!0 days into Cambodia; 10 days left in Cambodia...bring it on!

When we were in Xian, riding our tandem bike around the city walls, we rode past several local Chinese people strolling along the wall. There was an old couple, looked to be n their 80’s . the old man was very tall and slender, looking kind of like Lurch from the Addam’s Famiy. He was wearing an old Chinese communist style green coat, buttoned high on the neck and we was walking a little ways in front of his wife, his hands clasped behind his back. His face was deeply, deeply lined and he looked very solemn and intense. But this was when Alicen and I were having the best time riding, as we passed him, I couldn’t help but smile, really wide and naturally, almost laughing. We made eye contact for just a second when I smiled and his face suddenly broke out of its solemn mold and he smiled back. His face was incredible how much it changed and he looked like just the single nicest human beings ever.
It was one of those moments that I think will stick with me for a long, long time. One things I’ve learned in the face of all these different cultures and types of people is that smiling is universal.

enough about smiles and human connection, let's get back to the story of really old rocks.

Angkor continues to blow my mind each day! We keep going to new temples that we may read a little about or were brand new, but each time our expectations have been blown away; except for maybe Angkor Wat itself…it was about what I expected, but still really amazing….

Today we saw the first temple built in the Angkor area, (Angkor is about the size of (Dr.) Manhattan island), and it actually still had a functioning Buddhist monastery adjacent. So we' were walking through this 1200 year old temple, just before sunset, with fresh flowers blooming, surrounded by jungle, with monks chanting and tropical birds filling the air…it was, in a word, totallyfreakingkickassasamazing. In more; the temple was patterned after a mountain, but with the sun over its right side it almost like a giant person. Whether it was a person or a mountain, I could see how people a thousand years ago could have made these distant treks through the jungle to find this place and easily believe that it was the home of a god.

The internet has, obviously, been an issue since arriving into Cambodia. As have been a lot of things.

Cambodia has given us some definite culture shock but we’ve been adjusting and making adjustments along the way, as well as learning more about what exactly we want this trip to be.

After leaving China, into Hong Kong, passing through the dangling steel Cage of Death, bouncing off Thailand, we've found ourselves surrounded by the victims, survivors, the next generation from a major war and genocide, and Angkor.

It’s been an interesting transition.

We’re now officially well into the second leg of our trip. China already seems like a bit of a distant memory. It was what it was and it was hugely significant for the both of us…but it was also cold…and now it is warm…and that is cool.

China was super low budget, backpackers style and we loved it. Bu in Cambodia, that style of travel puts you a lot closer to what we were sensing was pretty legitimate danger once we got to Cambodia. We were both feeling really on edge and unsafe through the first few days of being in Phnom penh…that coupled with the killing fields and everything, we were really pretty freaked out and a little depressed. We actually bailed from out hostel one day early, even though they refused to give us a refund because the neighborhood and the people working at the hostel felt too sketchy. So we moved to another place for the last night that a couple we met were staying at and liked. It was better but not fantastic. Out view out the room window looked like a war zone .I’ll be sure to mark that one when we can finally post pictures again so you can see what I mean.

But then we took the 5 hour boat up the river to Siem Reap, checked into a higher quality hotel, and started seeing the temples…it was bettre but it still didn’t feel quite right.

After a couple days we were sure we wanted to stay a full week to see the temple, but the hotel still didn’t feel right! Every time we came downstairs to the lobby about 5 tuk-tuk drivers would harass us to hire them, even though we were only a ten minute walk from where we were going..plus the guy at the front desk is a jerk…different cultures can count for a lot, but all culture aside, sometimes a jerk’s a jerk. And he was one….a jerk, that is.

Anyway, we still not feeling great, were a bit low, and hadn’t quite settled into the warm trip yet. Then, after another poor night sleep due to the uncomfortable bed, we decided to get out of that place ASAP and find a hotel and a) a Pool and b) a Gym, deciding that more than anything we needed some exercise and some sun.

We found a place across town, closer to the temples actually, that wa over double the price (but that’s still cheaper than a cheap budget hotel in the US) with a great bed, a bathtub (even a shower that was separated from the toilet by a tub or even a curtain would have been great…all out showers have been just a nozzle next to the toilet and sink….), a totally sweet pool, and a really well equipped fitness room. We also met a tuk-tuk driver that we both really liked a lot right away. His name is Khan (KHAN!!!). He is a very good and safe driver, his tuk-tuk is clean and well decorated with a nice seat cover and a dangling teddy bear who we have recently named Mr. Bearjangles. So Alicen negotiated with him and hired him exclusively for the rest of our time in siem reap. That was on Saturday and we hired until Tuesday. For
all the travel we’d be doing, we ended up agreeing to him with a really great price!

So now we have a fantastic hotel with a great bed, a sweet pool, a nice gym, and a full time private driver for another 2 days.

Our trip has officially transitioned and we are now comfortably settling into SE Asia mode. We may be changing some travel plans a bit in the next day or two as we’ve been spending a bit of time reevaluation what’s important for us on this trip and possibly renegotiating locations…but nothing set tey.

Of have I mentioned how great today was. It was great.


Get this; there are no McDonalds in Cambodia. NONE! That blows my mind!

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