Before You Go Snorkeling

Just Another Day In Paradise

Monkey

We'd been on our trip for over two weeks, having hiked through forest, to waterfalls and on the ridge of a volcano. We'd fended off monkeys, chased away cockroaches and braved Balinese traffic. We were tired and due for a vacation during our vacation. We got on a boat and set sail (read: engine) for one of three small islands, all geared up for romantic walks on the beach and drinking cocktails under palm trees. If my girlfriend would've gone there with anyone else, it would probably be exactly what she'd gotten. Unfortunately, she went there with me.

Waterfall

Volcano

The Gili Islands

The island in the distance is Lombok

The Gili Islands are three small islands. If you have already been there or are planning to go there, you'd know that there is a 'party island', 'a quiet island' and an 'in between islands'. Party island is called Gili Trawangan, Quiet Island is Gili Meno and The Other One is Gili Air.



My girlfriend and I settled for Gili Air, me hating partying and clubbing with her loving it and with me loving near absolute silence with her dreading looming boredom. Gili Air was extremely busy for my taste, praising in retrospect the decision not having set foot on Trawangan. Minutes in you notice that pretty much all of the sandy white beaches are linked to resorts/hotels/guesthouses or are being developed as such. Kind of like Disneyland-fake, hoping people would find it romantic. A walk on the beach gives you sandy white beaches but also very odd looking heaps of coral that have accumulated by coral washing ashore. It's so bad that it's nearly impossible for you to get into the water without any sort of protection for your feet as you are constantly bombarded by the huge amount of coral fragments surfing the waves. I stood there thinking:  'Well, I'm no expert, but that's probably not supposed to happen.'. Coral takes a very long time to generate and seeing all of it just strewn out over the beach like that didn't strike me as a natural phenomenon.

Broken coral

Close up featuring a shell

Adding insult to injury, floating bottles were easily spotted, spoons had washed ashore as well as plastic bags, containers and fishing nets. All of this with a turtle sanctuary in spitting distance on Gili Meno. I got angry, frustrated and most of all the worst possible company my girlfriend could have hoped for. The next day, I dreaded, we'd go snorkeling.





The Snorkeling Trip

When people tell you that you're going to see turtles near the Gili's, they actually mean that you and about 7 other people on your boat and about 6 other boats with about 8 people on their boat are going to hunt them down. You're not going to kill them, but you'll swarm towards them, hovering over the turtle like a fleshy armada blocking out the sun, hoping for it to stay but urging for it to leave. It got even better when our 'guide' tried to 'show us' an octopus while prodding the coral with a fishing hook. That particular piece of coral was still pretty much alive, which can't be said for the overwhelming majority present at the three snorkeling sites we visited.

The reason for this blog post is not to rage. Well, maybe a little bit... It is not to nothing but rage, it is mainly to inform. I became heavyhearted when I heard my fellow snorkeler praise the beauty of what they had just seen. They seemed oblivious of the fact that we had seen were sea turtles hiding in a graveyard of dead and damaged coral. This of course, because they were unable to identify healthy from unhealthy, or dead, coral reefs. I realized this because the person I hold very much dear was one of those people. It helped me as a grumpy, angry and sort of sad person to be able to explain to her what was so awful about the current situation. It was maybe my very first experience of realizing the importance of ocean literacy. We should all know the difference between alive and dead coral and not get fooled by these 'snorkeling trips'. What is left in the shallow waters between the Gili's is not something people should pay for to watch. There is very little pristine nature left and that tiny fragment is under so much pressure I honestly don't think it is going to last.

So, for future reference for anyone that is interested in snorkeling: the first picture features dead coral from the Gili Islands and little fish. The second one, taken near the island of Bonaire (I think), features healthy coral, with loads of fish. (I realize the pictures are too big for the current layout, but in this case bigger is better...)

Dead

Alive

The Cause

What is causing/has caused the destruction of the coral reefs near the Gili's? 

A couple of possibilities (click the links for more information):

• Dynamite fishing
• Boat anchors
• Oceanic acidification
• Pollution (plastics, waste etc.)

