summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/templates/includes/map_entry_list.html
blob: e8c2b338bf23ec1f2c784ea0516d76f0016ccbfb (plain)
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      // Add a marker for each project
      
        
          point_how_to = JLngLat(-83.408718097520023, 33.957635202805456);
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          marker_how_to = new GMarker(point_how_to, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_how_to);
          marker_how_to.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>How to Get Off Your Butt and Travel the World<\/h4><span>May 3, 2009 (Athens, Georgia)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2009/traveltheworld.jpg" height="100" alt="How to Get Off Your Butt and Travel the World" \/>How do you make the leap from cubicle daydreams to life on to the road? You want to travel the world, but, like me, you have a million excuses stopping you. How do overcome the inertia that keeps you trapped in a life that isn\x27t what you want it to be? Here\x27s a few practical tips and how tos designed to motivate you to get off your butt and travel the world. <a href="/2009/may/03/how-to-get-your-butt-and-travel-world/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
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          marker_no_strangers = new GMarker(point_no_strangers, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_no_strangers);
          marker_no_strangers.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>No Strangers on a Train<\/h4><span>April 13, 2009 (Athens, Georgia)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2009/strangersonatrain.jpg" height="100" alt="No Strangers on a Train" \/>We mythologize trains because they harken back to an age of community travel, a real, tangible community of travelers, not just backpackers, but people from all walks of life, people traveling near and far together in a shared space that isn\x27t locked down like an airplane and isn\x27t isolated like a car\x3B it\x27s a shared travel experience and there are precious few of those left in our world. <a href="/2009/apr/13/strangers-on-a-train/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_no_strangers.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_no_strangers.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
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          point_leonardo_da = JLngLat(-86.810799825028056, 33.521441993672681);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
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          map.addOverlay(marker_leonardo_da);
          marker_leonardo_da.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Leonardo Da Vinci and the Codex on Bunnies<\/h4><span>December 9, 2008 (Birmingham, Alabama)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2009/codexofbunnies.jpg" height="100" alt="Leonardo Da Vinci and the Codex on Bunnies" \/>A few pages from Leonardo Da Vinci\x27s notebooks make a rare trip outside Italy, to Birmingham, AL, of all places. But the Birmingham Museum of Art is home to far more alarming works of art, works which depict the eventual, inevitable, bunny takeover, after which all the elements of our reality will be replaced by bunnies. Seriously. You heard it here first. <a href="/2008/dec/09/leonardo-da-vinci-and-codex-bunnies/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_leonardo_da.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_leonardo_da.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
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          map.addOverlay(marker_elkmont_and);
          marker_elkmont_and.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Elkmont and the Great Smoky Mountains<\/h4><span>October 31, 2008 (Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/reflectedtrees.jpg" height="100" alt="Elkmont and the Great Smoky Mountains" \/>Pigeon Forge is Myrtle Beach in the mountains. Redneck weddings cascade straight out of the chapel and into the mini golf reception area. Pigeon Forge is everything that\x27s wrong with America. But we aren\x27t here for Pigeon Forge, it just happens to have a free condo we\x27re staying in. We\x27re here for the mountains. Smoky Mountain National Park is just a few miles up the road. <a href="/2008/oct/31/elkmont-and-great-smoky-mountains/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
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          map.addOverlay(marker_rope_swings);
          marker_rope_swings.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Rope Swings and River Floats<\/h4><span>July 27, 2008 (Mountain Cabin, Georgia)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/chestateeriver.jpg" height="100" alt="Rope Swings and River Floats" \/>Two weekends ago we went up to the mountains, just outside of Dahlonega GA, and floated the Chestatee River using inner tubes, various pool toys and one super\x2Dcool inflatable seahorse. Unfortunately, proving one of my travel mottos \x2D\x2D you can never go back \x2D\x2D a return trip proved disastrous. <a href="/2008/jul/27/rope-swings-and-river-floats/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_rope_swings.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_rope_swings.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
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          marker_our_days = new GMarker(point_our_days, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_our_days);
          marker_our_days.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Our Days Are Becoming Nights<\/h4><span>July 6, 2008 (Le&oacute;n, Nicaragua)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/daysnights.jpg" height="100" alt="Our Days Are Becoming Nights" \/>A short thought on the eve of our departure from Nicaragua: Everywhere I go I think, I should live here... I should be able to not just visit places, but in habit them. Of course that isn\x27t possible, which is too bad. <a href="/2008/jul/06/our-days-are-becoming-nights/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_our_days.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_our_days.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_our_days, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_our_days, 2);
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          point_tiny_cities = JLngLat(-86.882200228994549, 12.435654551658539);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_tiny_cities = new GMarker(point_tiny_cities, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_tiny_cities);
          marker_tiny_cities.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Tiny Cities Made of Ash<\/h4><span>July 3, 2008 (Le&oacute;n, Nicaragua)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/citiesmadeofash.jpg" height="100" alt="Tiny Cities Made of Ash" \/>The church bells of Le\x26oacute\x3Bn have become a constant cacophony, not the rhythmic ringing out of the hours or tolling from Mass that the human mind seems to find pleasant, but the atonal banging that only appeals to the young and dumb. But Francisco is entirely unperturbed\x3B He\x27s too fascinated with the tattoo on Corrinne\x27s shoulder to bother with what slowly just becomes yet another sound echoing through Le\x26oacute\x3Bn. <a href="/2008/jul/03/tiny-cities-made-ash/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_tiny_cities.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_tiny_cities.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_tiny_cities, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_tiny_cities, 2);
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          point_you_cant = JLngLat(-82.970981586350391, 12.289688381766881);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_you_cant = new GMarker(point_you_cant, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_you_cant);
          marker_you_cant.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>You Can&#39;t Go Home Again<\/h4><span>June 30, 2008 (Little Corn Island, Nicaragua)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/nohomeagain.jpg" height="100" alt="You Can&#39;t Go Home Again" \/>The first time we came to Little Corn Island it was April, the tail end of the dry season. It rained once or twice, but never for more than five minutes and always followed by more sunshine. This time it\x27s the end of June, just well into the wet season, and the island is an entirely different place. <a href="/2008/jun/30/you-cant-go-home-again/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_you_cant.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_you_cant.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
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          point_returning_again = JLngLat(-82.971324909104396, 12.290694745245402);
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          map.addOverlay(marker_returning_again);
          marker_returning_again.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Returning Again &amp;mdash; Back on Little Corn Island<\/h4><span>June 26, 2008 (Little Corn Island, Nicaragua)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/littlecornagain.jpg" height="100" alt="Returning Again &amp;mdash; Back on Little Corn Island" \/> Generally speaking, the world seems so huge and so full of amazing destinations that repeating one never struck me as a judicious use of my short allotment of time. But for Little Corn Island I\x27m willing to make an exception and of course, the universe being what it is, our second trip to Little Corn Island has been unpredictable and entirely new. <a href="/2008/jun/26/returning-again-back-little-corn-island/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
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          point_in_love = JLngLat(-83.388606894329286, 33.944877470043934);
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          marker_in_love = new GMarker(point_in_love, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_in_love);
          marker_in_love.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>In Love With a View: Vagabonds, Responsibilty and Living Well<\/h4><span>June 7, 2008 (Athens, Georgia)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/wrong.jpg" height="100" alt="In Love With a View: Vagabonds, Responsibilty and Living Well" \/>Why all the vitriol about a seemingly innocuous concept \x2D\x2D that traveling doesn\x27t have to cost a lot of money, isn\x27t all that difficult and hey, you can even go right now? People like us, who feel tied down by responsibility, find the suggestion that we actually aren\x27t tied down patronizing and yes, elitist. <a href="/2008/jun/07/love-with-a-view-vagabonds-responsibilty-living-we/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_in_love.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_in_love.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_in_love, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_in_love, 2);
          });

    
          point_little_island = JLngLat(-82.974586475266037, 12.297403736673346);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_little_island = new GMarker(point_little_island, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_little_island);
          marker_little_island.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Little Island in the Sun<\/h4><span>April 5, 2008 (Little Corn Island, Nicaragua)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/coconutsun.jpg" height="100" alt="Little Island in the Sun" \/>We arrived on Little Corn Island around sundown and met Ali, whom I at first took to be a tout, but he showed us the way to our guesthouse and, after settling in and getting a feel for the island, I realized that Ali, wasn\x27t a tout, he was just a really nice guy who enjoyed doing favors for tourists, just beware the Yoni beverage he offers. <a href="/2008/apr/05/little-island-sun/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_little_island.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_little_island.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_little_island, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_little_island, 2);
          });

    
          point_return_to = JLngLat(-85.873475062814109, 11.254384499067601);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_return_to = new GMarker(point_return_to, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_return_to);
          marker_return_to.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Return to the Sea<\/h4><span>April 2, 2008 (San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/sanjuansunset.jpg" height="100" alt="Return to the Sea" \/>Southwestern Nicaragua is a very small strip of land with Lago Nicaragua to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The main town in the area, Juan Del Sur, is nestled around a well protected harbor with a mediocre strip of sand. For the nice beaches you have to head up or down the coast to one of the many small inlets.  <a href="/2008/apr/02/return-sea/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_return_to.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_return_to.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_return_to, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_return_to, 2);
          });

