* You may have noticed there is some kind of a glitch on the Spot tracker at the moment as it says last day ran was 33 days ago when in fact it was 3 days ago. I hope it clears again when I start back on Thursday 12th.

My heart is always sad and heavy on this day, 9/11. My thoughts were with my many American friends today.

As mentioned before. Please read the comments regularly as I hope to continue texting to Ann to submit. Obviously I cant leave the backbone of the blog on the comments, so here I am moving them into the blog. I hope to have time to edit and picture before I start running from Singapore to Malaysia, my 23rd country on Thursday. Its 1,800km to Bangkok, Thailand where Nirvana is waiting for me! Singapore is the smallest country on the run, all 25km of it. I will have Lyndon my host here to run me out of town. Lyndon is originally from Maynooth, Co. Kildare, in Ireland. He has been working here for many years as an investments manager and is married to Li, a Malaysian he met in Trinity College many years ago.

After Singapore press HERE to see my immediate route through Malaysia and over the border into Hat Yai in Thailand. Mainland Asia begins on the Singapore Straight sea front with the next sea crossing in Calais France!

By the way almost forgot to mention that Thailand where I will be entering in about 3 weeks time only issues a 15 day visa on arrival = VOA for land border crossings. So it was looking like another costly and time consuming ‘ visa run ‘ So I applied for and picked up a 60 day Thai visa in their Singapore embassy today. Normally 3 days to process but they gave me a next day service when I told them what I was doing. So there is no problem visa wise for the next 3  countries as both Malaysia and Laos are VOA countries,. After that the fun begins with the big three China, Kazakhstan and Russia. These three are huge obstacles and are like three colossal jumps in a show jumping arena for me, one after the other. They have taken up a huge amount of my pillow time over the last three years. lets just say I hope to get help with the Chinese one, Kaz will be difficult as I need about 10 weeks. Until recently they were only issuing a double entry 30 visa, 30 days per entry that is. That was a bit tight for me and too little time as my route is about 3,000km. They have just started issuing triple 30 day visas which means I would have to leave twice only to return but fortunately the first 800km are very close to the Kyrgyzstan border. Kyrgyzstan since July 2012 have been a VOA country. There is a possibility I may include Kyrgyzstan in the run as this would minimise my disruption. This just makes the run 100km longer, so very much a plan there. I would then have to make an exit between my second and third Kazak entries. I have a decent plan for the Russian visa, so let’s see. After Russia it’s all plain sailing or even running because it’s visa Heaven in the Ukraine and the European Union all the way to Dublin

Many thanks to my hosts Lyndon and Li and their great maid Luz here in Singapore.

Many thanks to Luz, Katie, Li, Wes and Lyndon for a lovely time and hospitality in Singapore. I enjoyed the 3 day rest.

Yesterday I was thrilled to be asked to speak to about 10 staff at the Irish embassy, unfortunately Joe Hayes the ambassador was called away to the Philippines that very morning. Still his wife Deirdre and the staff made me so welcome.

Lyndon and I then went to the Tanglin Club to have dinner with some nice athlete friends of his.Friday and Saturday every time I got annoyed with Indonesian drivers, people gave me a boost with small offerings to restore my faith in the country. It’s not the peoples I feel like this,that is till the get behind a wheel or a scooter. They are the most dangerous drivers on the run,by a long shot. I honestly cannot even imagine how much more difficult it would be if I was pushing Nirvana my cart through all this. The gawkers,maulers and rubbernecks would have an eye opener,that’s for sure. Nirvana by the way was sent on ahead from Auckland to Bangkok. I can’t imagine doing this in rainy season either for I am told it rains all day every day. It’s now the dry or hot season,around 35C which is pretty hot with all this humidity. Nothing dries out fully overnight when hung out to dry. I forgot to mention this when I was talking about drying my socks which as you remember I slip over my water bottles while I run. My other clothes I just stick on my pack. As it hadn’t rained in two months I threw away my rain coat which I had cut down to size.I had cut off excess below the belt,sleeves and pockets. As soon as I threw it away the showers returned 

A couple of times they didn’t charge for tea or coffee and other snacks when I ran for cover to their shops and coffee shops. Just after a heavy half hour shower I saw a scooter skid off the road into a ditch,rider and passenger unhurt. I get to the top of a hill and two goats walk across the road,so there is a bit of bedlam for me to run around as the shoulder is muddy and full of puddles, I work hard to stay out of the worst of it.

