The ocean
If this chapter of our trip is smooth and leisurely, sailing comfortably to the rhythms of the
tide, it certainly awakens our desire for more adventure. The rest of our trip has all the
ingredients to satisfy it: uncertainty, the unknown, insecurity and the need for freedom.
Obtaining from the Indian administration the permit to visit the island we have set out
for is discouraging to say the least. In comparison it makes any French administrative
quest seem like a pleasurable moment. Our destination had in fact become, a few years
ago, an al Qa’ida ‘hideout’, and the Indian government was asked from then on to take
back the control over its territory. Hence the over-zealousness of all sorts. However, the
Somali pirates who regularly attack the ships in this region, know there is nothing to
expect from the government; the thousands of crewmen put aboard these ships by the
merchant navy are not worth a rupee in ransom...
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