    
          point_ring_the = JLngLat(-85.958136308148539, 11.932062265861592);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_ring_the = new GMarker(point_ring_the, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_ring_the);
          marker_ring_the.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Ring The Bells<\/h4><span>March 30, 2008 (Granada, Nicaragua)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/ringthbells.jpg" height="100" alt="Ring The Bells" \/>The Church, which dates from the 1600s has the the narrowest, steepest, circular concrete staircase that I\x27ve ever encountered. It had a low railing and circled up four stories worth of precipitous dropoffs before you hit solid ground. From the top was a views of Granada\x27s endless sea of mottled pink, orange and brown hues \x2D\x2D terra cotta roof tiles stretching from the shores of Lago Nicaragua all the way back toward the hills.  <a href="/2008/mar/30/ring-bells/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_ring_the.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_ring_the.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_ring_the, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_ring_the, 2);
          });

    
          point_new_years = JLngLat(-83.388563978984962, 33.944886370419439);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_new_years = new GMarker(point_new_years, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_new_years);
          marker_new_years.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>New Year&#39;s Day<\/h4><span>January 1, 2008 (Athens, Georgia)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/annienewyears.jpg" height="100" alt="New Year&#39;s Day" \/>I\x27ve always been all for New Year\x27s Eve celebrations, parties, what have you, but somehow the next day always seemed a bit hollow. U2 was, in many ways, correct \x2D\x2D \x22nothing changes on New Year\x27s Day.\x22 But, it\x27s a self\x2Dcreated universe, so whether anything changes on New Year\x27s Day is really up to you. And I\x27ve always thought Bono was full of shit. <a href="/2008/jan/01/new-years-day/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_new_years.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_new_years.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_new_years, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_new_years, 2);
          });

    
          point_fall = JLngLat(-83.38856934340312, 33.9448641194789);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_fall = new GMarker(point_fall, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_fall);
          marker_fall.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Fall<\/h4><span>November 14, 2007 (Athens, Georgia)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/fall.jpg" height="100" alt="Fall" \/>The trees are in full technicolor swing. The land is slowly dying, and not just because it\x27s Fall, we\x27re also in the middle of a prolonged drought and this year the leaves are opting for a James Dean\x2Dstyle, leave\x2Da\x2Dgood\x2Dlooking\x2Dcorpse exit. If you\x27re a leaf and you\x27ve got to go, do it with class. <a href="/2007/nov/14/fall/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_fall.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_fall.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_fall, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_fall, 2);
          });

    
          point_on_the = JLngLat(-118.52130172987003, 33.461914385921673);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_on_the = new GMarker(point_on_the, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_on_the);
          marker_on_the.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>On The Other Ocean<\/h4><span>July 23, 2007 (Catalina Island, California)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/sailing.jpg" height="100" alt="On The Other Ocean" \/>Consider what would happen if your house were tilted 30 degrees to the left, how this would complicate ordinary activities \x2D\x2D like say walking. Now throw in a bouncing motion that lifts the floor five or six feet up and down in a seesaw\x2Dlike motion on a perpendicular axis to the 30 degree tilt \x2D\x2D things become more like riding a seesaw that\x27s attached to a merry\x2Dgo\x2Dround which is missing a few bolts. That\x27s sailing. <a href="/2007/jul/23/other-ocean/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_on_the.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_on_the.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_on_the, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_on_the, 2);
          });

    
          point_being_there = JLngLat(-78.928356159667246, 33.683925130931478);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_being_there = new GMarker(point_being_there, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_being_there);
          marker_being_there.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Being There<\/h4><span>June 17, 2007 (Myrtle Beach Airport, South Carolina)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/myrtlebeachcrap.jpg" height="100" alt="Being There" \/>Myrtle Beach does not exist. Nearly everything in Myrtle Beach is a paltry derivative of some original form. For instance, most of the country has golf courses, in Myrtle Beach there are endless rows of putt\x2Dputt courses, where most towns attempt to draw in big name musical acts for their tourist venues, Myrtle Beach is content with impersonators. <a href="/2007/jun/17/being-there/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_being_there.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_being_there.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_being_there, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_being_there, 2);
          });

    
          point_sailing_through = JLngLat(-79.82256172976372, 32.835570335241002);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_sailing_through = new GMarker(point_sailing_through, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_sailing_through);
          marker_sailing_through.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Sailing Through<\/h4><span>June 14, 2007 (Charleston, South Carolina)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/charlestonships.jpg" height="100" alt="Sailing Through" \/>The rumors are true. I moved back to the south\x3B Athens GA to be exact. But I hate staying in one place for too long, so after a month or two in Athens I headed up to Charleston to visit a friend. The south is curious place. If you\x27ve never been here I couldn\x27t hope to explain it, but it\x27s not so much a place as an approach. A way of getting somewhere more than anywhere specific. Perhaps even a wrong turn. \x0D\x0A <a href="/2007/jun/14/sailing-through/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_sailing_through.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_sailing_through.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_sailing_through, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_sailing_through, 2);
          });

    
          point_goodbye_to = JLngLat(-118.47207783003559, 34.040907225218895);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_goodbye_to = new GMarker(point_goodbye_to, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_goodbye_to);
          marker_goodbye_to.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Goodbye to the Mother and the Cove<\/h4><span>March 1, 2007 (Los Angeles, California)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/lacloud.jpg" height="100" alt="Goodbye to the Mother and the Cove" \/>It\x27s strange how you can plan something, go through all the motions of making it happen without ever really understanding what you\x27re doing. I\x27ve been doing this for the better part of three years now. I realized recently that I have no real idea how I came to be here. \x0D\x0A <a href="/2007/mar/01/goodbye-mother-and-cove/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_goodbye_to.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_goodbye_to.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_goodbye_to, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_goodbye_to, 2);
          });

    
          point_everything_all = JLngLat(-118.42890499373787, 33.975306864076366);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_everything_all = new GMarker(point_everything_all, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_everything_all);
          marker_everything_all.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Everything All The Time<\/h4><span>February 3, 2007 (Los Angeles, California)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/end.jpg" height="100" alt="Everything All The Time" \/>I don\x27t know if I\x27m just overly paranoid but when I call up memories in the dark hours of the Beaujolais\x2Dsoaked pre\x2Ddawn, I see a collection of mildly amusing, occasionally painful series of embarrassments, misunderstandings and general wrong\x2Dplace, wrong\x2Dtime sort of moments. Which isn\x27t to imply that my life is a British sitcom, just that I\x27m not in a hurry to re\x2Dlive any of it. <a href="/2007/feb/03/everything-all-time/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_everything_all.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_everything_all.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_everything_all, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_everything_all, 2);
          });

    
          point_catologue_raisonne = JLngLat(-118.42905519744257, 33.975253480901443);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_catologue_raisonne = new GMarker(point_catologue_raisonne, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_catologue_raisonne);
          marker_catologue_raisonne.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Catologue Raisonne<\/h4><span>January 31, 2007 (Los Angeles, California)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/indexbooks.jpg" height="100" alt="Catologue Raisonne" \/>Google wants to index all the world\x27s books. I know that doesn\x27t have too much to do with traveling, but in a way it does \x26mdash\x3B most travelers I know do quite a bit of reading. Since searchable books means a better chance to find something you like, who would oppose such a plan? Publishers of course. Fucking luddites. <a href="/2007/jan/31/catologue-raisonne/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_catologue_raisonne.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_catologue_raisonne.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_catologue_raisonne, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_catologue_raisonne, 2);
          });

    
          point_the_sun = JLngLat(-118.42887280722944, 33.975173406076344);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_the_sun = new GMarker(point_the_sun, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_the_sun);
          marker_the_sun.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>The Sun Came Up With No Conclusions<\/h4><span>January 11, 2007 (Los Angeles, California)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/illuminatus.jpg" height="100" alt="The Sun Came Up With No Conclusions" \/>\x22And so it is that we, as men, do not exist until we do\x3B and then it is that we play with our world of existent things, and order and disorder them, and so it shall be that non\x2Dexistence shall take us back from existence and that nameless spirituality shall return to Void, like a tired child home from a very wild circus.\x22 \x2D\x2D Robert Anton Wilson and Kerry Thornley. Good luck and Godspeed Mr. Wilson. <a href="/2007/jan/11/sun-came-no-conclusions/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_the_sun.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_the_sun.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_the_sun, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_the_sun, 2);
          });

    
          point_give_it = JLngLat(-118.42893718024604, 33.975195649090907);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_give_it = new GMarker(point_give_it, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_give_it);
          marker_give_it.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose<\/h4><span>December 25, 2006 (Los Angeles, California)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/jamesbrown.jpg" height="100" alt="Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose" \/>Traveling soul. Soul is not something out there or in you, it\x27s the place where you meet the out there\x3B something very similar to what I think James Brown meant \x26mdash\x3B a mixture of the secular and the spiritual, the profane and the sublime.  <a href="/2006/dec/25/give-it-or-turnit-loose/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_give_it.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_give_it.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_give_it, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_give_it, 2);
          });

