I am currenly out of the office. As I am roughly following the red arrows on the map above, please allow longer time for responding e-mails due to potential lack of sufficient infrastructure. Please also allow infrequent updates of this website, if at all. Later though, most likely at the beginning of the next year, I am happy to condense field book notes in some blog posts and also upload some photos. If you like you can subscribe to the RSS Feeds and you will not miss it when I am back to Cyberspace. I will try to feed the Microblog from time to time, which you also find in the left column or you can link to Twitter, which is the system via which I feed this section remotely. I hope you excuse, that I have pulled the contact form on this website into the "members only" section, as I will not be able to respond to website requests. If you have a login to this website, you will see emergency contact data and satellite communication features. I wish all you on the Northen hemisphere a good autumn and those on the Southern hemisphere a nice spring time. Some of you I might meet on the way. So far, take care and all the best.
Thomas Suarez’s “Early Mappings of South East Asia”
There are different ways to make a region a geographical unit. It can be seen geological, morphological, climatological, cultural, ethical or political for example. In the case of South-East Asia the routes and description of travelers that passed though the area between China and India seem to have a large role in defining it as a region.
Thomas Suarez book on the “Early Mapping of South East Asia” describes South East Asia through the eyes of old maps and sailing instructions. It is a fascinating and deep introduction into routes, regions and views put together from partly conflicting sources. This book is on history, geography and an adventure to read at the same time. It is obvious that Suarez is a real conaisseur and authority on early maps. His interest in South East Asia was awakened when he travelled here on concert tours as a classical violinist.
“Early Mapping of South East Asia” you find in Singapore book shops for 103 S$ or at http://www.amazon.com/Early-Mapping-Southeast-Thomas-Suarez/dp/9625934707/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218857154&sr=8-1