May 11, 2005

On our flight from Bali to Yogya, Utami and I met a young Balinese man. He was escorting a group to Parangtritis to observe Labuhan,the annual "offerings" ceremony. On Sunday morning, Ut and I sped south to that fishing village on the wild Indian Ocean coast.

Parangtritis has a beach of sweeping black sand and powerful undertows so dangerous that even the local people lining the beach screamed and scampered away, protecting their children from the waves coming ashore.

Bogor

West Java

May 14, 2005

Salamat Malam,

Years ago, in Boston, my colleague Paul used a favorite expression when I made an error in judgment. With a smile, and a slightly affected tone, he would pronounce, "Well...That... Was... Stuuuuupid."

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.

Bandung West Java

Indonesia

May 18, 2005

Loyal Family
Esteemed Friends
Ladies and Gentlemen,

In 1955, for one week in April, Indonesia hosted the Asian-African Conference in Bandung. It was the "first intercontinental gathering of coloured peoples in the history of mankind."

Yogyakarta

Central Java

May 22, 2005

Dear Family and Friends,

I had to leave Bandung. I wanted to stay a day or two longer. I was enjoying the sights and my new friends. But my chest was heaving, my eyeballs burning, my whole system in rebellion. The pollution so intense.

FORGET PHUKET...WELL, NOT YET….

Phuket

Thailand

June 7, 2006

Dear Family and Friends,

I am standing on the upper deck of the 27 meter motor craft “Kong Tong” – Golden Mountain – as the young deck hands weigh anchor from the bottom of Phang Nga Bay.