    
          point_homeward = JLngLat(-118.42903373977046, 33.975160060264841);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_homeward = new GMarker(point_homeward, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_homeward);
          marker_homeward.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Homeward<\/h4><span>June 9, 2006 (Los Angeles, California)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/trappedmoth.jpg" height="100" alt="Homeward" \/>New York, New York. John F Kennedy airport 1 am date unknown, sleepy looking customs guard stamps a passport without hardly looking at, without even checking to see where I had been. A light drizzle is falling outside and the subways extension to the terminal never looked so good. What is it like to be home? I don\x27t know, I\x27ll tell you when I get there. <a href="/2006/jun/09/homeward/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_homeward.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_homeward.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_homeward, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_homeward, 2);
          });

    
          point_cadenza = JLngLat(2.3610842224649091, 48.863458443784694);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_cadenza = new GMarker(point_cadenza, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_cadenza);
          marker_cadenza.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Cadenza<\/h4><span>June 6, 2006 (Paris, France)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/parisglow.jpg" height="100" alt="Cadenza" \/>Paris \x2D Outside it\x27s raining. Beads of water form on the window in front of me. The glow of the unseen sun is fading behind midnight blue clouds and darkening sky. An old man in a butcher apron selling oysters under an awning smokes a cigarette and watches the mothers and children walking home with bags of groceries. <a href="/2006/jun/06/cadenza/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_cadenza.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_cadenza.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_cadenza, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_cadenza, 2);
          });

    
          point_i_dont = JLngLat(16.370648143396807, 48.209967769728017);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_i_dont = new GMarker(point_i_dont, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_i_dont);
          marker_i_dont.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>I Don&#39;t Sleep I Dream<\/h4><span>May 28, 2006 (Vienna, Austria)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/freudsoffice.jpg" height="100" alt="I Don&#39;t Sleep I Dream" \/>How can Freud\x27s former residence in Vienna lack a couch? The closest thing is up against the wall, behind a small writing desk in what was then the waiting room \x26mdash\x3B a small divan where one might stare at the patternless ceiling until the patterns emerge as it were. “Tell me about it,” he began. <a href="/2006/may/28/i-dont-sleep-i-dream/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_i_dont.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_i_dont.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_i_dont, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_i_dont, 2);
          });

    
          point_unreflected = JLngLat(16.370648143396807, 48.209967769728017);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_unreflected = new GMarker(point_unreflected, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_unreflected);
          marker_unreflected.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Unreflected<\/h4><span>May 27, 2006 (Vienna, Austria)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/selfportraitconvex.jpg" height="100" alt="Unreflected" \/>The Kunsthistorisches Museum contains probably the best collection of art outside of France \x26mdash\x3B Rubens, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Raphael, Velazquez, Bruegel and a certain Italian for whom I have a festering personal obsession, which shall be addressed shortly \x26mdash\x3B and what\x27s remarkable about this magnificent assemblage is that the vast majority of it was once the Hapsburg\x27s private collection. <a href="/2006/may/27/unreflected/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_unreflected.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_unreflected.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_unreflected, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_unreflected, 2);
          });

    
          point_four_minutes = JLngLat(14.418117998023487, 50.08984639084774);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_four_minutes = new GMarker(point_four_minutes, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_four_minutes);
          marker_four_minutes.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Four Minutes Thirty-Three Seconds<\/h4><span>May 26, 2006 (Prague, Czech Republic)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/wallofnames.jpg" height="100" alt="Four Minutes Thirty-Three Seconds" \/>Just north of Prague\x27s old town square and east of the River Vltava is Josefov, the old Jewish quarter of Prague. The Pinkas Synagogue in Josefov is an unassuming pale, sand\x2Dcolored building with a slightly sunken entrance. Inside is a small alter and little else. The floor is bare\x3B there are no places for worshipers to sit. The synagogue is little more than walls. And on the walls inscribed in extremely small print are the names of the 77,297 Jewish citizens of Bohemia and Moravia who died in the Holocaust.\x0D\x0A <a href="/2006/may/26/four-minutes-thirty-three-seconds/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_four_minutes.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_four_minutes.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_four_minutes, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_four_minutes, 2);
          });

    
          point_inside_and = JLngLat(14.317352769766014, 48.810530578015531);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_inside_and = new GMarker(point_inside_and, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_inside_and);
          marker_inside_and.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Inside and Out<\/h4><span>May 25, 2006 (Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/krumlovcastleatnight.jpg" height="100" alt="Inside and Out" \/>Chasing Egon Schiele: The attention to detail that makes the difference between a building and work of art was everywhere in Cesky Krumlov, from the delicate pink and red complements of a fine dovetailed corner, to the white plaster and oak beams of the Egon Schiele museum, which, despite geometric differences, looked not unlike the Globe Theatre in London. <a href="/2006/may/25/inside-and-out/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_inside_and.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_inside_and.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_inside_and, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_inside_and, 2);
          });

    
          point_the_king = JLngLat(14.109942911091286, 46.365209982615596);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_the_king = new GMarker(point_the_king, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_the_king);
          marker_the_king.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>The King of Carrot Flowers Part Two<\/h4><span>May 22, 2006 (Bled, Slovenia)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/sloveniachurch.jpg" height="100" alt="The King of Carrot Flowers Part Two" \/>There is a roughly 200km loop of road that leads northwest out of Bled, through a pass in the Julian Alps and then down the other side, twisting and winding back toward Bled by way of craggy canyons, small hamlets and crystalline rivers. We set out sometime after breakfast. <a href="/2006/may/22/king-carrot-flowers-part-two/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_the_king.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_the_king.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_the_king, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_the_king, 2);
          });

    
          point_ghost = JLngLat(14.506748912699262, 46.050859856324585);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_ghost = new GMarker(point_ghost, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_ghost);
          marker_ghost.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Ghost<\/h4><span>May 19, 2006 (Ljubljana, Slovenia)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/trogirnight.jpg" height="100" alt="Ghost" \/>Like Dubrovnik, Trogir is a walled city of roughly Venetian vintage, but Trogir\x27s wall has largely crumbled away or been removed. Still, it has the gorgeous narrow cobblestone streets, arched doorways and towering forts that give all Dalmatian towns their Rapunzel\x2Dlike fairly tale quality. <a href="/2006/may/19/ghost/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_ghost.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_ghost.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_ghost, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_ghost, 2);
          });

    
          point_feel_good = JLngLat(18.109052178723061, 42.641338384291785);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_feel_good = new GMarker(point_feel_good, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_feel_good);
          marker_feel_good.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Feel Good Lost<\/h4><span>May 17, 2006 (Dubrovnik, Croatia)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/dubrovnik.jpg" height="100" alt="Feel Good Lost" \/>Dubrovnik, Croatia was heavily shelled during the Bosnian conflict and roughly 65 percent of its buildings were hit, built for the most part you\x27d never know it. Most of the buildings date from about 1468, though some were destroyed in the great earthquake of 1667, still, by and large, the city looks as it did in the fifteenth century. <a href="/2006/may/17/feel-good-lost/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_feel_good.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_feel_good.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_feel_good, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_feel_good, 2);
          });

    
          point_blue_milk = JLngLat(18.109052178723061, 42.641338384291785);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_blue_milk = new GMarker(point_blue_milk, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_blue_milk);
          marker_blue_milk.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Blue Milk<\/h4><span>May 15, 2006 (Lake Plitvice, Croatia)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/plitvice.jpg" height="100" alt="Blue Milk" \/>It\x27s hard to understand, standing on the banks of such crystalline, cerulean lakes, whose dazzling colors come from the mineral rich silt runoff of glaciers, that the largest European conflict since world war two began here, at Like Plitvice Croatia. But indeed this is where the first shots were fired on Easter Sunday in 1991 and the first casualty was a park policeman. <a href="/2006/may/15/blue-milk/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_blue_milk.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_blue_milk.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_blue_milk, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_blue_milk, 2);
          });

    
          point_refracted_light = JLngLat(19.062137601106294, 47.483800862289485);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_refracted_light = new GMarker(point_refracted_light, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_refracted_light);
          marker_refracted_light.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Refracted Light and Grace<\/h4><span>May 10, 2006 (Budapest, Hungary)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/castlehillbuda.jpg" height="100" alt="Refracted Light and Grace" \/>Evening, after dinner, outside on the balcony, smoking cigarettes and contemplating the nightscape of Buda\x27s Castle Hill rising up out of its own golden reflection in the shimmering Danube waters. The drone of car horns in the distance and the electric tram squealing as it pulls out of the station below on the river a boat slowly churns upstream... <a href="/2006/may/10/refracted-light-and-grace/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_refracted_light.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_refracted_light.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_refracted_light, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_refracted_light, 2);
          });

