100 DAYS by David

[Google/Blogger, is blocked in China so this blog has been loaded by Ros & Hamish. We are not able to view it. No photos are possible at present.]

Over 100 days, Will and I have now driven in seven countries, but still have an amazing ten to go. We have clocked up in excess of 18,000km, with over 5,000km of these in China. We have had two short flights (Will more), shipped the car twice over seas where car ferries don‘t exist but used ferries six times where they do, stayed in more ‘cold water’ (basic) hotels than we care to remember, have had too many uninspiring meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner in Indonesia, for weeks on end comprised rice and chicken, because we could see no other) but eaten wonderfully rich and varied meals in China (ever tried wild bees, fried and lightly salted?).

We have travelled in hot, sticky weather for months on end and comfortably lived in a T-shirt, or two but, at last, we have started to notice a change in the air. We have driven through mist and cloud and fog, and carefully negotiated extraordinarily atmospheric thunder storms which have flooded the roads, brought down trees and caused traffic chaos at times. We have been caught out in rain but have mainly suffered the consequential power failures in hotels, internet cafés or roadside restaurants we have used. In northern China we have driven for days on end in a hazy fug of what appears to be bad pollution - visibility even over short distances was affected, both in city and country, and the sun unseen for almost a thousand kilometres…

We have had good roads to drive on but suffered thousands of kilometres of bad roads, some head shakingly bad at times. We have hit numerous unannounced pot holes but are now well beyond feeling regret at every one (just the big ones!) Very occasionally we have seen car swallowing road collapses which we were so very thankful to have avoided. We have laughed at the very bad roads and, at first (in Thailand), expressed disbelief at our fortune with very good ones. We’ve been slowed almost to a stop innumerable times by very slow moving cars, tractors of various hues and overloaded, labouring trucks, but patiently awaited the opportunity to pass, which always comes. We’ve avoided so many farm animals but continue to be wary at their unexpected wanderings. We’ve both been quietly angered by the stupidity of unseeing drivers we have had to pull up alarmingly behind as they lunge into our road space from one side. In Chinese cities and towns we continue to be so careful as vehicles come at us from all directions. We have been amazed by the aggression of Javanese bus drivers (followed closely I might add by Chinese bus and taxi drivers). We have come to accept as normal the suicidal passing techniques of drivers in both countries. We have seen the results of crashes too many times, although considering the distance we have travelled, these have been remarkably few in total. We undoubtedly have become more careful and tolerant drivers.

We have been inspired by breathtaking mountain scenery in Flores and in Guan Lin, here in China, but have been bored for days and weeks on end by the monotony of so many of the roads and villages, particularly in Java and Sumatra that we have fleetingly driven through. We have seen many wonderful fragments of history and stayed in a number of ancient old cities, but none so extraordinary as the old town of Pingyao in the north of China. Much of this UNESCO listed town appears as it would have centuries ago, but remains lived in and vibrant - a wonderful achievement.

We have listened to innumerable hours of great and some not so great music provided by our trusty iPods but at other times have driven for long periods with no music being played and little or nothing being said, or wanting to be said. We have welcomed the routine and reassuring diesel rattle and hum of the car we have come to depend on so much, but have become super sensitive to any change in the way it sounds or feels or smells.

We have had many moments of shared laughter and the occasional tear, at least on my part. We have enjoyed, and been annoyed by each other’s company but truly, have come to trust and become very dependent on each other, more than I, and probably Will, ever considered possible before. We have come to realise that neither of us can make this uncertain journey without the other.

More than anything, however, we have been treated well by so many people in every country we have passed through. Apart from the Indonesian businessman on a ferry crossing between Bali and Java, who twice said he wanted to buy our car, the vast majority of the people we have had cause to speak to, spend time with, or to ask for assistance from, were probably poor in monetary terms but gave freely in other ways. In Indonesia we have been guided on our way by locals in cars and on motorbikes, in Malaysia we were driven to a doctor by Tan, a hotel manager, while in Timor Leste, our real fear of dropping, quite green, into a semi-war zone was displaced by the smiles and welcome provided by two young students, Akito and Oloa, sitting at our waterside concrete table, spending time talking to us, complete strangers. I have however on so many occasions wondered how these same people would be welcomed were they in our shoes, in our city and in our country…

In Indonesia we were frustrated many times by road signage, which, where it existed at all, most often looked only to the next town, and not to the large city beyond which was shown on our maps. We have found more broadly that people themselves tend not to look much beyond their local towns or villages, but we have come to realise that, for us, travelling as we are, the world is not so small but instead grand in scale and it is only the aeroplane and digital communications that make it appear otherwise. While we have used both, the scale and magnitude of our extraordinary journey remains, at times, daunting. Yet, while we still have a very long way to go, as we leave each country and enter the next, we can‘t help smiling at each other and being amazed by where we are what we are doing. Our adventure continues…