April 2009

Chloe's most important piece of gear (after flip flops) is the backpack she chose for her birthday recently, the Osprey Jib. She also got a water bottle, pen knife (right up there with flip flops, in her view), whistle and flashlight.

We've got a big batch of e-tickets in our possession now, so this is becoming much more real. Here's the route: Ottawa to Chicago to Tokyo to Bali in 30 hours; after a month in Bali, a flight to Kuala Lumpur; after three weeks in peninsular Malaysia, a flight from Penang to Bangkok; after nearly two months of bumming around Thailand, we head overland to Cambodia and on to Saigon, then up towards Hanoi. Then we fly from Hanoi to Chennai, India via Kuala Lumpur, check out southern India with a focus on Kerala and Goa, and fly home from Mumbai, arriving by March 1.