    
          point_london_calling = JLngLat(-0.14955997464959109, 51.551192046821591);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_london_calling = new GMarker(point_london_calling, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_london_calling);
          marker_london_calling.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>London Calling<\/h4><span>May 9, 2006 (London, United Kingdom)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/londonthames.jpg" height="100" alt="London Calling" \/>London: The British don\x27t want me \x2D\x2D no money, no proof I\x27m leaving and no real reason for coming, good lord, I must be a vagabond, up to no good, surely. Eventually the customs agent relents and lets me in, a favor I repay by nearly burning down one of London\x27s bigger parks. Seriously. <a href="/2006/may/09/london-calling/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_london_calling.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_london_calling.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_london_calling, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_london_calling, 2);
          });

    
          point_closing_time = JLngLat(98.53981016694695, 7.0586452366957131);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_closing_time = new GMarker(point_closing_time, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_closing_time);
          marker_closing_time.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Closing Time<\/h4><span>April 30, 2006 (Trang, Thailand)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/thailandtrain.jpg" height="100" alt="Closing Time" \/>Headed back to Europe: I started to write a bit of reminiscence, trying to remember the highlights of my time in Asia before I return to the west, but about halfway through I kept thinking of a popular Buddhist saying \x26mdash\x3B be here now. Most of these dispatches are written in past tense, but this time I want to simply be here now. This moment, on this train. This is the last time I\x27ll post something from Southeast Asia. <a href="/2006/apr/30/closing-time/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_closing_time.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_closing_time.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_closing_time, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_closing_time, 2);
          });

    
          point_beginning_of = JLngLat(99.08294676355105, 7.2003631858928818);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_beginning_of = new GMarker(point_beginning_of, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_beginning_of);
          marker_beginning_of.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Beginning of the End<\/h4><span>April 21, 2006 (Koh Kradan, Thailand)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/kokradan.jpg" height="100" alt="Beginning of the End" \/>I wasn\x27t expecting much from Ko Kradan, but in the end I discovered a slice of Thailand the way it\x27s often describe by wistful hippies who first came here twenty years ago. Tong and Ngu and the rest of the Thais working at Paradise Lost were the nicest people I met in Thailand and Wally was by far the most laid back farang I\x27ve come across. I ended up staying on Ko Kradan for the remainder of my time in the south.\x0D\x0A <a href="/2006/apr/21/beginning-end/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_beginning_of.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_beginning_of.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_beginning_of, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_beginning_of, 2);
          });

    
          point_going_down = JLngLat(98.638000474550566, 7.4904733333830142);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_going_down = new GMarker(point_going_down, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_going_down);
          marker_going_down.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Going Down South<\/h4><span>April 10, 2006 (Koh Phi Phi, Thailand)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/thailandleahkate.jpg" height="100" alt="Going Down South" \/>The Phi Phi Island Resort, where some friends were staying, is nestled on the leeward shore of Koh Phi Phi Island and posts a private beach, beautiful reef, fancy swimming pools and rooms with real sheets. Unheard of. I sauntered in a day early, acted like I owned the place, rented snorkel gear, charged it to a random room number and spent the afternoon on the reef. If only I could have put it on the Underhill\x27s credit card. <a href="/2006/apr/10/going-down-south/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_going_down.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_going_down.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_going_down, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_going_down, 2);
          });

    
          point_the_book = JLngLat(103.49945066918633, 10.626275865572236);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_the_book = new GMarker(point_the_book, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_the_book);
          marker_the_book.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>The Book of Right On<\/h4><span>March 30, 2006 (Sinoukville, Cambodia)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/goodbyes.jpg" height="100" alt="The Book of Right On" \/>The next day we continued on to Sinoukville which is Cambodia\x27s attempt at a seaside resort. Combining the essential elements of Goa and Thailand, Sinoukville is a pleasant, if somewhat hippy\x2Doriented, travelers haven. We rented Honda Dreams and cruised down the coast to deserted white sand beaches, thatched huts serving noodles and rice, where we watched sunsets and dodged rain storms.  <a href="/2006/mar/30/book-right/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_the_book.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_the_book.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_the_book, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_the_book, 2);
          });

    
          point_midnight_in = JLngLat(104.32325361706978, 10.438267017137914);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_midnight_in = new GMarker(point_midnight_in, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_midnight_in);
          marker_midnight_in.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Midnight in a Perfect World<\/h4><span>March 26, 2006 (Death Island, Cambodia)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/deathisland.jpg" height="100" alt="Midnight in a Perfect World" \/>Death Island, as Rob nicknamed it, was just what I needed. The first day we sat down for lunch and ordered crab\x3B a boy in his underwear proceeded to run out of the kitchen, swam out in the ocean and began unloading crabs from a trap into a bucket. It doesn\x27t get much fresher than that. Throw in a nice beach, some cheap bungalows and you\x27re away. <a href="/2006/mar/26/midnight-perfect-world/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_midnight_in.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_midnight_in.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_midnight_in, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_midnight_in, 2);
          });

    
          point_angkor_wat = JLngLat(103.89289854510804, 13.497808126788675);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_angkor_wat = new GMarker(point_angkor_wat, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_angkor_wat);
          marker_angkor_wat.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Angkor Wat<\/h4><span>March 21, 2006 (Angkor Wat, Cambodia)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/angkorwat.jpg" height="100" alt="Angkor Wat" \/>Roughly half a million people a year visit Angkor Wat. The first evening we decided to see just how tourist\x2Dfilled Angkor was by heading to the most popular sunset temple, Phnom Bakheng, to watch the sunset. And there were a lot of tourists. Thousands of them. And that was just at one temple. Thus was hatched the plan: see Angkor in the heat of the day. Yes it will be hot. Hot hot hot. Fucking hot. But hopefully empty. <a href="/2006/mar/21/angkor-wat/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_angkor_wat.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_angkor_wat.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_angkor_wat, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_angkor_wat, 2);
          });

    
          point_wait_til = JLngLat(103.86148451313015, 13.361228724078366);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_wait_til = new GMarker(point_wait_til, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_wait_til);
          marker_wait_til.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>...Wait &#39;til it Blows<\/h4><span>March 18, 2006 (Seam Reap, Cambodia)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/landmines.jpg" height="100" alt="...Wait &#39;til it Blows" \/>One the things I may have failed to mention thus far in my Cambodia reportage is that this was/is one of the most heavily mined areas in the world. You might think that removing landmines involves sophisticated technology of the sort you see in BBC documentaries on Bosnia, but here in Cambodia landmine removal is most often handled by the technological marvel of southeast Asia \x26mdash\x3B the bamboo stick. <a href="/2006/mar/18/wait-til-it-blows/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_wait_til.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_wait_til.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_wait_til, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_wait_til, 2);
          });

    
          point_beginning_to = JLngLat(104.04052732926735, 12.821174848475952);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_beginning_to = new GMarker(point_beginning_to, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_beginning_to);
          marker_beginning_to.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Beginning to See the Light<\/h4><span>March 16, 2006 (Battambang, Cambodia)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/floatingvillage.jpg" height="100" alt="Beginning to See the Light" \/>Surprisingly, a floating village is not that different than a village on the land. There are the same stores, the computer repair shop, the grocers, the petrol station, the temple, the dance hall and all the other things that makeup a town. I could even say with some authority that the town is laid out in streets, watery pathways that form nearly perfect lines.  <a href="/2006/mar/16/beginning-see-light/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_beginning_to.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_beginning_to.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_beginning_to, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_beginning_to, 2);
          });

    
          point_blood_on = JLngLat(104.92750166386067, 11.565975590520974);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_blood_on = new GMarker(point_blood_on, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_blood_on);
          marker_blood_on.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Blood on the Tracks<\/h4><span>March 14, 2006 (Phenom Phen, Cambodia)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/killingfields.jpg" height="100" alt="Blood on the Tracks" \/>As I mentioned in the last entry I came down with a bit of a fever for a few days. This was accompanied by what we in the group have come to term, for lack of a nicer, but equally descriptive phrase \x26mdash\x3B pissing out the ass. It\x27s not a pretty picture. Nor is it a pleasant experience, and consequently I don\x27t have a real clear recollection of the journey from Ban Lung to Kratie or from Kratie out to Sen Monoron. <a href="/2006/mar/14/blood-tracks/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_blood_on.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_blood_on.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_blood_on, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_blood_on, 2);
          });

    
          point_ticket_to = JLngLat(106.97941301763987, 13.734549299840186);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_ticket_to = new GMarker(point_ticket_to, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_ticket_to);
          marker_ticket_to.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Ticket To Ride<\/h4><span>March 7, 2006 (Ban Lung, Cambodia)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/hondadream.jpg" height="100" alt="Ticket To Ride" \/>I can\x27t see. My eyebrows are orange with dust. I cannot see them, but I know they must be\x3B they were yesterday. Every now and then when her legs clench down on my hips or her fingernails dig into my shoulders, I remember Debi is behind me and I am more or less responsible for not killing both of us. <a href="/2006/mar/07/ticket-ride/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_ticket_to.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_ticket_to.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_ticket_to, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_ticket_to, 2);
          });

