At the moment of writing, I have been back in my homebase in Belgium for over 6 months and have just come back from another short trip, so what I’m going put down here is nowhere near as extensive as what I have experienced in Pulau Weh. Not knowing what to write due to lack of variety in doings (I did nothing but diving) resulted in constant procrastination, supposedly awaiting inspiration. But finally I have to throw in the towel and narrow it down to the following lines. Geographically Pulau Weh is one of the northernmost islands in Indonesia, belonging to [View Full Entry]

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Something I’ve been looking forward to for a long time is a trip to the Perhentian islands in Malaysia. I’ve always had the idea to go there for a relaxing week doing nothing but beach bumming and a bit of diving. The Perhentians is a group of two islands, Perhentian Besar (big island) and Perhentian Kecil (small island) on the north eastern shore of Peninsular Malaysia. Most people going there take a flight to Kota Bahru, cab it to Kuala Besut and then take a boat for 45 minutes to the islands, which was exactly what I did. I went to [View Full Entry]

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A nation in grief Zambia is mourning. The nation’s president, Dr. Levy Mwanawasa, suffered a stroke during an African convention in June and was kept in a hospital in Paris from then on. About two weeks ago, when I was in Mozambique, I’d heard that Dr. Mwanawasa had lost the battle and passed away. His body was brought back to Lusaka where in the following weeks it went on a national tour to the provinces capitals to give the people a chance to greet their beloved president. I went to the bank to change currency one morning, where the desk clerk [View Full Entry]

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After spending two days in Maputo I headed up north to Tofo to do what I went to Mozambique for, diving. The busride to Tofo was utterly uncomfortable. A small minibus takes you to Praia do Tofo in 7 or so hours, cramped in a very small space, with only two breaks during the journey. Definitely not comparable to an average long distance coach trip. But I arrived there safe and sound, so I couldn't complain. Met some cool people on the way and we hung out together along with some other people we met at the backpackers, having a general [View Full Entry]

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My journey from Jozi to Maputo didn't start as smooth as I had wanted it to be. Intercape, the bus company which I booked my ride with, didn't let me get on board without a Moz visa. I assured them that I have checked with at least 3 sources and they all said I could get a visa at the border but to no avail, no visa no go. I suppose Intercape doesn't want to wait for all passengers to sort out their visa business. So I changed my ticket to Komatipoort at the Ressano Garcia border and figured I would [View Full Entry]

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I contemplated going home after Indonesia. Admitted, I was missing the home front a bit. I always thought I'd be a good long time traveler but 5 weeks of traveling around and spending the last weeks without my friends made me miss my natural habitat. Sure you always meet new people, and that's the good thing about traveling, but somehow this time it's different. Is that normal ? Or is it like being sleepy but if you stick it out a bit longer you'd find it hard to fall asleep again ? I went to KL with the thought of paradise [View Full Entry]

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Let's see.. what have I been doing since my last entry.. I've been island hopping from Lombok to Bali and then to Java. Someone I met in the Gili's recommended the Liberty shipwreck as a diving spot extraordinaire, which triggered my curiosity a bit, so after Lombok I took the ferry back to Bali and stayed in the east to dive the Tulamben shipwreck. My divemaster was quite the funny man. First there was his kit. He wears 2 divesuits. One 3mm longsuit and a second 3mm shortsuit. He said the water was too cold. It was 28 degrees ! Ah [View Full Entry]

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After Trawangan everyone separated. Elle and Jill already went back to Belgium. The others went west. I stayed in Lombok for a scootertrip around the south with Spencer, whom we met in the Gili's. The first day we headed to the surfing mecca of Kuta. Not to be confused with the Balinese Kuta, though you could easily think so as the touts here are also very persistent, if not more. Practically begging you to buy something. No men selling you cd's and dvd's, but women and children trying to sell you sarongs and bracelets. Kuta is pretty though. More of a [View Full Entry]

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Time flies when you're having fun. Never a truer word written. I haven't posted anything about the festive days and what we've been up to so I suppose this is as good a time as any to do it. First though I'd like to wish everyone here at travelblog a happy and blissful year. May the traveling continue ! We were supposed to travel from Flores back to Lombok on the Perama boat which would make a few stops along the way, including Rinca island, home of the famous Komodo dragon. But on xmas eve, we received the news that the [View Full Entry]

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At the time of writing this I'm facing what seems like a sand storm, except that it's not one. We are on Seraya island, which is a tiny island off the the northwest coast of Flores. The facilities here are very very basic. We have a small bamboo hut on the beach, with a little open air bathroom outside. It's not much but I reckon it's charming. There are about 10 or 12 huts on the island, all of them similar except for 1 fancier hut at the end of the beach set a bit higher on a hill, and 1 [View Full Entry]

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