What a beach!

Well, there was definitely one spot in Cambodia I wasn't going to miss. Mainly because of the beach and the chance to dive again. I'd been land-locked for too many months now and was so increadibly ready to see the sea again. On the south coast is a quaint little town of Sihanoukville. As my tan was quickly fading, I was longing to set up camp near the waters edge. The beach area is actually just outside of Sihanoukvillle and is home to Serendipity and Otres Beaches. There are several other beaches but these are the only two I went to. Serendipity is the bubbling, peddling, loungy beach by day, and crazy party scene by night. At the opposite end of the spectrum is Otres where lounging is about all you can, and want to do. I enjoyed both actually. After a day and a half of Serendipity, Keren and I booked a dive trip for the following day. Four dives and a night dive and staying over on tiny little Ko Rung. We were both very excited for the adventure. We'd both dived in Koh Tao and were interested to see how Cambodia's waters were. After a two hour boat ride to Ko Rung, we settled into our digs, grabbed our gear, and hopped onto the boat for the day. First dive was a bit of a disappointment since I had major trouble equalizing and had to abort the dive. Sadly I sat on the boat and waited for the rest to finish. The visability was actually pretty crappy so I don't think I missed much. Second dive was a bit more shallow than the first, so my ears didn't get a chance to mess with me. Then it was back to the island to rest before the night dive. This was my first night dive and I was a little nervous. Just the thought of being down in the pitch black waters was starting to play with me a bit. All the girls said that it was actually easier to see in a night dive so I had to trust them. By now, I'm actually quite excited about the dive and we decend into the black abyss. Wow, it wasn't scary at all and it was pretty amazing to play in the plankton. If you mute your torch against your body, then wave your hands around in front of you, the plankton makes this amazing, magic-like green, sparkley lights. Unfortuneately, my ears started giving me trouble again and I wasn't able to go as deep as the girls, and eventually had to surface. So back to the boat for me. Drats. Once the others finished their dive, they were all excited about everything that they saw. Drats again. The dive master actually said that was the best night dive she's ever had. Oh well, what can you do. I am looking forward to another chance at a night dive in the future! So, back to the island, dinner and then bed. Two more dives the following day and I was crossing my fingers that I would be able to equalize and my ears wouldn't kill me. All my wishing paid off and we had two great dives. Not the best vis but much better than the day before. Diving is such fun! Anywho, we made it back to the mainland and spent the next two days chilling out at the beaches again. Our day at Otres was fabulous but Keren and I both got a little more sun than we hoped. Both red, but two different shades. Fortunately for me, I brown by the next morning and she, poor thing, was a lobster in pain. And to top it all off, she had to travel by bus, for something like 36 hours, through to Bangkok and up to Chiang Mai. Ouch. I myself, hoped on the bus heading for Kampot. Luckily my trip was only 4 hours. So we said our goodbyes, and she made me promise to make a trip to Isreal in the future! Sounds good to me. Now, Kampot is a cute, little town but seriously, not much to do there. I took a tour to Kep, stopping along the way to a, not so exciting cave, not so exciting pepper plantation and a not so exciting salt farm. The countryside was very nice as I rode for several hours on the back of the motorbike. Whilst the pepper and salt farms were not the most fascinating, it was interesting to see how the pepper was grown and the salt made. The best part of the entire day was the meal I had in Kep. It's a beach and fishing town, and I had the most delicious plate of fresh crab cooked in garlic and the fresh Kampot pepper. It took me nearly an hour to finish, and I relished every bite. Hard work. Having nothing left to do in this town, I booked a bus to Saigon, Vietnam. It was a travel day from hell and I couldn't wait to find my bed when we finally arrived.