    
          point_little_corner = JLngLat(105.83782194571637, 14.130915842740993);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_little_corner = new GMarker(point_little_corner, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_little_corner);
          marker_little_corner.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Little Corner of the World<\/h4><span>February 28, 2006 (Four Thousand Islands, Lao (PDR))<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/siphondon.jpg" height="100" alt="Little Corner of the World" \/>It\x27s difficult to explain but the further south you go in Laos the more relaxed life becomes. Since life in the north is not exactly high stress, by the time we arrived in the four thousand Islands we had to check our pulse periodically to ensure that time was in fact still moving forward.  <a href="/2006/feb/28/little-corner-world/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_little_corner.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_little_corner.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_little_corner, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_little_corner, 2);
          });

    
          point_can8217t_get = JLngLat(106.83689115944449, 14.806085524831964);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_can8217t_get = new GMarker(point_can8217t_get, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_can8217t_get);
          marker_can8217t_get.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Can&amp;#8217;t Get There From Here<\/h4><span>February 24, 2006 (Attapeu, Lao (PDR))<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/attapeulight.jpg" height="100" alt="Can&amp;#8217;t Get There From Here" \/>The most magical light in Laos lives on the Bolevan Plateau. For some reason not many tourists seem to make it out to the Bolevan Plateau, in spite of the fact that the roads are quite good, transport runs regularly, the villages peaceful, even sleepy, little hamlets. In short, the Bolevan Plateau is wonderful, and not the least in part because no one else is there. <a href="/2006/feb/24/cant-get-there-here/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_can8217t_get.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_can8217t_get.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_can8217t_get, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_can8217t_get, 2);
          });

    
          point_safe_as = JLngLat(106.5756225437582, 14.623949505069257);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_safe_as = new GMarker(point_safe_as, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_safe_as);
          marker_safe_as.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Safe as Milk<\/h4><span>February 18, 2006 (Sekong, Lao (PDR))<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/usbombs.jpg" height="100" alt="Safe as Milk" \/>You would think, if you were the United States and you were illegally and unofficially bombing a foreign country you might not want to stamp \x22US Bomb\x22 on the side of your bombs, and yet there it was all over Laos: \x22US Bomb.\x22 Clearly somebody didn\x27t think things all the way through, especially given that roughly one third of said bombs failed to explode.  <a href="/2006/feb/18/safe-milk/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_safe_as.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_safe_as.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_safe_as, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_safe_as, 2);
          });

    
          point_everyday_the = JLngLat(104.75026129218116, 16.560435757136197);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_everyday_the = new GMarker(point_everyday_the, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_everyday_the);
          marker_everyday_the.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Everyday the Fourteenth<\/h4><span>February 14, 2006 (Champasak, Lao (PDR))<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/hinbunriver.jpg" height="100" alt="Everyday the Fourteenth" \/>We piled four large bags, four daypacks and five people in a six meter dugout canoe. The boat was powered by the ever\x2Dpresent\x2Din\x2Dsoutheast\x2DAsia long tail motor which is essential a lawnmower engine with a three meter pole extending out of it to which a small propeller is attached \x26mdash\x3B perfect for navigating shallow water. And by shallow I mean sometimes a mere inch between the hull and the riverbed. <a href="/2006/feb/14/everyday-fourteenth/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_everyday_the.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_everyday_the.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_everyday_the, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_everyday_the, 2);
          });

    
          point_water_slides = JLngLat(105.30395506346656, 17.51310571535749);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_water_slides = new GMarker(point_water_slides, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_water_slides);
          marker_water_slides.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Water Slides and Spirit Guides<\/h4><span>February 10, 2006 (Champasak, Lao (PDR))<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/konglorcave.jpg" height="100" alt="Water Slides and Spirit Guides" \/>The dramatic black karst limestone mountains ringing Ban Na Hin grew darker as the light faded. I was sitting alone on the back porch of our guesthouse watching the light slowly disappear from the bottoms of the clouds and wondering absently how many pages it would take to explain how I came to be in the tiny town of Ban Na Hin, or if such an explanation even really existed. <a href="/2006/feb/10/water-slides-and-spirit-guides/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_water_slides.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_water_slides.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_water_slides, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_water_slides, 2);
          });

    
          point_the_lovely = JLngLat(102.43755339150222, 18.925448620655764);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_the_lovely = new GMarker(point_the_lovely, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_the_lovely);
          marker_the_lovely.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>The Lovely Universe<\/h4><span>February 4, 2006 (Vang Vieng, Lao (PDR))<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/vangveing.jpg" height="100" alt="The Lovely Universe" \/>I would like to say that I have something memorable to write about Vang Vieng, but the truth is we mostly sat around doing very little, making new friends, drinking a beer around the fire and waiting out the Chinese new year celebrations, which meant none of us could get Cambodian visas until the following Monday. We were forced to relax beside the river for several more days than we intended. Yes friends, traveling is hard, but I do it for you. <a href="/2006/feb/04/lovely-universe/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_the_lovely.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_the_lovely.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_the_lovely, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_the_lovely, 2);
          });

    
          point_i_used = JLngLat(101.19094847224213, 20.853678554651349);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_i_used = new GMarker(point_i_used, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_i_used);
          marker_i_used.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>I Used to Fly Like Peter Pan<\/h4><span>January 21, 2006 (Luang Nam Tha, Lao (PDR))<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/gibbonexperience.jpg" height="100" alt="I Used to Fly Like Peter Pan" \/>The next time someone asks you, \x22would you like to live in a tree house and travel five hundred feet above the ground attached to a zip wire?\x22 I highly suggest you say, \x22yes, where do a I sign up?\x22 If you happen to be in Laos, try the Gibbon Experience.\x0D\x0A <a href="/2006/jan/21/i-used-fly-peter-pan/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_i_used.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_i_used.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_i_used, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_i_used, 2);
          });

    
          point_hymn_of = JLngLat(102.42279051308631, 19.827433510057404);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_hymn_of = new GMarker(point_hymn_of, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_hymn_of);
          marker_hymn_of.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Hymn of the Big Wheel<\/h4><span>January 19, 2006 (Luang Prabang, Lao (PDR))<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/bluemilkwaterfall.jpg" height="100" alt="Hymn of the Big Wheel" \/>Jose Saramago writes in **The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis** that the gods \x22journey like us in the river of things, differing from us only because we call them gods and sometimes believe in them.\x22 Sitting in the middle of the river listening to the gurgle of water moving over stone and around trees I began to think that perhaps this is the sound of some lost language, a sound capable of creating mountains, valleys, estuaries, isthmuses and all the other forms around us, gurgling and sonorous but without clear meaning, shrouded in turquoise, a mystery through which we can move our sense of wonder intact. <a href="/2006/jan/19/hymn-big-wheel/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_hymn_of.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_hymn_of.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_hymn_of, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_hymn_of, 2);
          });

    
          point_down_the = JLngLat(102.13199614056809, 19.875064447947246);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_down_the = new GMarker(point_down_the, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_down_the);
          marker_down_the.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Down the River<\/h4><span>January 17, 2006 (Luang Prabang, Lao (PDR))<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/mekongslowboat.jpg" height="100" alt="Down the River" \/>Morning in Chiang Khong Thailand revealed itself as a foggy, and not a little mysterious, affair with the far shore of the Mekong, the Laos shore, almost completely hidden in a veil of mist. The first ferry crossed at eight and I was on it, looking to meet up with the slow boat to Luang Prabang.  <a href="/2006/jan/17/down-river/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_down_the.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_down_the.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_down_the, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_down_the, 2);
          });

    
          point_the_king = JLngLat(98.842620835850298, 19.315031381446268);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_the_king = new GMarker(point_the_king, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_the_king);
          marker_the_king.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>The King of Carrot Flowers<\/h4><span>January 17, 2006 (Doi Inthanan National Park, Thailand)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/maesaorchids.jpg" height="100" alt="The King of Carrot Flowers" \/>The light outside the windows was still a pre\x2Ddawn inky blue when the freezing cold water hit my back. A cold shower at six thirty in the morning is infinitely more powerful, albeit not at long lasting, as a cup of coffee. After dropping my body temperature a few degrees and having no towel to dry off with, just a dirty shirt and ceaseless ceiling fan, a cup of tea seemed like a good idea so I stopped in at the restaurant downstairs and, after a cup of hot water with some Jasmine leaves swirling at the bottom of it, I climbed on my rental motorbike and set out for Doi Inthanan National Park. <a href="/2006/jan/17/king-carrot-flowers/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_the_king.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_the_king.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_the_king, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_the_king, 2);
          });

    
          point_you_and = JLngLat(98.987674699355495, 18.787042343613678);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_you_and = new GMarker(point_you_and, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_you_and);
          marker_you_and.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>You and I Are Disappearing<\/h4><span>January 11, 2006 (Chang Mai, Thailand)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/changmaiumong.jpg" height="100" alt="You and I Are Disappearing" \/>The all night bus reached Chiang Mai well past dawn, the city already beginning to stir. I considered trying to nap, but in the end decided to explore the town. What better way to see Buddhist temples than in the dreamy fog of sleeplessness? Chiang Mai has over three hundred wats within the somewhat sprawling city limits, most of them reasonably modern and, in my opinion, not worth visiting. I narrowed the field to three, which I figured was a nice round one percent. \x0D\x0A <a href="/2006/jan/11/you-and-i-are-disappearing/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_you_and.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_you_and.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_you_and, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_you_and, 2);
          });