On into the filthy town of Bayung Lencir and I see a man ride his scooter with a baby that’s surely only one year old standing on the base plate as he rides. He was constantly moving his legs to keep Infant in place. I check into a grubby hotel and the owner decides to burn all his plastic rubbish,not down the back of his large garden but at the steps of his hotel and the toxins are blowing into his hotel. I have done so much headshaking in Indonesia that I am afraid my head will fall off! 47km slugged out that day. No internet in town. Saturday pretty similar day but only 36km as I starred late,sheltered more and stopped early in Sungai Landai at a warung called Ojo Lali where the owner called Dwi Duys is letting me sleep. Tomorrow,Sunday will be road day 800 of the dream  total 34,470km

September 1st was Day 800 of my run around the world. I started at around latitude -1.85 degrees from the equator. I expect to be at the centre of the earth next weekend. Readers that don’t know you can check my location by clicking on my last Spot location. While I am at it I should mention you can see Googles pictures by dragging the yellow man on the + and – zoom over to the map to view.
The day ended with an uneventful 43km. For me the most eagerly awaited kilometre of the entire run will be km 42,195 I expect all marathon runners will quickly figure that is 1,000 marathons. My own personal challenge within the run is to run this in under 1,000 road days. This challenge has helped to keep me focused and motivated. At the moment I have 818 run, so am about 18 ahead. Ah yes I remember Terry Cleary back in Darwin say we ultra runners treat kilometres we run like they are ice lollies! I guess that means marathons too  I expect to run that kilometre, my 1,000th marathon in west China, near Urumqi in mid March. Now what other big Irish day is in Mid March.. Got me thinking  I am up for this challenge. For me the only worry will be progress during the short days of a cold Chinese winter. Obviously getting a bigger lead before then would be an enormous help. Let’s see how it goes. Being 18 marathons ahead of the average required is now 39.5km per road day. If I continue running as I am now this average required distance will keep dropping every month, then very dramatically in the last 2 or 3 months. A pleasant experience I remember only too well from the final hours of my world treadmill record attempts as with fantastic crewmen I was always so lucky to have I somehow always managed to stay ahead of record pace it was always an enjoyable canter near the end with the world record secured. When I get to the equator I will tick off two more requirements for a true circum navigation of the world. Briefly, besides the obvious stuff and documentation there are 5 criteria to be fulfilled. So far I have one, that is the minimum distance of 26,000km which has long since been passed. The next 2 I will achieve at the equator as I will be to recrossing it after having first crosses in Ecuador about 18 months and about 18,000km ago. At the same time I will be declaring my ‘ antipodes. ‘

A typical place I stop for a break at. it doesn't take long for the gawkers to gather! That's my 2 kilo satchel. I have a water proof bag inside.

Antipodes are directly opposite points in the world,in other words if you drill from one directly through the earth you will come out at the other. Not as easy as you may think to find 2 opposites as so much of the world is ocean and wilderness,inaccessible like in parts of Siberia. There is a tolerance here and my 2 antipodes are my 2 equators, the village where the marker was in Ecuador and the one here in Indonesia. Requirement 4 is to run a minimum of 4 continents. I am running number 4 now. Requirement 5 will be achieved with my final footstep outside number 6 Merrion Sq North which means I have to finish in the same place I started. Total for 800 road days 34,513km . I am currently at latitude -1.65184.Time here to mention my good friend Tom Denniss who in a few days time will be finishing his 26,000km+ almost 21 month run around the world in his native Sydney, Australia.  Good on ya matey, I knew you would do it. Follow Toms last few days on his website HERE

My celebration meal for road day 800 was a modest pot noodle meal followed by biscuits and a couple of cappuccinos! I had made it to a hotel which was between villages, so was even lucky to get that in the petrol station next door. Next day for some reason I didn’t feel like breakfast and my lunch was only an ice cream,a bar of chocolate and a cola so it was no surprise I ran out of fuel running on the hills that Monday afternoon. Sumatra is pretty hilly. Still I managed a respectable 44km. I made it to a beat up warung which as I mentioned before is a restaurant. It had no electricity but was quiet, just the owner and his wife there. There was a sheltered area outside for day napping so I asked if I could stay there and he agreed. I paid him a few dollars as is my custom and had a decent meal and a 12 hour rest for I put head to pillow around 7pm. As always mosquitoes are a pest. I use repellent which comes in sachets or small tubes as my experience is that aerosol cans leak out,they are also very bulky. I use sachet shampoo and buya couple at a time and disposable razors as I need them.

