Solitary

這個標題的靈感來自Mark Twain《The Adventure of Tom Sawyer》。好啦，我知道這不是什麼可歌可泣的靈感，只是不知道要怎麼開文章的頭，因此找了Mark Twain來助陣加持。而且下面的故事也跟《The Adventure of Tom Sawyer》幾乎無關。

來題解一下。Sören是我和朋友去爬七星山的時候認識的，怎麼認識的？走在路上認識的。沒事幹嘛跟人家搭訕？不是搭訕，是我們幾個台灣人不太清楚路，他看到迷惘的我們就用英文向我們示意哪條路。夠丟臉吧！之後問說可不可以加入我們。之後一路上就跟我們在七星山晃來晃去。

Sören是一位24歲來自德國的大男孩，大學剛畢業，念音樂的，主修鋼琴。他說他正在環遊世界，預計在今年聖誕節之前回到德國和家人團聚。前幾天他正在東加(Tonga)群島旅行，來了一封標題 SOS from Tonga 的電子信件，嚇了我一跳，打開一看，還真的是SOS，稱得上是『大意的冒險』了。下面徵求過Sören的同意，把它這篇冒險文公開，並做過些許修改（因為他的文章全小寫字母，所以我把句首字母改為大寫，並修改一些錯誤的拼字。）。

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DATE: Tue, 24 Oct 2006 00:38:22 (TWN) 

Dear friends,

For those of you who don't know where I am, I want to tell that I am in the kingdom of Tonga. It's a small country in the south pacific and it's far far away from Germany. I spend the first days on the main island called "Tangatapu", in the capital city "nuku'alofa". This city is not very big, but it has got shops, internet cafes and a few accommodations. But the main reason why I traveled to Tonga was to find a good beach for swimming and relaxing. So, I decided to go to another island called "Eua". This island is not that far away from Tongatapu as you can see on the map. There are two options to get there: by plane and by ferry. Just because the ferry costs 20 pa'anga (local currency, which is about 8 Euro) I decided to take this one. When I arrived at the wharf I saw this small and rusty ship which the locals called "ferry". My first impression was that it doesn't look very safe. But this is what's usual to third world countries like Tonga. But actually, I didn't bother because "Eua" was not far away. so, I said to myself that it will be all right. I bought me a ticket and went into the ship. When they started the turn the ship was totally over-crowed with people and bags. First, we went out of the small harbour of Nuku'alofa and I could see some beautiful Robinson-islands with palms and coral reefs. But after that, the ship turned to the great ocean and a big thunderstorm came across the sky. The storm was blowing hard and the rain kept falling down. There where waves which were nearly so high as the rusty ferry. And this was the problem! The waves played with us and the ship turned from one site to the other. It was horrible! Some luggages (thank god, not mine!!!) felt into the ocean. Most of the passengers (including me) went totally wet. Some of them went seasick and they vomit very bad on deck. The incoming water distributes it everywhere. It was very disgusting! And then there came this huge wave which I'll never forget my whole life. It’s lamed against the rusty ship and we were close to sink. Some children started to cry and and I could see the fear in their eyes. Hundreds (maybe thousands) litres of water went into the ship and the people tried to pour it back to the ocean. It was the first time in my life that I seriously had feared to die. I prayed that this ship will not sink! There were still these waves until we reach the small wharf of Eua. But we did it! I was really close to having a nervous breakdown, but know I am still happy that I am alive! Maybe it sounds a little bit funny for you but it wasn't. Eua was very beautiful but a little bit too quiet for me. There where no shops and no people. I had a bungalow for my own. The beach was good but it was not possible to swim in the ocean because of the high waves. So, I decided to get back to Tongatapu. Actually I wanted to take the plane, but it was not possible because everything was booked out. So, I had to take this fucking (sorry!) ferry again. But the return trip wasn't that bad. The sea was quiet when we left the wharf. But for me it was hard to get back into that ferry. So, if you ever plan to travel to don't use the ferry. Otherwise it can be a suicide. I am serious!

What about you guys?

Greetings to all of you!!

Otherwise it can be a suicide! 雖然旅遊經驗不多，可是從過往經驗與書中得知，在異地困擾往往來自對當地的不瞭解，常常以為憑著合乎邏輯的方式與過往的經驗必能全身而退，差錯往往就出在此處。在此很高興還能繼續讀到Sören的遊記。

雖然危害生命的冒險並不值得鼓勵，但是Sören的人生書中也將因此有了個新的折頁。有的人希望自己的書在讀完之後，完整如新。有的人則是希望在他讀完書之後，破破爛爛寫滿註記。

Sören告訴我，下一站他將前往一個可以回到過去的地方 ---- 從十月三十一日的Tonga飛往十月三十日的West-Samoa。

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