    
          point_buddha_on = JLngLat(100.547304139446, 13.726128126466557);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_buddha_on = new GMarker(point_buddha_on, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_buddha_on);
          marker_buddha_on.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Buddha on the Bounty<\/h4><span>January 5, 2006 (Bangkok, Thailand)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/jimthompsonhouse.jpg" height="100" alt="Buddha on the Bounty" \/>The house Jim Thompson left behind in Bangkok is gorgeous, but the real charm is the garden and its orchids. I wandered around the gardens which really aren\x27t that large for some time and then found a bench near a collection of orchids, where I sat for the better part of an hour, occasionally taking a photograph or two, but mostly thinking about how human orchids are.  <a href="/2006/jan/05/buddha-bounty/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_buddha_on.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_buddha_on.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_buddha_on, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_buddha_on, 2);
          });

    
          point_brink_of = JLngLat(100.54314135105555, 13.75092177957932);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_brink_of = new GMarker(point_brink_of, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_brink_of);
          marker_brink_of.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Brink of the Clouds<\/h4><span>January 3, 2006 (Bangkok, Thailand)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/bangkokfrombaiyoke.jpg" height="100" alt="Brink of the Clouds" \/>\x22The city is a cathedral\x22 writes James Salter, \x22its scent is dreams.\x22 Salter may have been referring to New York, but his words ring true in Bangkok. And the best place to feel it at night is on the river or from the top of the Baiyoke Sky Hotel \x26mdash\x3B where a circular, revolving observation deck offers 360\x26deg\x3B views of the Bangkok nightscape. <a href="/2006/jan/03/brink-clouds/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_brink_of.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_brink_of.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_brink_of, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_brink_of, 2);
          });

    
          point_are_you = JLngLat(100.49344538243437, 13.761790973148349);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_are_you = new GMarker(point_are_you, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_are_you);
          marker_are_you.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Are You Amplified to Rock?<\/h4><span>January 1, 2006 (Bangkok, Thailand)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/bangkokriver.jpg" height="100" alt="Are You Amplified to Rock?" \/>It\x27s a new year, are you amplified to rock? Ready, set, go. <a href="/2006/jan/01/are-you-amplified-rock/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_are_you.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_are_you.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_are_you, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_are_you, 2);
          });

    
          point_merry_christmas = JLngLat(100.49344538243446, 13.761790973148388);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_merry_christmas = new GMarker(point_merry_christmas, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_merry_christmas);
          marker_merry_christmas.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Merry Christmas 2005<\/h4><span>December 25, 2005 (Bangkok, Thailand)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/bangkokfort.jpg" height="100" alt="Merry Christmas 2005" \/>Seasons Greeting from luxagraf. I\x27m in Bangkok, Thailand at the moment. I am taking a short break from traveling to do a little working so I don\x27t have much to report. I\x27ve seen the two big temples down in the Khaosan Rd area, but otherwise I\x27ve been trying to live an ordinary life in Bangkok, if such a thing is possible. <a href="/2005/dec/25/merry-christmas-2005/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_merry_christmas.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_merry_christmas.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_merry_christmas, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_merry_christmas, 2);
          });

    
          point_sunset_over = JLngLat(85.224723804054321, 28.068345037441055);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_sunset_over = new GMarker(point_sunset_over, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_sunset_over);
          marker_sunset_over.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Sunset Over the Himalayas<\/h4><span>December 17, 2005 (Pokhara, Nepal)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/pokharaboat.jpg" height="100" alt="Sunset Over the Himalayas" \/>After about forty\x2Dfive minutes of paddling I reached a point where the views of the Annapurna range were, in the words of an Englishman I met in Katmandu, \x22gob smacking gorgeous.\x22 I put down the paddle and moved to the center of the boat where the benches were wider and, using my bag a cushion, lay back against the gunnel and hung my feet over the opposite side so that they just skimmed the surface of the chilly water. <a href="/2005/dec/17/sunset-over-himalayas/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_sunset_over.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_sunset_over.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_sunset_over, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_sunset_over, 2);
          });

    
          point_pashupatinath = JLngLat(85.348534572164567, 27.710573155686934);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_pashupatinath = new GMarker(point_pashupatinath, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_pashupatinath);
          marker_pashupatinath.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Pashupatinath<\/h4><span>December 15, 2005 (Pashupatinath, Nepal)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/nepalburninggahts.jpg" height="100" alt="Pashupatinath" \/>Nestled on a hillside beside the Bagmati River, Pashupatinath is one of the holiest sites in the world for Hindus, second only to Varanasi in India. Pashupatinath consists of a large temple which is open only to Hindus, surrounded by a number of smaller shrines and then down on the banks of the Bagmati are the burning ghats where bodies are cremated. <a href="/2005/dec/15/pashupatinath/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_pashupatinath.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_pashupatinath.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_pashupatinath, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_pashupatinath, 2);
          });

    
          point_durbar_square = JLngLat(85.317378032251895, 27.703363690641844);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_durbar_square = new GMarker(point_durbar_square, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_durbar_square);
          marker_durbar_square.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Durbar Square Kathmandu<\/h4><span>December 15, 2005 (Kathmandu, Nepal)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/durbarsquare.jpg" height="100" alt="Durbar Square Kathmandu" \/>After saturating myself with the streets of Thamel I went on a longer excursion down to Durbar Square to see the various pagodas, temples and the old palace. The palace itself no longer houses the King, but is still used for coronations and ceremonies and Durbar Square is still very much the hub of Katmandu.  <a href="/2005/dec/15/durbar-square-kathmandu/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_durbar_square.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_durbar_square.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_durbar_square, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_durbar_square, 2);
          });

    
          point_goodbye_india = JLngLat(77.210926998834495, 28.641824196732301);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_goodbye_india = new GMarker(point_goodbye_india, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_goodbye_india);
          marker_goodbye_india.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Goodbye India<\/h4><span>December 10, 2005 (Delhi, India)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/indiadelhi.jpg" height="100" alt="Goodbye India" \/>I have taken almost 750 photos and traveled nearly 4000 km (2500 miles) in India, the vast majority of it by train. I have seen everything from depressing squalor to majestic palaces and yet I still feel as if I have hardly scratched the surface. I can\x27t think of another and certainly have never been to a country with the kind of geographic and ethnic diversity of India. <a href="/2005/dec/10/goodbye-india/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_goodbye_india.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_goodbye_india.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_goodbye_india, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_goodbye_india, 2);
          });

    
          point_the_taj = JLngLat(78.041768063171872, 27.172804012576528);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_the_taj = new GMarker(point_the_taj, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_the_taj);
          marker_the_taj.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>The Taj Express<\/h4><span>December 9, 2005 (Agra, India)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/tajmahal.jpg" height="100" alt="The Taj Express" \/>The Taj Mahal is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and, given the level of hype I was fully prepared to be underwhelmed, but I was wrong. I have never in my life seen anything so extravagant, elegant and colossal. The Taj Mahal seems mythically, spiritually, as well as architecturally, to have risen from nowhere, without equal or context. <a href="/2005/dec/09/taj-express/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_the_taj.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_the_taj.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_the_taj, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_the_taj, 2);
          });

    
          point_on_a = JLngLat(70.890655507709951, 27.004078760567147);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_on_a = new GMarker(point_on_a, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_on_a);
          marker_on_a.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>On a Camel With No Name<\/h4><span>December 5, 2005 (Thar Desert, India)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/cameltrek.jpg" height="100" alt="On a Camel With No Name" \/>The Thar Desert is a bewitching if stark place. It reminded me of areas of the Great Basin between Las Vegas and St. George, Utah. Twigging mesquite\x2Dlike trees, bluish gray bushes resembling creosote, a very large bush that resembled a Palo Verde tree and grew in impenetrable clumps, and, strangely, only one species of cactus and not a whole lot of them. <a href="/2005/dec/05/camel-no-name/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_on_a.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_on_a.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_on_a, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_on_a, 2);
          });

    
          point_the_majestic = JLngLat(73.017668713895773, 26.297416353543507);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_the_majestic = new GMarker(point_the_majestic, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_the_majestic);
          marker_the_majestic.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>The Majestic Fort<\/h4><span>December 2, 2005 (Jodhpur, India)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/jodhpurfort.jpg" height="100" alt="The Majestic Fort" \/>The next day I hopped in a rickshaw and headed up to tour Meherangarh, or the Majestic Fort as it\x27s known in English. As its English name indicates, it is indeed perched majestically atop the only hill around, and seems not so much built on a hill as to have naturally risen out the very rocks that form the mesa on which it rests. The outer wall encloses some of the sturdiest and most impressive ramparts I\x27ve seen in India or anywhere else. <a href="/2005/dec/02/majestic-fort/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_the_majestic.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_the_majestic.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_the_majestic, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_the_majestic, 2);
          });