Bulk is also important to me. He offered me a wash down in the mandi bucket method. I refused as sometimes its healthiest to go unwashed for an extra day. For it was across a muddy field where I would have to strip off in a filthy mosquito filled shack under the light of my flash light. Then pour cold water over my body. No tonight I am camping just like in the Australian outback. There was one period when we didn’t have a camp site or road house for a week. One night I filled a squirt water bottle with warm soapy water and had a grand shower when I stood on a concrete slab in my jocks!

Tuesday morning this man set me up for a bad mood day when he seriously overcharged me for breakfast. The most expensive in all of Indonesia and a dump. Funny how the only problems I have had in this country,police. refusals,suspicion,overcharging has only been in Islamic Indonesia. Not a problem anywhere else in the country and I still remember the Iman in that mosque in Lombok who never even looked at me or offer a handshake or acknowledge my presence in anyway when a man was asking him if I could sleep on an adjoining sheltered area. I am not saying the Muslims are any less hospitable, far from it as what I am asking is a big ask, to stay in their home, even if they are poor and I am paying them. I just think they are more suspicious and harder to break the ice with in many cases.

Of the 5 or 6 live snakes on the run, not to mention the countless still or dead ones, three have been in Indonesia.

What with all lunatics on the road and the filth and dirt I will be glad to be gone in a few days time. Every where I cast my eye I see litter. No exaggeration for I have done my own unscientific test as I ran along. On 50 movements of my head I randomly focus my eyes and yes there is always litter, on all 50 occasions. Indonesia has significantly more dirt and filth than even Peru had. What is the government doing re collections and education I wonder.
The hills continued today along with some heavy rain, some of which I ran through for I finished strongly at another warung with 46km for my days work. Total 34,603km for 802 road days and about a degree and a quarter from the equator.

Had a couple hours internet today,Fri for first time in almost 2 weeks,so with rain showers and my usual slow start I did well to chalk up 39 ice lollies! Total 34,745 for 805 days. I made it to a cafe in Pangkalan Kasai as another downpour beat out of the sky so a rain shelter ended up being a nite shelter after a couple teas.

I settled down to sleep on the mat and pillow Succillo kindly provided for me. There has been some conflicting information the locals have given me about how far to the equator but to cut a long story short it seems my calculation of 100km from here to the equator line via Japura is correct,at least I hope it is. Another person told me they moved the monument!! I mean how do you move the equator,only in Indonesia!

So I plan to end Indonesia hopefully on Sunday,8th September at the equator. I will continue South East Asia from Singapore. I regret to say I did not make it there before my MSB clubmate Stafford Bagot went on holidays.Stafford lives there and has kindly sent my packages to Lyndon an Irish man who has offered to help,thanks lads and I am afraid there will not be a next time running through!

The traffic has been much lighter since leaving Palembang almost 2 weeks ago. Though the nutters are still there I can run more on the road.

I saw one man playing his guitar, he was the pillion passenger, a good laugh.

I stayed in their warung too, more great people.

Another day a man selling logs in a village I run through puts a log standing on the road, a good metre out onto the road to entice customers. This means Approaching traffic has to slow down or take a risk moving out when they are faced with an oncoming vehicle. The police just drive by and do nothing. Indonesia is a dysfunctional country, partly due to it’s corrupt government, Indonesia being one of the most corrupt nations in the world.

I am very tired of Indonesia to put it mildly. I am here to run across their country and they have ruined the experience with their stupidity. I love the people but so often the drivers are a different breed,when I am on the road I hate the country when I’m off it I love it, don’t want to come back.

Two days ago I ran 53k and sheltered from rain in poor peoples house,they had almost nothing. I wondered what do the people look forward to There will never be a rock concert or even a football game to go to. I stayed in the police station. Next day 50k and I stayed in a warung.

The day before I got to the equator I ran 59km which would leave a marathon the next day. The warung I stayed in there was nice, they gave me a mattress in my own room, someone was shifted out to make room for me, that often happens. The bathroom was fairly clean, so I had a decent wash as described before, but in this place they had fish in the large mandie tank! I washed my clothes, need to be clean for my flight to Singapore. Hopefully I can get a good early start.

