20,000 km through 20 countries in 100 days
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World
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Indonesia
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Singapore to Laos
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China
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Kazakhstan
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Europe
The origins – Kalgoorlie, Australia
Just when we thought our lives couldn’t get any better, as we stood on the cusp of our greatest adventure, something truly amazing happened. For some reason the gods every so often see it fit to intervene in the affairs
Day 1: Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
The taste of the city was on my lips. Our flipflopped feet were black from pollution, dust, dirt and grime. Another fleet of motorbikes zipped past us, like bullets in a warzone, and I took another breath of hot, smoky
Day 2: Fatty and one for the shudder bank – Situbondo, Indonesia
Anyone that could speak some English told us that people do not hitchhike in Indonesia. Everyone uses the taxi busses because they are so cheap and plentiful. Eventually, though, someone did stop. I was on my way to the toilet
Day 2: The Defacement of Fatty’s House – Situbondo, Indonesia
As time whittled away, and the evening turned into night, Fatty arose from his chair. He went inside and brought out a thick black permanent marker pen. He placed it in Michael’s hand and solemnly gestured to the outside wall of
Day 3: The Golden Ticket – Situbondo Police Station
We walked to the police station, took a deep breath and walked inside. We had no idea what we were hoping to achieve. I guess we were just bored of being cooked in the sun. “Do you speak English?” I
Day 4-5: Suwarno – To Jakarta
We waited at the lights until they turned red and then stepped out into the traffic asking each car in turn if we could join them. “Turpan,” we’d mouth, pointing at our sign. It wasn’t long before our actions roused
Day 7: The Demon Masseuse – Jakarta
On our second night in Jakarta, we were sat in a bar, sinking suds, watching the football. I returned to our table with a fresh couple of beers. “Hey Mike, do I look especially wretched, desperate and lonely tonight?” “No
Day 14: A chilly reception – Singapore
We stepped gingerly off the boat with sunburnt faces, raw lips and bruised hips. It was like stepping into another world. I was reminded of a cartoon I once watched where, for some reason, Fred Flinstone and Barney Rubble had
Day 15: “It must be Sayang…” – Singapore
Suddenly and inexplicably he came out with: “Do you know any gay people in Singapore?”
It was at this point that I realised we were still shaking hands.
Day 17: “Do you like hiking?…” – to Ipoh
“So, anyway, do you like hiking?” Michael asked the driver, Andy, for the second time in ten minutes. “No, not really,” replied Andy. He seemed a rather deadpan, serious kind of guy. “What’s the name of the tallest mountain in