Gratuitous Elephant Shot at Bangkok Airport...

Just practicing with the new digital card reader how to upload photos ... this one is from 6 months ago.  For anyone who can't see these relatively small photos very well, just click on one and it will enlarge to life size ;-) 

In case you are wondering why no blogging has happened lately, I've seen about 18 sick-sickies a day for the last 6 days in a row, so I haven't had any time!  I'm about to leave tomorrow night.  First have to work all day tomorrow.  Completely frenzied, compounded by Home Depot not comprehending how to copy keys.  After the 5th try and more wasted time (which you only know once you get home and try the key in the door), I've just plain given up!

These pink elephants are for one of the friends who are going to help me with Figaro while I'm away.  You know who you are!   And thanks a ton!

Most of my trips seem to be preceded by disaster...

So, by now you may (or may not) have heard of the earthquake that struck southern Java (http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/09/02/world/AP-AS-Indonesia-Earthquake.html?scp=1&sq=earthquake%20indonesia&st=cse).  I have to apologize -- it's my fault.  Apparently when I decide to travel somewhere, this creates enough turmoil in the universe that something major happens, either political or climatic.  Generally it happens a few weeks before I get to that place, but long after I have made my noncancellable plans to go.   And then I just decide that that region needs my tourism more than ever, and I'm going anyway, and no one can try to talk me out of it. You don't believe me, do you. Some examples: 10 years ago, when I first went to Indonesia, I managed to be in Bali during the rioting that followed the election of prime minister Wahid.  The Balinese had wanted Megawati to win instead.  Of course, as history later revealed, those two were equally corrupt. Next, I went to Ecuador and the Galapagos -- right after a major oil tanker spill.  Luckily, the winds were prevailing in the direction away from those pristine islands, so there was not huge damage to the wildlife in the area.  The following week, I was in Quito during an uprising of the "indigenas".  There was marching in the streets, all government buildings, schools, and *museums* closed, and the famed Otovalo market was closed for the first time in recent history. Then, a trip to Puerto Vallarta, right after the hurricane.  One of the places I was supposed to stay at was washed out to sea, and the beautiful Malecón was destroyed.  Luckily I got a chance to go back there 9 months ago, and they have recovered. Next, I think, was my trip to southern Thailand with my Thai cooking teacher.  Yes, you guessed it -- two weeks after the devastating tsunami.  Planned for 10 months in advance.  It was like going back in tourism 20 years in time -- not mobbed with people at all, and the locals truly appreciated that we came anyway.  Of course, during our 9 days of snorkelling, we didn't bump into a lot of other longtail boats, as the locals believed that there were still souls trapped in the water (as the bodies had not all been found).  I was impressed at the resilience of the Thai people to bounce back and institute clean-up efforts so quickly. I like Thailand enough that I went back the next time a week or two right after that bloodless coup they had.  I have to admit, I planned this last minute on purpose, knowing that it was bound to all work out ok. Next: Oaxaca, right after the end of the scary 6-9 months or so they had with the incident with the schoolteachers striking and a bunch of people getting killed... And then I was in Borneo during the torrential, torrential rains that made hundreds of thousands of their next-door-neighbors in the Philippines homeless, a year and a half ago. I think there might be a few more I am not remembering now. I must say here that the one event I was lucky enough to *miss* by travelling was 9/11.  I had just arrived in China and spent the following month there, and was pretty much cut off from the media during that whole tragic month.  That was fortunate. So anyway, don't worry about me, this earthquake was pretty much par for the course given my upcoming travel plans.  I'm sorry, I find it hard to stop disrupting the universe with my travel plans...

Just the beginning...

This is just for practice, trying to see what a blog shapes up to look like...

So at the moment I am still frantically planning out my big trip, hoping the stars will fall into alignment pretty soon!  6 weeks is the longest time away I will have spent in the last 15 years.  Pretty daunting to pack enough hair product for 6 weeks and still come below my 15 kg baggage limit!  Also trying to narrow it down to which clothing is absolutely essential.  Wish me luck with that.  I have chronic packing issues ;)

Why Malaysia and Indonesia?  I have loved just about every moment (if I add them up, it comes to about 12 weeks total thus far) I've spent in those two countries in the past.  This will be my 4th time in Malaysia and my 3rd in Indonesia and there is still a ton of stuff to see in both places that I have not yet seen!   Top it off with amazing food and incredibly kind and friendly people, and you can see why it wasn't too hard a decision.  I am hoping that this time I will hit the tolerable weather I never found in Borneo ... :)