Last time I talked about how time had been passing paradoxically slowly and quickly. This month has been more consistently speedy; after some time on the beach in Vietnam and a relatively relaxed few days in the Malaysian highlands, we embarked on a whirlwind tour of Borneo and East Java, followed by a bit of relaxation in Bali and now I’m writing from sunny Perth.
Although this month has not been plain sailing, things have generally been much more positive and I leave South East Asia with much more desire to return than I expected early on.
What’s changed? As predicted, the more hectic itinerary and regular mountain climbing have helped: we have been to some spectacular places that I want to go back to. If you want to plan a trip to Asia, I strongly advise a family holiday in Vietnam, a Honeymoon in Bali or a combined Adventure / Relaxation trip in Indonesia.
Continuing a trend that started at the end of last month, we have met so many more other travellers during this time. It took a while to shake off the city-living inhibition of talking to strangers but recently, I’ve struck up conversations with people at every opportunity. This has given me plenty of French, Spanish and German practice, although some of the best friendships we formed have been with a couple from Sao Paolo and two sets of Flemish (and English!) speaking Belgians. One slight concern I have in Australia is that fellow travellers will be harder to spot! That said, we have started meeting local people too: We stayed in the friendliest homestay in Banyuwangi and Bahasa-speakers have generally had a greater level of English, so that we’ve been able to chat to them occasionally.
It may just be coincidental but the start of September, usually heralding my return to work, was also a bit of watershed. I suppose that until then, the trip felt little different from previous summers and so I didn’t appreciate the advantages of taking a year off. Jen just asked if I missed school? A resounding no.
A useful comment from Rachel about my previous criticism of the Philippines has resonated too; she reminded me that as westerners we are very used to a remarkably high standard of living and asked whether we expect too much. Recently, I’ve tried to take a much more relaxed view when there is only a cold shower or transport is uncomfortable. However, I stand by my suggestion to visit other South-East Asia countries before the Philippines! On that note, here are my South-East Asia scores (10 being best, 1 worst):
| Philippines | Vietnam | Malaysia | Indonesia/Bali | |
| Tasty Healthy Food? | 3 | 10 | 5 | 7 |
| Comfortable Lodging? | 2 | 8 | 6 | 9 |
| Easy Transport? | 4 | 7 | 10 | 5 |
| Interaction with Locals | 6 | 3 | 8 | 7 |
| Not full of Tourists? | 8 | 2 | 6 | 3 |
| Different from Europe? | 5 | 6 | 2 | 7 |
| Cheap? | 6 | 7 | 9 | 5 |
Note that I haven’t ranked them on what there is to see and do, beauty or quality of activities. All four have great beaches, mountains, jungle and interesting history and culture that you can seek out should you so wish. I could try to separate them on these measures, but I feel that my minimal experience would be even less representative than it is on the criteria above!
One final point, related to the rest of this blog. We’ve noticed a distinct trend in how people from different countries respond to me speaking their language! French normally ask a generous “comment est-ce que tu parles si bien francais?”, with a sort of shock that an English person speaks French and Germans almost universally ask “why are you learning German?”, as if I am crazy to try. The Spaniards we’ve met have been more mixed, some speaking excellent English but a couple have been grateful to be able to speak some Spanish after having to speak English during most of their travels and we’ve received the ingenious “We don’t speak Spanish, we speak Catalan” a few times. It seems that the push for their own mini-Brexit is gaining some popularity.
Let’s hope that world travel opens their eyes to the advantages of globalisation. I strongly dislike McDonalds (I’ve never eaten there in my adult life) but recently read in Better Angels of our Nature about the ‘Golden Arches’ theory of world peace; no two countries which both have a McDonalds have ever gone to war. It seems that teaching people that they can gain more from trade than theft is one of the most effective ways to discourage violence.