French Polynesia – or better Tahiti – is not an independent travellers destination. Most people come with a package tour, which you’ll realize immediately after arriving at the airport … Everyone is greeted with flower garlands, while a group of musician fiddle their souls away and after a fast custom procedure, you’re out in the street alone because all other passengers have been picked up by their hotel chauffeurs.

Flower garlands at Papeete airport, French Polynesia.

Public Transport – No Chance!

As it was just 5.00 am when I arrived in Papeete, nothing was open and there was no chance of finding any sort of public transport, as I planned to reach the freighter ship to the Austral Islands (which only runs once a week). After checking out the area a little bit, I found someone who pointed me the direction to the next bus station. Let me tell you something … public transport is not an easy thing in Tahiti! The buses run irregularly, sometimes don’t even stop and if they run too fast, they’ll just pass by the station without the smallest bit of eye twitching. Also, I don’t know who designed the bus loops and stops but that person must have been under the weather – if you know what I mean. There is no public transport going down to the port where all the ships take off … and it’s one hell of a walk down there – especially if you’re fully packed like myself! Sure, you’ll adjust and get used to it but it can get frustrating. So the last way out of this crappy start into the day was hitch-hiking down to the port.

These ships down in the port looked like monsters (no windows and high steel walls) who really have to conquer the rough seas from time to time. Luckily, this was not the case when I travelled. The Pacific ocean was calm and though the ship was an old lady, it was a very pleasant trip with my hammock set up right on the stern.

A ship at the port in Tubuai, French Polynesia.

The ship from Papeete to Tubuai, French Polynesia.

The Austral Islands & its people.

The Austral Islands are really out of the way, and the main town of Tubuai is a scatter of a few houses, not more. You’ll find one supermarket with an adjoining post office, some guest houses and that’s about it.  It’s a small place but that’s what makes it more cozy & homey as well.

The landscape of the Austral Islands, French Polynesia.

The people of the area are very friendly and happy to help you out if you need something. Just be aware of the ones hanging out in front of the supermarket – most of them have consumed lots of booze and this can be quite uncomfortable – especially when you’re there alone at night. One thing is for sure, forget the South Sea beauties! Food over there is totally unhealthy and lots (!) of people tend to be very overweight.

Overweight man working … a regular sight in Tahiti – no wonder with the food you get there.

Arriving back in Tahiti, the problem with public transport continued. Teahupoo was my next desired destination but getting there was far from easy. A bus to Teahupoo exists, but you have to get out at the right intersection and wait a few hours for the connecting bus … I’d really suggest to hitch-hike, which I did again. The guys who gave me a ride were some surfers from Teahupoo, so I could save a lot of time and immediately got great input for nice guest houses in the area.

Some advice.

• If you plan to visit Teahupoo (and stay there for a while), keep in mind that the supermarket is quite some kilometres away from the village, so be sure to plan ahead.

Teahupoo itself is a black beach place with many local rent out rooms and the vibes are really good – as they usually are around surf spots. I was lucky to stay with a few surfers from Brazil (including the pro-surfer Dennis Tiahara). When the guys went our for a surf the next day, they asked if I’d dare to go out with them to take some photos. This was a great opportunity and I followed their request immediately :) Some local guy they knew, took me out to the massive waves on his jet-ski and I spent the next two days taking heaps of shots right near this world-famous break. It was an unforgettable experience to be so close to the action.

A surfer conquering the waves at Teahupoo, Tahiti.

A surfer conquering the waves at Teahupoo, Tahiti.

Further information.

If you’re planning on visiting French Polynesia and are looking for cheap, yet nice accommodation around Papeete, Tubuai or Teahupoo, feel free to drop me a line.

So as said, we wanted to see the facilities in Chittagong for ourselves. Of course we were warned that access will most probably not be possible, yet nothing could keep us from going. After some asking around and checking out the area, we simply decided to just go on a field trip and have a look. We came across and autorikshaw driver who was eager to bring us to the area where ship breaking takes place.

How did it all start?

• Research through the internet taught us, that the beginning of the ship breaking industry in Bangladesh came by “accident”. After a severe cyclone in 1960, a Greek ship was stranded on the beach of Chittagong and could not be re-floated for some years. Then it was scrapped and this was the birth of the Bangladesh ship breaking industry – which is the second largest in the world.

From Chittagong you have to head North. It’s quite a dusty trip because the road is under construction, so we were already exhausted when arriving in Fauzdharat. Anyway, the autorikshaw driver knew where we wanted to go and after some asking he turned left into a little path towards the beach. At the end was a big wall and that was it … so we got out and told him to wait. We walked a while and came to a river mouth where many lifesaving boats were “anchored” – obviously an interim storage place. The river mouth turned out to be the perfect way to get closer to the ships and the action.

But getting close to the ships was not as easy as expected … it was all very slippery, with deep mud. We only tried to protect our cameras, everything else looked very dirty after the first five minutes walking towards the beach anyway. Right and left were huge tankers ashore, which were already partly dismantled and you could hear the noise of cutting wheels. We walked further towards the beach – always checking the ground because we didn’t want to stumble into a mud hole (it happened anyway, but not too bad). All over sudden we were spotted by a bunch of children who came running towards us, jumping up and down in front of our cameras. They loved it and so we forgot a bit about our plan to check out the ships for a little while.

The way down the waters edge turned out to be pretty far. We walked for about half an hour while being accompanied by screaming children. An adult fisherman came along and tried to get the kids under control but he had no chance. So we made the best out of it and took lots of photos with them and the ships.

In between all the ship breaking yard were little villages where the workers live. Their kids already grow up near the ships and start working there either as fishermen or steel workers. The entire ship breaking yard area is so extensive that it’s no wonder the workers started settling near by.

The fascinating thing is that everything is being recycled. There are tons of second-hand dealers along the main road, where you’ll find anything that was ever used on a ship: water tanks, washing machines, toilets, compasses, telephones, life vests … you name it, you will find it in one of these scrap shops. It would be the perfect place to furnish an apartment, office or restaurant. We were tempted on buying a Russian wall clock but decided against it in the end. It was simply to heavy and we still had five weeks more of travelling ahead.

The Chittagong Ship Breaking Yard, is the world’s second-largest ship breaking area (after the Alang ship breaking yard).

Yet the Chittagong Ship Breaking Yard is the world’s largest ship-breaking industry, employs over 200.000 Bangladeshis and accounts for half of all the steel in Bangladesh.

Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially steel, to be recycled. Equipment on board the vessel can also be reused.

Ships are typically disassembled on gently sloping sandy beaches, where vessels to be broken are beached, usually deliberately, although the sizable ship breaking industry of Bangladesh traces its origin to a ship beached accidentally there during a cyclone.

Manoeuvring a large ship onto a beach at high speed takes skill and daring, and is not always successful.

Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is so much wear that refitting and repair become uneconomical.

The Ship Breaking Yard in Chittagong, Bangladesh.

At one stage the Chittagong Ship Breaking Yard was a tourist attraction, but outsiders are no longer welcome due to its poor safety record; a local watchdog group claims that one worker dies a week on average.

In recent years, ship breaking has become an issue of environmental concern beyond the health of the yard workers. Many ship breaking yards operate in developing nations with lax or no environmental law, enabling large quantities of highly toxic materials to escape into the general environment and causing serious health problems among ship breakers.

Kids playing football between the Chittagong Ship Breaking Yard.

The shops in Chittagong are full of recycled cruise materials.

Protective equipment is sometimes absent or inadequate. Dangerous vapors and fumes from burning materials can be inhaled, and dusty asbestos-laden areas are commonplace.