It's a very short boat ride the one from Singapore to Batam, Indonesia. But it's really a springboard from the globalised, motorised, and carbonised part of the world to the Global South. I have already travelled about 14,000km to come here without taking airplanes and I truly savour the crossing of this physical but most importantly cultural boundary between North and South.

The taxi that takes me to the embarkment to Jakarta travels through bumpy roads, which turn into dirt road at the very access to the Pelni (the Indonesian national ferry company) departure point. I am torn between accepting the offer of porters to carry my luggage or carrying it myself. It's little money for me and a lot of money for them. I opt for carrying it myself, as I am short of Indonesian cash and I perceive porters' requests as bordering extortion. I travel 3rd class, because I want to stay as close as possible to the travelling conditions of most travellers. I get a bed in one of the many sleeping halls provided on the ship. A mattress is provided, although it's better not to think of the last time it has been washed. I must say sleeping is hard. People talk loudly throughout the night and kids cry loud. However, I am so tired that I sleep tight. As usual, I am woken up at 4am by the call to the Islamic morning prayer.

#RefuseToFly #Slowtravel #Decarbonise #ClimateAction #StrictlyPublicTransport #researcherlife #researcher #Singapore #Indonesia #Batam #FerryTravel #Pelni

I am very proud of my newly bought solar power generator and I use it straightaway on my makeshift office space at the upper deck of the ship taking me to Jakarta. The sunset over the Java sea is, however, a big distraction for my overdue essay...
See video : https://youtube.com/shorts/X4CwMSqv_Wk

#RefuseToFly #Slowtravel #Decarbonise #ClimateAction #StrictlyPublicTransport #researcherlife #researcher #AFuoco #Singapore #Indonesia #Batam #Jakarta #FerryTravel #Pelni #JavaSea

Day 43: Get to Jakarta in the early morning. I book the rest of travel on Indonesian ferries. The heavy traffic and stink of petrol hit me.

Jakarta is the city that is sinking at probably the fastest rate in the world (2-3cm a year). This is mainly due to overexploitation of underground aquifers. On my YT I interview local couchsurfer Jonathan about what it means to live in a sinking city. Check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LNaNttmrdE&list=PLJL-sRWA7R4_ZEetlU-4amhuo6lNh4Fxu 61/

Day 45:
I know that slow travel offers the incomparable opportunity to see with my own eyes how most people live on this planet. After taking the 6-hour train from Jakarta, I'm keen to visit people living on the coastline in Semarang, as they have been exposed to constant flooding in recent years. A local couchsurfer takes me there by scooter.

The meeting with Deby is by far the most touching experience of this travel, maybe of all my travels. Check it our on my YT channel: https://youtu.be/Gl7IXxYpDgc?si=mcbo_xTXx_njcB8_ .

Relentless flooding destroyed her family's lives to the point they have nothing to eat. When she suddenly burst into tears after confessing that she didn't have the money to send their children to school, I felt the powerlessness that so many people in this world experience in their daily lives. Theirs is a small house compared to European standards, less than 20 m2, and yet I could see all the love they put to build their home. The floor is made of concrete. They must have wanted this construction to be as stable as it could. But they didn't consider that relentless sea level rise, accompanied by land subsidence, would have exposed this building to constant flooding. Inundations bring about lack of sleep, inability to work, loss of capital equipment - in particular, the scooter they used to go to work - and, in the end, food scarcity. This is climate breakdown in action.

#RefuseTofly #Semarang #SeaLevelRise #LandSubsidence #Slowtravel #researcherlife #Indonesia

Day 45: I only know their names, Dina and Rizki, and that today is supposed to be the happiest day in their lives. Their wedding takes place under a tent that is crowded with relatives and friends. Their silky clothes are luxurious, and every embroidery seems to have been crafted by an expert hand. The bride is crowned with fake jewels. Perhaps this dress has been passed down from generation to generation. Dina's smile is too static to be authentic. Rizki, instead, seems to be thoroughly enjoying the day. Her parents sit in a semi-circle opposite her. This is probably the moment in which they are “handing” the girl over to the groom’s family. You could exchange what goes on under the tent for a wedding in Dubai. Outside the tent, life goes on as normal in this coastal district, among the rubble, the dirt road, the house foundations eroded by the rising seas, and the wooden roofs collapsing under the power of typhoons.
Maybe this tent is a metaphor of global warming. We live in a bubble where everything seems joyful and luxurious, but reality bites outside. The brides can hardly pronounce my name, but they share their food with me as if I were a member of their family. My van to Yogjakarta departs soon, so I leave the gathering well before the wedding is over. I leave under the illusion their future will be bright... 65/

#RefuseToFly #slowtravel #Semarang #Indonesia #JavaIsland #JavaneseWedding #coasters #SeaLevelRise #LandSubsidence #ClimateBreakdown #DontLookUp

Day 47 of my no-fly trip Italy-PNG:
I visit Borobudur, the largest Buddhist temple in the world. That this temple, projected to resemble a gigantic mandala,has withstood 13 centuries, is astounding. Perhaps even more astounding is that it was used for no longer than a century, after which the Mataram dynasty moved their capital to East Java. Afterwards, the whole complex got literally lost to time,as it was buried by volcanic ash and a jungle.
The base - Kamadhatu - represents the world of desires. The six square levels stacked on top are Rupadhatu, the world of forms. Walking around the levels, the pilgrim would learn stories of Prince Siddhartha, from his conception – bearing some resemblance to Jesus’s conception - to the search for the ultimate truth. The three circular levels in the upper section are Arupadhatu, the formless world. The central stupa represents the attainment of nirvana, the state of enlightenment and peace that every Buddhist tends to achieve. This stupa is entirely empty, because the real fulfilment of the self comes from the process of emptying one's soul of all the desires.
The sacredness of the 72 meditating Buddhas statues, overlooking all possible directions, to the mount said to resemble a reclining Buddha to the South, to the Merapi volcano to the West, and to a quiet wood to the east, fills me with the spirituality of the place.

More on my YouTube: https://youtube.com/shorts/yFew07Foe0E

Long read on my Substack: https://gianlu777.substack.com/p/visiting-the-borodur-temple-in-central?r=3bfowj 66/

I long to return to the "House of Culture" museum in Yogjakarta, a real "Atlas" of Javanese culture and history.
I am mesmerised by the section on the "Batyk", shawls that are worn in ceremonies marking the main stages in a person's life:
- birth, where the "gendogan" batyk is meant to wish good luck to the newborn;
- "Mitoni", taking place at 7 months of pregnancy;
- Adolescence (with a ceremony for boys when they get circumcised and girls when they have their first menstruation);
- Wedding, preceded by an engagement ceremony, where various batyk mark the 7 days of the rituals; The spouses often wear Sidomukti (to become noble/prosperous) or Truntum (reawakened love) to bless their union.
- Turning 64- as a person can be thought of having lived life to its full and to have acquired wisdom.
- Death, marked by dark tones.

Batyk also reveal a person's social status, as some patterns are exclusive to the "elite" and are forbidden to the "commoners". An example is the "Parang" - a diagonal "S" patterns representing waves of swords. They symbolize power and authority; the larger the motif, the higher the wearer's rank.

I wonder how virtually all human societies are characterised by rites of passage marking birth, adolescence, wedding, and death. We have more in common that what we could think of. More on my YT: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJL-sRWA7R4-tCkqYDPa3323wgLuqOBZg 67/

#RefuseToFly #ClimateEmergency #Slowtravel #decarbonise #ClimateAction #Sonobudoyu #Java #Indonesia #Yogjakarta #RitesOfPassage #Batyk