Amber

Rajasthan,

India

February 23, 2007

Dear Family and Friends,

It just keeps getting better!

"The magnificent delicate-pink, fort palace of Amber (pronounced Amer), a beautiful, ethereal example of Rajput architecture, rises from a rocky mountainside about 11km north of Jaipur." ^[*]

As Adit and I drive into Amber, the walls and the towers, more golden than pink, sit high and imposing on the mountains to my left.

Jaipur to Bikaner

Rajasthan, India 

February 24, 2007

Dear Family and Friends,

The phrase "Horn Please" is emblazoned in huge, colorful and artistic boldfaced letters on the rear end of every powerful, solid, steel-framed intercity truck. Or "Sound Horn" appears. Or "Blow Horn." My favorite is "Blow Horn." India is a nation of one billion horn blowers.

It is good form. Everyone is encouraged to sound his horn to alert the truck driver ahead that his rig is about to be overtaken. And, (and this is a big "and") every driver of every type of vehicle alerts everyone else of his presence and his insistence to proceed unimpeded according to some preordained universal master transport plan known only to himself.

Ipoh

Malaysia

July 13 2006

Dear Family and Friends, 

I am up before dawn and in the dark I leave behind one of my favorite shirts drying on the line at the Sunset View Chalet. The ferry leaves for Lumut at sunrise.

Ipoh! Ipoh! Announces the driver of the red Roadway bas as we depart the stesen bas at 07:30.

At one point during the two-hour ride to Ipoh, through small towns and villages, stopping here and there for local school children and shoppers, I call the Hotel Excelsior!!!

Yes. I sprung for a HotLink Malaysian SIM card.

Loosening up a bit more, I check into a top-of-the-line mid-range hotel and head out for my stroll of the city.

Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia

July 7, 2006

Dear Family and Friends, 

Selamat pagi. Good Morning.

Did you know that the lift at the Menara Kuala Lumpur travels at an ear-popping rate of 276m in 58 seconds?

The lift at the Manara Kembar Petronas travels at the rate of 5m per second.

So, can anyone tell me the kph for each lift? How about mph? Don't ask me! I was an English major, remember?

{C}

Cue 

Western Australia

April 6, 2005

G'day,

I am at the Queen of The Murchison Bed and Breakfast, sitting on the second floor terrace, potted plants all around the perimeter and many more hanging from the edge of the angled roof that protects me from the afternoon sun. The Great Northern Highway bisects this town called Cue, pop.300 - nearby gold mines and mining town architecture.

Basically, I am in the middle of nowhere.