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Published: September 25th 2006
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Siem Reap, Cambodia
Arriving at the bus station. We're in Hanoi, just got here this morning after a 14 hour overnight train ride. Since my last entry we have been moving relatively quickly through southeast asia. Alan and I have until October 16 to be in Beijing for a flight back to Bangkok, and we are definitely not used to operating under a deadline. But funds are running low, and I'm not done travelling just yet. I needed to figure out what to do after Asia, so I decided to get a work visa and go back to New Zealand to get a job until I save enough money to do South America.
So we've had to budget our time to make sure we see what we want and get there in time. We spent roughly another week in Laos after my last entry. First we went to the capital city of Vientiane which was nice, a bit seedy but good food. From there we went to the area called 4,000 islands and spent a couple days relaxing in the countryside and riding bikes. But then one morning we woke up and decided it was time to move on to Cambodia and so we hopped on a bus
Sighhhh....
Another Wat and art museum in Vientiane. to Siem Reap. It was a 2 day journey. After crossing the Cambodian border (this was uneventful, unlike my previous experience crossing from Thailand) and transferring between a few buses and cars, we end up in Khampon Cham to spend the night. Cambodia has a reputation for horrible roads and I can vouch for that. They're mostly in real bad condition and although they officially drive on the right side of the road, in real life it's more like drive wherever you want. Anyway, the next day we show up in Siem Reap. The main attraction there is Angkor Wat which is the largest religious complex in the world. Basically that means a lot of really old and really big temples. So we hired a cool tuk-tuk driver who took us around to the sites and gave us some history about it.
Siem Reap itself is a pretty nice city. But there is a really sad and depressing history to Cambodia which is impossible not to notice. Effects of the Vietnam War and Khmer Rouge are right on the surface, especially shown in the number of amputees resulting from some of the 8 million unexploded landmines still in the
Riverside dining
In Vientiane watching the sun go down. country. In our next stop, Phnom Penh, we took a day trip to the Killing Fields used by the Khmer Rouge for the mass execution of Cambodians. Their goal was to kill only the educated and smart citizens because they were believed to pose the biggest threat to the new government. The regime is believed to have killed between 1 and 3 million people. There are hundreds of killing fields, being at one of them was horrible, and I only put up a few pictures because I don't really like looking at them.
Another well known activity around Phnom Penh is going to the shooting range. Fortunately we did this before seeing the killing fields. The twist on this is that you can fire pretty much any type of gun you want. They give you a menu with your choices, which includes everything from revolvers to anti-aircraft guns and I am not kidding. For $200 they will drive you up a mountain and let you fire a rocket launcher. We wound up shooting an AK-47, M-16, Tommy Gun, and a Colt 45. I had never fired a gun before in my life, and I will admit it was pretty
Vientiane
Sunset over the river. scary. And very disturbing. I don't plan on doing it again anytime soon. It left me thinking that anyone who is against gun control but has never fired a gun should really try it out and then see what they think.
Enough of that. Let's talk about something funny. Like Alan. Specifically, the handlebar moustache he was rocking for about 3 weeks. It was totally badass, I think people were actually frightened of him when he spoke. Then, how about that time in Siem Reap when Kate somehow convinced Alan to let her straighten his hair. I hope you all enjoy that picture.
Next stop was another long bus ride to Ho Chih Minh City, Vietnam. In general, I would describe Vietnam as being developed without being overly westernized, at least compared to other countries around here. No McDonald's or anything like that (actually, none since Thailand). But it's a really big city and really crowded and crossing the street is harder than anywhere else I've ever been. Put it this way, the city has a population of 5 million people and a total of 4 million motorbikes. Taxis are a bit expensive so to get around you
Jumping into the river
At 4,000 Islands. Lao people work hard and play dangerously. generally hop on the back of someone's motorbike for cheap. It's dangerous but no more so than crossing the street on foot, and way more fun. We tried some Vietnamese coffee, spent some time at the markets, ate weird food, played pool, etc. Also, Ho Chih Minh City was also the scene of one of the most epic bar crawls of all time.
No time to waste, so after a few days we took another overnight bus up to Nha Trang which is a beautiful beach town. We were there for 5 days and I was having an amazing time, I definitely did not want to leave. One of the days we took a boat trip to a few islands around the area which turned out to far exceed our expectations. It was a shitty boat but the people who ran it really got everyone having a great time there. Then it was time to move on, we were heading to Hanoi. Hanoi was still a long way away so we spent one night in Hoi An to break up the ride. And after 6 weeks of travelling together, this was also where we had to split up with
Broken chain
Bicycles pretty much suck. Katie, she met up with a couple friends and is heading back to England soon. So we said our goodbyes and now it's just me and Alan finishing up Vietnam, then off to Hong Kong and China.
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platt
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GUNZ
yo dude....what's the difference between a rocket launcher and a bazooka...i think my G.I. Joe (Sargeant Slaughter) used to have a bazooka....keep it up bud...the stache, ...oh, and the baby look...that hat you were wearing reminded me of that adult baby in who framed roger rabbit....pizeeace..jigga...you guys have enough music and books over there...can i send some?