Ken Kurtis
Contributor
Maldives, rain, luck, & more
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There's no place like home . . .
BACK IN L.A. - Much as I enjoy the travel (and I DO like travelling to foreign lands), it's always nice to get home and be in familiar surroundings. We got back Thursday afternoon but it's not quite as straight-forward as getting there: Maldives-Singapore, overnight in Singapore, Singapore-Tokyo, short layover in Tokyo (Narita), Tokyo-LAX arriving early-afternoon. From the time we left the boat to the time I actually got to my front door, it's about 42 hours of travel time. But I like that we overnight in Singapore (Transit Hotel within the airport) because it not only breaks up the trip, but you get to sleep during that extended overnight, so you begin the final two legs somewhat rested. But some of the jetlag has caught up with me today (Sunday) as I'm a bit tired. At least, I hope it's the jetlag. I certainly don't want to think it's old age.
GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN DIDN'T AFFECT US - Flights were relatively on time and there was no perceived slowdown at LAX. (I also had the Holy Grail of Flying Economy - an empty middle seat next to me for two of the three legs!!!) In fact, it was one of the quicker trips through Immigration/Customs that I've had lately. Part of that was that it was relatively uncrowded in the arrival hall but a lot was due to a new system of facial recognition rather than handing over your passport. There was an Immigration officer by a video monitor, you look into it, it recognizes you, he asked a few questions, and waved me through. Took all of 30 seconds.
BAGS HOWEVER . . . - As trip leader, I always wait for everyone's bag to come through before I exit. Glenn Suhd and Don Banas got their quickly and left. Mine came out right after theirs did, less than 5 minutes after I got to Baggage Claim. Now we just needed Patti Wey's bags and we were good to go. Guess whose bags were literally the LAST ones to come down the chute, over 30 minutes later? Oh well, the best laid plans. But overall, coming back was a breeze and the government shutdown didn't seem to be having an effect.
SECRET TAXI STAND - I always taxi in and out of LAX so this is a good time to remind everyone of the two "secret" taxi stands inside the horseshow traffic loop. You don't have t take the LAExit busses. The first is right across from TBIT and there's a sign. Use the crosswalk, turn slight left, go inside the parking garage, and there's a sign with a dispatcher number to call. Taxis were there in five minutes. The second one is outside the United baggage claim (T7/8). Exit baggage claim, turn right, go about 50 yards, and you'll see the sign. MUCH quicker both times that the LAExit busses.
TRIP REPORT, PIX, AND VIDEOS - I've got them done but haven't yet got them formatted on our website. So look for that e-mail sometime tomorrow. Suffice it to say it was wonderful, both trip #1 and trip #2. (Eight people did both trips.) But look for that e-mail tomorrow. In the meantime, here's a few more pix from trip #2.
VIDEO LINK – I'll be posting a bunch of video links along with the trip report, but this one (from the first trip) should give you a good taste of what diving the Maldives is like:
WILL WONDERS NEVER CEASE? - We may actually get some RAIN this week, most likely Monday night into Tuesday. Looks like the heaviest rain will be Tuesday morning. Totals may approach half an inch, which is significant, especially in the burn areas. For those who can't recall, rain is that wet stuff that falls from the sky and makes the roads slippery. At least we're not getting pelted with a nor'easter like the East Coast is.
SPEAKING OF GOOD WEATHER FORTUNE - I've been e-mailing the Manthiri since we left. We had three weeks of really great weather. Sunny and - most importantly - no wind except for on the final day. Looks like it all turned after we left. Not too rainy but it's been very windy which makes for rough seas and limits the dive sites you can choose to explore. Sometimes, you just get lucky.
SPEAKING OF LUCKY - Hope the Dodgers luck holds. A "lucky" (or at least well-timed) home run in Game 1, a lucky break in Game 2 when Philly couldn't score with bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th, and lots of luck in Game 4 to win the series. Hopefully their luck continues to hold. I'll be at Dodger Stadium Thursday afternoon rooting them on (game time is 3PM).
And that’ll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
