Sansivera, or lidah mertua (mother in law's tongue)

Yes, that's true. But a lack of glass on Indonesian roads doesnt make a bright side! People use vehicle horns less here than in many other places. That's good butcitcdoesnt make a bright side! There's people in Australia who dump garbage in the bush, steal vehicles and burn them, etc. All of these activities are illegal. These, however, are the exceptions. The simple fact is that we have legislation in Australia to limit these occurrences. We also have strict controls on things like noise, smoking and wearing helmets. I just don't see this in Indonesia. I must have seen 10 people toss garbage out today. I'm sitting among it now. I think it boils down to most people here not getting a decent education. And I think people live in fear. I saw some down and out fellow scavenging this morning. He had a decrepit bike from which a bamboo pole flew Indonesian flags. I thought, what has Indonesia given you?

Surprise, there is no traffic jam now.

Ian look on the bright side. Unlike Australians, Indonesians don’t smash glass bottles on roads and paths for no reason other than drunken anti social antics.

Bill, yes, like many places. But countries like the USA, Australia, Britain and many more have reformed. Indonesia has not. What's the difference? I have my ideas!

Hi Ian you pedalled it to BL faster than I had time to suggest El’s Coffee Shop.
El is a pioneer of modern coffee shops in Sumatra. He brought cafe ideas back from Melbourne. He’s even taken staff to Japan for customer service training, and invents his own recipes.
Well worth a visit.
Els Cafe
JI. MS Batubara no. 134A, Bandar Lampung 35121 Indonesia

Like USA in the 60s...

Ian, I enjoyed your comments. I also dislike hand grenades on buses; Israeli soldiers were bad enough.

A ‘stout’ tree.

Mung bean tree?

Okay, quod vide.

During the Napoleonic war British occupation of Java? As I recall Raffles made a note of Singapore Island’s possibilities en route from Penang.

Our bus in Cambodia had a hand grenade in the prohibition adjacent to the durian.

Ian, your childhood memories and mine are similar except I remember a moth laying eggs. I disagree with your last step. If these moths emerge, they destroy the silk. The eggs must come from a separate population of breeder moths.

Ian, until we go to a really isolated place, the Hay plain seems isolated. I think that I did 600 km between shops in W Qld/NT but the road meant that it didn't seem isolated.