Aguas Calientes

Jueves, el 20 de Noviembre 

Thursday 20 November 2003

Saludos a mi familia y mis amigos,

I am sitting in the central square of Aguas Calientes, a town tucked away in a valley in the Andes. Surrounding the town are steep, straight-to-the-sky green mountains topped with clouds.

I am watching and listening

Day One

Arequipa to Chivay

November 25, 2003 

Dear Family and Friends,

Say “Hello” to Enrique, my tour guide, and Felix, my driver.

My small tour group is bound for Chivay and the Colca Canyon, by minivan.

The group consists of a young married couple from Spain, a younger, soon-to-be married couple from Peru, a young man from Japan and a young man from Germany. Yes, as per usual, I am the senior member of the group. “Señor Juan,” if you please.

Just outside the city we stop for some last minute provisions: bottled water, snacks and the WC. We are off to the high plains desert, volcanoes and the famously deep Colca Canyon.

(By the way, it’s a good thing we stopped for some extra water supplies. After about a half hour on the road, we passed another tourist van on the side of the road. The radiator was steaming. So, we poured in our extra drinking water and everyone was happy. No service stations out here, my friends. Just endless, stark, spectacular desert scenery.)

Udon Thani

Thailand

March 8, 2005

Dear Family and Friends,

I got tired of just sitting around at The Honey Inn so after a few days of R&R I hit the road again, this time heading to northeast Thailand.

It was a short but "monumental" ten day trip. Even a little bizarre.

Chaiyaphun. I thought was going to see a silk-weaving village outside of town but in the searing heat and under the penetrating and debilitating sun I lost my patience. (Another couple I met later in the day had the same problem. On the way out of town, on the bus, we saw the sign, facing the "wrong" direction.)

Bangkok, Thailand

March 21, 2005

Dear Family and Friends,

Before departing Miami on my very first trip to Thailand, December, 2001, all my buddies who had already been here unanimously "insisted" I "head directly" to Pattaya, a popular beach resort close to Bangkok.

My guidebook was considerably less enthusiastic, but my friend Jeff, who had been living here for six months, also "insisted." So a little reluctantly and dutifully, I made the two hour bus ride with Jeff as my "orientation counselor."

Let me say this about Pattaya with a certain sensitivity:

Remember the business card from the movie "LA Confidential"? ...

"Whatever you desire."

I spent two fun days there. Jeff and I did what we did. As I stretched out on the beach, I even had an attractive dragon "tattooed" on my left forearm while I sipped a cold Singha. Tattoos also for my friends Nam and Ann.

I wanted to see Thailand, so I left Jeff and friends behind. I flew to Chaing Mai to resume being a tourist. I figured I'd never go back tp Pattaya.

Never say, "Never."

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.

July 15 2006

TO: Resident Manager

Perhentian Island Resort

Pulau Perhentian

Malaysia

Dear Sir:

I know that in Southeast Asia it is considered outrageously insulting in the extreme to raise one's voice in anger. I know that it is considered quite rude to complain.

So, instead I am writing you this letter to tell you about my "bad luck."

{C}