    
          point_around_udaipur = JLngLat(73.784866322736619, 24.667610368715472);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_around_udaipur = new GMarker(point_around_udaipur, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_around_udaipur);
          marker_around_udaipur.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Around Udaipur<\/h4><span>November 30, 2005 (Udiapur, India)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/shiplogram.jpg" height="100" alt="Around Udaipur" \/>Just out of Udaipur is a government sponsored \x22artist colony\x22 for various cultures from the five nearby states, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Goa and Madhya Pradesh. On one hand Shilpogram is a wonderful idea on the part of the government, but on the other hand the \x22artists colony\x22 is slightly creepy. Amidst displays of typical tribal life there were artists and craftsmen and women hawking their wares along with dancers and musicians performing traditional songs. The whole thing had the feel of a living museum, or, for the creepy angle \x26mdash\x3B human zoo. <a href="/2005/nov/30/around-udaipur/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_around_udaipur.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_around_udaipur.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_around_udaipur, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_around_udaipur, 2);
          });

    
          point_the_monsoon = JLngLat(73.688049306148685, 24.661994375880575);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_the_monsoon = new GMarker(point_the_monsoon, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_the_monsoon);
          marker_the_monsoon.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>The Monsoon Palace<\/h4><span>November 29, 2005 (Udiapur, India)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/monsoonpalace.jpg" height="100" alt="The Monsoon Palace" \/>We started out in the early evening quickly leaving  behind Udaipur and its increasing urban sprawl. The road to the Monsoon Palace passes through the Sajjan Garh Nature Preserve and there was a sudden and dramatic drop in temperature, but then the road climbed out of the hollow and the temperature jumped back up to comfortable as we began to climb the mountain in a series of hairpin switchbacks. As the sun slowly slunk behind the mountain range to the west the balconies and balustrades of the Monsoon Palace took on an increasingly orange hue.  <a href="/2005/nov/29/monsoon-palace/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_the_monsoon.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_the_monsoon.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_the_monsoon, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_the_monsoon, 2);
          });

    
          point_the_city = JLngLat(73.693199147456525, 24.591304879190861);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_the_city = new GMarker(point_the_city, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_the_city);
          marker_the_city.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>The City Palace<\/h4><span>November 28, 2005 (Udiapur, India)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/citypalaceudaipur.jpg" height="100" alt="The City Palace" \/>I spent some time sitting in the inner gardens of the City Place, listening to rustling trees and the various guides bringing small groups of western and Indian tourists through the garden. In the center of the hanging gardens was the kings, extremely oversized bath, which reminded me of children\x27s book that I once gave to a friend\x27s daughter\x3B it was a massively oversized and lavishly illustrated book that told the story of a king who refused to get out of the bath and instead made his ministers, advisors, cooks and even his wife conduct business by getting in the bath with him. <a href="/2005/nov/28/city-palace/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_the_city.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_the_city.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_the_city, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_the_city, 2);
          });

    
          point_living_in = JLngLat(72.562379826935242, 23.009675285624734);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_living_in = new GMarker(point_living_in, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_living_in);
          marker_living_in.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Living in Airport Terminals<\/h4><span>November 27, 2005 (Ahmedabad, India)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/ceilingfanindia.jpg" height="100" alt="Living in Airport Terminals" \/>Airport terminals are fast becoming my favorite part of traveling. When you stop and observe them closely as I have been forced to do on this trip, terminals are actually quite beautiful weird places. Terminals inhabit a unique space in the architecture of humanity, perhaps the strangest of all spaces we have created\x3B a space that is itself only a boundary that delineates the border between what was and what will be without leaving any space at all for what is.  <a href="/2005/nov/27/living-airport-terminals/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_living_in.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_living_in.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_living_in, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_living_in, 2);
          });

    
          point_anjuna_market = JLngLat(73.73886107371969, 15.581289472937041);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_anjuna_market = new GMarker(point_anjuna_market, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_anjuna_market);
          marker_anjuna_market.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Anjuna Market<\/h4><span>November 23, 2005 (Anjuna Beach, India)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/anjunabeachmarket.jpg" height="100" alt="Anjuna Market" \/>Earlier today I caught a bus up to the Anjuna Flea Market and can now tell you for certain that old hippies do not die, they simply move to Goa. The flea market was quite a spectacle\x3B riots of color at every turn and more silver jewelry than you could shake a stick at. <a href="/2005/nov/23/anjuna-market/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_anjuna_market.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_anjuna_market.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_anjuna_market, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_anjuna_market, 2);
          });

    
          point_fish_story = JLngLat(73.915414799891437, 15.277230227117785);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_fish_story = new GMarker(point_fish_story, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_fish_story);
          marker_fish_story.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Fish Story<\/h4><span>November 19, 2005 (Colva Beach, India)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/colvabeach.jpg" height="100" alt="Fish Story" \/>The Arabian Sea is warm and the sand sucks at your feet when you walk, schools of tiny fish dart and disappear into each receding wave. In the morning the water is nearly glassy and the beach slopes off so slowly one can walk out at least 200 meters and be only waist deep. <a href="/2005/nov/19/fish-story/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_fish_story.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_fish_story.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_fish_story, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_fish_story, 2);
          });

    
          point_the_backwaters = JLngLat(76.25335692297908, 9.9580299709641533);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_the_backwaters = new GMarker(point_the_backwaters, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_the_backwaters);
          marker_the_backwaters.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>The Backwaters of Kerala<\/h4><span>November 14, 2005 (Kerala Backwaters, India)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/keralabackwater.jpg" height="100" alt="The Backwaters of Kerala" \/>The guide showed us Tamarind trees, coconut palms, lemon trees, vanilla vine, plantain trees and countless other shrubs and bushes whose names I have already forgotten. The most fascinating was a plant that produces a fruit something like a miniature mango that contains cyanide and which, as our guide informed us, is cultivated mainly to commit suicide with \x26mdash\x3B as if it was no big deal and everyone is at least occasionally tempted to each the killer mango. <a href="/2005/nov/14/backwaters-kerala/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_the_backwaters.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_the_backwaters.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_the_backwaters, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_the_backwaters, 2);
          });

    
          point_vasco_de = JLngLat(76.240911473151641, 9.9643702310414053);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_vasco_de = new GMarker(point_vasco_de, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_vasco_de);
          marker_vasco_de.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Vasco de Gama Exhumed<\/h4><span>November 10, 2005 (Fort Kochi, India)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/fortcochin.jpg" height="100" alt="Vasco de Gama Exhumed" \/>Fort Cochin is curious collision of cultures \x26mdash\x3B Chinese, India and even Portuguese. Many of the obviously older buildings are of a distinctly Iberian\x2Dstyle \x26mdash\x3B moss covered, adobe\x2Dcolored arches abound. There is graveyard just down the road with a tombstone that bears the name Vasco de Gama, who died and was buried here for fourteen years before being moved to Lisbon (there we go again, more Europeans digging up and moving the dead).  <a href="/2005/nov/10/vasco-de-gama-exhumed/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_vasco_de.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_vasco_de.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_vasco_de, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_vasco_de, 2);
          });

    
          point_riots_iraqi = JLngLat(2.3610734936288558, 48.863514907961665);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_riots_iraqi = new GMarker(point_riots_iraqi, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_riots_iraqi);
          marker_riots_iraqi.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Riots, Iraqi Restaurants, Goodbye Seine<\/h4><span>November 8, 2005 (Paris, France)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/republique.jpg" height="100" alt="Riots, Iraqi Restaurants, Goodbye Seine" \/>Well it\x27s my last night here in Paris and I\x27ve chosen to return to the best restaurant we\x27ve been to so far, an Iraqi restaurant in a Marais. I am using all my willpower right now to avoid having a political outburst re the quality of Iraqi food versus the intelligence of George Bush etc etc. I\x27m traveling\x3B I don\x27t want to get into politics except to say that my dislike for the current El Presidente was no small factor in my decision to go abroad.  <a href="/2005/nov/08/riots-iraqi-restaurants-goodbye-seine/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_riots_iraqi.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_riots_iraqi.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_riots_iraqi, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_riots_iraqi, 2);
          });

    
          point_bury_your = JLngLat(2.3437571522311194, 48.886236566239617);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_bury_your = new GMarker(point_bury_your, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_bury_your);
          marker_bury_your.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Bury Your Dead<\/h4><span>November 6, 2005 (Paris, France)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/pariscatacombs.jpg" height="100" alt="Bury Your Dead" \/>I would like to say that the catacombs of Paris had some spectacular effect on me seeing that I strolled through human remains, skulls and femurs mainly, \x22decoratively arranged,\x22 but the truth is, after you get over the initial shock of seeing a skull, well, it turns out you can get adjusted to just about anything. Maybe that in and off itself is the scary part. <a href="/2005/nov/06/bury-your-dead/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_bury_your.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_bury_your.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_bury_your, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_bury_your, 2);
          });

