I have written previously about the phenomenon of “begpackers” where travelers find ways of earning money in their developing country destination through begging and/or busking. A Russian couple were videoed busking illegally at a market on Lombok island (Indonesia) two weeks ago. They reportedly told officials that they were street musicians who regularly travel around the world, and claimed that they were running out of money. A 29 year old man (MB), a 28-year-old woman (E), and their 2-year-old daughter (S), were taken into custody, as “The activities of the three foreigners disrupted public…
Indonesia
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And Russia makes 77
I am filling in my globe with all of the countries, territories and regions I have visited. With the addition of Russia this week, I have made it to 77 countries. I only count a country if I have left the airport. So while, I have transited through Doha and Johannesburg airports, I do not include Qatar and South South Africa in my tally. I have been to about two thirds of the countries in both Asia and Europe and exactly half of all the nations in the Oceania region of the planet. African exploration…
Bali’s Mount Agung Volcano Disrupts- What to do if affected.
The Indonesian disaster management agency has raised the threat level for Mount Agung (around 75km from Bali’s tourist hub of Kuta) to the highest possible level 4, amid fears of a greater eruption. Ash up to half a centimeter thick has settled on villages around the volcano and masks were distributed on the weekend. Rumbling can be heard up to 12km away. Since July 2017, Agung has been discharging volcanic gases after being inactive since 1964. Its eruption in 1963 killed 1,549 people when Agung spewed ash ten kilometres into the air with lava flowing seven kilometres from the…
How Big is that Island? The World’s Top 25 islands mapped.
I love gazing at maps. This map of the world’s 25 largest island nations and territories hooked me in. Seeing the actual sizes to scale makes you realise how big some island groupings are. Take Indonesia, for example. It is eight times bigger than New Zealand! The difference in size between the UK, home to 65 million and NZ, home to 4.5million, is not that much different. That tiny smudge on the north of most maps is Greenland, and yet it is about one-third the size of Australia! I have been to 12 of the top 25.…
Time to reconsider Garuda?
I have been avoiding flying Garuda Indonesia for two decades now! The financially troubled carrier had an appalling safety record, an ageing fleet, European bans, a patchy service culture and massive competition. To turn this around would seem impossible. Yet last month Skytrax announced that the Indonesian airline has been nominated one of the world’s five star airlines. This is an honour reserved for seven other carriers: Asiana Airlines, All Nippon Airways, Cathay Pacific, Hainan Airlines Malaysia Airlines (currently under review) Qatar Airways Singapore Airlines. This news surprised me. I have been aware of the changes at Garuda but…
Where the world lives
This mind blowing map illustrates the stark truth that half of the world ‘s population live in just six countries. The other live in the remaining 190 countries…By area, China is the third biggest country by arae and the USA is the fourth. India is the seventh biggest and Indonesia sits at 15th. I have been to four of the six biggest countries by population (Brazil, India, Indonesia and USA)! Related Posts Visiting Myanmar Reflections and Advice My 58th country: Vietnam I visit my 57th country Beautiful Brazil- My 50th Country visited
26 countries now in search for MH370 [updated]
Hishammuddin Hussein, Malaysia’s defence and acting transport minister at a media conference this Monday evening (Malaysian time) said 26 countries are now involved in the search for the plane (up from 25 this morning and 14 yesterday). The countries are Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, China, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Turkmenistan, UAE, UK, US, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. It was revealed today that the Malaysian government have involved the FBI and Interpol from day one, French investigators who worked on the crash of Air France’s Flight 447…
Lion cancels 787s
Last Monday, Indonesian budget airline Lion Air cancelled its order for five Boeing 787s and ordered 737s in their stead. The carrier said it needed widebody aircraft to accommodate more than the capacity of the 787-8 for domestic high demand routes and will place a new order for aircraft in 2015. The dreamliners had been ordered in June 2012. They had been intended for Lion Air’s full service subsidiary Batik Air, launched in March 2013. The list price for the package was $US 967.5 million. Batik provides a personal TV (in-flight entertainment system) at every seat, snacks and meal, plus more generous…
Unhappy Passenger’s revenge
If you could not get a seat on a plane, what would you do? After begging Merpati Nusantara airlines for five hours to sell him a seat on a sold out flight from Kupang (Timor Island) to Ngada (Flores) on Saturday 21 December, an Indonesian district chief, Marianus Sae, got revenge. Mr Sae sent public order officers to drive cars onto the runway of Turolelo Soa airport to stop the plane landing at its destination. He said “blocking Merpati from landing at the airport would teach the airline a firm lesson.” Airport officials could not stop the…
Lion Air – World’s Fourth Largest Airline?
Lion Air wants lots of planes! It has already placed two the biggest aeroplane orders in aviation history: 234 Airbus A320 and A320neo aircraft valued at US$ 24 billion in 2013 230 Boeing planes in 2012 worth $US22.4-billion 44 ATRs on order– the largest order with that manufacturer Now, the airline is talking to Canada’s Bombardier Inc.’ about their CS300 planes with a possible 100 plane order. With its other orders, the airline will grow their fleet from 120 planes currently to over 820 planes in a decade. This would propel Lion Air…
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