I did get away early, but could have gotten away earlier as I was still tired from yesterdays big effort, I was also tired on the road and stopped a couple of times.

As mentioned before; in Javanese ' mangan ' means to eat! he loves himself, if he was food he would eat himself

Then I got to the equator, it was a bit of an anticlimax, still a great thrill.

The equator has been reached and Indonesia run  My run through the southern hemisphere all the way from the equator In Ecuador which I through in Feb 2012 is dedicated to my late step father John Foley whose birthday it is today, September 8th when I reached the centre of the world.

The equator at last!

Thanks to Abdul for taking photos I will post shortly. Hoping to catch flight to Singapore tonight.Staying with Irish people for couple days.

3,649km run in 88 road days in Indonesia. A distance almost identical to Melbourne to Darwin across Australia. Much of the world probably thinks of Indonesia as being a chain of small islands. Sumatra, part of the Indonesian Archipelago is the 5th largest island in the world after Australia, Greenland, New Guinea and Borneo, with a land mass of 473,481km2. With a population of over 40 million people.

It is made up of many different ethnic tribes speaking 52 different
languages including Indonesian, Achenese, Toba Batak, Karo Batak,
Melayu and Minangkabau amongst the many. The terrain on Sumatra is
mostly mountainous

Press HERE to view video 1.

Press HERE to view video 2.

Press HERE to view video 3.

The equator has been run to in Sumatra, Indonesia.

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Thanks to Abdul on left for taking my photos. His family home is half in the northern and half in the southern hemisphere.

At long last I spot and get a photo of family of 6 on a bike!

One day just as I was preparing myself for another day at the start of my run. This man walked past me very quickly! The drivers were calling out ‘ Mister, Mister! ‘ to me!

A lot of poor people wander along the highways. They never begged from me.

Man fishing in a sewer

Toilet in a warung/restaurant which also doubles as a shower. You pour scoops of cold water over your body from the bucket or a tank called a 'mandie' Once I saw fish swim in a mandie!Monkey

Very few of the women and girls are shy to stop and talk

A lot of poor people wander along the highways. They never begged from me.

Hi everyone pls check back to comments for more regular blog updates. thanks to Ann for posting my texts. This is the only way I can keep up to date on the blog. So when I do get to putting it into the blog I will try to edit, but as always time, keeps on slipping away! “I still got to write the Java blog but don’t want to fall further behind. Ah yes, you can see how much I rely on spell check but it’s not all my fault as I am usually typing on a small mobile keypad, tired and in the dark! Ah! excuses!

Today I pinched myself for the first time in a long time,guess I must be getting an old hand at this, or rather an old leg! Why me selected for this crazy dream..No you need not answer that:-)Yes this run is going to happen.This time next year I will be in the Germany area! And with just over 14 months to my finish line in Dublin I figured 14 months ago I was crossing from Peru to Bolivia.

I slept here

Think I can do all that again and more:-) Moving up a gear now,today Aug 17th 50km on this busy road,though in the afternoon the road did widen. Am in danger of becoming the Litter Angel as I spotted a man throwing  junk out of his pickup,so I picked some stuff up and threw it into the back of his pickup,and then I took his photo.

He got a bit of a shock.Yesterday an astonished man picked up his wrapper when I asked him why he threw it on the ground even though he was beside a bin.He put it in his pocket and then took it out when I showed him the bin:-) Yes I know,I need to back off as I am not on an environment crusade! 33,855km for 785 road days.

And here

Another tough 48km day and as always busy busy. Btw the record for a family is now 6 on a motorbike.really a scooter as they are only about 100cc. I saw this family,husband and wife and 4 kids last week in Java and they proud as punch to have their photo taken! Anyway these scooters are all over the road coming from all directions.even behind as I run in the rocky shoulder,so I got to run like John Nguggi, ie arms out waving all over the place for my protection hoping they will give me a wider passing. A friend fittingly calls these bikes Japanese Dogs!

And with these people

Now the road is 2 lane and like Silverstone race track. Added to this is a huge volume of trucks,buses and cars. Everyone is in a mad rush,and its a mystery to me how well it flows,They take the most dangerous risks,often with just milliseconds to spare on dangerous bends.narrow bridges, you name it.