The Solution

The informed tourist

When you head to the Gili's, or any other place in the world: try and be informed. We made a mistake going on that snorkeling trip and paying for it. People might argue that 'everybody needs to make a living' and that not going on these trips will deal a blow to local businesses. This is not entirely true. The Gili's have plenty of eco conscious and sustainable initiatives, usually offered by diving centers. 

The informed local
Asia in general is a long way from knowing what sustainability looks like. Indonesia is, from what I can tell, no different. Indonesians need to find their way to a sustainable future and everyone should do what they can to get them there.

Supporting local initiatives
Go to Gili Meno and support the Turtle Sanctuary.
Check out the Gili Eco Trust and their Biorock initiative, who kindly provided the picture of the dead reef shown above. Watch Gili Eco Trust's Delphine Robbe on TEDxUbud

Moar Music!

After a very, very long time, I've released some new previews for my Skyrim Addtional Music Project and as a first, released a 'beta' version of the Additional Music Project on SkyrimNexus. Seven new exploring tracks have been added to the whole, bringing the total to 37 tracks. It's a beta because I might still change some stuff around and because I hate doing updates that have less than 10 tracks. But, it's been over half a year and it'll take a long while before I get around finishing 10 tracks.

Other accomplishments:

• I'm glad to report I've finally been able to do a huge volume fix, paving the way for better partnerships with the vanilla music. 
• The replacer version is finished. Took me forever, also because I felt that 108 minutes of music wasn't enough for a replacer version as songs get repetitive real fast. Now that I'm well past the 2 hour mark, this replacer is becoming interesting. There is an 108 minute replacer available on Steam, look for the 'Additional Music Project Replacer'.
• Next to the regular youtube playlist, there is a playlist available with just the exploring music, if you're into nice background music. 

In other news, my remote hard drive crashed. Word of advice: never buy a Seagate. Also, my Youtube account is uglier than ever, thanks to 250x250 profile pic restrictions and the new channel layout. 

Below, a new track called 'The Wanderer':

I shall return!

Tuna Free Campaign

November 12 2012

November 12th 2012 was a big day for us. And by 'us' I mean Belgium, although most Belgians aren't aware of the day's crushing importance, yet.

November 12th 2012 was also yesterday, so that makes me a day late.

On November 12th, 2012, our NGO Sea First launched its Tuna Free Campaign, which in its least ambitious form aims to raise awareness on the imminent downfall of our good friend the tuna fish. In its most ambitious form it aims to shift the balance in favor of common sense by stopping the sale, consumption and catch of tuna altogether, but let's not get ahead of ourselves...

Five Really Good Reasons Not To Eat Tuna

• For every one kilogram (or pound/grams/tonnes) of tuna, two kilos (or pounds/grams/tonnes) of sea turtle, shark, squid of even bird was caught with it. To put it differently: bycatch for tuna goes up to 60%, definitely when FAD's are involved.
• If the tuna fish goes down, ecosystems collapse with it. This is bad.
• Nearly every species of tuna is overfished, not only the bluefin tuna.
• Catching tuna means big money. Little regulation means bigger money. Bigger money means mobsters are attracted to it like a fly to feces  Human and animal rights fly out of the window and some Japanese guy pays hundreds of thousands of dollars for a bluefin tuna. Mitsubishi and giant freezers are also involved.
• Tuna isn't as healthy as you think. Keywords/abbreviations: mercury, plastic, food chain, PCB's. 

Due to not having had a lot of sleep the last couple of days, I will not elaborate any further on these reasons, for now. So this leaves you with a few options, one of which is taking my word for it, another is going to http://www.ecosia.org and start researching. Punch it.

PS: It's probably relevant to point out that the information on the Sea First website regarding the Tuna Free Campaign is all still in Dutch. If you'd happen to have one hundred thousand dollars in a sock somewhere, we'd be happy to use it contents to hire a crew for making this a global effort.

Releasing The Babies

Status Report

Back in Belgium. Contracted a cold and I'm coughing all the time, 'nough said...


In Other News

Costa Rica bans shark finning. Here's what Richard Branson had to say about it. 

