The travel agent had promised that excess baggage on my Lion Air flight to Jayapura (Via Makassar in Sulawesi) would be charged at 2 USD per kilo. Turns out that was a white lie - I had 14kg excess and although the ground staff agreed to round it down to 10, it stil cost me an extra 80 USD that I hadn't planned for. The flight itself was uncomfortable, although compared to my experience of Sudanese airlines, it was otherwise and efficient and pleasant experience. The downside to flying an Indonesian domestic airline is that I am about a foot taller than the average Indonesian and therefore spent 7 hours squeezed up against the seat in front.
I wish I had booked as window seat - as we flew in toi land I was able to catch spectacular glimpses of forested mountains as far as the eye could see. After we had landed, I approached the only other Westerner on the flight. I was hoping he was Mark, a pilot with Associated Mission Aviation, a Catholic mission aviation agency. As it turned out it was him. Eric Roberst of AMA had advised me that I shoul go to the AMA office as soon as I landed so I asked Mark if I could accompany him to the office and he said that was OK. He introduced me to Bob, the Indonesian Operations Director at AMA. Bob turned out to be the man!
I told Bob that I wanted to get to Bime (pronounced Beemy) as soon as possible, but that I didn't have a travel permit. He said, no problem, and took me first to a nearby hotel to dumo my baggage. He then instructed one of his staff to take me straight to the police HQ by motorbike. Less than 1 hour later I had my permit to travel to Pegunungan Bintang (Star Mountains i..e Bime), Timika (for Carstensz Pyramid) and Jayawijaya (i.e. Wamena for Puncak Trikora). Result! As soon as I got back to Bob's office, he told me he could fly me out tomorrow (i.e. 24th) at 9 a.m. I paid about $190 for this, which should include excess baggage. The weight limit is 10 kgs and I estimate I'll be carrying about 25 - 30 kgs.
I then came back to my hotel (the Sentani Indah) and started to make some preparations i.e. I ate breakfast!
After breakfast, I washed some clothes and then started thinking about what I could leaved behind in the hotel for the Carstensz Pyramid leg of the expedition. After a bit of lunch, I put my head on the pillow for a power nap at 2 p.m. and when I woke up at 8 p.m. I realised that was slightly foolish. I had so little sleep over the past few days both from flying so much and stressing about geting to Papua and so forth that I decided just to stay in bed.
I got up this morning at 04:30 to test satcomms kit and finish packing, which I'm going to run off and do now! I'm feeling nervous about what lies ahead. I don't speak Indonesian and the local tribes will not speak English so I'm not sure how the negotations to employ a couple of porters will go. I will arrange a flight back to Jayapura for either 3rd or 6th December, once the Carstensz group advise me of their inteneded port of entry to Papua. If I need to be back in Bime for 3rd, I may not have time to summit Mandala, but I'll give it my best shot to make it happen.
Over and out.
Ricky.
Tuesday, 23 November 2010
Monday, 22 November 2010
Goodbye Jakarta
It's almost time for me to say goodbye to Jakarta. Yesterday, with the help of the hotel staff and a local travlel agent, I was able to book a flight out of Jakarta tonight to Jayapura. I'll leave Jakarta in a couple of hours to head for the airport for my flight to the world's second biggest island and the only tropical island that boasts glacier-topped mountains.
I spent most of yesterday trying to figure out how to get to New Guinea as soon as possible and how to make arrangements once I am on the ground. Because my carefully laid plans were thrown into disarray at late notice, I left the UK later than expected and my mission pilot Bob Roberts is unavailable at this time - but he has put me in touch with his son Eric who flies for a Catholic Mission organisation in Papua so I hope to apply for my travel permit as soon as I arrive in Papua tomorrow (it may take one or two days). I've just spoken to Eric by phone and he advised me that there is a missionj flight scheduled for Bime tomorrow but there's no way I can get on it as it will fly in the morning and I won't have a permit by then. Bummer! Eric will leave Jayapura tomorrow for a couple of days so it look like I'll be visiting the mission offices as soon as I arrive and testing out my Indonesian skills on a local staff member called Bob! Eric also advised me that one of his pilots (Mark) is arriving into Jayapura on teh same flight as me so I may be able to get something organised through him.
