Indonesia- so far
So diverse and overwhelming are these 17,000 plus islands that you have to really choose where you go. So diverse and overwhelming are my experiences here that I must choose what I comment on.



Everyday everything needs prayer
Everything here needs offerings- cars, trees, doorways, sculptures, computers, desks and ticket counters all have little palm trays full of rice, flower petals, incense, cake and sometimes ritz crackers. Some days, the gods get bananas, other days mints. Our cab driver tells us that he puts 70 in his home every day. The air smells indescribably smokey and sweet. Homes are so elborate and oriented around religion that in Ubud, we don't know what is a home and what is a temple. The courtyard complexes that are homes, have elaborate shrines and sculptures. Twice a day our landlady puts on her good sarong and scarf and blesses her home, sprinkling water, and praying all over the courtyard before leaving the small offering baskets and banana leaves with bits of rice for the sculptures. Then she makes us breakfast- a thermos of tea, a plate of fruit and a grilled egg sandwich, which she delivers to our balcony when we wake up.


Diving requires suspension of Rational Belief
After a year or two of not diving, the Gili islands seem like a good a place as any to plunge back in. As the dive boat approaches the site, i feel the most amazing sense of panic overtaking me. I tell the Indonesian dive leader, Ronny, that I am nervous. I am told this is a good way to stop being nervous. He says no problem. He will keep an eye on me. Okay now I feel a bit better. We dive roll off the side and meet at the front of the boat. After all the regular technical checks we are ready to begin our decent.

When I get underwater I see that the ocean floor is sixty feet below me. Below me is certain death. I feel my throat seize up. This is how it ends. Dark, wet, airless, blue death. This is it. I begin to hyperventilate. I signal to Ronny that i need to return to the surface. He follows me back to to the surface.

"Whats wrong?" He asks me when we are back in the sun and the rolling waves as if I was not about to die. "I can't do this. Its too deep and I am going to die." I tell him. "No, no, its okay. you just have to breath like you normally do. In and out, you know, in and out." Oh yes, that. I try breathing. Okay it works. "Do you want to try again?" He asks me. Yes, i say because yes is the polite answer and he is so nice and slightly charming. The real answer is no. No, I would rather pull my still-living self back onto the boat and reflect on how nice it is to be alive. But I said yes, and now holding Ronny's little Indonesian hand we are descending again. I am not normally a hand holder but diving requires a certain suspense of all rational belief. I hum and look for fish until finally we are at the bottom.

When we get to the bottom, I am fine. Fish, corral, spongy little things- All my old underwater buddies are here and the surface is way above our heads. I give Ronny the "okay" sign and we swim to catch up to the group.

"We make people fly" - Lion Air slogan
Its our first domestic flight within Indonesia and we are already noticing new things.
1. Throughout the entire check-in and boarding process, no one has wanted to see my ID. This is more eerie than not taking off your shoes in security.
2. They burn incense in the airport here. all over the place. I can imagine how well that would go over at Dallas/Fort Worth
3. On the plane, in the seat pocket in front of me, I find a laminated three fold "Invocation Card" which leads us through safety prayers for Muslims, Protestants, Catholics, Hindus and Buddhists. Most compelling, Mark and I agree, is the Muslim prayer which thanks Allah who "has bestowed upon us the will and ability to use this aircraft." For the day we spent trying to get to the airport today, we are grateful to have arrived. I am also grateful for Lion Air. Apart from making people fly, they encourage people to pray for our safety however we choose.
4. The airline has given us the emergency exit. The extra leg room makes 6' 3" Mark very happy as we have yet to live a day in this country where he doesn't hit his head on something. Thank god(s)

Juliah

Photos-
Temple in Ubud, Bali
Rice offering left on the doorway to our hotel
Man on ferry headed to Gili Meno, an island off of the Island of Lombok

for more pics, see our flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/markandjuliah/

Mark and Juliah

Hello! Where Are You Going?