Ukrain takes a few steps back from common sense by banning gay 'propaganda.' 

In Mali, sharia law is in effect and children are being bought to fight.

Pirate fishing is exposed.

Extreme is the new normal.

Nailing A Milestone

Six months ago, I began work on my 'Elder Scrolls Rescoring Project'. The idea was to write additional music for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and to a lesser extent The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Two games I thoroughly enjoyed, not only because of the open world approach which the series is famous for, but also for the great atmosphere, thanks in no small measure to the music by Jeremy Soule.

Today, after a three month break, I published the third part of my project, adding up to a total of 70 minutes of additional music.

Even if you're not a fan of the games, or you don't even remotely care about gaming altogether, but would like to hear the music, you can still do so here. Geeks go here

On A Related Subject

'Creativity Closely Entwined With Mental Illness.' . Yikes.

On A Kind Of Related Subject

I bought Guild Wars 2. So....bye :)

Back Home

Ten Degrees Celcius And Pouring Rain

This must be home! After 21 hours of doing not much of anything except flying halfway around the world, I've returned to where I've been spending the majority of my 26 years on this planet.

To prove it and to celebrate, here's a piece of music no one's ever heard before:

Back to work!

Full Circle

Wrapping Things Up

If these past few days in Hanoi have taught me anything, it's that:

• Despite of what I think and feel about Vietnam and how tourism is impacting it, Hanoi retained most of its magic for me. This is somewhat puzzeling, as this is the noisiest, dirtiest, smoggiest and crowded town I've been to on this trip. 
• I'll miss the fruits(hakes).
• I'll miss the noodles.
• I'll miss the fresh vegetables.
• When someone tells you not to put your opened, yet firmly closed, package of cookies in your private locker and you do it anyway, you deserve to lose your cookies to an army of really, really small ants.
• Dog is being served on the western edge of the old quarter, heads and everything.
• Wearing an A-shirt scores you drugs, wearing a regular t-shirt doesn't.
• The 'booze cruises' to Halong Bay are immensly popular and they're 'great/awesome/totally amazing'.
• Yes, I think I'm funny.
• When you're sleeping in a dorm with 5 other people, it's usually not a good idea to invite your newly found, and awfully drunk, temporary girl/boyfriend back to the room for some sweet lovin', as he or she will probably spew a night out drinking's worth of stomach contents out on the floor, waking everybody up in the process.
• No matter how tough you look with the tattoos, sixpack, drinking habits and womanizing, when The Lion King is screened in the chill-out area, you'll be fighting back the tears when Mufasa dies. 
• No matter how tough you look with the tattoos, sixpack, drinking habits and womanizing, when The Cove is screened in the chill-out area, you'll be fighting back the tears when the dolphins die.
• I need a haircut.
• He's back, baby!

Souvenir Day

After intensly scouting Hanoi for souvenirs, I decided to stop thinking altogether and just stick with my first choice. An accurate account of a full day, if there ever was one.

To Here, And Back Again Tomorrow

'Dear Southeast Asia, 

Today is my 83rd day abroad.  Alas, 83 days is far too short a time to explore such admirable surroundings.
I don't know half of you as well as I would like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve. I have things to do, which I've put off for far too long. I regret to announce that this is the end. I'm going now.

See you later.'

Thanks to everybody who's been following this blog for the past months, I hope you somewhat enjoyed it. I suggest you all bolt before this becomes a fully fleshed out hub for my rants, concerning pretty much everything from scorewriting over social commentary to the feindish world of the fishing industry.

When Everything Turns Into Disneyland...

All Hollowed Out

Traveller's Fatigue. I don't even know if it's a real term, but it perfectly describes what I'm going through right now: I'm tired, I'm angry, I'm disappointed and everywhere I go, I'm tempted to hit someone square in the jaw. Whether it's because I've just been asked for the five hundred thousandth time if I want to pay somebody to drive me 500 meters down the road ('Seh, Seh, at least two kilometah! Velly fah!') on a motorcycle or because of the dog, or the rooster or the monkey that's chained to a post or being sold for lunch, or because of the birds being sold in cages, or because of local tribeswoman, who dress up in all kinds of colors as they always have done, ask you if you would like to come to their village, not unlike a desperate prostitute would present herself to strangers, this has somewhat different material being exchanged in between parties, but the cash will exchange hands just the same. In Vietnam, culture is for sale to the not so very high bidder.