Cambodian Genocide

While traveling to all of these wonderful places, and having such great experiences, you can't overlook the history of these countries. Cambodia suffered extremely through mass genocide by the Khmer Rouge from 1975 to 1979. Even though the technical dates are these 4 years, the attacks and murders by the Khmer Rouge lasted until 1998. One third of the entire Khmer population was killed, from starvation, malnutrition and brutal tactics of the Khmer Rouge themselves. It was a sort of ethnic cleansing by ways of knocking out any western influence partaken of their own people. The wealthy, educated, military and government workers, and pretty much anyone who wasn't a peasant working out in the rural villages were banished from the cities, sent out to their demise. Disease was a major player in the deaths as medicine was a western invention and doctors were thoroughly educated. Many families lost all of their members and many more were left with only one or two survivors. Thousands made thier way to refugee camps in Vietnam and Thailand. And many of these refugees were sent away to live in other countries like Canada and USA. During their reign, the Khmer Rouge managed to impregnate the land with countless mines, which today, still kill and mame people. So, a little bit of history that most people in the world don't have any clue about. I think it's important to learn about all that has happened. In the capital, Phnom Penh, which was the first city to be evacuated on April 17th 1975, the Khmer Rouge used a vacated school house, Tuol Svay Prey High School, as a prison, called Toul Sleng or Security Prison 21 (S-21). It's estimated that 20,000 people entered S-21, including women and children. They were imprisoned, interrogated, tortured and then killed. While most of the victims were Cambodian, it is known that some British, Australians, and Americans were also imprisoned. At the end of the war, the stench of the dead bodies was what led the Vietnamese to find the prison. Only 7 victims were barely alive. Many of the prisoners were marched 15 km to the killing fields, Choeung Ek, outside of Phnom Penh. It's estimated that 17,000 people were exacuted and buried here in mass graves. Since 1980, 8,895 bodies have been excavated and the skulls sit in the 17 level memorial that has been built in rememberance. Not all of the mass graves have been excavated. This was one of the most difficult things to see in person. The skulls are catagorized according to gender and age. Truly heartbreaking to see the sea of lost lives.Underneath the 1st tier is a huge pile of the clothing that has been recovered with the remains. Walking around the actual mass graves, pieces of bone fragment, and clothing surface as the rains errode the soil. You can literally see it. I honestly felt wrong for taking pictures of these things, but I really wanted to share these terrible sites, in hope that more people would learn what has happened to this country. The brutality of the Khmer Rouge was beyond extreme in the fact that they didn't use guns to kill, they tortured, and starved and executed their own people with tools and handmade weapons. At Choeung Ek, there is a large tree, still standing, that they used to bash in babies heads by slamming them up against it. One of the excavated graves had only women and children in it, naked. In another, all of the corpses were headless. It was the most barbaric experience. I don't think anyone leaves after visiting this memorial without a tear stained face.

After all of this tradgedy, the Khmer people have done all they can to rebuild their country. They were truly some of the most warm and friendly people. If you have any interest in learning more about the Khmer Rouge genocide, I strongly suggest doing a little research. It's amazing to me that I never learned about this history in school.

Now, I took a few pictures of S-21 and Choeung Ek. Please take a look since you now know a little bit of the history, if you didn't already. There are also several biographical books about the misrule of the Khmer Rouge. I read Loung Ung's 'First they killed my father' and am currently reading her second book, 'Lucky Child'. They are worth the read.

http://picasaweb.google.com/candimichael/KillingFieldsAndS21PrisonPhnomPenh

Khmer You

Yikes, I'd written a few paragraphs of this post and it didn't save. crap. Let's hope that I can remember what I said before. I'm sure it was brilliant. hehe

