The Grande Finale

Seven weeks has completely flown by. Six countries, seventeen cities, countless times packing and unpacking our bags, flopping our heads down on different pillows, learning "hello" and "thank you" in new languages, ordering a mysterious dish and praying it would be edible. What a wild ride.

Hong Kong was, in many ways, the perfect place to end our Reunion Tour. It is a bustling modern city, with pockets of old world charm. A fundamentally foreign place, with a thorough infiltration of the comforts of home. We woke up Sunday morning in the jungles of Thailand, and went to sleep Monday night in one of the largest commercial hubs and most densely populated cities in the world. If there is any contrast great enough to cement our experience that the world is vast, beautiful, diverse, and yet always strangely familiar, it is this one.

We had one big night out on the town in Hong Kong that I'm not sure either of us will thoroughly remember. We ascended Victoria Peak to see the incredible view of the Hong Kong Skyline at night. It is a glittering marvel. We took the opportunity to unveil our Reunion Tour merchandise line.

The "Sweet As..." thing is a New Zealand and Aussie import. For whatever reason, they don't finish their comparatives. Things are just "big as..." or "hot as..." or "nice as..." From a literary perspective, I appreciate the notion that what is unsaid is more powerful than what is said. From a conversational standpoint, it's hella confusing.

From Victoria Peak we headed out to Lon Kwai Fong, the infamous center of Hong Kong nightlife. From there it's really anyone's guess. If you think I'm omitting tales of our last dinner in Hong Kong, I am not. We too omitted our last dinner together. Which may explain the rest of the evening, which reportedly included a lot of beer, some shots, street vendor dumplings, and us promising a Saudi prince that we would fly with him to Macau. The last part I only know because he keeps calling me. Here's what I know happened (please note the costume changes, they are not a trick of the eye, we apparently changed clothes a few times):

Clare left the next morning to return to the U.S., with a massive hangover in tow. Full disclosure: we both cried. While I think we are both looking forward to our own beds, the voices of our friends and family, and some diversity of wardrobe, we are reticent to shed the cloak of the world traveler (malodorous as it may be at this stage). And we are both leaving this trip only wanting to see more of the world.

I have spent the past two days in Hong Kong relaxing and indulging in some modern comforts in preparation for my return to the thick of it in Cambodia. I took a fantastic yoga class on the 25th floor of a skyscraper overlooking Hong Kong's Time Square. I saw the new Harry Potter movie. I broke Clare and my vow to stay out of Starbucks and fell upon a soy latte with the sort of religious fervor you might expect in an alcoholic's first tumble from the wagon. I didn't even feel bad about it.

I've also done some venturing around the city-- its winding alley markets, its flashy top end retail, its endless network of glass walkways connecting the buildings high above street level. I took a junk boat tour of Victoria Harbor and watched the sun set as the skyscrapers slowly lit up the sky. It's really beautiful here.

But there's no settling in for the seasoned road warrior. I leave today for Bangkok where I pick up Mommy Dearest en route to Siem Reap, Cambodia. I have no idea what type of internet access I will find in the countries to come (Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam), but to the extent possible I will continue to post tales of my adventures through the end.

Clare, mi amor, I miss you. Start planning Reunion Tour II. I go wherever you go.