From The Outside Looking In

Foreigners that come here are wealthy, so why should they not be able to buy up everything these Hmong, or other people here, craft? One of the main things I've learned about Vietnam is that the concept of backpacking doesn't compute for the Vietnamese. Why would a person from a wealthy country dress up as a bum and try to get from one country to the other the cheapest way possible? In a country where face, or the way you present yourself, is everything,  they ask why someone would do that? Even if they knew the answer, I'd just be a ridiculous idea to most of them. Keeping this in mind and seeing tourists flood en masse to a place like Sapa, the question on why we don't just buy up everything isn't an unreasonable one. It's gotten so far already that locals will consider it an insult if you don't buy anything from them, whether it's the tour, the motorbike ride, the earring or the piece of cloth. 

Getting To The Bottom Of This

One could say these are 'cultural differences'. We have a way of looking at things and they have a way of looking at things. This isn't about cultural differences, this is about the lack of 'culture'. The lack of taking pride in what you believe and what you find important. From what I've seen and experienced over the past three months, I can conclude that in the places where there isn't a lot of money changing hands, people are more friendly, have more pride and connection to their roots. The more rural you go, the friendlier people get. If you go to these places, suspicion can turn to hospitality by just saying 'Hello' in the local language. These are the places that I would label as 'authentic', although this is somewhat ironic, for me being there means that that authenticity is losing ground to the temptation of more money - although I had to try very hard to get to some places, most of the time it was just too easy -. The point that I'm trying to make is that 'a clash of two worlds', which is mutually beneficial, seems almost impossible these days, although they are portrayed as such by, here we go, a tour or trekking company.

I hate it when people tell me that 'money is what makes the world go round'. Money is poison. You can see it in these people and measure the kind of exposure they've had with money, the closer they've come to the world of organized luxury tourism, the more they realize others have something they don't. I'm not in a position to blame them. I only have to recall my time in Ban Lung in Cambodia, where an ATM machine gave me a hundred dollar bill, which is about the monthly wage of a local teacher, and I was waving it around like an idiot, looking for a place where I could get some change, to realize that these people have every right to want to do what I can do. I haven't worked a day in my life, while most these people break their backs so I can have a platter of rice every once and a while. I'm luxury tourism on a mindset of pushing myself to a limit or a realm of introspection.

Therefore there is little blame to be placed on the people here, although I can't approve of it either. There is a lot of respect to be had for people that know that they don't have what others have materially, but know as well that they have more socially or emotionally. These people I have met in rural Laos and Cambodia and these are encounters I will never forget. The tragic lies in the fact that they are losing their wealth due to peer pressure, due to deforestation or due to a hydroelectric dam, which is imposed on them as I'd impose doing homework to a hypothetical younger brother or, as what the US of A has been trying to do for years in promoting democracy in these regions:

"It's good for you in the long run."

The temptation of being rich gets old when you are rich, but you don't get to know that feeling once you've been rich. The race for wealth is turning these regions into a grotesque spectacle which is funny in a tragic way. You see it in the way people use plastic: throw it out into the street, it'll be out of sight in a day or two and afterwards it's 'gone'. Good luck on explaining to these people what the Pacific Garbage Patch looks like as explaining this to a 'well educated' European is hard enough by itself. Plastic is easy, cheap and has driven away local customs and crafts which were a lot more sustainable and beneficial for the community, but the fact that it's cheap and 'disposable' makes all the difference. Nobody cares where it comes from when it's easy.

You see it in the way they treat their forests: chop down the woods, make timber and use the land for cotton plantations or farming. Good luck on explaining to this people what primary forest is and why it'll never restore itself, to say nothing of carbon emissions. There's a bigger house, a chance for education or a new Lexus involved here.