It's definitely a challenge trying to pull things together here but I remain hopeful that I can get into Jayapura, get my permit, get to Bime and then get back to Jayapura. I'm not so sure about my chances of actually reaching Mandala, summiting and getting back to Bime in time to catch any flight out, but at least I'm here in Indonesia doing whatever I can to make it happen. As always, the hardest part of any journey is actually getting on the flight and I did that two days ago so it's onwards and upwards from here.
I also found time today to apply for a secopnd passport via the British Consulate here in Jakarta - once the expedition is finished, I need to send my passport back to Sudan to apply for a final exit visa, which allows my previous employer to clear up some paperwork. However, I also need to apply for a Bangaldeshi visa to allow me to take up my new role with the Red Cross. The small complication is that I'm currently scheduled to fly back to Jakarta on 3rd January, when the Consulate is still closed. And then I'm due to fly out to the UK on 4th! Therefore, I may ask a huge favour of another expedition leader who will pass through Jakarta before me and could potentially pick up my new passport and take it to the UK (Martin are you reading this???).
I also bought a big knife (parang) so at least I'll look like a real adventurer while I sit in Jayapura waiting for my permit to be processed.
That's all for now - I need to go and eat before I leave for my flight.
Ricky
I spent most of yesterday trying to figure out how to get to New Guinea as soon as possible and how to make arrangements once I am on the ground. Because my carefully laid plans were thrown into disarray at late notice, I left the UK later than expected and my mission pilot Bob Roberts is unavailable at this time - but he has put me in touch with his son Eric who flies for a Catholic Mission organisation in Papua so I hope to apply for my travel permit as soon as I arrive in Papua tomorrow (it may take one or two days). I've just spoken to Eric by phone and he advised me that there is a missionj flight scheduled for Bime tomorrow but there's no way I can get on it as it will fly in the morning and I won't have a permit by then. Bummer! Eric will leave Jayapura tomorrow for a couple of days so it look like I'll be visiting the mission offices as soon as I arrive and testing out my Indonesian skills on a local staff member called Bob! Eric also advised me that one of his pilots (Mark) is arriving into Jayapura on teh same flight as me so I may be able to get something organised through him.
It's definitely a challenge trying to pull things together here but I remain hopeful that I can get into Jayapura, get my permit, get to Bime and then get back to Jayapura. I'm not so sure about my chances of actually reaching Mandala, summiting and getting back to Bime in time to catch any flight out, but at least I'm here in Indonesia doing whatever I can to make it happen. As always, the hardest part of any journey is actually getting on the flight and I did that two days ago so it's onwards and upwards from here.
I also found time today to apply for a secopnd passport via the British Consulate here in Jakarta - once the expedition is finished, I need to send my passport back to Sudan to apply for a final exit visa, which allows my previous employer to clear up some paperwork. However, I also need to apply for a Bangaldeshi visa to allow me to take up my new role with the Red Cross. The small complication is that I'm currently scheduled to fly back to Jakarta on 3rd January, when the Consulate is still closed. And then I'm due to fly out to the UK on 4th! Therefore, I may ask a huge favour of another expedition leader who will pass through Jakarta before me and could potentially pick up my new passport and take it to the UK (Martin are you reading this???).
I also bought a big knife (parang) so at least I'll look like a real adventurer while I sit in Jayapura waiting for my permit to be processed.
That's all for now - I need to go and eat before I leave for my flight.
Ricky
Saturday, 20 November 2010
Into the unknown (but stuck in Jakarta)
I've just arrived in Jakarta after a frantic few days in and around London trying to meet sponsors, pick up kit and make last-minute prepaprations for the expedition. Unfortunately, this was complicated by the late call-off from the two other team members that were supposed to join me on Carstensz. The impact of this is two-fold: I've taken a hit financially as the local agent would not run the expedition unless I could confirm a team of three. Therefore I have had to piggy back on another expedition that is organised from the Czech Republic with a corresponding cost increase amounting to $5,000, which is coming from my own pocket. The second impact is on my relationships with sponsors, since several sponsors had provided clothing and kit based on a team of two or three. It's hugely disappointing to have to explain to sponsors who believe in the expedition objectives that plans will change at the last minute, but it gives me the opportunity to focus only on myself for a while, which is not a bad thing after a tough year and a half working in humanitarian aid in Sudan.
