On Our Way!

BSue says: Our final day before the TRIP! We have had bags fully packed - repacked- partially packed and now finally packed. It's so hard to decide how little to bring. I imagine me having to wear the same things all the time and ending up hating the very material of the item ( I remember that from the last days of pregnancy - never wanting to see those things again!) And, then there are the useful things - like the book light, the duct tape, battery rechargers for camera, ipod, a heating element for tea making, pg tips, a mozzie net, endless useful things. In the end, we are taking what we are taking. I have 1 checked wheelie bag that could turn into a backpac, 1 timbuctoo bag to carry on. In these are an empty cargo bag and extra soft bag for the goods. Dave has a camera bag that will never ever leave his back, a timbuctoo bag and a checked wheelie bag - also can be a backpac.We are not exactly light but we could struggle up a jungle path if need be.

Some have asked us why Sri Lanka and its hard to pinpoint why exactly. The words Ceylon and Malabar have held magic to my ears for my whole life. Then, Dave won a lonely planets guide for Sri Lanka in 1998 or so (a sign!) and 3 years ago we had to choose between AnchorWat and Sri Lanka and Anchor Wat won so... it's time now for Sri Lanka. We have heard it is India on valium.

Thailand because we get stuff in Chiang Mai - and we will spend some time in Bangkok (1st time) and Laos because we went to Vientaine last trip and missed Luang Prabang and we wanted to see that beautiful town. So, it's Sri Lanka, Thailand and Laos in 6 weeks.

Here is a picture of us - before trip - on our houseboat - we are ready. Hope the door-to-door man remembers to pick us up. We fly out of SF at midnight - to Hong Kong airport for a couple of hours - then to Bangkok airport. There, we are stuck for 8 hours (not our original planning but Sri Lankan air kept changing the flight time) (sleep? massage?), then it is off to Sri Lanka - arriving there at 10PM Tuesday night. Sleep will be our first order - chill for a few nights at the beach in Negombo. Get ready for hot, humid...
-to be continued-