Amazingly they are so patient in the convenience stores,which are slow slow,Typically 2 tellers but always one that stands on duty wrapping everything even a small Snickers bar or the great IQ tester an ice cream on a 35 degree day! Today I passed a poor man picking up rubbish,he was almost naked except for a skimpy cloth around his waste,still his private was showing.I called him but he ignored me,I ran back 50mts and offered him some money but with a tear in his eve he refused.They are so proud,nobody has ever begged from me. Then at rush hour when traffic was so busy with my head in a spin from all the crazy activity,a buffalo cart with another on tow pulls out onto the road! I kid you not! I laughed my head off while the man posed for my photo.I could still see the tail end of the traffic he made a buffalo of 10 minutes later 

Just a bit more on today Sunday and firstly thanks so much to Fergus for his kind donation to the run which effectively sponsored my recent visa run to Singapore.Good man Fergus. The day got off to a terrible start with a long breakfast and a 2hr internet stop.

Snack stop

Got an email from Andre who reminded me he was the ‘young French cyclist ‘ I met in the Australian Outback.. Isn’t it great to young and be able to write from young French cyclist  to the old Irish runner  ) Andre tells me he is in Flores and met the Philosophical Member of Parliament I mentioned in blog. I often laugh and think about our chat about me running on the road as he says illegally, I can see him standing up in parliament saying Indonesia’s stupid law of walking with your back to traffic is the countries answer to population growth.Many scooters carry huge loads like rolls of bared wire,rebar,planks which hug the shoulder.Andre says he agrees with much of my observations. I notice here in Sumatra that the signage on the police stations is sponsored by a cigarette company and one of the logos is ‘ break the limit ‘ is that for smoking or driving, either way to my mind Indonesia is in bed with the tobacco industry.

Tonight I am staying with a family who own a petrol station. Last night I stopped at the Honda factory for the area Or Japanese Dog factory! I spotted a likely sheltered area there and the security guards made me coffee and cooked my noodles while they watched English football. Many people ask about Irish footballers Robbie and Roy Keane.. I bet they would get a lot of ‘ hey mister! ‘ here  Am told no Indonesian player plays abroad yet I saw in paper Liverpool did a player exchange and one lucky Indonesian is literally escaping the rat race, I pity poor Brendan Foster on his way to Jakarta  .Monday morning blues hit on the double when a rain shower hit after only 4km today.

I tend not run in the rain so I took shelter in a cafe where I had breakfast. I think I need to put a decent distance in before taking my first break of the day.This place robbed me charging at least twice normal.What I sometimes do is go into a place and hand them the normal amount asking for rice and whatever. Indonesia,and much of Asia is very like Latin America,no imagination,rice and chicken.

No chicken supreme or anything like that or pasta but here at least you can get noodles.The rice is prepared in a rice making appliance,unlike Peru where all cooking was a stick fire or gas cooker.Today I saw a school bus,a mini bus which was crammed and even had 7 young boys,about 8 y old on the roof! And then the next one had a boy hanging out the door smoking! That bus stopped and he even offered me a drag!