While you are traveling anywhere, especially S.E Asia, you meet so many people along the way. Asia is dirt cheap and therefore, draws many tourists, since you get more bang for your buck. No pun intended, unless you are that type of guy. Anyway, you are constantly meeting fellow travelers who are on the same route as you. Some are following in your tracks and others have just explored where you're heading. Obviously there is much advice given and taken about each others future destinations. And truly, it can really help you out. A couple of girls I met my last days in Laos, gave me spot on tips on guesthouses and things to do in Cambodia. As well as suggestions and advice, I like to know the opinion of fellow travelers on what they thought of a country that I'll be soon exploring. I know I gladly give my opinion of Malaysia, since it was the least pleasant experience I've had in all of my travels. Having said that, most countries here are preceded with glowing reviews. However, views of Cambodia were equally split on good and bad. Some said that you'd be hard pressed to fill an entire week and that the people were unfriendly. Others said that 2 months still wasn't enough time and that the people were absolutely lovely. So I had no idea what to expect.
I left Laos with my new found Isreali friend Keren. We took a crazy long bus ride into Siem Reap. Our border crossing experience was less than favorable, with Khmer officials squeezing more dollars out of you at every turn. It really sucks when you constantly feel like you're being scammed and there's nothing you can do about it. Finally arriving in Siem Reap well past midnight, we wanted to go to the GH that was recommended. So at this point, we were 3 Americans and 4 Isrealis. We nestled into our rooms and couldn't have been happier to NOT be bouncing around on that horrid bus.
What can I say, I absolutely loved Siem Reap. Most people who visit Cambodia, do so because of the famous Angkor Wat. It's the 8th wonder of the world and truly magnificent. You can tour the vast area for one, three or seven days. I opted for the 3 day pass so I wasn't rushed to see it all. You hire a tuk tuk for the day at an astronomical $12. Let me tell you that by Asian standards, this is very expensive. We lucked out on a very sweet driver, Dat, who is currently studying English. You begin with Angkor Wat (the main temple that people just refer to the whole area as), and then make your way around to the countless other ruins in Angkor Thom. I did manage, after three days, to take almost 400 photos. The ruins are so amazing that you just don't think you'll be able to explain it all, so maybe pics will help. As I look back at my photos, it just doesn't seem to capture the magnitude of the place.
Day 2, Dat picked us up and we set off to do the big circuit, which is mainly a larger loop that reaches even more temples. Wow, the sun was so incredibly hot the entire time. I'm amazed that not one of us got ill. It was a ton of walking and climbing.
My two favorite sites were the countless faces or Baphuon and the stangehold of trees at Ta. These are probably the most iconic ruins and what you'll see photos of most often. Rightfully so, they are extraordinary.
After two long, exhausting days, we opted to use the final day to wake at the crack of dawn to see the sunrise. You'd be amazed at the amount of people show up at 5 am to see this site. It was quite nice and I'm glad we did it. After however, we decided to squeeze in one last ruin. Apparently this final place was known for it's dangerously steep steps leading to the top. Of course we had to tackle it. Once at the top, we stalled knowing that our decent would not be a fun one. Even if I had taken a photo, it would portray the severity of steepness. It did take us nearly a half hour to reach the bottom. More than one of us was terrified. Needless to say, we were at our wits end of temples and honestly I didn't care to see another wat for quite a while. I think that everyone should make a trip to see Angkor Wat. You won't regret it.

Even though Angkor Wat was the main attraction in Siem Reap, this city is lovely and filled with plenty else to do. I took a tour of the Silk Farm and was quite delighted. You get to see beginning to end how the silk is made and it was very interesting. The worms make this bright yellow cacoons. By the time they are finished, they are incased in these tight little pods of silk. After which, unfortuneately, they are then dropped into boiling water (poor little guys) and a hand cranked machine begins to detatch the silk from the pod into a long thread-like strand.

After many more steps, the silk is spun and dyed. The spools of silk are then placed on the massive, hand looms and weaved into beautiful material. The intricate scarfs were amazing.




Needless to say, I've enjoyed some incredibly amazing food on my travels. However, there is only so many days you can go eating Asian food. It is so good but as soon as I spot a Mexican restaurant, no matter how expensive it is, I'm there in a heartbeat. This was actually Keren's birthday dinner and the fellow American, Christine, might have been just as happy as I was for our fiesta, AND, happy hour margaritas. NICE! The three of us spent our first day, shopping our legs off. I was proud to be the one who spent the least amount of dough. I still spent enough but in Asia terms, that means $20. Who could ask for anything more? To reward ourselves we tried the fish spa. Holy crap, it was the strangest thing. It took severe consentration to now wriggle around from the tickling sucks of all those tiny fish. You end up with soft and smooth feet. Again, NICE!
We pulled ourselves out of the clutches of Siem Reap and made it to Phnom Penh. At the risk of saying, once more, that I love food, Cambodia is no exception. I really loved the cuisine here. While not nearly as spicy as Thailand, which was unfortunate, I filled myself with their fresh spring rolls and traditional dish Fish Amok. I actually couldn't get enough of the Amok. The girls and I took a cooking class and learned how to make both of those dishes. Yum. Certainly a fun day!

Check out the pics!
http://picasaweb.google.com/candimichael/CambodiaSiamReap
http://picasaweb.google.com/candimichael/AngkorWat
http://picasaweb.google.com/candimichael/SilkFarmSiemReap
http://picasaweb.google.com/candimichael/CambodianCookingClassAndMonks

