DAY 411: My family has a history of geography contests. When I was in the seventh grade, I was chosen to represent my middle school in the statewide Geography Bee, proudly run by New York Knick-turned New Jersey senator Bill Bradley. I made it to the semi-finals, a written test with a bubble sheet answer form, but didn't advance because, from what I suspect, I used a No. 3 pencil instead of the required No. 2. Either that, or my Power of Geography simply ran out of steam.

Five years later when my brother, Blogreader markyt was in the seventh grade, he was chosen to be a contestant on the popular PBS geography game show, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, based on the highly-popular educational computer game. Markyt used his Power of Geography to put fictional baddie Robocrook in jail, and made it to the final round, a round where he had 45 seconds to identify eight African countries by placing a marker on each one on a huge map of the continent on the floor. Markyt's Power of Geography ran out at that point -- he only identified three, but hey, Africa's hard enough, let alone on a big confusing floor map -- but at least he got the privilege to command the rock acapella group (appropriately named "Rockapella") to "do it," "it" being sing the theme song for the closing credits. (To see the video highlights clip of markyt on Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, go to the Itinerary page off the CONTENTS above, and click on Madagascar.)

The study of geography isn't just about capitals and the shapes of countries on a map. It is a blend of anthropology, history and geology, all rolled into one social science (or as we used to say in the seventh grade, "soc sci"). Little did I know that morning that my family Power of Geography would come into play again.

MY LAST MORNING IN CHIANG MAI went by fast. It was a non-stop series of errands -- typing up a Blog entry, packing up, checking out, shopping for a new towel at the locals' market, and mailing a package home. Afterwards I met Lot for breakfast at the Zest garden cafe in town, where I had my final session with my latest Dutch partner-in-crime ever since Pepjin (Pepe) in Ecuador. We ended up at our usual high-speed internet cafe with the easy USB connectors, where coincidentally Hans and Claire were for a final farewell. The group would disband that afternoon with everyone going his/her own way. I was the first to go; I was picked up at 12:30 by a minivan that would take me and a group of others to Chiang Khong, the Thai border town with Laos, five hours away on a road that sometimes reminded me of California (picture above).

"What's your name?" I asked a guy from my minivan when we sat at adjacent tables during a mid-way lunch break at a roadside restaurant.

"Hoib."

"Herb?"

"Huyb. H, U, Y, B."

"Erik."

"And you are from the States I'm guessing?"

"New York."

"And where am I from?"

Without having to think too hard, my Power of Geography came to life. "Holland."

"That's right! How did you know?"

"I've been traveling with the Dutch for the past week."

"I try and hide my accent."

"I can tell though. There's something that you put on the end of your words." I couldn't really place what it was, but it's the same subtle sound that Mike Myers did so well as his Dutch character Goldmember in the third Austin Powers movie.)

"And you're going to Laos?" Huyb asked.

"Yeah, aren't we all taking the slow boat to..." I couldn't remember the name of our final destination. "...the one that starts with an 'L.'"

"Luang Prabang."

"Yeah, that one."

"Good, so I won't be alone then." Not everyone was taking the slow boat to Luang Prabang. The two girls he sat with in the back of the minivan and now at the table before us weren't traveling with him like I originally thought; they were going to take a bus from the border to some other town in the north. My Power of Geography couldn't deduce where they were from -- European? Israeli? -- but I figured that they were from the UK or something, not only because of their slight British accents, but because one of them, Jenny, reminded me of British actress Keira Knightley. We chat over our Cokes and Thai Chicken with Cashew Nuts, discussing snake and spider phobias (you either have one or the other) and that town most of us were headed to in Laos.

"I forget the name again," I said.

"Luang Prabang," Huyb said, smiling. "You have to study your cities!"

The Power of Geography only lasts so long.

THE SCENERY GOT MORE RURAL the farther we went and three hours later we finally arrived in the sleepy border town of Chiang Khong by sundown. We checked into the guesthouse included in our tour packages and sat at the dinner table to eat our complimentary last Thai dishes for the meantime. It was then we met a husky German guy who we eventually invited for drinks -- after we could figure out his name that is.

"What's his name?" Huyb asked.

"I don't know," Jenny said. Her friend Karin didn't know either.

"Hans," I joked.

"Is it really Hans?"

"It has to be."

We looked it up on the guesthouse registration book. It was Markus.

"WHERE ARE YOU FROM?" I asked Markus as we all walked down the small strip of bars, the only strip in the sleepy town.

"Germany."

"I figured that. I mean where in Germany?"

"The south of Germany, between Stuttgart and Munich," he answered with a hesitation to tell me exactly which city because I probably hadn't heard of it.

"Ulm?" I guessed.

"Yes! Ulm! You know it?"

"I was there last summer," I told him. "It's on the border of [the German states] Baden-Würtemburg and Bavaria." I continued to wow him with the trivia that it was the birthplace of Albert Einstein and that it boasted the world's tallest cathedral. My Power of Geography was in full force again.

His face lit up as he was completely amazed that someone had heard of this hometown, particularly an American. Americans aren't exactly known for their knowledge of geography outside the US, what with 90% of the population without possession of a passport, and people still not knowing how many states in the union there are (as proven time and time again by impromptu quizzes on the street by Jay Leno and Howard Stern). Sad, when you think about it, but then again, how many of you Blogreaders didn't know where Madagascar was when I told you to look it up?

Markus, Jenny, Karin, Huyb and I ended up at the Tee Pee Bar, a dark but cozy little place with posters of Hendrix and Marley on the wall, not surprisingly run by a Thai Rastafarian. We sat on the floor around some tables while Markus entertained and fooled us with card tricks. It was then that I saw my Power of Geography was fading again; Jenny and Karin were Swedish, not British like I thought, although I've made a similar mistake before -- I originally thought Dutchman Pepe in Ecuador was British because he reminded me of British actor Hugh Grant.

"What do Americans think of Sweden?" Jenny asked me.

"Well, my entire apartment was furnished by Ikea."

"So they don't think we are all socialistic?"

"Uh, I don't think Americans can think that far," I joked. "Just Ikea. And meatballs."

"In Germany we picture the [carefree] blonde girls. The Swedish boys are big drinkers."

"Oh yeah, we think that in America too."

Jenny had broken the Swedish stereotype -- she wasn't a dumb blonde in a bikini, nor did she throw around rubber chickens and vegetables and go "Mork mork mork" like Jim Henson's Swedish Chef Muppet -- she was a pretty bright business student studying abroad at the National University of Singapore. I suppose it's never to late too learn something new in the vast study of geography.

And speaking of learning something, in case you're still stumped on which one Madagascar is on the Itinerary map, it's the island off the southeast coast of the African continent, dummy.

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