SINGAPORE
Simanderal
Michael Hughes and Ger White
Sun 25 Sep 2011 00:52
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We cleared out of Indonesia and crossed the
shipping lanes from Nongsa Point to Singapore yesterday--and boy, are the
shipping lanes busy! Makes a Channel crossing seem like a walk in the
park!!
And what a difference a 20 mile trip makes--from
the third world to the first, regrettably with prices to match. We are now in a
modern marina--One15 marina--on Sentosa Island. Lovely facilities, swimming
pool, gym, restaurants etc. Very modern. And a short courtesy bus ride into the
centre of Singapore where pretty much everything is available--including decent
cheese and dairy products, which are unavailable in Indonesia---not to mention
spare parts for the boat. And the cleanliness--for which Singapore is famed,
whereas Indonesia is NOT!
But our memories of Indonesia are
very positive--a country of great contrasts. Beautiful scenery,
mountains--many volcanic and some still smoking and lava. Dirty, dusty
overcrowded towns and villages. Lovely bays and beaches--the Gili Islands
off Lombok were a highlight. Strange animals--Komodo dragons,
orangutans. Some great snorkelling--Komodo Islands a highlight---but
many places where the coral has been destroyed by man's actions. Poverty
(daily wage of the unskilled is about $5) and riches. Rainforest
jungle to rice terraces worked by peasants in funny hats! The mystical
scenery and temples of Bali---which is overtouched by tourists, whereas many of
the places we sailed to were untouched. And very friendly people with whom
one could establish a dialoge without language! Smiles and sign language
go a long way!
And while it's still only 20 miles away, it seems
more like a million miles from sophisticated Singapore!
Plan is to park Simanderal here for some weeks,
while we pay a brief visit to Oz--and a longer one to UK/Europe--then late
November sail from here up to Malaysia and onwards to
Thailand.
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