    
          point_the_houses = JLngLat(2.3615670200875267, 48.864093662101581);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_the_houses = new GMarker(point_the_houses, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_the_houses);
          marker_the_houses.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>The Houses We Live In<\/h4><span>November 1, 2005 (Paris, France)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/pariscityscape.jpg" height="100" alt="The Houses We Live In" \/>I\x27ve been thinking the last couple of days about something Bill\x27s dad said to me before I left. I\x27m paraphrasing here since I don\x27t remember the exact phrasing he used, but something to the effect of \x22people are essentially the same everywhere, they just build their houses differently.\x22 Indeed, Parisian architecture is completely unlike anything in America. Perhaps more than any other single element, architecture reflects culture and the ideas of the people that make up culture.  <a href="/2005/nov/01/houses-we-live/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_the_houses.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_the_houses.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_the_houses, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_the_houses, 2);
          });

    
          point_sainte_chapelle = JLngLat(2.3452591892792487, 48.855566948530594);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_sainte_chapelle = new GMarker(point_sainte_chapelle, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_sainte_chapelle);
          marker_sainte_chapelle.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Sainte Chapelle<\/h4><span>October 28, 2005 (Paris, France)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/saintechapelle.jpg" height="100" alt="Sainte Chapelle" \/>Sainte Chapelle was interesting to see after the modern, conceptual art stuff at the Pompidou, rather than simple stained glass, Sainte Chapelle felt quite conceptual. In a sense the entire Bible (i.e. all history from that perspective) is unfolding simultaneously, quite a so\x2Dcalled post\x2Dmodern idea if you think about it. And yet it was conceived and executed over 800 years ago. Kind of kicks a lot pretentious modern art in its collective ass. <a href="/2005/oct/28/sainte-chapelle/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_sainte_chapelle.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_sainte_chapelle.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_sainte_chapelle, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_sainte_chapelle, 2);
          });

    
          point_living_in = JLngLat(2.3617815968086884, 48.864164241416852);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_living_in = new GMarker(point_living_in, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_living_in);
          marker_living_in.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Living in a Railway Car<\/h4><span>October 24, 2005 (Paris, France)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/letour.jpg" height="100" alt="Living in a Railway Car" \/>This French apartment is more like a railway sleeper car than apartment proper. Maybe fifteen feet long and only three feet wide at the ceiling. More like five feet wide at the floor, but, because it\x27s an attic, the outer wall slopes in and you lose two feet by the time you get to the ceiling. It\x27s narrow enough that you can\x27t pass another body when you walk to length of it. <a href="/2005/oct/24/living-railway-car/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_living_in.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_living_in.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_living_in, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_living_in, 2);
          });

    
          point_twenty_more = JLngLat(-117.90302036551485, 33.633326645283205);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_twenty_more = new GMarker(point_twenty_more, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_twenty_more);
          marker_twenty_more.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Twenty More Minutes to Go<\/h4><span>October 20, 2005 (Los Angeles, California)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/nightswings.jpg" height="100" alt="Twenty More Minutes to Go" \/>Well it\x27s the night before I leave. I just got done pacing around the driveway of my parents house smoking cigarettes\x26#8230\x3B nervously? Excitedly? Restlessly? A bit of all of those I suppose. I walk across the street, over the drainage ditch and head for the swing set at the park. Right now I\x27m swinging in a park in Costa Mesa California. Tomorrow France. Weird. [Photo to the right, \x3Ca href\x3D\x22http://www.flickr.com/photos/scarin/53961434/\x22\x3Evia Flickr\x3C/a\x3E] <a href="/2005/oct/20/twenty-more-minutes-go/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_twenty_more.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_twenty_more.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_twenty_more, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_twenty_more, 2);
          });

    
          point_tips_and = JLngLat(-117.90123937872941, 33.632093907236353);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_tips_and = new GMarker(point_tips_and, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_tips_and);
          marker_tips_and.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Tips and Resources<\/h4><span>October 19, 2005 (Los Angeles, California)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/travelgear.jpg" height="100" alt="Tips and Resources" \/>An overview of the things you might want  to bring on an extended trip, as well as some tips and recommendations on things like visas and vaccinations. The part that was most helpful for me was learning what I \x3Cem\x3Edidn\x27t\x3C/em\x3E need to bring \x26mdash\x3B as it turns out, quite a bit. Nowadays my pack is much smaller and lighter. <a href="/2005/oct/19/tips-and-resources/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_tips_and.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_tips_and.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_tips_and, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_tips_and, 2);
          });

    
          point_the_new = JLngLat(-117.90106771735249, 33.632147504909597);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_the_new = new GMarker(point_the_new, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_the_new);
          marker_the_new.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>The New Luddites<\/h4><span>October 8, 2005 (Los Angeles, California)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/books.jpg" height="100" alt="The New Luddites" \/>An older, non\x2Dtravel piece about Google\x27s plan to scan all the world\x27s books and Luddite\x2Dlike response from many authors. Let\x27s see, someone wants to make your book easier to find, searchable and indexable and you\x27re opposed to it? You\x27re a fucking idiot. <a href="/2005/oct/08/new-luddites/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_the_new.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_the_new.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_the_new, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_the_new, 2);
          });

    
          point_one_nation = JLngLat(-72.628040303610575, 42.322540490785144);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_one_nation = new GMarker(point_one_nation, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_one_nation);
          marker_one_nation.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>One Nation Under a Groove<\/h4><span>March 25, 2005 (Northampton, Massachusetts)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/ipod.jpg" height="100" alt="One Nation Under a Groove" \/>The sky is falling! The iPod! It\x27s ruining our culture! Or, uh, maybe it\x27s just like the Walkman, but  better. And since, so far as I can tell, the world did not collapse with the introduction of the Walkman and headphones, it probably isn\x27t going to fall apart just because the storage format for our music has changed. [Photo to the right via \x3Ca href\x3D\x22http://flickr.com/photos/rogpool/2960735485/\x22\x3EFlickr\x3C/a\x3E] <a href="/2005/mar/25/one-nation-under-groove/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_one_nation.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_one_nation.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_one_nation, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_one_nation, 2);
          });

    
          point_farewell_mr = JLngLat(-72.627954472922156, 42.3226356811873);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_farewell_mr = new GMarker(point_farewell_mr, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_farewell_mr);
          marker_farewell_mr.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Farewell Mr. Hunter H Thompson<\/h4><span>February 24, 2005 (Northampton, Massachusetts)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/thompson.jpg" height="100" alt="Farewell Mr. Hunter H Thompson" \/>Hunter S. Thompson departs on a journey to the western lands. Thompson\x27s \x3Cem\x3EFear and Loathing in Las Vegas\x3C/em\x3E delivered the penultimate eulogy for the dreams of the 1960\x27s, one that mourned, but also tried to lay the empty idealism to rest. <a href="/2005/feb/24/farewell-mr-hunter-h-thompson/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_farewell_mr.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_farewell_mr.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_farewell_mr, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_farewell_mr, 2);
          });

    
          point_the_art = JLngLat(-72.628340711020371, 42.32247703043727);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_the_art = new GMarker(point_the_art, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_the_art);
          marker_the_art.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>The Art of the Essay<\/h4><span>October 10, 2004 (Northampton, Massachusetts)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/essay.jpg" height="100" alt="The Art of the Essay" \/>I generally ignore internet debates, they never go anywhere, so why bother. But we all have our weak points and when programmer Paul Graham posted what might be the dumbest essay on writing that\x27s ever been written, I just couldn\x27t help myuself.  <a href="/2004/oct/10/art-essay/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_the_art.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_the_art.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_the_art, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_the_art, 2);
          });

    
          point_farewell_mr = JLngLat(-72.628040303610746, 42.322508760619321);
          markerOptions = { clickable:true, draggable:false, icon:tinyIcon};
          marker_farewell_mr = new GMarker(point_farewell_mr, markerOptions);
          map.addOverlay(marker_farewell_mr);
          marker_farewell_mr.info_window_content = '<div class="mcanvas"><h4>Farewell Mr. Cash<\/h4><span>September 12, 2003 (Northampton, Massachusetts)<\/span><p><img src="http://images.luxagraf.net/post-thumbs/2008/cash.jpg" height="100" alt="Farewell Mr. Cash" \/>Johnny Cash heads for the western lands. <a href="/2003/sep/12/farewell-mr-cash/">Read it &raquo;<\/a><\/p><\/div>'
          marker_farewell_mr.bindInfoWindowHtml(marker_farewell_mr.info_window_content, {maxWidth:400});
          GEvent.addListener(marker_farewell_mr, "click", function() {
            map.panTo(point_farewell_mr, 2);
          });

    
    }
  }
  
  // center on a country
  function focusCountry(latitude, longitude, zoom) {
    map.setZoom(zoom);
    map.panTo(new GLatLng(latitude, longitude))
  }
  function addRoute(line,levels,color,lat,lon,zoom){
    var encodedPolyline = new GPolyline.fromEncoded({
    color: color,
    weight: 5,
    points: line,
    levels: levels,
    zoomFactor: 32,
    numLevels: 4
    });
    focusCountry(lat,lon,zoom);
    map.addOverlay(encodedPolyline);
  }
  </script>