And now time for some Edjamacation

---

Well well well....look who it is.

I have recently spent some time reading over my various blogs that stretch back to my days in New Zealand, and realize that I come across as somewhat of a drunk. This is not the case..sure I may go into a local speakeasy once and in while and partake in a snifter of brandy or two, if the mood should strike me...oh who am I kidding, I just like to party. So in order to balance this trend I will divulge some stories that have nothing to do with drinking...but no promises.


November 14th
In the short plane ride from the sweltering hot country of Laos, we begin to arrive in the equally hot country of Cambodia. Though I thought the two countries to be the same, there was one difference that quickly became apparent. As Alex and I discussed the pros and cons of metaphysics and string theory on a post colonial environment, I casually looked out our window and notice that all I could see were trees and houses sticking out of an endless sea. "Interesting", I muttered to Alex as I then looked out of the adjacent windows, only to be met with the same view. "Are we going to land here?" I asked to an equally perplexed Alex. As it turns out we were, for we continued to quickly descend till only a thousand feet separated us from this Katrina-look-a like. Being a poor flier I braced myself for some sort of impact but this was unnecessary, for with only seconds to spare I saw my first scraps of land which turned into the landing strip of Siem Reap. If I had done some research before hand I would have learned that much of the country floods each year allowing for the cultivation of the rice. Once we arrived I was met with the gorgeous airport of Siem Reap. This actually saddened me to see, for even here, in a country dubbed as a "third world" an airport existed that once again put Pearson International to shame.

Instead of taking a taxi to our hostel, Alex and I decided to take a far cheaper alternative...a motorcycle taxi. For less than a dollar a person, Alex and I placed our lives, and our luggage in the hands of what we hoped were great drivers. Now I know what your thinking..that these bikes must have had trolleys behind them in which you place your belongings for the ride....well not in Cambodia. The driver actually put my 23 kg bag between his legs while I had on my smaller backpack, and within minutes we were cruising down a very busy highway, covered in sand, to our hostel...Oh and for the safety conscious, they don't provide you with helmets...sorry mom.

November 16th
For those of you not in the know, Cambodia and in particular Siem Reap is covered with endless ruins of a once mighty power in Asia. Though there are many ways to see these ruins Alex and I found by far the best. Dubbed "Happy Ranch" this company allowed you to take out horses into the back country of Siem reap, in order to give you a view of the country few foreigners could see. Now I had only ridden a horse once in my life, so I felt pretty anxious about riding an animal through one of the most heavily mined countries in the world. But I was assured by our tour guide, a woman who had only been in the country for 5 months, that everything was going to be okay. Once we were given our horses, mine was called Rolando because he apparently like to kick horses when they were behind him, we were instructed to break them in and show them who was the boss, so that they would properly take our commands. Now I wasn't particularly happy hearing that my horse would only listen to me if I were to win its affection, but if it meant not dieing in doing so...well so be it. Our adventure first took us into the rice paddies around Siem Reap. This was actually my favourite part of the adventure for we passed by many small villages which lay on endless green rice fields dotted with enormous palm trees. Each village would explode to life, when we passed, as dozens of screaming children would run up to us yelling "Hi" and "where are you from?". An hour into our journey on a narrow dirt path, our guide asked if Alex and I would like to take our horses into a quick canter, sadly we agreed. "Just give them a light tap to the ribs with your heels" we were told, and that sadly was all it took for our two horses to go into a full sprint down this deserted road. Now trying to remember how to stop an animal you have only ridden once before and a decade in the past is difficult, but trying to do so while your saddle is repeatedly smashing you in the nuts at 30 km/hr is far more difficult. It was not till several hundred meters later that we were able to get our horses under control. Once this little episode ended, Rolando actually became quite well behaved in my hands and I began to feel quite comfortable on him.... Alex was not as lucky. For three times that afternoon I glanced behind me only to find Alex standing beside his horse who was rolling on his back on the dusty roads. Luckily for me I found it funnier each time it happened, as for Alex he grew to hate his horse with a passion...they are no longer on speaking terms. The afternoon ended with one of the greatest sunsets I have ever witnessed, yet sadly I was unable to extricate my camera in time before Rolando ran up an embankment. All in all it was a great day.

