The count down continues . . .

Chiang Mai, Thailand. I smile dreamily at the blank computer screen. Even the sound of its name is musical -- "Chiang Mai" -- conjuring up visions of saffron-clad monks and monasteries, peasant markets, riverside beer gardens, hidden opium dens and Eastern bandits. Just three weeks from today, Denny and I descend into Chiang Mai, flying in by quick hop from Bangkok. At the hotel, we'll meet and become acquainted with a local guide and twelve other excited travelers, our friends for the following two weeks as we wander bug-eyed through the ancient kingdoms of Laos and Cambodia. (Actually, Laos is now a "People's Democratic Republic," but never mind.)

I've visited Chiang Mai once before, five years ago. It's a beautiful and fascinating city. Chiang Mai's exotic enough, certainly, in its own right. I'm excited to sense how we're now treating it as the last outpost of 21st century civilization, a mere gathering place of convenience, before we boat across the Mekong River into Laos, pressing thence into the unknown.

I exaggerate, of course. Virtually no place in the world, sadly, is today untouristed. Apparently, even the camel caravans and souks of forbidden Timbuktu today witness trans-Sahara auto races. Thousands of Westerners visit Laos, and especially Cambodia, every year. The ruins at Angkor Wat, where we spend our final days of the trip, are a major magnet for tourists visiting Southeast Asia. Nevertheless, we will thankfully be away from those destinations -- the cruise ship ports, the casinos, the beach resorts -- that attract the great bulk of the world's tourist dollar. I deem us, therefore, to be "adventurers."

We'll travel by boat, occasionally by bicycle, on foot along forest trails and over towering ruins, by van on back roads. We'll stay in huts with ethnic tribal families and in river-bank eco-lodges, as well as in small hotels. Admittedly, I dream of weirder and more adventurous travel. I fantasize over Lonely Planet guides. I read nineteenth century explorers' journals. If Denny and I had the time, we'd visit these countries by ourselves, without guides. We'd hitch rides or buy motor bikes, sleep in hostels and tents. But we have two weeks. Life is full of compromises. I'm satisfied that we'll find this compromise to be worth every moment.

Meanwhile, my assignments at work seem to increase exponentially as the date for departure draws closer. The ever-malicious Cosmos seems determined to break my spirit, to exhaust me before I can escape Seattle. Hah! I am indomitable! I may find myself crushed beneath a stack of the accumulated detritus of two weeks of legal practice upon my return, but I am so out of here on the morning of November 16.

My loyal readers can expect a report on my return. Hopefully, you'll be spared a slide show. Meanwhile, however, I hope to find time to fire off a few more postings on subjects of more general interest before I leave.

Photo: Buddhist monk at Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Denny Shines at Santa Cruz

Competitors leap into the surf to begin the 1.5 km swim. Santa Cruz. 2003

Readers may recall my hope, plaintively expressed earlier, that I might at least keep Denny in sight during our Laotian biking in November. My hopes seem now to be squelched with finality.

Denny competed in the Santa Cruz Sentinel Triathlon on September 23, finishing the three part event in a total time of 2 hours, 42 minutes, 1 second. He finished 369th in a total field of 839 participants. He was competing in a much stronger field this time. His finish time would have ranked him 16th in the Kings Trail Triathlon on Maui, where he competed last June. His strongest event was the run, where he ran a 10k in 48:46, after having already completed a 1.5 km swim in the cold Northern California Pacific Ocean, and a 40 km bike ride!

I've exhausted myself, just writing about it. I'm no longer worried about whether I can keep up with Denny in Laos. I now realize what a truly high class worry that was. My concern now is the effect on my morale as I watch Denny ride circles around me, a grin on his face and casually chatting, as I pant slowly up the 35-mile incline!

Congratulations, Den! Great job. We're all proud of you!

Maui no ka oi

Denny writes from Sonoma that he is busily boxing up his bicycle for shipment to Hawaii. Next weekend, June 9, he participates in his first triathlon, the Kings Trail Triathlon, near Makena, Maui. This little event will demand that he swim in the ocean for 1500 meters, bicycle for 40 km (24.9 miles), and finish off with a 10k foot race (6.2 miles).

This will be Denny's first triathlon, and the first by anyone in our family, so far as I know. He warmed up for the event by his very respectable finish in the Los Angeles Marathon in March (4 hours, 26 minutes, 37 seconds). The best finish in the Kings Trail Triathlon last year was about 2 hours, 12 minutes, which is very comparable to a typical best finish in a marathon. So the two events are equally demanding in endurance, with the triathlon also requiring effort not only in the legs, but in upper body muscles that I doubt that I myself even possess!

Recalling that the Great Dens has had four arthroscopic surgeries on a bum knee makes his endeavors even more amazing and admirable. We all wish we could be in Maui to cheer you on, Denny. (Of course, we all wish we could be in Maui anytime!)

Good luck, le'a le'a! (have fun!), and bring home another medal.