On the streets of Makassar, we're followed by share taxi and bicycle rickshaw touts. None of them follow very far, but there always seems to be another where the last one left. All of them want to know the same thing: "Hello! Where are you going?" Occasionally, one will ask "Where do you stay?" Everyone seems a little desperate for business around here; between the global economic bellyflop and lingering fears of angry Muslim men, it feels like most of the world's share of tourism has sidestepped the archipelago for safer, nearer destinations. They don't know what they're missing!

Indonesia is an enormous and beautiful place. You couldn't see half of it if you had a billion-year visa and five lifetimes to live here. 17,000 islands cover a range of volcanic mountains, arid beaches, and rainforest. Moving from island to island, you find communities of Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians, none of them neglected by the regional airline's multi-denominational prayer card, which thanks Allah for giving men the "knowledge to build these airplanes and the will to fly them."

We landed here October 7th, following 24+ plus hours of travel from Seoul, which included an 18 hour layover in Bangkok. In Thailand, we had just enough time to shuttle in to Bangkok's Khao San Road tourist ghetto for a plate of green curry and a massage, then back to the airport to slum on the floor and wait for our 6am flight to Bali. We arrived in Ubud filthy with the grime of Korean mosquito stuck to our palms, tropical heat under our shirts.

Making your way here is easy, if you don't mind taking the long roads. It gets cheaper if you can hop in bemos, share taxis that charge about 5 cents a mile. This was how we made our way across the prefectural island of Lombok to the smaller islands in the north: Gili Trawangan, Gili Air, and Gili Meno. You arrive dusty, sweaty and cramped. The reward is a destination without roads, cars, or electricity, and a week's worth of banana pancake breakfasts.

Without getting into too much detail, I'm posting our intended itinerary for the next two weeks:

Currently in Tana Toraja, Sulawesi. Imagine a giant floating letter "K" in the middle of the ocean, its top vertical bit twisted and extended a bit to the right.
Heading north tomorrow Tentene or the port city of Poso, then on to Ampana to catch a boat to the Togean Islands
From the Togeans, it's another 15 hour boat ride to the northern port of Garontolo, then continuing northeast to Manado, where we catch a flight back to Bali and chill for a week in Candidasa.

There are over 50 islands within the Togean archipelago, part of the larger archipelago that comprises Indonesia. Send us a worthy recommendation for one of these islands--even better, a comfortable guesthouse--and receive a grateful postcard from the both of us.

Mark and Juliah

Korea, where have you been all my life?

Seoul-

If you like clear English signs and frequent public restrooms, its hard to go wrong in this city. Friendly and strange and 6,000 miles away.

People here love to take pictures. Families and couples snap pictures on all sorts of digital devices all day long. Korean children may be the most documented children on the planet. We went on a ferry ride down the river. What seemed to be a scenic boat tour, turned into a photo shoot for a hundred Korean families and another 80 young couples. Since Koreans love to take pictures, they don't seem to mind at all when you take pictures either. Taking pictures transcends the language barrier. The Koreans are doing the same thing we are and thats nice in a way.

I have eaten so many interesting things, but unfortunately I have no idea what most of them are. One day we ate at the fish market. We sat down on the floor and agreed with the waitress that the sashimi special was for us. After we ordered, we realized that we both miscalculated the price of the meal by a factor of ten. we had no choice but to smile and see what came next.

Even more impressive than Korean food is how restaurants are set up. There is no asking for water, napkins, an extra spoon after you have dropped yours on the ground. In Korea, its all there on the table. No more flagging someone down to refill your water glass, you just fill it from the jug on the table. What else is on the table? A button that calls your waiter! Just in case you need something important like . . .food or more So ju. So ju (which is a deceptively smooth vodka like liquor) is drank everywhere. It cheaper than beer which makes it a natural choice for people here what seems like all the time.

We had three days in Seoul on our way to Indonesia. The time went to quickly. Just as we were learning the metro and making drinking friends over lunch, it was time to go. You have never seen two people who were sadder to go to Bali!

Mark and Juliah