"When will come that time that I will have my happiness?
It will be when the clock chimes that hour: when my country has lived up to its ideals.
For now I am blessed within my family whom I love."

Or something like that...¹

The message is etched in a pitted window pane, in a bare room where dust motes drift in watery sunlight. The thinning panes of the window distort the view of a long-dry fountain outside, beyond which lies a ruined pier that would have so often been the focus of attention of the message's author, a former controleur in the Dutch colonial administration of the Banda Islands.

These former offices, an adjacent mansion and the walled garden in between form the Istana Mini or Little Palace, the island group's administrative center during the years prior to, and for a while after, Indonesia's independence. Built in the early 1820s, the imported glazed stone tiles of the floors, the wide collonaded verandahs and decorated high timber ceilings hint at former grandeur, but near total emptiness, the thick patina of dust on the scored floor tiles and the creeping mould that forces the paint from the walls create a despondent, abandoned air today.

Not an Idle Dreamer

(A discourse on the hard labour involved in a life of frivolity and grand plans revealed)

It's been ages since I've posted to the dreaming track. I've been leaving all the blog work up to poor Doug, who does a much better job at blogging things anyway. I have been keeping myself honestly busy in other ways, though I have a great deal of trouble getting anyone to believe it :)

The only two people who do know how much work I put into dreaming up schemes are Doug and my mother (both of whom seem to think I have a touch of the old OCD). I feel compelled to defend myself against frequent accusations of idle hedonism from those who don't (I am only a hedonist on odd days) and I want to tell you all about the exciting plans we've been cooking up.

Istanbul to Fethiye

          Istanbul: Worshipper at Hagia Sophia's renowned Sweating Column"           Temple of Serapis, then Church of the Apocalypse, now a ruin. Pergamon's Red Basilica           Selçuk: Afternoon ride           Bergama (Pergamon): Late afternoon in the gloriously dilapidated old stone town           Efes (Ephesus): The 2nd century Roman Library of Celsus           Pamukkale (Hierapolis): Taking the cure at the travertine pools           Pamukkale: Day's last light reflected in the travertine pools           Hierapolis: Evening at the theatre           Fethiye (Telmessos): The rock-cut Lycian tombs that fill the cliffs above town           Fethiye: Evening view from tomb at upper right in thunbnail at left Istanbul: Worshipper at Hagia Sophia's renowned Sweating Column"

Us and them!

If all's gone well, by now our track has brought us to Istanbul and we're recovering from twenty eight hours of air travel. Our pace has been fairly leisurely of late, but all that's about to change - the Turkey itinerary's hectic!

Oh. In case you're wondering what kind of critter made those tracks on Tioman's Air Batang Beach, it was one of these guys. A much bigger one obviously, because at about 30cm from nose to tail, this is just a baby. One that needs to stay well away from his parents!