Above The Clouds, August 21st, 2nd & 3rd
Posted by envirodiver | Saturday, September 16, 2006 at 6:13pm
Of course there was an accident on the Hutch, it's supposed to be the quickest way to Kennedy from my home in Connecticut.
My flight, on Singapore Airlines, was scheduled to lift off at 9:30 PM and the airline recommends 3 hours lead time for international flights so I allowed an hour and a half for the 26 mile drive and it was a good thing, dumb luck actually.
I got there at 6:29 and it only took 15 minutes to clear security and check my baggage so there I was with two and a half hours to kill and wouldn't you know it, no Internet service; Kennedy Airport and no hot spot what so ever, go figure....... Lucky for me, however, I travel heavy and I not only had my audio library on the laptop, but an IPod with over 22 hours of music to kill time by, all was not lost. More than likely the other passengers thought I was nuts rocking out in the waiting area but with more than 20 hours of flying ahead of me, who cares! You leave Monday night and arrive Wednesday afternoon.........
We finally lifted off around 10 and six and a half hours later we touched down in Frankfurt, Germany, the first of two layovers on my way to Bali, where I would meet up with the Kararu Voyager, www.kararu.com, a 150' floating dive resort created from a former car ferry, exploration and research vessel used in the off shore oil industry in the North Sea. Her owners, Sasha Dambach, who hails from Germany and his wife Lisa Crosby, a Canadian ex-pat, refitted this magic carpet to be one of, if not the most complete live aboards in the Asian theater and she would be my home base and diving platform for the next 11 days.
Now it is 2pm, German time, and we just flew over an unidentified mountain range at about 40 thousand feet. The white clouds creating the fantasy of a floating world, stretched out as far as the eye could see, and I was able to daydream about my life and this expedition.
A word to the wise, at this point. We arrived in Germany on time but Frankfurt Airport, one of the busiest hubs in the world, is also one of the most depressing and disfunctional airports in the western world. Drab colors, no real services; you can't carry open containers, you have to carry flimsy cups and they have no lids!!! Oh, and did I mention the toilet tissue, or should I say sand paper, gads zooks, bring your own, really..... The hour and a half layover seemed like an eternity but we finally re-boarded the plane for the hardest 12 hours there can be, coach and a full plane....
Singapore Air bills itself as a premier airline and it could be that first class passengers are treated that way but fly coach and you have entered the twilight zone. Forty five half glasses of juice and six undefinable meals later, Singapore. God bless Singapore and thanks to the Malaysians for forcing this island jewel into independence. The airport is spectacular and even offers free internet and computers to passengers, there was a god watching after all...
Three hours later I was back on the plane for the final leg of the journey, a 2 and one half hour flight to Denpesar, Bali and the comfort of the Puri Santrion Hotel in Senur...... This hotel is so opulent it is hard to imagine only paying $65/night but in Indonesia the US dollar goes way beyond far, 9,000 Rupiah to the buck.... A full dinner out, with a beer, $6.. Located right on the water and sporting 4 pools; the place is heaven.
The next day, I met with the director of the Nature Conservancy at their office complex, three converted houses, swimming pool and full time cook, for an NGO!!! One has to question this... We discussed the Komodo Project and I was given names and phone numbers for interview contacts but no interview was ever granted in Bali though this had been agreed to prior to my arrival and it only got worse. I also met with one of the managing partners of the commercial entity that was now running the Mariculture Program set up by TNC and he was kind enough to speak on camera, the only on camera interview I ended up getting during the entire trip!!!!!
To close this entry, a little education on life in Indonesia. Indonesians, in general, are poor by any standard. The average wage is about 5-50 cents a day and even school teachers earn less than $100 per month. Corruption is rampant and the entire country is run by bribes and payoffs. The first thing that happened was an attemp to force me to pay a bribe, to customs agents, at the airport upon my arrival. they claimed my camera was special and so I would have to pay $200.00 US to bring it into the country; a total crock. More than an hour later I was allowed to leave the "back room" I had been escorted to never having paid a dime, though others on the boat did... Travelers beware, don't give in too quickly or you'll go broke quite fast. you will be smothered with kindness and an open palm.......... Next stop, Komodo!!!!!!
