Arrival in Kupang 15 October
Moonshadow of London
Peter Mantle
Mon 18 Oct 2010 07:31
Position 10:09S 123:35E
We arrived in Kupang about noon having avoided the fish traps which are everywhere. We had to be cleared by the quarantine officer before going ashore. There were 3 of them but 2 suffered from sea sickness and had to be taken ashore as the sea was running quite high in the anchorage. The man came on board eventually looking like something from a Kung Fu film! With a big flak jacket with lots of pockets in it. All he was interested in was whether we had any whiskey to give him! We didn't but it was obvioUs we weren't going to get ashore until something had been handed over! A bottle of wine eventually found its way into his flak jacket after much agonising over whether it was strong enough!! He decided it was if mixed with whisky!!
kupang is very much a third world town but everyone is very friendly. The currency is 14,000 rupiah to the pound!! We are dealing in millions!!
Met Liz and Ruth at the airport. The plane was 3 hours late. I ended up sleeping on the floor of the deserted arrivals hall! Booked into a local hotel as the anchorage was so rough. There was a local govt conference on so all the hotels were booked. Found our way into a very ancient hotel which was sold to us on the basis that it had HOT water soap towels and toilet paper!! Liz came jumping out of the bathroom in the middle of the night screaming Giant cockroaches!! I chased the biggest bugs I had ever seen round the bathroom eventually getting them with my shoe!!
We went on a trip around the island on Sunday About 200 miles round trip! Up into the mountains. It poured with rain and the road was virtually washed away. We had to get out and push the car several times! The trip was worth it as we were entertained by a family to lunch and dancing . All good fun and we warmed up dancing and eating local casava and coffee. The journey back didn't seem so bad although it was still raining hard. As we slid down the narrow mountain road none of us looked down!! As we neared Kupang again it seemed that the entire population was out on the road in their motor bikes. Again it was better not to look!!
We have now transfered to a better hotel and are getting our final customs clearance with the aim of leaving tommorrow for Flores in the Spice Islands where we hope to see Komdo Dragons. A frustrating day today getting deisal sorted out and dingyed out to the boat. Lots of hanging around while Liz and Ruth are by the pool which is where i would like to be!!
We arrived in Kupang about noon having avoided the fish traps which are everywhere. We had to be cleared by the quarantine officer before going ashore. There were 3 of them but 2 suffered from sea sickness and had to be taken ashore as the sea was running quite high in the anchorage. The man came on board eventually looking like something from a Kung Fu film! With a big flak jacket with lots of pockets in it. All he was interested in was whether we had any whiskey to give him! We didn't but it was obvioUs we weren't going to get ashore until something had been handed over! A bottle of wine eventually found its way into his flak jacket after much agonising over whether it was strong enough!! He decided it was if mixed with whisky!!
kupang is very much a third world town but everyone is very friendly. The currency is 14,000 rupiah to the pound!! We are dealing in millions!!
Met Liz and Ruth at the airport. The plane was 3 hours late. I ended up sleeping on the floor of the deserted arrivals hall! Booked into a local hotel as the anchorage was so rough. There was a local govt conference on so all the hotels were booked. Found our way into a very ancient hotel which was sold to us on the basis that it had HOT water soap towels and toilet paper!! Liz came jumping out of the bathroom in the middle of the night screaming Giant cockroaches!! I chased the biggest bugs I had ever seen round the bathroom eventually getting them with my shoe!!
We went on a trip around the island on Sunday About 200 miles round trip! Up into the mountains. It poured with rain and the road was virtually washed away. We had to get out and push the car several times! The trip was worth it as we were entertained by a family to lunch and dancing . All good fun and we warmed up dancing and eating local casava and coffee. The journey back didn't seem so bad although it was still raining hard. As we slid down the narrow mountain road none of us looked down!! As we neared Kupang again it seemed that the entire population was out on the road in their motor bikes. Again it was better not to look!!
We have now transfered to a better hotel and are getting our final customs clearance with the aim of leaving tommorrow for Flores in the Spice Islands where we hope to see Komdo Dragons. A frustrating day today getting deisal sorted out and dingyed out to the boat. Lots of hanging around while Liz and Ruth are by the pool which is where i would like to be!!