Wed, 9 Aug 2000 01:43:08 +0000
From: simon @ millennium-ride.com
To: sponsors @ millennium-ride.com

2k/07/17
Whitewater frights

2k/07/12
Aid, kayaks & muddy ruts

2k/06/12
Nepal, the launch-pad

2k/06/02
Priceless Pakistan
+April 08+22

2k/03/28
Karachi-bound

2k/03/08
Hi from Dubai

2k/02/19
Greetings from Jeddah

2k/02/09
South Sinai sun & scuba diving

2k/01/28
Istanbul

2k/01/21
Lap of the Med. instead

2k/01/10
Libya visa problem

99/12/26
I'm outa here

99/12/26
Tracker info

99/12/23
Yes I'm still alive ...

99/10/
Hello Sponsors

99/09/23
Millennium Motorcycle emerges as a Sponsor Monster

99/09/06
Medical

99/07/28
Engine swopping

99/07/17
Tea-table survival & Gambia

99/07/11
Note to Sponsors with pin badge

99/06/12
Bike moves & Budget

99/05/04
things fall into place

99/04/10
TV and the first jabs

A quick reprise on Nepal and the best thing that happened there: Saroj, our Nepali guide through the mountains, is going to form the country's first bike club. In time he wants to orientate the club to medical services delivery.
He's a really cool guy and I know he's going to make a success of it - let me know how you get on Saroj. A replacement Tracker antenna arrived but due to different fittings I've yet to find a way to attach it to the transmitter.

The few days in Singapore were spent laying foundations for fundraising efforts later in the year and sweet-talking the Indonesian Embassy into giving me special permission to ride the bike through the country (it wasn't hard but normally you need permission from the Chief of Police in Jakarta and a letter from the British Embassy acting as guarantor). So without bothering to buy an Electronic Fee Collection gadget for my bike, thereby becoming a frequent sight on Big Brother's cameras, I rode north to Malakka in Malaysia.
Malaysia has a '2020 vision', that is, to be economically among the world's front-runners by then. It should be a fertile place for fundraising here later then. I surprised myself with my proficient use of chopsticks, although with Indonesian Muslims it's back to eating with fingers of the right hand.

The title of this one may well be contrary to what you are reading in the newspapers, but the overriding feature I've noticed while riding through Sumatra (the largest and most northerly of Indonesia's 12,000 island archipelago) in the last 10 days are the gigantic smiles and ever-so-friendly manner of the people. And their teeth are brilliant white despite the almost total lack of milk, the latter explaining why most of them are so short - at least I don't feel out of place! This in a country with so many economic problems and poverty.

This was largely written earlier today 10 minutes north of the ferry to Java when I stopped for coffee, a main export of Sumatra along with wood and oil. It's been difficult to sleep as it's so hot, at least tonight I've a fan.
Camping is the worst, one night nearly slap bang on the equator and another next to a river in which a naked midnight cool-off dip was luxurious. The local fishermen got quite a surprise to find me there in the morning.

I needn't have been disappointed back in Dubai about being unable to take a dhow cargo boat to Pakistan. In Malakka the bike was hand-loaded onto the smallest boat in the port and took 13 hours to cross the Malakka Strait with a load of chickens. Meanwhile my passenger ferry took 2 hours and I spent an agonising time waiting for it in Dumai Indonesia. It arrived at midnight at a makeshift harbour for unregistered uninsured cargo boats, and we man-handled it onto the quay. I slept peacefully only when the bike was tucked safely away in the sitting room of Captain Samsul!

The scenery here is thick jungle and volcanoes (many turned to lakes) and I'm expecting to see a dinosaur at any moment! The fruit is delicious - the super-sweet durian (though the smell of this one can often be overpowering even when a truckload passes me going the other way!), the salak which tastes a little medecinal and the fresh rambotan (lychees). Indonesian food is too spicy for me though and I'm getting sick of rice.

I was the guest of a family in the village of Tarjung Pati near Bukkittinggi and gave a little personal assistance to Wiwit so she can go to work in Malaysia. No-one has any money at all in this area. It's a shame to see people in such poverty, particularly when it is the fault of corrupt government like most of the world's poor countries. It makes me wonder if some form of global governance could by-pass these deadly leaches and help the people get some self-respect. I attended the Muslim wedding of Wiwit's sister, complete with elaborate costumes and a kind of basic karaoke. I had a go at singing 'My Way' and wish I hadn't!

Another quite striking thing here is religion, Indonesia is a real melting pot of all of them. The Christian-Muslim fighting on some of the islands is said to be the work of 'provocateurs'. Meeting new people the conversation invarably turns to religion and it apears that Catholics and Muslims most like to discuss it. I don't mind at all, quite refreshing in fact. Of course, save for the extremists, they all have the same principles and I'm getting alot of use out of a book by the Dalai Lama who is spiritual leader of Buddhism.
Anyway, as a Christian, I thank you for your prayers for me (all religions included), I'm sure He is protecting me given the number of close-calls in the last 1600km.

Militant supporters of political opponents have amassed in Jakarta and voting throughout the country takes place this week. Riot police are on stand-by. I would like to talk with the locals more about this but unfortunately communication is difficult. Java island on the face of it appears like a polluted hell-hole compared to Sumatra and vastly more developed ... and they wonder why there are independence movements on some islands!

There is a cheap boat from Dilli in East Timor to Darwin in Australia. I'm not sure whether to go for it because of occasional violence on the East-West border. It's a good few thousand km away anyway.

Marcia in Illinois USA has done an amazing job of raising $1200 through the local ABATE group for the charities associated with this ride. Thanks Marcia and your team. Please, if you're reading this in the West and haven't yet made a donation, do so through www.millennium-ride.com, all your money goes to charity.

I'm heading to the Olympics where I hope there'll be lots of money flying around. Is there anyone in Australia who can lend a helping hand? I'm not sure of my route there yet ... clockwise, anti-clockwise or a D forwards to take in Alice Springs & Ayres Rock.

Simon Milward