Made it to Cambodia

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We made it to Cambodia and are relaxing in the beach town of Sihanoukville, on the Gulf of Thailand. We've backed up our photos on DVD, and I hope to send you some pictures today. Wish me luck. Here's a quick review of where we've been since I wrote last:
24 Feb: Finished our Thailand tour with a farewell dinner at a seafood restaurant. To get there, we rode three tuk-tuks ( a motorscooter hitched to a small carriage), with the drivers imitating the Dukes of Hazzard through the streets of Bangkok. As we've traveled, we've been on almost every kind of transportation Thailand offers, except for riding ourselves on the back seat of a scooter. I've been watching the scooters and counting the number of passengers. So far, my record is 6 -- 5 adults and one baby. There will be more about what's loaded on scooters in a later entry.
25 Feb: On our own again, and we went to 2 huge malls, where we bought some presents which we sent to Glen and Vivian via snail mail. The shipper's estimate is 2-3 months to delivery, so it will be interesting to see when we get a note from Vivian saying they've arrived. Got a "Thai massage" which involved a lot of pulling, stretching, and pressure point use -- she actually did walk on the backs of my legs and my butt. It felt strange but good. Tom is not going to get involved with that!
26 Feb: Took the express ferry to Chinatown, after fending of scammers that told us it was "closed"-- if that was closed, I'd hate to see open! The crowds were amazing, and everything in the world (literally!) is for sale, organized into streets and alleys. You mgiht see a whole alley of hammer and tool sellers. We met most of our group for the next trip, which will be divided into Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos portions. Most of the group will go with us the whole way. Most of the travelers are from the UK, with sprinkles from Boston, Denmark, Germany and Australia. Our guide, Bouna will have a challenge handling the motley crew.
27 Feb: Through the Cambodian border and 6 hours on a very bad dirt road to Siem Reap. This road is the only connection between Thailand and the tourist attraction of Anchkor Wat, so it's heavily used although it's under construction. Cambodia is much more rural than Thailand, with 80% of the population being farmers, growing corn, goats, cattle, and a little coffee and tea, plus (of course) rice. The rice paddies are mostly brown, awaiting the rainy season. Cambodia cannot irrigate fields from the rivers, so gets only one crop per year as the rains fill the paddies. No rain, no rice, no food. Homes are small, mostly bamboo and thatch. (Did I spell that correctly? No spell check on this computer.) Siem Reap shows how much Cambodia relies on the tourism to Anchkor Wat. There are 100 hotels and guest houses here, going up to the 5-star palaces expected by Korean and Japanese visitors. More on Anchor Wat in a separate entry.

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Photos

Jack in Bangkok
Our first night out found us across the street from an ad for "the local product".

Bangkok Wat
This tower is on one of many beautiful Buddhist temples in Bangkok.

Longtail boat
Bangkok relies on these to carry everything from tourists to freight along and across the river that divides the city.