Where is Rune?

This is a GPS track log overlaid on a Google map.

On my thirteenth trip to SE Asia, I had a return ticket with British Airways from Oslo to Singapore. That city was just a transit point though, and I used Batam as my stepping stone to Indonesia and Jakarta. More economical than a ticket Oslo – Jakarta.

Trip duration: 2 to 21 April 2006.

Places visited: Batam, Jakarta, Solo, Madiun, Sarangan (at the foot of Gunung Lawu).

GPS track log and waypoints overlaid on Google map.

Pictures (click to enlarge):

For the first time, I flew across the Atlantic to the Americas, to Brazil. Mission: To visit a (Norwegian) friend of mine, who happened to stay in Fortaleza at the time.

I had a ticket with TAP Portugal from Oslo to Fortaleza via Lisbon. I arrived in Fortaleza on 20 October 2005, and left on 5 November.

The consumption of alcoholic beverages was quite high during the vacation, especially of caipirinha, the national cocktail of Brazil, and some of the events I can only remember vaguely…

Well, at least we managed to get out of town once, on a short side trip to Natal, a quite long bus journey southwards.

For some reason, I didn’t bring my camera, so I only have a few poor pictures taken with a cell phone.

I and Caecil flew on Cathay Pacific to Jakarta, with a stopover in Hong Kong, where we stayed in the apartment of a colleague of mine. I had a return ticket, while Caecil had a one-way ticket.

Trip duration Hong Kong: 4 to 7 September 2005.
Trip duration Indonesia: 7 to 25 September 2005.

We had actually planned to leave Hong Kong one day earlier, but the airline refused me entry since my passport was full (one blank page is needed for the Indonesian visa), so Caecil had to leave without me. I was stranded. However, after some arguing I came to an agreement with the airline staff to let me fly to Singapore instead, so that I could get a new passport at my embassy there (there’s no embassy in HK), before continuing to Jakarta. That would be on the next day however, so I had to spend another night in Hong Kong (at the same apartment). I also had to pay a rebooking fee (not expensive). However, when I landed in Singapore the next day, instead of bothering with the embassy, I simply took a ferry to Batam, bribing immigration (in Batam) with SGD 20 over my full passport (they just attached the visa to an used page). Easy.

I stayed one night at Hotel Hallo Batam in Nagoya, and took a flight to Jakarta the next day. After 8 days in Cibubur (Jakarta), we went on a day trip to Pelabuhan Ratu, and then to Bandung, where we spent the night, before returning to Jakarta the next evening. A few days later we flew to Solo to attend a funeral. And then back to Jakarta again by train (if I remember correctly).

Some pictures below.

Hong Kong

Jakarta

Sunda Kelapa port, Jakarta

Pelabuhan Ratu

Bandung

Solo

2004 was an extraordinary year, considering that I didn’t spend any days outside Europe at all… wow! This has not happened since pre-1995.

So on 8 January 2005 I and Caecil flew on Gulf Air to Jakarta via Abu Dhabi, and returned to Oslo on 4 February 2005. We spent the whole trip in Indonesia.

We stayed first at the Cibubur residence in Jakarta, then went by car to Solo and Madiun (via Java’s north coast), and finally drove back to Jakarta again.

Some pictures in chronological order (click to enlarge):