A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WORLDS MOST INVISIBLE COUNTRY
A journey of 15,000 kilometres by rail, road, on foot and under sail through about 50 Indonesian islands, shining a light on what has been described as the worlds most invisible country.
From tracking tigers (and the mythical short man) in the Sumatra jungle to the mystical Dayak tribe that lives near the geographical centre of Borneo, this book touches on some of Indonesias most intriguing secrets. The author meets Tana Torajas living dead, the Bugis people (once known as the Bogeymen) who build and sail the spectacular Sulawesi schooners and the villagers who are literally besieged by dragons in the Komodo archipelago. He surfs the legendary reefs of G-Land, Nias and Occys Left (and pioneers a previously un-surfed wave in the remote Alor Archipelago). He road-trips across Sulawesi and Flores and sails in the wake of Alfred Russel Wallace around Spice Islands, which have remained largely unchanged for centuries.
| Preface |
|
ix | |
|
|
|
1 | (81) |
|
|
|
82 | (61) |
|
Chapter 3 Into Headhunter Heaven |
|
|
143 | (30) |
|
Chapter 4 Along the Ring of Fire |
|
|
173 | (87) |
|
Chapter 5 Sulawesi Highways |
|
|
260 | (65) |
|
Chapter 6 Beyond the Spice Islands |
|
|
325 | (50) |
| Endpaper |
|
375 | (2) |
| Acknowledgments |
|
377 | (3) |
| Bibliography |
|
380 | (2) |
| Index |
|
382 | |
In 1995 Mark Eveleigh bought an Indonesian/English dictionary from a travel bookstore in London. He was working as a security guard at the time, and for much of the following year would use his night shifts to teach himself Bahasa Indonesia in preparation for an expedition into the heart of Indonesian Borneo. Since then the British-born writer (who lived most of his first decade in West Africa) has travelled widely in Africa, Latin America and Asia working for some of the world's most prestigious publications - including BBC, Telegraph, Guardian, Independent, National Geographic Traveler, Conde Nast Traveller and CNN. That Borneo expedition was the start of a quarter-century love-affair with Indonesia which has led him to more than a hundred Indonesian islands.
If he were ever told he could only travel in one country for the rest of his life he'd choose Indonesia.