Due to the last-minute plan changes, I've flown to Jakarta with the aim of organising things on the hoof, which is ironic given that the planning process started in October 2009! There are no flights out of Jakarta to Jayapura (the administrative capital of Papua Province on the north coast of New Guinea) until 23rd so I may have a few days in Jakarts to kill. This may have an impact on the rest of my schedule for Puncak Mandala as I have to be back in Jayapura on 6th December to meet the international Carstensz expedition that I'll join. I'm trying to be as flexible as possible to give myself the best chance of success. I need to bear in mind that Carstensz Pyramid must be my priority, not only because it has swallowed about 70% of the expedition budget, but also because that is where all of the verified existing glaciers on the island are located. In order to achieve the second expedition objective to create a photographic record of the glaciers, I need to get to them first! I do have some flexibility after Carstensz becasue although my flight back to the UK is booked for 4th January 2011 (the day before my 34th birthday), I have no commitments until 17th January. That's when I will fly out to Berlin to be briefed on my new job as Finance Delegate for the German Red Cross in Bangladesh, which I 'm really looking foprward to. But first, I have to get myself and all my kit (47 kgs) to Papua to see if it really is possible for me to achieve my objectives.
I was lucky at the airport that the Emirates ground staff were kind enough to let me proceed with my overweight baggage. Then, after I checked in, I was able to buy a digital camera and camcorder at Duty Free (part-funded by the Alpine Club of Canada Environment Fund), which was a nagging task that I wasn't able to complete while in London. I really want this expedition to be a success in every sense because I feel like I'm a priveleged position where I had the time and funding to make it happen and it's unlikley that I'll have another opportunity to visit these mountains in the future. It has been difficult to organise things from Sudan and I've certainly learned a lesson that I probably need at least three clear weeks before any big expedition to make sure all the boxes have been ticked.
Tomorrow, I plan to visit three airlines that fly in to Jayapura to see if there is any chance of flying out before 23rd. My stress levels are fluctuating but it feels good to have made it back onto Indonesian soil for the first time since 1994, when I joined my first expedition to Kalimantan. Although I don't recognise the sights of the city, my hotel is very close to Jalan Jaksa, where I stayed last time so I might find some time tomorrow to wander there and eat some nasi goreng.
Over and out, Ricky.
Due to the last-minute plan changes, I've flown to Jakarta with the aim of organising things on the hoof, which is ironic given that the planning process started in October 2009! There are no flights out of Jakarta to Jayapura (the administrative capital of Papua Province on the north coast of New Guinea) until 23rd so I may have a few days in Jakarts to kill. This may have an impact on the rest of my schedule for Puncak Mandala as I have to be back in Jayapura on 6th December to meet the international Carstensz expedition that I'll join. I'm trying to be as flexible as possible to give myself the best chance of success. I need to bear in mind that Carstensz Pyramid must be my priority, not only because it has swallowed about 70% of the expedition budget, but also because that is where all of the verified existing glaciers on the island are located. In order to achieve the second expedition objective to create a photographic record of the glaciers, I need to get to them first! I do have some flexibility after Carstensz becasue although my flight back to the UK is booked for 4th January 2011 (the day before my 34th birthday), I have no commitments until 17th January. That's when I will fly out to Berlin to be briefed on my new job as Finance Delegate for the German Red Cross in Bangladesh, which I 'm really looking foprward to. But first, I have to get myself and all my kit (47 kgs) to Papua to see if it really is possible for me to achieve my objectives.
I was lucky at the airport that the Emirates ground staff were kind enough to let me proceed with my overweight baggage. Then, after I checked in, I was able to buy a digital camera and camcorder at Duty Free (part-funded by the Alpine Club of Canada Environment Fund), which was a nagging task that I wasn't able to complete while in London. I really want this expedition to be a success in every sense because I feel like I'm a priveleged position where I had the time and funding to make it happen and it's unlikley that I'll have another opportunity to visit these mountains in the future. It has been difficult to organise things from Sudan and I've certainly learned a lesson that I probably need at least three clear weeks before any big expedition to make sure all the boxes have been ticked.
Tomorrow, I plan to visit three airlines that fly in to Jayapura to see if there is any chance of flying out before 23rd. My stress levels are fluctuating but it feels good to have made it back onto Indonesian soil for the first time since 1994, when I joined my first expedition to Kalimantan. Although I don't recognise the sights of the city, my hotel is very close to Jalan Jaksa, where I stayed last time so I might find some time tomorrow to wander there and eat some nasi goreng.
Over and out, Ricky.
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