Kupang – West Timor

The Indonesian Rally started in Fannie Bay, Darwin at 11:00 a.m. on 23^rd July with the usual 10 minute and 5 minute warnings before the start hooter. We were expecting a big bang for the off but it was subdued so a number of fog horns joined in to mark the occasion.

We had an uneventful passage here if a bit slow. The start of the cruise was plagued by light winds. We chose a rather long route in the hope we could get a better angle on the following wind but managed simply to avoid the best period of trade winds when they did eventually arrive. On the plus side we caught 3 nice Albacore which have provided some excellent eating.

We arrived early on the morning of the 27^th and proceeded to negotiate our way through the officialdom. In total we saw 29 officials. Before we could go ashore we were boarded by 7 people in a variety of uniforms who gave us enough paperwork to land. We then proceeded to a room where we gradually worked our way around Quarantine, Immigration, Customs, Health, Port Control and Fisheries ending up at a Rally table where we were given a couple of Rally T-shirts and a small holdall to store the multiplicity of papers. Sadly this bureaucratic passage was not uneventful. We came to a grinding halt with immigration because Lorraine's “social visa”, which allows us to stay for 60 days and is extendible, had been cancelled when she flew in to Bali on her way back to Oz and Indonesian Customs refused to use the Transit Visa purchased for this trip. The upshot is that we had to buy yet another visa which is only valid for 30 days but should be extendible for another month before it runs out. This means we might have to leave the rally early and there will undoubtedly be a hassle and a wasted day or 2 renewing it. This all adds to the wild mix of being in Indonesia which is very different and interesting.

Anyway we have had a really busy few days since this irritating setback and have developed a real feel for this country. Kupang is a city of 300,000 or so and is, I imagine, similar to many Asian cities...noise, dirt, motorbikes litter, dodgy pavements, smelly sewers etc. However the people are just delightful. We are welcomed in the street by complete strangers, who are keen to try out their English. This girl with her 2 siblings and a friend guided us around the part of the town closest to the harbour where we are anchored.

There are shops and stalls everywhere selling all sorts of things.

The first day's tour took us around the town to: a cultural exhibition, a place where we could feed monkeys, a museum with a delightful director who welcomed us speaking excellent English and a fascinating fishing village.

We then went to the market to experience wonderful handicrafts, antiques, all sorts of goods and produce. It was reminiscent of markets in Morocco but the traders were calm and quiet and didn't hassle us to buy at all. We bought fresh produce and a rubber bucket to replace one lost overboard on the way across from Oz.

We were guided by an elderly chap who spoke good English but with such a strong accent that he was often difficult to understand. On the way back in the bus he and his beautiful assistant Rode (pronounced Roday) sang traditional songs to us.

During the evening we had the Regency Governor's Dinner and Welcome Event complete with speeches and dancing girls. This was the first of our 2 welcome dinners, the second being held the next night by the Mayor of Kupang.

All gave way later to live music from rock and roll to reggae and most of everything else in between. They really could sing, one woman in particular who was a cross between Ella Fitzgerald and Meatloaf! That went on well past our bedtime but we managed to get to sleep before the mosque started up at 04.30 a.m.

What a place!