Can you imagine the bus driver saying to his helper..” Hey Ali toss Abdul up there beside the other 6 lads. But Ibrahim should we not put the smokers up there? Dont be silly,let them smoke inside,just like at home. Later that day. ” Hi Mr Raf San Jani I got good news and bad news for you says Ibrahim. The bad news is Abdul fell off the bus. “Ah well I got plenty more where he came from as you know we are a baby factory here in Indonesia..You know I lost another one last year? “Ah sorry for your trouble Mr Raf. “No Ibrahim, I said I lost him but we got him back. You see we were in Jakarta and there were so many on the back of my scooter that I didn’t notice that Mo fell off and we didn’t know till we got home to Palembang. But Raf that’s a thousand km away,you didn’t notice. “No I only noticed when I finished my box of fags and went looking for his but he made it home after 3 weeks as he won a gold medal for backwards walking in the Mosque Olympics. ” Raf I think you mean Moscow Olympics? “No the Palembang mosque has a yearly sports day and Mo won gold, you see with backwards walking he can be obeying our silly law of walking on left side and watching the traffic! Thats what Mangan should be doing backwards running! But he is! He is going back to Dublin:-) “It wasnt my fault Raf,I studied all the Mika Hakinen race videos.I know Ibrahim,How many you say were up on top of the school bus..you want a drink? “Ta Raf, I’m parched. A 7 up, No I’ll have a coke! There you go Mo and now tell me the good news? “Raf I have a full box of smokes that fell out of Abdul’s pocket!:-) I write a lot of sketches like this in my head as I am running around but as always..Time. That night I finished in Astra Ksetra and made the mistake of asking if I could sleep beside the guard hut in the Commando base.They said yes, then later no.It was too late to go back on the road.Then yes again,asked for my passport,general hassle and then at midnight the cops came out from next town 10km away.There was no hotel where I was. More showing of passport,hassle. One officer spoke English so I said “look I know the police here in Sumatra are sponsored by a cigarette company but your friend doesn’t have to advertise them too so can you ask him to put out his cigarette and give me a bit of respect! They wanted me to go to the police station to sleep but I didn’t want to and said I would rather sit on a wall all night outside the base! They let me stay! That day 47km next day I was thinking of Pete Townsend’s song Nowhere to Run:-)) Fitting for Indonesia,well they did push me into the Shoulder the whole day for 44km. I stopped and asked a young woman that served me in a roadside cafe if she thinks Islam considers women to be equal to men in Indonesia.She said they are equal, so I asked her why the men and boys pray inside the mosque while the women and girls pray outside under a veranda. Her reply was that the women must follow the men in Islam. I asked her did she ever question this or why women wear head scarfs. No that’s Islam she said. Just then a convoy of buses and trucks sped by so I asked if it was possible for a woman to drive a bus or truck here. No she replied. I made it to a hotel in Tulang Bawang tonight,Tuesday. The man there gave me dinner! Thanks. Only 6km required for 34,000! In 788 road days.

Aug 21st Firstly happy birthday to my nephew Gary, a quarter of a century old today:-) A tasty breakfast of rice,egg and lots of coffee before setting out to the madness on the road. I was in great form as after 6km I clocked up my 34,000th km of the run.Recently I did an interview for the Norwegian Financial Times,so I guess word of the run is spreading. Sometimes the traffic comes in heavy waves lasting about half an hour of sheer chaos,as mentioned before so many drivers taking the most dangerous risks. The shoulder was poor, non existent in places. As the sun beamed on me and I plodded along as if in a drunken stagger,stepping on and off the road as vehicles whizzed by from behind.I have to keep looking back,for they come in waves bullying approaching vehicles to move over.

A few weeks ago a car that was just 10m in front of me was bullied into the ditch almost where I was running. Scooters too are just ignored as they move out to overtake,they get pushed towards me.Today during all this I thought I saw a snake it turned out to be just a broken scooter chain! My progress was slow but steady. On the way I saw an old lady sitting in the gravel,she seemed to be in a bad way so I pulled out a larger donation than normal. As I handed her the money I noticed she had a large wad of banknotes with elastic bands around them,I figured she had just finished in her cafe and was waiting for a lift!

Ah well at least I got a laugh out of it:-) I finished in a village called Wira Bangun. I didn’t have much choice but to stop at the police station.There was nobody there so I just pulled out my sheet bag and rested playing music. A couple of hours later a nice police officer came by and gave me a bed inside.He said the hectic driving is cultural and in the villages the police have no power to stop them.

Aug 22nd Routine but tough 40km day Total 34,080km. 790 days. Wanted 50km plus but finished early when I stopped at a warung to eat and the lovely family took me to their hearts and asked me to stay. I want to arrive in Palembang early Monday morning to go to immigration for my visa extension.Its 158km away,so no easy weekend ahead! I have long since lost that “weekend feeling”as all days feel the same to me. As I speak the children here are looking at my Indonesian photos on my camera. There was a huge snigger when they came to one of a naked man who was walking down the highway in Java! In Java I saw 3 or 4 such sightings, including one young woman,so obviously a lot of untreated mental health issues there. That will be in the Java blog.And btw what you think the drivers were shouting? “Hi Mister!” That is to me! The two convenience stores here are a large chain (not in E Indonesia) and are in most large villages. I pass at least 10 stores a day. They have toilet facilities with the possibility to shower:-) Toilets are the foot hole in the floor job. The etiquette is to throw a few scoops of water down.They have a bricked and tiled water tank called a Mandie or just a bucket.

