Just a note to say that we arrived safely about 3:30pm on July 27 (Happy Anniversary, Chris and Julie!) and have been exploring Kupang, West Timor, Indonesia with 40+ other boats in the Kupang Rally. We have a full schedule of tours, gala dinners, cultural dances and receptions with government officials for the next few days. We are planning anchorages for the next 60 days for our allotted time on our visas. We are seriously considering sailing 130 miles to windward for cultural festivities on the island of Alor (not usually visited by tourists or cruisers), plus seeing the dragons on Komodo, the orangutans on Kalimantan and Bali. We have our usual problem of too much to see with too little time!
We spent a great deal of time checking into Indonesia, in spite of much assistance from the Rally Committee. Our major accomplishment of yesterday was to become mega-millionaires when we exchanged $575US from the bank to Indonesian and pocketed 5 MILLION rupiahs! As we walked through town to the bank, we were reminded of Trinidad, with the bemos (van taxis) racing down the street, honking loudly with the assistant hanging in the doorway and radios blasting. We were on overload with the noise and activity after four days of quiet ocean crossing of 389 miles, probably our nicest passage ever, although we burned up entirely too much diesel according to the captain! As we walked through the streets, we were greeted with many smiles from these friendly and beautiful people. We are looking forward to learning more about their beautiful country.
We will write more later. Keep in touch. Take care. Be well. God Bless.
With Love, Peace and Aloha,
Ellen, David, Jason and Eric
July 29, 2004
S/V PEACE AND ALOHA
Kupang, West Timor, Indonesia
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