Down a pint

The last two days we spent visiting the temples surrounding Siem Reap. They're quite beautiful! They've all been restored to varying degrees - some are pretty cleared of jungle and one has a ton of overgrowth. That's the one that was used for the Tomb Raider movie. It's really neat to see trees on top of the walls - I'll share those photos when I return.
Yesterday afternoon we visited Tonal Sap lake to see the floating villages. They're more like houses on stilts over the lake - but pretty cool none the less. The size of the lake changes considerably from rainy to dry season. Since rainy season just finished, it is a bit bigger. On the 1/2 hr boat ride to the village, I sat on the front of the small boat with our guide and chatted. He taught me many words in Khmer, the local language. It was lots of fun because the sounds they use are a bit different than what we use in English. We laughed a lot and luckily my guide, Dom, was pretty patient and didn't mind my butchering of the words until I said it good enough. Dom comes from a village that's far from Siem Reap and has been living here for several years because there's more opportunities in the city. So he lives with the monks. The monks, because they're more important, sleep on beds higher than the villagers who stay with them, like Dom. Pretty interesting!

Today we had a free morning so we went to visit the Children's Hospital that gives free heath care to the children. There's a large need for blood - so I did my part and gave a pint (don't worry - it's perfectly safe - needles used once, rubber gloves, the whole bit). My guide gives every 4 months and hung out with me while I was getting leaked. After the hospital we visited an orphanage. The children are so cute!! They're well cared for and have a better future because they're educated until they're at least 18 - not the norm in Cambodia. Two of the children who've left the orphanage are studying medicine and the law with the support of the orphanage, but no longer live there. The place is run off private donations - what a worthy cause!
No time to upload photos - so that's it for now!

The Dancing Road

Greetings from Siem Reap! Today we made the journey from Bangkok, starting around 7am, overland to Siem Reap, Cambodia which is near Angor Wat and other famous temples. It was really interesting to see the countryside of Thailand and Cambodia and see how the people live here. It's a bit different in the rural areas than in the cities. It's a hard life but the people we've met - they're all rather happy and friendly. We stopped in this one tiny village to use the toilets and get some snacks & water. Since it's Sunday, we talked to some of the children. They learn English in school and knew all the different countries we're from & the capitals. Pretty smart, eh?

Last night I met up with my tour group - it's a good bunch! We have a pair of guys from Switzerland, a couple originally from South Africa who now live in Australia, another guy from Australia, a girl from New Zealand, a girl from Ireland, an English bloke, and my roommate from Belgium. There's a diversity in ages too - from my age to about 50, but everyone is really cool. Our guide is from Tasmania but has been traveling for quite some time and knows a lot about Indochina. Everyone except for our guide and the South African couple are on the tour all the way to Hanoi. In Ho Chi Minh City we switch guides and might pick up some other tourists to fill out the group.

I've included two photos here - the first one is one of the ways they recycle Coke bottles. It's kind of hard to see but they're filled with a yellowish liquid - gas! Gas stations aren't so common in the country side so this is how they fill up the minibikes. The photo is a bit hazy because the roads are packed dirt and rocks with lots of ruts so a lot of dust gets kicked up a bit. The locals all tie scarves around their necks to not breath it all in. It took us about 6 hours to go from the Cambodia/Thailand boarder to Siem Reap, but it wasn't too bad. The road must have been recently filled in because it wasn't as rutted as it could have been. My guide calls the road "The Dancing Road" because the bus jumps up and down so much as we go along.
The second photo is of a rice patty - isn't it beautiful!

Some photos of Bangkok

The internet is pretty slow - so here's a few highlights (4 out of 172). The first picture is at the Grand Palace. The second is across the river at Wat Arun. Those steps are soooooo steep you had to be very careful going up and down. There was one woman, about my age, who was crying because she was scared of going down. It's much scarier going down than up. The last photo is a woman making fried bananas - they looked so good and it was right before lunch, so I couldn't resist. They were totally worth it!!!

Days become nights

Last night I arrived safely in Bangkok and today I've been touring around a bit. It's pretty easy to get around because most everything is in Thai and English. They even have a thing for 7-Eleven's here - I saw one across the street from another. The cars here look fairly new - lots of Toyotas and many Corollas, although they're a bit different because they drive on the other side of the road here. One thing I kind of like is the traffic lights count down - like our cross walks do. So you know there's 20 seconds till it changes to green or yellow.
I thought the long flight from Dulles to Korea (like 14 hrs) was kinda like being in Vegas - you have no idea what time it is. They feed you randomly, it's always dark, and there's no clocks. It kinda helped me reverse my days and nights to get on their schedule here. We were packed in tight in cargo class (aka economy) but it was nice having individual screens to watch movies or pick music to listen to.
Today I saw several Wats - which are Buddist temples. They're all pretty cool and I took lots of photos (no surprise there). I blend in a bit better here, snapping away photos, because the Asian tourists are far worse than I with respect to taking photos. During the changing of the guard this morning at the Grand Palace, I thought one set of Asian tourists were about to join the formation to get a better photo!! The best part is I've found no shortage of people who can take a decent photo for me while wandering the city alone.
And as a note - it's early morning for you but late afternoon for me. So the middle of the night for you is the middle of the day for me. Kinda strange. But I'm surprised how quickly I adjusted to the time zone. It's really not that bad.

SE Asia Trip Itinerary

It's Tuesday night and I'm getting ready for the trip... It still hasn't sunk in that I'll be halfway around the world come Friday night. Here's the basic plan for my adventure -

Nov 2 - arrive in Bangkok after traveling for a long time.
Nov 3 - Tour Bangkok and meet up with my tour group in the early evening.
Nov 4-6 - After taking a long bus ride from Bangkok, Thailand, I arrive in Siem Reap, Cambodia. While staying in Siem Reap, I'll visit Angkor Wat and surrounding areas. It is a World Heritage site and sounds amazing!
Nov 7-8 - Fly to Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh. Here I'll learn about Cambodia's tragic past and check out some of the other (less depressing) attractions.
Nov 9 - Traveling via boat, I enter into Vietnam and travel on to Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon).
Nov 10-12 - See the sights of Ho Chi Minh City and visit the Cu Chi tunnel network where the Viet Minh soldiers hid during the war.
Nov 13-14 - After a short flight to Danang, I take a bus to Hoi An which is known for its architecture, ceramics, wood-ware, paintings, and tailoring.
Nov 15-16 - Jump on another bus for a scenic ride to Hue. I'm looking forward to the dragon boat cruise on the Perfume River and visiting the plethora of pagodas and monasteries as Hue is the center of Buddhism and education in Vietnam. The last night in Hue I board an overnight train to Hanoi.
Nov 17 - Arriving at Hanoi in the morning, I'm ready to start my day of sight seeing.
Nov 18 - In the morning, I jump on a bus to Halong Bay, another World Heritage Site. Once at Halong Bay, we board a private boat to see some of the 3000 limestone karsts, enjoy the emerald waters, and explore some of the caves.
Nov 19-20 - After spending the night on the boat in Halong Bay, we take a bus back to Hanoi for another day and a half of sight seeing.
Nov 21 - I sadly must kiss Vietnam goodbye as I board my plane in the late morning back to Bangkok. But the adventure doesn't end there - I have a 9-hr layover in Bangkok so there's some time for another bowl of noodles and a little more shopping. That night I board another plane to begin the long trip home.
Nov 22 - Arrive back in the States! The weird thing is my 13hr 35min flight (an hour shorter on the return) from Korea to Dulles takes off a half hour after it lands (depart - 10am, arrive - 9:35am). Gotta love crossing the international date line!