Health Tips

Mesa Verde National Park, CO

Nathan and I both got a poor nights sleep in the campground. He was woken up by fits of my snoring and I was woken up by his fits of sleep talking. Which last night included several rounds of him sitting up straight out of his sleeping bag and saying something random. To make matters worse two of the baffles in my Disney’s Cars sleeping mattress blew out making it more akin to sleeping on a deflated beach ball than a mattress. Camp was very cold the next morning and adding to our motivation our neighbors kids where fighting over the roasted marshmallow breakfast they where enjoying. Needless to say we were gone as soon as we where able; back out into the vast San Luis valley. Today is one of the shorter drive days of the trip so we poked our way west towards Durango and Mesa Verde. Made a critical stop in Walmart for paper towels, tp, trash bags, soap (which we managed to loose on the way out), and batteries. In Durango we ate lunch at the Iron Horse pizza. Which was having a buffet with a nice salad bar. I’m still pretending that we are eating somewhat healthy. The town of Durango has gone under some massive unimprovements since my last visit some 20 years ago. I remember a picturesque mountain town and was greeted by a divided highway strip mall with a clogged up downtown hidden behind it all. Maybe my memory was never true, I can’t say. Mesa verde is an imposing sight from the highway, and once inside the park impressively large. It’s a solid 20 minute drive from the gate to the visitors center along a road that would turn the Top Gear guys into giddy children. Nathan and I got tickets for the Cliff Palace tour and headed out. The tour lasted an hour and provided some excellent views of the site. But I’m afraid to say that it was all a bit dry and lifeless much like the empty homes we where there to see. We had signed up for another tour but a rather imposing looking storm was rolling in and we decided to skip it. We then bravely decided to get a room at the lodge instead of sleeping in the rain on a bed of rocks. Grandpa Rich is going to tease me on this one, but it made Nathan very happy. Hopefully we sleep well tonight, we have a big drive tomorrow into Utah and the Canyon lands.

from: http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/robteague/1/1337181767/tpod.html

Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Perjalanan hari ini sangat singkat yaitu hanya mengunjungi pantai kuta di pagi hari dan ke tempat oleh oleh di salah satu toko kaos yang terkenal di Bali. Diawali dengan packing prepare pulang dan checkout dari hotel dilanjut menelpon bis PO. Wisata Komodo menanyakan jadwal keberangkatan dari terminal ubung. Setelah semua beres lanjut berangkat ke pantai kuta dan membeli oleh oleh di toko kaos tersebut. Sekitar jam 11.00 WITA saya makan siang di rumah makan padang sebelum motor dikembalikan. Saya menunggu sampai jam 14.00 di salah satu restoran cepat saji karena cuaca Bali yang panas siang itu mampir untuk sekedar membeli minuman ringan dan duduk duduk internetan sambil menunggu jam 14.00 WITA. Jam menunjukan pukul 13.00 WITA saya pun bergegas mengembalikan motor dan berjalan menuju terminal ubung untuk lapor kepada petugas Bis. Jam 13.30 WITA bis masuk terminal ubung. Sambil menunggu keberangkatan tak ada salahnya hunting foto foto bis yang ada di terminal ubung waktu itu. Mungkin hanya segitu saja yang bisa saya ceritakan dari salah satau pengalaman backpackeran sendiri.

Total biaya perjalanan :

Tiket bis Jog-Dps-Jog : Rp. 400.000

Hotel 3 Hari : Rp. 150.000

Sewa motor 3 Hari : Rp. 150.000

Bensin selama di bali : Rp. 70.000 *

Makan dan minum : Rp. 150.000

Objek wisata : Rp. 50.000

Lain lain : Rp. 30.000 +

Total : Rp. 1.000.000

*berbeda beda tergantung jarak dan tipe motor

Oleh oleh tidak di masukan dalam anggaran karena hal itu bersifat titipan hehe

from: http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bahtiararif/1/1337287996/tpod.html

By ANNE GEARAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mapping the way out of an unpopular war, the United States and NATO are trying to build an Afghan army that can defend the country after 130,000 international troops pull out. The alliance’s plans for arm’s-length support for Afghanistan will be a central focus of the summit President Barack Obama is hosting Sunday and Monday in Chicago.

The problem with the exit strategy is that someone has to pay for that army in an era of austerity budgets and defense cutbacks.

The problem for the United States is how to avoid getting stuck with the check for $4.1 billion a year.

“This has to be a multilateral funding effort,” said Pentagon spokesman George Little. “We think there should be contributions from other countries.”

That’s partly why so many non-NATO nations are getting invitations to the summit. About 60 countries and organizations are expected to be represented, including nations such as Japan that are far removed from the trans-Atlantic defense pact’s home ground.

More than 20 nations have already agreed to help fund the Afghan army and more are expected to announce their commitments at the Chicago summit. U.S. and other NATO leaders claim that fundraising is on track, although the totals publicly announced so far are small.

A senior Obama administration official said the U.S. and its partners would seek to set targets at the summit for the size and scope of the Afghan security forces after 2014, when foreign forces pull out. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to preview the upcoming summit, would not detail pledges expected in Chicago.

That force is now projected to be smaller – and cheaper – than NATO had planned only a year ago. The decision to trim the goal for an Afghan force from about 350,000 to roughly 230,000 was driven more by economic reality than a shift in thinking about Afghanistan’s security needs after 2014, U.S. military officials and NATO diplomats said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning. The larger force had been projected to cost $7 billion a year.

Obama is unlikely to say so, but outside estimates of the U.S. share of the bill for Afghan defense after 2014 range from a quarter to well more than half the total bill. The U.S. will also be on the hook for other support to Afghanistan, but the amount is unclear. The United States is the richest and best-equipped nation in the NATO alliance and long Afghanistan’s largest patron.

Obama signed a pledge with Afghan President Hamid Karzai this month that would obligate the U.S. for a decade. Several other nations have signed similar long-term deals, and NATO is to sign one with Afghanistan at the Chicago meeting. The agreements cover a range of assistance to Afghanistan, but underwriting the military is the largest line item.

© 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

from: http://online.worldmag.com/2012/05/17/obama-requesting-help-to-pay-for-afghan-army/