Bikes and scooters sometimes carry loads, including such items as factory gates,sheets of plywood etc on modified carriers. This man lost his balance and fell into a ditch just before a bridge, so he was lucky not to fall into the river!I helped him out.

This means a shower can be taken as showers are just scoops from the mandie,I cant understand why Asians like Latinos have a huge problem with toilets,showers and plumbing. I think they just break things and couldn’t be bothered with the maintenance,or don’t have the skills.I don’t find this hygienic because if you throw the water down the toilet foot hole guess what pops out onto the floor and the next shower user may not have a clean floor:-)) I change my socks every day often washing them on these visits.They dry out fast as I stick them on my 2 water bottles while I run for goodness sake put a real toilet in and at least a short hose coming out the wall from up above! Just like Latinos hanging doors and locks are a mystery!

Hi All. A very brief update as I am very tired.

I got here on Sunday and am staying in the Sunny Days Hostel, which is a beautiful place in the middle of gated off tower block community with even a real shower and toilet. It has a nice swimming pool, but as always I am too busy. The run into the city was hair- raising to say the least. It’s 2.15am, and have been very busy working on some logistics. On Monday I go to the Irish Honory Council here to pick up my next pair of running shoes and it’s with them I will show a cleaan pair of heels to Java, literally!

Total 33,634km for 779 road days. My latest estimation is that the run will be over 51,500km, so thats 14 and a half months for 18,000km! I’m loving it, sorry I stopped and had two breakfasts in McDonalds on the way this morning as I couldn’t make up my mind if I wanted the so called big breakfast or the pancake breakfast, I just love solving these problems

Hi Everyone, In Cirebon about 250km from Jakarta. The traffic in the run up to Ramadan which is in a few days time is just crazy!

I expect to reach Jakarta, the Indonesian capital on Monday 12th with the help of a marathon a day… No easy job here! I tried to upload a traffic video but it’s taking too long, so don’t think I can at this time. In Jakarta I will pick up my next pair of shoes waiting for me at the Irish Consul. I will be there on Monday morning. From there its about 130km to the ferry port for Sumatra, and silence! I just know anything will be peaceful after here. I did get a very mild case of athletes foot, but have treated it with cream and seems to be ok, that was what the blister stuff was in the blog, as it was so mild it didn’t seem so obvious! All well now, and 40km so far today before this time consuming stop.

Sorry, Gotta rush!

Tony

Looking back over the last month its been a tough grind. Perhaps the toughest segment of the entire run.

In Timor, Flores, Sumbawa the people were so friendly they drove me into the ground,I was mentally harassed by their friendliness is all I can call it. This was to be by far the poorest part of Indonesia. As in much of Indonesia so many people walk around barefooted or wear cheap shower sandals, more so here.

Kids stand in large groups shouting out Mister,Mister..I say hi but they all want their own individual acknowledgement..Then.. ” Where you going mister? ” And another round from each child or adult. I estimate around 3,000 greetings a day.

Very wearisome as the sun bakes me alive in this high humidity..

I am told temp is between 30 and 35. It seems Indonesia is made up of villages all connected up about 2 to 3km apart. One day it rained when I was running between another two villages. It was sudden and very hard.I had my camera in my arm sling, so when it rained I stupidly just pushed it under my sleeve and kept running.

Well that stretch was one of only two areas that had villages 5km apart in my first two weeks in the country.

I arrived at that place,Ngora Kego absolutely soaked,also my camera is now rain damaged. The people at a roadside eatery there let me stay the night under a roadside shelter.They were popping garlic from  nuts putting the garlic nut into a leaf whip which they had tied a slot into and then whipping it against a stone, cracking the garlic nut..Very time consuming but there were five of them and they didn’t seem to have much else to do.The lady put my wet socks  up against the fire to dry but the nosy dog knocked them into the fire..disaster as I am down to my last pair..Gotta give Bob at Drymax Socks a mail,he is so good.

Indonesia is a very poor country people and companies can’t afford expensive equipment and they gotta improvise. Everything from old tyre strips picked up off the road which are then used for door hinges as they are nailed into the door frame. I have rarely seen a screw usedwhere it should be, same as in Latin America – everything nailed to bits!

I have seen scaffolding made from bamboo canes also men working on roadworks with no shoes using pick axes too close to their feet for my liking.