I got there at 6:29 and it only took 15 minutes to clear security and check my baggage so there I was with two and a half hours to kill and wouldn't you know it, no Internet service; Kennedy Airport and no hot spot what so ever, go figure....... Lucky for me, however, I travel heavy and I not only had my audio library on the laptop, but an IPod with over 22 hours of music to kill time by, all was not lost. More than likely the other passengers thought I was nuts rocking out in the waiting area but with more than 20 hours of flying ahead of me, who cares! You leave Monday night and arrive Wednesday afternoon.........
We finally lifted off around 10 and six and a half hours later we touched down in Frankfurt, Germany, the first of two layovers on my way to Bali, where I would meet up with the Kararu Voyager, www.kararu.com, a 150' floating dive resort created from a former car ferry, exploration and research vessel used in the off shore oil industry in the North Sea. Her owners, Sasha Dambach, who hails from Germany and his wife Lisa Crosby, a Canadian ex-pat, refitted this magic carpet to be one of, if not the most complete live aboards in the Asian theater and she would be my home base and diving platform for the next 11 days.
Now it is 2pm, German time, and we just flew over an unidentified mountain range at about 40 thousand feet. The white clouds creating the fantasy of a floating world, stretched out as far as the eye could see, and I was able to daydream about my life and this expedition.
A word to the wise, at this point. We arrived in Germany on time but Frankfurt Airport, one of the busiest hubs in the world, is also one of the most depressing and disfunctional airports in the western world. Drab colors, no real services; you can't carry open containers, you have to carry flimsy cups and they have no lids!!! Oh, and did I mention the toilet tissue, or should I say sand paper, gads zooks, bring your own, really..... The hour and a half layover seemed like an eternity but we finally re-boarded the plane for the hardest 12 hours there can be, coach and a full plane....
Singapore Air bills itself as a premier airline and it could be that first class passengers are treated that way but fly coach and you have entered the twilight zone. Forty five half glasses of juice and six undefinable meals later, Singapore. God bless Singapore and thanks to the Malaysians for forcing this island jewel into independence. The airport is spectacular and even offers free internet and computers to passengers, there was a god watching after all...
Three hours later I was back on the plane for the final leg of the journey, a 2 and one half hour flight to Denpesar, Bali and the comfort of the Puri Santrion Hotel in Senur...... This hotel is so opulent it is hard to imagine only paying $65/night but in Indonesia the US dollar goes way beyond far, 9,000 Rupiah to the buck.... A full dinner out, with a beer, $6.. Located right on the water and sporting 4 pools; the place is heaven.
The next day, I met with the director of the Nature Conservancy at their office complex, three converted houses, swimming pool and full time cook, for an NGO!!! One has to question this... We discussed the Komodo Project and I was given names and phone numbers for interview contacts but no interview was ever granted in Bali though this had been agreed to prior to my arrival and it only got worse. I also met with one of the managing partners of the commercial entity that was now running the Mariculture Program set up by TNC and he was kind enough to speak on camera, the only on camera interview I ended up getting during the entire trip!!!!!
To close this entry, a little education on life in Indonesia. Indonesians, in general, are poor by any standard. The average wage is about 5-50 cents a day and even school teachers earn less than $100 per month. Corruption is rampant and the entire country is run by bribes and payoffs. The first thing that happened was an attemp to force me to pay a bribe, to customs agents, at the airport upon my arrival. they claimed my camera was special and so I would have to pay $200.00 US to bring it into the country; a total crock. More than an hour later I was allowed to leave the "back room" I had been escorted to never having paid a dime, though others on the boat did... Travelers beware, don't give in too quickly or you'll go broke quite fast. you will be smothered with kindness and an open palm.......... Next stop, Komodo!!!!!!
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