Erik beat me on the gear side leaving with his 18 lbs of gear and 185 lbs of manly flesh and bone. I am looking at an Eagle Creek rolling backpack travel bag that weighs 11 lbs by itself and probably an extra 25 lbs with my gear..... but I have kept the gear down to 4 shirts, 2 shorts and 2 light weight pants, 1 wrap skirt for temples, 1 swimsuit, 1 money belt, 2 hats and 2 pairs of shoes one totally water shoes as we will hit monsoon if we are lucky in Burma. The real weight is in all the meds and the pharmacopia of sunscreen and deet and bug spray, malaria medication, ( malarial mosquitos) and charcoal( for when the local food does not agree with your intestinal track), and anti-bacterial/microbial water wand to sterilize water for drinking in out of the way places, vitamins and first aid kit with the snake bite kit added for vipers and other poisonous creatures; that is where the weight adds up. Little things like passports, credit cards, books and notebooks. pens for the kids and a flashdrive, camera and case also add to the gear but in all I have packed lighter than ever before.
Monsoon is all that breaks the unbelievable 105 degree heat, so we will probably rejoice when it finally hits and getting wet will be a refreshing break. We did happen to pick the hottest time of year to go to SE Asia not that we would rethink this just because of heat but it will create its own lethargy in our energy. It is all a construct sitting in Boulder on this lovely 70 degree spring day. That being said we probably will head out for 10 days in Northern Laos up in the foothills which should be balmier before going to Burma. If we are lucky we will do the Gibbon experience in Northern Laos,which Jen has talked about but never been able to fit in on her trips and is one of the places where the local wildlife has been allowed to survive for the eco tourism. So much of Thailand's and Laos jungles are quiet because the birds, monkeys and animals have all been killed off to feed the locals. Eco tourism in many ways is the last saving grace of species overrun by population pushed to the edge.
Lucky for us we have internet for all of Laos and Thailand...unsure how much internet will happen in Burma and if there really are internet cafes there but if there are in Vietnam I suppose that there will be in Burma also. We will stay in touch with Rob and see if he gets his Burmese visa through the mail and hope that in fact he does so after the wedding he is shooting on May 2nd he can join up with us whereever we land and we can connect.
Sending Erik an email tonite to see how his 4.20 went on the beach with his new Canadian friends in Koh Lanta and what he has chosen for Option 1 Laos, Option 2 stay on beach, or Option 3 go directly to Burma after getting visas (hopefully) in BGK. We shall see. Last day in Boulder is tomorrow. The girlfriends gave me a send off tonite at Wahoos. Hugs to them all.
No comments:
Post a Comment