Cambodia...temples.. and a big reality check

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So its time to move on from Cambodia... but i've learnt so much and have to recommend it to anyone that is into a culture that is pretty rich in history. The Gloria Anglor hotel was amazing.. and my guide Pysth also was great.

Apparently WWE wrestler John Cena is a popular figurehead here as I was repeatly reffered to by the name from the local people when walking in to a restuarant or bar and having a drink. I took it as a compliment.

The temples are worth the hype and the sunrise at Ankor Wat is unparrell to anything i've seen. I recommend taking the 3 day pass ($40).. do the temples in the morning and relax and in the afternoon. it gets hot at 2pm and its easy to get "templed out" and tired. If anyone wants to know more details of the logistics..just message me.

What also amazed me was how smart the kids are here. Unfortuantly, there are many kids trying to sell post cards and trinkets at the temples. However, there was a 4 year old Camobodian girl that created a moment for me that I will probably never forget. It made me laugh the entire day....and a few days later I still laugh. As i entired the temple area, this girl come up to me and asked where I was from...after telling her "Canada" she then proceeded to list off the 10 major canadian cities... I was impressed (becasue some canadians cant do that)... she then continued to count to 10 in english and then in french...to which was continuing to be impressed by... I still said no...and she told me "ok ... lets make a deal... i play you in a game, if I win ...you buy something...". I liked this approch as she then started to draw a tic tac toe board in dirt with a stick. She went first with the X in the top left corner.. and i followed with the opposite corner at the bottom right. In a second move, she put her x inthe bottom left and essentailly trapped me for an enviditable finsh. I had to block her.. she followed with the X in the top right corner... and put herself in a double win position for the win. It was tactical brillience. I was sharked by a 4 year old.. had to buy 10 postcards for a dollar... and kinda really impressed with how clever the girl was i thoguht it would just to give her $2.

Had some verygood Cambodian BBQ at meng BBQ...incredible price for $5 with beer (everything is usually in US currancy). After eating..i was invited for a couple beers by the local patrons (again the John Cena reference).. Offered money but the refused ..so I knew the offer was legit. By the night ended I had enough beers in me that was going to give me a good night sleep.
The other signifcant note.... was after a little bit of significate searching... i was able to find Charlie's bar playing the Canada gold medal hockey game. Maybe not surprisingly there were about 30 Canadians getting the pitchers flowing and singing the Canadian Anthem in Siem Reap by the end of the game at 9:30 pm.



So on the 25th it was time to leave and move on to Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh) ... I've only been here a few hours and to say i am alittle overwhelmed is a bit of an understatement. The place is crazy...no crosswalks but maybe a billion motorcycles running around that compares this to a reality version of Frogger. I was also humbled to know that my vietnamese language skills suck... and i need to get better fast. The month of trying to learn by You Tube was a start... but not enough to get me by.

In just a few short hours in Ho Chi Minh, its been apparent that i have alot to learn in a very short time

Till Next time...

PIGPEN

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