Also several times I have seen barefoot workers mixing concrete with the concrete all over their feet .Do they not get concrete burn I wondered.

No health and safety standards enforced here.

Cheap and effective water tanks made from wooden structures with a tarp tied inside to hold the water.Indonesia has 80% of the worlds forests and yet only Brazil has more deforestation. This is a startling statistic when one considers the vastness of Amazonas.

I see people chopping down trees at will and even carpenters with large stocks of the raw material in their workshops. More than 50% of the population survive on less than $2 a day. The country reminds me of Latin America,men sitting around while the women do the work.

“Get Tony a coffee,Get him a pen” or whatever, I often feel like telling the men to get up of their backsides as you wouldn’t order a western woman around like that!

Women fetch the firewood and water while many of the men stand around in smoking groups. 75% of the male population smokes I am told. I rarely see women smoke. To my mind the cigareete companies are irresponsible with their huge banners at the side of the road, often up to ten on each side of the road welcoming visitors to a town, a bit like the finish line of the Tour de France with all the bunting. To my mind the government should not allow this. I also think the warnings on the cigarette advertisements don’t go far enough as they warn of impotency, and not cancer as far as I can see.

One woman told me it’s a womans job to look after the house, children, cook etc and a mans job to bring in the money, yet most women have to work till the day they die, no social security here. I see old men and women scaveging the dumps at the side of the road for waste, old plastic bottles to sell to the recycler. In fact I have even been asked for the plastic water bottles I carry in my hands as I run.

Everyone smokes in public places,even young kids and people standing over food they are serving. Nobody puts their hand to their mouth when coughing or sneezing. I cannot remember ever seeing a woman spit in my life in over 80 countries till I came to Indonesia where it is very common.

I continue to make decent progress.There are often no hotels in the small towns and villages,unlike in Latin America so I got to keep finding places to sleep in peoples homes giving them my few dollars. I notice the poorest of people often try handing back my money but I always insist on them taking it. I don’t know why I didn’t use this tactic in Latin America as I am sure it would have worked just as well and would have saved me all that time-consuming commuting.

I have been told not to wild camp in the forest because of the snakes.The worlds longest snake ever measured was at just under 10metres. It was found here in Indonesia.Imagine that crawling over you.The advice is to stay calm

One man told me that many people have been bitten and not known about it, as so many snake bites vary. Some snakes bite in rapid motion, you can get bitten five times and think you just got one bite, other times you will not be aware of it. The worst thing anyone can do is to run around after getting a bite!! Just because you stand on one one you wont necessarily get bitten,a bit like me standing on your toe,you may not punch me! I know I go on a bit too much about snakes in the blog, I just find them to be facinating creatures, yet baffling as one of lifes great mysteries to me is why oh why they venture out onto the road (that’s for the warmth of the tarmac which retains its warmth before they go hunting at night) when they navigate by vibrations due to being deaf. An Indonesian road, vibrates like no place on earth I can tell you. Oh! for the stillness of running in the Australian Outback at night and all of it’s ten vechicles on average, here that would take 5/10 seconds! There is no such thing as a rural countryside here in Indonesia, traffic wise as 24 hours a day it’s a constant heavy flow, like Dublin City on the last day of shopping before Christmas, that is wherever you are in Indonesia!

So I stopped at a shop one day before it rained. Again the people were nice to me as they pulled out a spare matress in a storeroom,prepared a thermos of coffee and bread for me for my breakfast obviously assuming I would be up before the lark next morning! Then they came back with a small paint can filled with kerosene and a paint brush made from the end of an old rope which was used to spread the kerosene around the edges of the walls and doorway, they worked as I looked on from my bed. This was to keep insects out, they told me. When they were finished they put the rope paintbrush into the can and used it as a wick to light a lamp, yes, on foot is the only real way to see a country frame by frame, just like the 50 frames a second in a movie, I have my frame by frame image of the world as I run it, any other means of travel is just to see the movie trailer. How else would I be in a house like this, very few people stop in places like this, cyclist perhaps the nearest but they, just like backpackers tend to go from town to town, city to city.

Many thanks to Richard Donovan my great friend for his continued and much needed support of the run

His company, The North Pole Marathon is my major sponsor of the world run,

Richard organises many exciting races around the world including the North Pole Marathon, the Antarctica Marathon and 100km, Patagonia and other exotic locations.

Please check out his website HERE