Indian Ocean voyage

The voyage from Singapore to Fremantle took 10 days via Jakarta. We spent a few days loading and unloading in Singapore and Jakarta so actual travel time was about 6.5 days. I ate with the officers 3 times a day and the food was abundant! I was the only passenger as a couple from Bristol had to cancel last minute. The crew were a mix of Russian, German, Estonian and the deck crew were from the Pacific Islands.

Here are some photos of the ship, the enormous engine (literally as big as my old terraced house in South Wales!) and the beautiful views from the ship. I watched a school of 20 dolphins swim with the ship at one point but didn't manage to spot any whales unfortunately.

This was the view from my cabin on the port side. We were passing through the islands of Indonesia at this point.
The view from the bridge - the ship was about 2/3 loaded going to Australia. It holds nearly 3000 containers, each of which is the size of a lorry trailer.
Sunset in the middle of Indian Ocean
2nd Engineer Sergei checking the fuel heaters. The ship runs on Heavy Fuel Oil that is heated to over 100 degrees prior to burning. It carried 3000 tons for this journey which took over 8 hours of refuelling.
Above is the rudder apparatus. Large hydraulic pistons linked with the on board navigation system to keep an accurate course.
Prop shaft.
Engine control lever! I was tempted to give it a tweak when the engineer wasn't looking but my common sense got the better of me.
Bottom end of the engine - gives around 20'000 horsepower. 6 cylinders, water cooled.
Top end of engine. A man could easily fit inside each of the huge cylinders. THey have a diameter of several feet.
My cabin!

SINGAPORE

SO I reached Singapore yesterday evening after many hours of delays on Malaysian trains. I was assured usually they run to time, but it was the Malaysian New Year holiday so just my luck!

Actually I consider myself very lucky as losing my bank card inside a cash machine has been my only problem of significance.

So the cargo ship will be my home for the next 9 days as I make my way to Fremantle, Perth Western Australia.

You can track my actual position at the following link...

http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shipposition.phtml?call=ELUX6

Speak to you from the other side!

Underwater photos

False Clown Anemone Fish - we found Nemo. Actually they are not hard to find as they often live in the same Anemone due to building up a resistance to the anemone's stingers. This group had been in the same spot for a number of years I was told! Also, they are all born male but have the ability to change from male to female if the head female dies. Cuttlefish and Morganfish
Cuttlefish close up
School of Barracuda
Impressive Lionfish
Taking the plunge.

Having only limited diving experience I cannot compare the experience with much but I was amazed at the variety of coral and fish encountered. Apparently the coral suffered a lot from the tsunami and in places is only beginning to re-establish itself. Also the practice of fishing with dynamite has devastated localised areas. This is now illegal but possibly difficult to monitor so who knows if it is still practiced?

Phuket, Diving

Just some pics to start with, I will write something later when I have had some food!

Completed my PADI course, learnt a lot, had lots of fun, saw some cool sea creatures!

Good bye Cambodia, Hello Thailand!

Time is moving on and I havn't been so I abandoned hopes of visiting Badambang in Cambodia and took the bus to Bangkok. The pickup system is pointless. We wasted 90 mins driving a full sized coach around small streets and little known guesthouses to individually pick up nearly 40 people.

Surely if everyone was to make their way to one point this could be avoided. Maybe I was unlucky as I was the first to be picked up! At leadt I had the pick of the seats. The border was smooth but had a nother 2 hour delay waiting for the Thai bus.

Bangkok is so developed in comparison to the surrounding capitals so far as I can see. The taxis do obey some rules although the traffic is horrendous. I narrowly escaped a head on collision during one taxi ride. Next time I took the Sky train (overground metro system)

Shark fin restaurantOverland trainTraffic!

Siam Reap, Angkor Wat

I visited a traditional Khmer dance evening which was entertaining. As you could imagine it was geared for tourists (domestic as well as foreign) but was good nonetheless. The dancers tend to move very slowly and gracefully and are dressed up but have bare feet.
I enjoyed my food very much, even after I was waved to by the chickens foot in my curry. It looks so much like a hand and didn't have much meat on it so I left that bit behind.
Another tasty treat was barbecued stuffed frogs (left and top).
A group of land mine victims grew fed up of begging and started this band. They now play around the temples under the shade of the trees and have a CD.
Very peaceful getaway from the busy temples - West Mabon is an 8km x 0.8km man made lake constructed around the C10th and a good spot to enjoy the bbq fish and stuffed frog.
Begging in tourist areas is apparently more financially rewarding than working. These children were not begging but many do. Some have even been taught to get tourists to buy them condensed milk (several dollars a can) claiming they have a young sibling starving at home. This can then be sold for profit. Clever! It has to be appreciated though that many people are in extreme poverty. Even those in work get paid salaries of only a few dollars a month.
View of Angkor Wat Temple (built around C8th) from the air. I did not take this one as the helicopter ride was a little outside my budget!
South Gate to Bayon complex
Anyone for a jigsaw? This is an ongoing reconstruction being carried out by a French group of archaeologists. A daunting task.
The Bayon temple with many stone faced towers above the main structure. Intricate bas-reliefs are carved to depict many events including this - a battle scene
Ta Prohm temple which has been largely left unrestored due to the unique relationship it has with the trees that have enveloped it.
The size of these temples and trees are difficult to guage from photographs but they are very large.

Kep, Rabbit island, Sihanouk Ville

The drying of seaweed which is farmed in shallow water
The labourers enjoying snorkelling. As no construction was planned for a few days they just looked after the island, caught fish for breakfast, lunch and supper and cooked my meals. We ate the same for every meal - fresh sea fish (small ones caught on a line) with rice and Pak Choi. The tea we drank was deep red and made with what looked like sticks gathered from the island. From what I could tell (they spoke no English) it was bought from the mainland.
Myself, Mr An and Mr Mne - labourers and the only inhabitants of this island which is owned by a Thai developer. They are building a few luxury holiday houses.
The first and only house (unfinished) and I had the privelege of staying here. Just before going to bed Mr An offered me a large carving knife to take to bed. I thought he was joking as the chances of any unwelcome visitors was pretty slim. Within 5 minutes however a large spider (10cms) crawled by us and it was promptly disposed of by Mr An with the large knife. I did take it to bed just in case!

Local fishermen on a different island.

The seafood was great again! for US$3 I had a whole barracuda with rice and salad. The red snapper was the same price. Prawns, squid, so much ansd so fresh I stayed for nearly a week around these islands.