We got “waitlisted” for our original flight home. Basically our reservation got cancelled for some reason. So we have two possibilities. Possibility #1 - we fly home a day early, provided our passports get processed and returned to us in time. Possibility #2 - We fly home two days later, maybe run afoul of immigration laws, and perhaps have to fly to another country (Singapore or Malaysia) and back to avoid the problems, if possible. Of course we prefer Possibility #1.

Wish us luck.

UPDATE 4/29/08 - After much stress and wrangling, we’re coming home a day early.  Yay!

So overall a very tough ending to our contracts. We certainly didn’t expect this turn of events. On Thursday, when I almost threw up in one pharmacy, and then almost passed out in another one, I started to get a little worried. I was concerned about our ability to take care of each other, since we were both incapacitated. Thankfully we have many good friends here who have helped us out. And things are looking up now.

• The Simpsons Complete 8th Season (4 discs)
• Scrubs Complete 4th Season (6 discs)
• Seinfeld Complete 3rd Season (3 discs)
• The Golden Compass (still in theaters!)
• Cloverfield (still in theaters!)
• 28 Days Later
• LOST Season 4 (first few episodes)
• Wedding Crashers - uncorked

That’s 18 discs folks.  And I could have bought more, because this place has EVERYTHING you could EVER want.  Grand total?  Twelve bucks.  I love this country.  Granted, not all of them will work, but if even half of them work, it’s money well spent.

Banjarmasin is a hot, largely uninteresting city that does boast a picturesque canal system that serves as transportation for much of the populace. A floating market is one of the main attractions, which we visited at 6 in the morning (pictures below). But the bulk of our adventures took place outside of this metropolis.

Soon we met Tailah, a very nice guide who offered to take us to the Loksado area to do some jungle trekking and meet the indigenous Dayak people. The first day involved a hot and sweaty four-hour bus ride, and then four hours of hiking. Granted, the first day’s hike was on a fairly well-kept trail, but it was hot and humid, and were carrying very heavy packs up steep hills. When we arrived at the Dayak village where we would be spending the night, we were sticky, sweaty, stinky, and looking forward to a bath/shower/hosedown of some sort. No such luck, and no way to clean up at all.

We spent the evening in the community long-house, handing out clove cigarettes to our hosts and candy to their children, at the recommendation of our guide. We ate dinner and tried to communicate, although most did not speak Bahasa Indonesia. Then we went to bed on thin mats laid on the wooden floor, still sticky and sweaty. The sound of pigs squealing under the floorboards and dogs rustling around in the long-house kept us company throughout the night.

The next morning, stiff and tired, we headed out for seven hours of trekking. My shirt was 100% soaked with sweat within half an hour of starting. This time the trail was minimal to non-existent. Hacking with machetes was the only way to get through in some cases. Branches brushed our bodies at all times, depositing gifts of insects on our clothes. Steep clay paths meant slippery slopes and occasional falls. Denise almost fell down a steep embankment on one side of the trail, but I was able to grab hold of her somehow. We drank water from a tree trunk, saw rubber dripping from rubber trees, marvelled at giant ants and brightly-colored dragonflies, photographed some frogs, and laughed at an angry little snake.

We stopped for lunch at the edge of a river, and our guides prepared lunch. In the picture below, you can see our food cooking on the right, and water boiling (for tea/coffee) in a green bamboo shoot on the left. It was really tasty, and helped energize us for the rest of the hike. Late in the afternoon we took a refreshing swim in a river with a waterfall (see picture below). Finally feeling clean, we changed into our last pair of clean clothes for a 20-minute walk to the Dayak long-house where we’d be spending the second night. Of course that’s when a torrential downpour started, and we got soaked.

The third day was a bit less strenuous but no less exciting, as we rode simple bamboo rafts for a couple of hours down a river. You could hear the bamboo squeaking, grinding, and adjusting as we shot over white-water rapids in thrilling fashion. Many times the water splashed over the raft, and our pants were thoroughly soaked. A few times it felt like the raft was going to tip over. Near the end, they decided that I should take the wheel, or the stick, rather (see picture below).

Overall, it was an unusual vacation. It didn’t go according to plan, and the jungle trek was challenging - one of the most physically difficult things I’ve ever done. But I’m glad I did it, and it was quite an experience. It’s worth noting that we also saw proboscis monkeys (long-nosed monkeys native only to Borneo) on a separate boat trip.

Read part one of Denise’s account here.

“When you’re showerin’
Oh, when you’re showerin’
The whole room showers with you”

Okay, so I may have taken some artistic liberties with the exact wording. Anyhow, in Indonesia the bathrooms are more like “wet rooms”. That’s especially true since we’ve installed a shower head in our bathroom. When we take a shower, there’s no curtain and no walls to keep the water from splashing onto the toilet and everything else in the bathroom. All the water just ends up on the floor and drains out. So the whole room showers with you. Little Known Fact #3.

To the mighty oak,
whose trustworthy branches
have been struck
by a simple bolt of fate,
I say, “Fear not,
for you have strength yet to be realized.”

To the seeker,
who inspired me,
but has found
what he did not seek,
I say, “Inhale deeply,
for I will breathe the inspiration back into you.”

Next week we’ll head to Kalimantan (aka Borneo) to take a multi-day journey up the river on a boat, into the heart of the jungle!  Hopefully we’ll see crocodiles, orangutans, gibbons, and perhaps even clouded leopards.  We also hope to see some of the local culture in Kalimantan, as it’s quite different from Java.

Sometime in March we hope to visit Yogyakarta, in Central Java.  This is a very old town with lots of history behind it, and a thriving arts community.  It is also very close to Borobodur, one of the largest Buddhist temple complexes in the world, a World Heritage Site, and Indonesia’s #1 most popular tourist attraction.

In early April I think we’ll probably try to make it to the beach on the southern coast of Java.  I really liked it there, but have only been once due to the crazy six-hour trip (best case scenario).

In late April, we’ll visit another country in SE Asia for a week or perhaps a little longer.  Maybe Vietnam, maybe Laos, maybe Thailand.  We’re not sure yet.

Then on April 30th we’ll fly back to Seattle to visit family and friends.  I’m really starting to look forward to being back in the US.  I’ve even had a few dreams about it.

After a month in Seattle, we’ll fly back to Bandung, and then to Singapore shortly after that for the obligatory work permit trip.

Whew!  In a way it’s overwhelming, but like I was telling Denise, this is the big payoff.  This is half the reason we came, to travel.  So we’re looking forward to it.

Link to the newspaper article: http://www.theolympian.com/southsound/story/333170.html

A charitable account has been set up at Washington Mutual for those who wish to help defray his medical costs, which currently stand at $35,000 but are expected to go much higher.

Link to my previous blog posting about my brother:  http://lifeincontrast.com/2007/12/24/random-thoughts/a-very-real-christmas/

The sun is coming up in the crisp morning air, and the world is coming to life as we head to halftime, 28-17 Packers.  The Hawks are going to need an incredible turnaround in the second half to have a chance.  Hopefully an inspired tongue-lashing by Holmgren can give the team what they need.

A million Indonesian rupiah is about $100 USD.  But I’m still a millionaire.