10/08/04: What in the world am I doing?

Hi everyone -

Just wanted to send out a quick test email to make sure the email list is working properly. If the following describe you and you do not wish to get my wandering thoughts, let me know and I'll take you off the list:

a. You have no idea who this "Michael Chiang" is.
b. You know exactly who I am, but would rather not hear about my latest illness or run-in with machete wielding drug runners.
c. You have an active restraining order in the state of California.

Seriously - everything is going great. I think everything I can do is done by now and I'm looking forward to leaving before all hell breaks loose with the election.

I wanted to pass along my expected itinerary. Everything beyond the first week is pure conjecture (much like my forecasts) but I encourage each and every one of you to consider coming out and meeting up at some point along the path. Send me an email (contact info at the bottom of the list) and we'll work something out.

ITINERARY
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11 Oct Los Angeles to Tokyo to Singapore (Northwest Airlines)
Believe it or not, this is the only flight I know right now.

15 Oct Singapore to Bali (Indonesia) or Perth, Australia
The opportunity just came up to possibly visit a friend in Perth...crazy. I don't know what's going to happen yet - depends on prices/times/phases of the moon.

30 Oct Bali to Singapore

November (early)
Malaysia. Likely stops (Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi). There's a train that runs from Singapore all the way to Bangkok..I think we'll take it and make stops along the way.

November (mid)
Thailand - southern. Likely stops (Bangkok, Phuket or Ko Samui). We'll spend a little extra time in Bangkok to get travel visas. For Vietnam and India, there's a real application...a lot of the countries seem to issue you a visa upon arrival at the border with a library card and $20.

November (late)
Thailand to Cambodia. Definite stop (Angkor Wat).

December
Cambodia to Vietnam.
Travel from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi in the north. Cross into Laos. According to my informal survey of my 5 friends, Luang Prabang and Laos in general is one of the best places to be in SE Asia. Unless you fly Air Laos...then you're dead.

December/January
Laos to northern Thailand. Look for white elephants (and ride an elephant) near Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai to Mandalay (Burma).
Assuming we can get across the border and don't get caught up in political protests, Burma is supposed to be beautiful. Looks like Christmas completely cut-off from the rest of the world (the government suppresses sites like Yahoo b/c their people might actually learn something). We'll travel by land from Mandalay south to Yangon (Rangoon) and then cross back into Thailand.

February/March
Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur to Delhi, India (Malaysia Air) More details to be shared in future emails. To those of you who are still reading (thanks mom), the general idea is to explore the Delhi area (Taj Mahal) and Rajastan...then head way south and work our way up the west coast of India, finally ending in Bombay.

March/April
Bombay to Dubai (Emirates Air) I have no idea what's in Dubai.
Dubai to Cairo (Emirates Air) Hopefully things will have settled down from the bombing last week.
Cairo to Amsterdam (KLM)
Amsterdam to Los Angeles (KLM)

So there it is. And then of course, we start on the Africa leg of the trip (kidding...for now). Please do keep in touch and I'll try to let you know what's going on in my life (like pass the Mai Tai or hmmm...I've been sick for 8 of the last 9 weeks...I guess you really can't drink the water...)