Bandung 

West Java

May 17, 2005

Salamat Malam,

At 7:00pm, the North Sea Bar was dead.  Except for Evert, a smiling Dutchman, 54, enjoying his tall green Heineken.

Evert has a business in Holland and lives with his twenty-seven year old girlfriend in Bandung. Soon to be married. (Where have I heard that one before?)

We chatted for an hour; I ordered some chicken fried rice. He asked me if I would like to meet his girlfriend's girlfriend.  Era arrived quickly. And quickly we decided that we were compatible.

We decided that the next day we would hire a taxi for a drive to Tangkuban Prahu - The "Overturned Volcano" crater 30km north of Bandung.

Bharatpur, Rajasthan

India

February 17, 2007

Dear Friends and Fellow Bird Watchers,

One chilly, shivering evening last week at the open-air rooftop restaurant of my hotel, the Hotel Sri Nanak Continental (don't let the name fool you), smack in the middle of the incessantly beeping - beeping - honking - honking - beeping - honking - beeping - beeping - beeping and barking! automotive parts supply shop district of New Delhi, I met Penny and John, travelers from England who were pleased to sell me their guidebook Special Places To Stay - India.

My next destination is Bharatpur, just west of Agra. My first "special" choice, The Laxmi Vilas Palace, is fully booked. So here I am at The Bagh.

The guidebook reports:

Vientiane, Laos

January 12-16, 2009
Dear Family and Friends,
Sabai Dee,

Here's a good one:

"The reason I didn't recognize you, Jan, is because when we met six years ago, you were fat. Now you are slim and younger looking."

So said my friend Kia, a lovely Laotian woman, who with her husband Wisai, runs a small restaurant in Vientiane.

So what am I doing in Vientiane?

{C}