly under full steam.

But some thrills and excitements are needed: Said this, Liliana’s birthday will be enriched by the arrival of a film crew from
Singapore, which wants to shoot a short movie about our lifestyle around our car. Coming October, the latest 4.7-liter
LandCruiser will be launched in Bahrain, and what a Toyota is able to do, should be emphasized with some of our travel
stories. Such a “shooting” isn’t a big money affair, but surely a lot of fun.
 

Miri/Sarawak/East-Malaysia (Borneo): Repairing the gear box      

 
Regarding continuation: On September 28th, our LandCruiser will be stuffed for the 10th time into a container. Three
days later, Evergreen Line takes it from Bintulu – the same harbor where we arrived last year on May 29th, from
Penang – to Kaohsiung in Taiwan, while we are flying with AirAsia to Kuala Lumpur, then by train to Singapore and
afterwards by the airline JetstarAsia to Taipei. A high-speed railway will bring us to the port city of Kaohsiung. If
everything runs according to our plans and bookings, we should have our “home” back on October 5th, or at the
latest 8th. Until December 1st, we are allowed to visit the island of Taiwan, called also Republic of China, which will
become our 157th country. Afterwards, we shall find ourselves once more in Hong Kong, this time with our Land-
Cruiser – actually an unusual place to visit with an own vehicle. But probably we are succeeding somehow to drive
overland into China; in any case that’s what we shall try. Hong Kong was already since the first opening of the Peoples
Republic of China the best place to complete the still complex Chinese entry procedures. If the border crossing doesn’t
work, the Pacific is calling, where Lae on Papua New Guinea will be the first location.
 
Therefore, please check from time to time the progress of our Taiwan trip on our pictured site!
 

New Reports/Pictures

SOUTHEAST ASIA:                                      mouse over picture shows comments
                     click a picture to see details

 

 
Timor-Leste (Mainland)
(May 2007)
 
Com/Timor-Leste: Traditional Fataluku house
Oecussi/Timor-Leste
(May 2007)

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

 
Sarawak/East-Malaysia
(Island of Borneo), Part 2
(Nov. 2006)
 
Kuching/Sarawak/East-Malaysia (Borneo): Proboscis monkey in Bako National Park
Sabah/East-Malaysia
(Island of Borneo)
(Oct. 2006)

Mount Kinabalu/Sabah/East-Malaysia (Borneo): Early Morning View

Brunei
(Sept. 2006)
 
Brunei (Borneo): ’The 'Ali Saifuddien'-Mosque at sunset in Bandar Seri Begawan
Sarawak/East-Malaysia
(Island of Borneo), Part 1
(June - Aug. 2006)

Miri/Sarawak/East-Malaysia (Borneo): Traditional stilt houses reflecting in the water of the Miri River

Myanmar
(May 2006)
 
Myanmar: Waiting for customers in Kawthoung
Thailand
Temples, Pagodas, Shrines 

Thailand
People, Beaches, Nature

(Nov. 1993 - Jan. 1994)
(Nov. - Dec. 2005)
(Febr. - April 2006)
Thailand: Ho Phra I-Suan Temple in Nakhon Si Thammarat

Laos

(February 2006)

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

Vietnam

(January 2006)
Vietnam: Two women cultivating a rice field

Cambodia

(December 2005)

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

Malaysia

(Oct. - Nov. 2005)
Malaysia: The four minarets of the ’Sultan Salahuddin’ State Mosque in Shah Alam are visible already from far

Singapore

(September 2005)

Singapore: High-rise buildings pop up everywhere - here behind the Parliament House

Macao

(September 2005)

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

Hong Kong

(September 2005)

 

Hong Kong:From ’Hong Kong Peak’ we get an excellent view of the ’skyscraper jungle’
+ our Indonesia Trip, 6th part

Kalimantan – July 2007

+ our Indonesia Trip, within the 5th part

Tana Toraja (Toraja-Land) – June+July 2007

+ our Indonesia Trip, 5th part

Sulawesi – June+July 2007

+ our Indonesia Trip, 4th part

Sumba, West Timor – May+June 2007

+ our Indonesia Trip, 3rd part

Lombok, Sumabawa, Flores – April 2007

+ our Indonesia Trip, 2nd part

Bali – Jan.-March 2007

+ our Indonesia Trip, 1st part

Sumatra, Java – Dec. 2006

+ our Borneo Trip

Sarawak, Brunei, Sabah, Kalimantan – Sept.-Nov. 2006

+ our LandCruiser on a "Rejuvenation Cure"

in Miri/Sarawak - the East Malaysian province on Borneo June-Aug. 2006

+ 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.
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
- and you will see that we already belong to it too!)

 

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