Christmas letter December 2006

Dear  friends       December 2006
It has been a very sad year for us. Hans lost both his parents in a very short time. Both of them became seriously ill last year. His father passed away in December 2005, and his mother in February of this year. To visit his father during his illness, to attend to his burial, to help his mother after his father's death, to attend to his mother's burial, and to make arrangements concerning the house they left behind, he had to travel to Holland three times and spend considerable time there. The emotional aftermath of their death caused him to have great difficulty to concentrate on his writing work after our return to Kuching.

      After we got back from Holland in January, we found that someone had broken into our wooden house. Probably they had been looking for money and jewelry because nothing was missing, since we never leave valuable things in our house when we travel. But it was even scarier that three wooden houses had burned down in the our compound, including our neighbor’s house. As a result, we did not feel safe anymore in that house and felt that we needed to move to a more secure condominium. Within a week we found a nice apartment in a condominium with excellent security, a large swimming pool, gym, tennis court, badminton court and, amazingly, reasonable rent. Our apartment is on the 10^th floor and the view from our balcony is magnificent. We can see the mountains to the north and west and enjoy the view while we have our dinner on our terrace.
      We had some unexpectedly exciting moments and it was a hectic time for me. In the middle of moving houses, I received a phone call from a travel agent in Holland asking me if I would like to work as a tour leader. For this agent I did four tours that covered both Sarawak and the Peninsula, and it was nice to travel to West Malaysia after so many years. In the meantime Hans’ fourth book, Bako National Park — a small guide book, has been published.

      In September Hans and I flew to Holland for a visit to my family and after a week we continued our travels to Canada. We landed in Vancouver and stayed a week in nearby Whistler, a nice village in the coastal mountains, were Hans had a conference. From Whistler we returned to Vancouver and first-of-all went whale-watching. This had been high on my wish-list for a long time! It was a bit cold on the half-open boat and we had to go quite far towards Vancouver Island, but eventually saw quite a number of Orcas (killer whales) at close range and this was truly spectacular. Of course we took many photographs!

      Starting in Vancouver and ending in Banff, a small town in the Rocky Mountains, we did a 2-day trip on the famous “Rocky Mountaineer” train and had spectacular views from the Dome car, which is equipped with large windows affording views to the side as well as up, and from time to time also from the (rather chilly) balcony outside. Food and service were superb and it felt like our second honeymoon... In Banff we rented a car and drove for 5 days among some of the most spectacular mountain ranges that we have ever seen to Jasper. Driving the “Ice Field Road” was unforgettable with breath-taking views of the mountains and glaciers. On one occasion our views were shrouded in snowdrift and we were worried that the road would be closed if heavy snowfall continued. Fortunately we got over some high mountain passes before the road was closed so we could still catch our train. However, most of our days were sunny and it was not very cold most of the time. Once, during a late afternoon near Lake Louise, we saw White-tailed deer and Elk at the roadside. On another late afternoon we saw a Mouse mother and calf in a lovely valley rimmed with dense pine forests. For the first time after so many years we enjoyed the aromatic smell of these pine forests.

      In Jasper we got on the train (called “Via rail”) to Toronto and Quebec. During this 3-day-2-night journey we had a nice room with bunk beds and our own small toilet and sink. There was also a shower in the corridor and food was superb. Also on this train there was a Dome car, and we spend many hours enjoying Canada’s vast landscapes.
      Near Toronto we went to see the Niagara Falls but, although the Falls are still spectacular, we didn’t enjoy the surroundings, which are dominated by a huge casino, hotels and other high-rise buildings. We stayed only half an hour to take pictures and hopped on the bus back to Toronto. From there we took the train to Quebec. Our brief impression of Quebec was that it is a very picturesque town with cozy bistros and many things to see. So, despite the rainy weather, we regretted not having enough time to explore that town. We rented a car and to drove Maine (USA) were my sister lives. We spent a week with her, enjoying fresh lobster everyday: it is there so cheap compared to Holland. We also made nice trips around the area and then flew back from Boston to Amsterdam.
      Hans stayed for 2 weeks in Amstelveen and flew back to Kuching to work hard on his next book, while I will stay here till 18 January.
We would like to wish you all a Happy Christmas and a prosperous 2007.