November 22nd
After 3 months of constant travel, I found myself for the first time truly alone, as Alex bid me a due, heading on his marry way to the country of Israel. So instead of listening to sad music and crying over a chick flick, I decided instead to see the Concentration camps and Killing fields of Phenom Phen in the southeastern region of Cambodia. Once one learns of the history of the Pol Pot regime and the massacre that went on to claim the lives of more then 2 million Cambodians during the late 70's, you get a very uncomfortable feeling being in this country. For unlike other countries with troubled pasts, those who orchestrated and carried out this genocide were never convicted for their crimes, and in almost all cases are still alive and free to roam the country. This really messes with your head when you realize that anyone over the age of 50 who you pass in the street or who serves you food on the corner could potentially be a mass murderer, or a victim of one of the many concentration camps found in the country. Though my time in Phenom Phen was spent seeing pictures of those about to die under the regime and even seeing skulls of more then 10,000 victims of the Khemire Rouge, it was in fact two scenes which rattled me the most during my time in Phenom Phen. The first was during a walk through the killing fields, when I was passing in between two huge holes, which were in fact mass graves. I had been trying to mind my step when I noticed I had unearthed a piece of cloth with my shoe. Upon closer inspection I realized I was holding a piece of a victims shirt, from 30 years ago! The second scene, was meeting a homeless man outside the Concentration camp of Phenom Phen who had been Napalmed, and yet despite his physical problems still remained very friendly and kind. Despite these horrors which many people in this country faced, I actually found these people to be very nice and incredibly generous with whatever they had.

November 25th
Despite paying full price for a month long entrance visa into Vietnam, I was in fact only given a two week visa. Yet by the time I actually set foot in Vietnam I only had 11 days to see this country before I had to head to South Korea. This was annoying but I tried and succeeded in making the most of it.

Two hours outside of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh city) is the small town of Cu Chi. Though many might not have heard the name, those in the military during the Vietnam war would be hard pressed to ever forget this place. For underneath this town and the 400 square kilometers surrounding it, is a veritable network of tunnels which the Vietcong used to transport weapons and live during their fight again American forces. This place remains one of the most heavily bombed areas in the world, and once the war had ended stood as little more then a mud flat for hundreds of kilometers in every direction. But despite the bombings the Vietcong underground network remained surprisingly intact, and could still be visited to this day. After we watched some interesting propaganda films from the Vietcong we were then show various boo bi traps which were used during the war. If you have watched any war movies from this time you would be well versed in horrors that the American army faced. From land mines to trap doors to large maces that would swing through the trees... most in fact created from reusing dud bombs dropped by the Americans. Finally our tour guide took us to some of the underground tunnels used by the Vietcong. These had actually been remade for "westerners", which meant that their width and height were doubled in size. I was comforted to learn this as I am somewhat claustrophobic. But upon entering the tunnel I realized that even in these larger holes my shoulders touched either side, and despite crawling on my hands and knees my back touched the roof. This was compounded with the fact that only 1 person had a flashlight...and this person was 3 people in front of me...so i was in complete darkness. I found this tolerable till those in front stopped...and they stopped quite often... then those behind me would be right on my heels making any kind of exit impossible. The temperature inside these tunnels was well above 100, and we had to actually descend 3 levels in order to reach the end. Once we got out I along with everyone else was shaking, and this was without a single gun going off or a single bomb being dropped... I have no idea how these guys did it. We were even taken to a shooting range where we could shoot off any gun under the sun. From Ak-47s to the craziest machines guns of the Vietnam war. Just me filming tourists shooting these guns was enough excitement for me, though my ears found it intolerable. It seems that those running this gun range believe that giving you computer headphones with the cord cut off, would sufficiently deflect the sound of a machine gun shot only inches from your face....suffice it to say I had a hard time hearing our tour guide for the rest of the day.


well thats all i can write for now

Catch ya on the flip side

Ryan

---

Photos

This little scene was out back of our hostel in Siem Reap
Croc farm

out and about
Alex's horse in only seconds away from rolling in the dust with him on it

S21 in the heart of Phenom Phen
S21 was the most well known of the Concentration camps in Cambodia

Definance
Though this man was only minutes away from death, when this photograph was taken, I saw a man who was strangely defiant.

The killing fields of Phenom Phen
these 10,000 souls were placed in a monument once they were discovered shortly after the war ended