From Malaysia to Europe by sailboat
Coming by road
As my travel living adventurous journey began on a night train in one summer dusk day in chilly Stockholm in Sweden, I had embraced in my positive buoyant mind to reach New Zealand with one single rough and tricky rule, never consent or accept to take airplanes unless eminent impasse without outcome will compel me to apply force major actions. Unsubstantial thoughts, that perhaps I can't achieve and realize my stubborn promise of technical and infrastructure reasons was quickly mounting on the top of the other of my concerns. Since I didn't prepared any master plan in details which should practical ease my movements I felt voluntary to discover the limits of unpredictability and resilience which become fast a valorous and important first hand experience of the excited new and simultaneously aged world's realm.
Gradually train by train, car and bus I arrived at the far and uncharted solitude cost of East Russia where the bulky Eastern Dream ferry to South Korea waited in the gloomy and rainy harbor. After another two ferries and numerous train rides in Japan I arrived completely unaware in the detached from the world but strongly infiltrated and connected surveillance system in the place by name China. I contested some of the most complicated divisions while being in China from a hostile internet network and everlasting police controls to poor mannered cultural behavior of locals, some additional trains and buses into the highlands of Laos and through dense jungle graveled dusty roads i showed up in the Vietnam where I realised what in fact was the biggest and unnoticed phenomenon that ruined my trip.
Post colonial protectionism mentality
With my arriving in Vietnam the distance to Australia shrinked greatly so I decided to apply for entry tourist visa in good time in case I have luck to find or hitchhike sooner with someone who have a sailing route to Darwin or other port city on the north coast of Australia. What I was intending to manage has been well known and explored direction among lovers of sailing backpackers and adventurous or curious nomad drifters of cheap traveling in South East Asia's vast archipelago of more than 25.000[1] islands some of which are rare untouched uninhabitable sanctuaries which are unreachable and out of range for ordinary tourists or travelers.
What happened next radically changed my initial plan to reach New Zealand and explore its beauty with unique environment and culture. My devastating break was caused by refuse and rejection of entry tourist visa by Australian island, the protectionism position of the running government goes extremely nuts after all that wealth and richness which not for long time ago in past belonged to nature and aborigines, land that was invaded, seized, captured and occupied, against the will of the locals, with cruelty, humiliation, torture and deaths as consequence[2][3].
Now the immigration agency has decided not to allow me entrance in fear that I will invade, misuse and take the abundance of assets that Australia posses? They fear that ugly history will repeat itself again? That I would do exactly in the same matter how they did in the terrible past?
Australia is still offensive closed which pulled my anger to the limits with bitter disappointment in its migration policy, and since the rejection of entry is not a life threatening condition I abandoned my initial plan to discover New Zealand thus I will not take the any flight to get there.
Territory dispute and war zone
On my way to Europe from South East Asia I searched ahead to take as more as possible the road way through radical dictatorial Myanmar, diverse and multi ethnic discriminations in India, Himalaya's highlands of poor Nepal, back to the caste system in India and forward to controversial Pakistan then to theocratic Iran as well as to oppressing human rights Turkey and finally to splintered Europe. As my gloomy itinerary appears terrible unpleasant it do prove to hold and hide many issues that make impossible the passage from one place of the imaginary line border on the map to another. Would I have taken the identical path for my trip to Europe I wouldn't have gone further than India, why? Well the same old deadly territory dispute of Kashmir[4] an area of cross borders of Pakistan, China and India, a sinister triangle of primitive warfare with modern touch, displaying greed and supremacy domination. All these disastrous tensions and humiliation actions make impossible for a road traveler to get a simple tourist visa to Pakistan while applying in India.
Even numerous distance places are many km away from your lovely secure home we still remain as individuals to be affected not only by vulnerability and instability of war zone regions but also by foreign diplomacy in form of stagnation and immobility of travelers and escaping battleground refugee emigrants. My biggest concerns regarding physical non existing or unusable infrastructure of transportation to move from one place to another was left way behind in the result of unveiling more invisible controlling mechanics of dictatorship and immigration strategy. What hold back, restrain and prevent a travelers to discover, explore and enjoy new world without flying is the imaginary borders, protectionism and ridiculous primitive immigration policies rather than more practical and extended network of buses, trains or ferries.
As following the outcome I changed with regret and equal delight my route to reach Europe by water. After a quick search in some of the most popular sailing sites I found a sailboat on www.crewbay.com that would host me during my ride, passing Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Egypt and finally Europe, so let the water journey begin :)
Leaving by water
[5]Having no road way to West further than India through border via Pakistan I ended up enthusiastically to research remotely from Malaysia various solution, that came to my optimistic yet restless mind, to bypass the emerged deadlock. After some days of moderate surveying in the global network I realized that: No way I can leave India heading west, south or north with regular traffic neither by sea or by land. Pakistan don't allow tourist visa while in India; from Nepal to Tibet in China you can enter only with a group visa and another special visa for Tibet which is hidden from the public, so no way here neither; likewise south-west of India surrounded by sea with no regular ferries or other water transportation is not a option too. The only road way from India to Europe is taking back to East via Myanmar, China and then Russia which not really motivating me to pass the same places as before or another way to escape from India towards Europe is by sailboat.As following the outcome I changed with regret and equal delight my route to reach Europe by water. After a quick search in some of the most popular sailing sites I found a sailboat on www.crewbay.com that would host me during my ride, passing Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Egypt and finally Europe, so let the water journey begin :)
Langkawi, Malaysia | January 2, 2020
Langkawi, Malaysia | January 2, 2020
Source
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maritime_Southeast_Asia#cite_ref-5 - Maritime Southeast Asia
2. https://australianstogether.org.au/discover/australian-history/colonisation/ - Colonisation
Dispossession, disease and direct conflict.
3. https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/what-life-was-like-for-aboriginal-people-during-colonisation/news-story/0f3abec359c78d216d9315664eda132c - What life was like for Aboriginal people during colonisation.
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maritime_Southeast_Asia#cite_ref-5 - Maritime Southeast Asia
2. https://australianstogether.org.au/discover/australian-history/colonisation/ - ColonisationDispossession, disease and direct conflict.
3. https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/what-life-was-like-for-aboriginal-people-during-colonisation/news-story/0f3abec359c78d216d9315664eda132c - What life was like for Aboriginal people during colonisation.
Pictures and photos
1. Ion Storland, Sep 5, 2018 Inotani, Japan
2. Ion Storland, Jul 17, 2018 Bucharest, Romania
3. https://online.immi.gov.au/ - Refusal Notification for tourist visa to Australia, Nov 6, 2018
4. https://www.voanews.com/south-central-asia/indias-increasing-defenses-eat-away-farmland-along-border-pakistan - India's Increasing Defenses Eat Away at Farmland Along Border with Pakistan
5. https://www.crewbay.com/profile/owner/7110 - Seawolf
1. Ion Storland, Sep 5, 2018 Inotani, Japan
2. Ion Storland, Jul 17, 2018 Bucharest, Romania
3. https://online.immi.gov.au/ - Refusal Notification for tourist visa to Australia, Nov 6, 2018
4. https://www.voanews.com/south-central-asia/indias-increasing-defenses-eat-away-farmland-along-border-pakistan - India's Increasing Defenses Eat Away at Farmland Along Border with Pakistan2. Ion Storland, Jul 17, 2018 Bucharest, Romania
3. https://online.immi.gov.au/ - Refusal Notification for tourist visa to Australia, Nov 6, 2018
5. https://www.crewbay.com/profile/owner/7110 - Seawolf
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