Am I in a position to blame them? If I look at Belgium, an intricate web of traffic jams, stress and xenophobia, we haven't done much of a better job ourselves. The North Sea used to have bluefin tuna. We had wolves in our forests and just recently thousands of fish turned up dead in the river that flows a few kilometers from my doorstep thanks to 'some form of pollution'. Our beaches are more plastic than sand and a local bird species has an average of 42 pieces of plastic in its stomach.

It's probably no coincidence that the word culture has different meanings, going as far as calling a soup of bacteria 'a culture', so it is perhaps not the lack of it, just a shift in appropriate meaning. From a region that once was spilled over with cultural wealth, a stinking pile of crap remains (or will remain in a few years), driven by both an industry that relies on snapping cameras and the urge of wealthy foreign people wanting to boast to their friends that they've 'been there' and for Laos and Cambodia, a system of selling out your country by the few that would really like to export hydroelectric power to the Chinese, Thai or Vietnamese, so that they can buy that new Lexus to show to their friends. Face is everything, as it is for us Europeans, the corruption is just a bit less subtle around these parts, although Wall Street and the banking sector is giving these guys a run for their money.


Less Babies

Laos has 7 million inhabitants and is 7 times as big as Belgium.
Cambodia has 15 million inhabitants and is 6 times the size of Belgium.
Vietnam has 90 million inhabitants and is 11 times the size of Belgium.

If I would rate these three countries relating to hospitality, just start at the bottom and work your way up. Besides the already illustrated point of exposure to wealth of another part of the world, there is another issue to address:

Why do so many people here in Vietnam all  have the same job? Thousands upon thousands of motorcycle drivers harass you everywhere you go. As a tourist you're morally obliged not to walk, but sit on the back of a motorcycle and buy the driver some dinner by polluting the world just a bit more. The traffic is insane and a human life is worth about as much as a soldier bee in a beehive. The smallest villages I've been to practically had Vietnamese pouring out of them. In Vietnam, there are just too many people. As Cambodia and Laos are urging to catch up and play along on a global scale, they are reproducing like rabbits and are selling their country to the major players, hoping for a seat on the table of the global economy. But what example are they following? The 90 million Vietnamese? The 1,5 billion Chinese? Ours? Belgium has more than 10 million people, which makes it grotesquely overcrowded.

As a treehugger, I associated these parts of the world with tigers and rhinos. These animals are all but extinct, as is the Irriwady Dolphin in Cambodia and Laos, and dozens of monkey species and birds here in Vietnam. All there is to see in Vietnam is people, surrounding ever dwindling regions where these animals still live. There is not a single rhino still drawing breath on the mainland here in Vietnam and as I type this, the Vietnamese are plundering the environmental wealth its weaker brothers, Laos and Cambodia. I can imagine Belgium would have gone through a similar episode with it's natural wealth and although we never had tigers or primary forest. Although we had the lynx, for instance.

Every plan that is being conjured up by our genius politicians has to do with growth, growth and growth. Maybe it's time we stopped growing, looked around at the damage we've done so far and worry about what we're going to do about that. And let's make less babies because, as any economist will be glad to explain to you, the more of something you have, the less it's worth.

It's somewhat ironic that the fate of primary forest is in the hands of those that have the least. We all depend on what they do with it and they're just following our example of meeting the World Bank's standards by being 'economical'. We could tell them not to make our mistakes, retain the forest and the beauty that's in there and they would follow suit. Or Hell might freeze over...

Stand For Something Or Fall For Anything

If traveling has anything to do with staying true to yourself, I haven't been doing a very good job this past week. I just let myself get lead from one tourist trap to the other, intending to finishing it off in the mother of all tourist traps, Halong Bay. Recalling the conversation I had with a Cambodian girl in Sihanoukville about the ridiculously high pricetag of the severely polluted surroundings:

'Long after you're gone, other stupid tourists will come here and pay for it.'

Maybe it's long past time I stop being an idiot and have them shove their Heritage Sites up their asses until they treat it as such. Plus, I get to be that tourist that went to Vietnam without seeing Halong Bay in the process.

So be it, as the magic has long abandoned these lands.