Laos PDR- Please Don't Rush

My visit to Laos began with an uncomfortable yet very fun 2 day ride down the Mekong River on the slow boat. The boat on the first day was filled with short, shallow wooden benches that my western tush could barely fit on. I certainly don't have a tiny Asian butt. The boat was packed and we still managed to pick up locals along the way, as well as many various animals, even a motorbike. After 7 hours floating down the cappuccino-colored waters of the picturesque Mekong, we arrived at Pak Beng. Nice guesthouse with a gracious owner who forcefully filled us with the local homemade rice wine, Lao Lao. Uh, not the tastiest and burns all the way down your throat and chest. The glass was passed around many, many times and no refusal was accepted. Fun but deadly. he he. We wandered around the streets, desperately trying to find someplace showing the World Cup but with no luck.
Early the next morning, much to every one's surprise, our boat had huge, cushioned seats, just like from a mini van. Nice. This made for a much more comfortable ride to our final destination of Luang Prabang. The scenery was amazing. We even saw an elephant just up from the riverbank as well as numerous water buffalo. I would definitely recommend this trip to anyone who is heading to Laos. If your arse can stand it that is.
Arriving in Luang Prabang was much anticipated. What a lovely city it us too. I fell in love with it as soon as I arrived. It's a quaint little city with a heavy French colonial influence. Much to my amazement, Lao is
the first country since I've arrived in SEA where baguettes and vino is in abundance. Having said that, I don't usually eat much bread and even though the wine is cheap, it's still 3 times more expensive than the beer. Of course. So my beer belly continues to grow.
I rented a bicycle for several days whilst in Luang Prabang. It's a great city to explore on two wheels. During the middle of the day, i.e. the hottest, I usually sneaked away to my room to nap and hide from the heat. You'll rarely catch a local awake, let alone moving, during this time of day. When entering a local hang to grab a drink or bite to eat, you almost always end up waking someone to get any service. It's quite hilarious. Lao must be the slowest country in the world. Seriously.

I went kayaking one day down a river, which I can't remember the name of, and had a great time. There weren't any rapids or anything even close; however, the people in two different kayaks, managed to tip their boats over, twice. I couldn't quite figure out how they managed that one. You had to have pretty much jumped out of it to end up in the water. Who knows. Even though the river was pretty tame, it's amazing how much your arms hurt after. I guess it's just the muscles you don't use very often. Especially when you are traveling, lazy and completely out of shape. Hmm
The best part of the entire day was the children when we stopped for lunch. As soon as they saw our kayaks approaching, the run down the hill towards the river, throw off all of their clothes and jump in to swim towards us. The climbed up on our boats and pulled us into the bank. You've never seen so many happy, little naked kids. They were having such a blast playing in the water. One of the guys in our group was taking turns throwing them up in the air while they back flipped and splashed back into the water. They were loving it. The boys were pretending to be afraid to be next in line but as soon as they had their turn and ran up to the camera to see the picture just taken of them, they were all smiles and laughs. A bunch of hams really. None of them were shy to all of the photos and many were eager to be the center of attention. We had a delicious spread of local Lao dishes all laid out on huge banana leaves over the dirt ground. Once finished, the kids devoured the left overs. I'm sure this a daily event for them with all of the kayaking tours.


Also in LP was a fabulous waterfall that was so nice, I went back again. The pools of water were a gorgeous turquoise. There were several levels as you headed towards the fall itself. On the walk up the side of the falls, towards the top, there was a not so obvious path which lead up to this amazing level of pools, cliffs and falls.



Although the water was freezing, it was fantastic to lean over the edge and look down to your possible, impending death. As I said before, I went twice. It's hard to believe that these are naturally formed pools.
Well, after many days in this great city, I finally had to pull myself away and head to the next town of Vang Vieng. Now, I'd heard many things about this place and wasn't quite sure how I was going to like it. Basically, it's a tiny town, overrun with tourists and their main, actually only goal, is to go tubing down the river and get pissed drunk. I mean wasted.


You hire huge, tractor inter-tubes, and a tuk-tuk takes you up river and drops you off. From there, you float downstream. But what actually happens is that there are loads of 'bars' lined on both sides of the river. When you are approaching, they throw out a rope with something attached to the end of it, and try to pull you in. Once you get out, they give you free shots and such, and if you want to jump off the many giant rope swings or slides, you must buy drinks before they will let you up. Each bar does the exact same thing. End result, lots of incredibly drunk 20-somethings, jumping off super high things into rapidly moving water. Yikes. Many people die here every year. Stupid people.
Instead of taking that route, I only stopped at one bar and then leisurely floated down the remainder of the river, which was, absolutely beautiful! I really am getting old.


Not wanting to experience Vang Vieng the way most people do, I moved to a guesthouse on the other side of the river called Maylyn. This was such a wonderful place. It's owned by an English guy who's married to a Lao woman. He's quite a character and made for a very entertaining host. This side of the river is where the real beauty of the country is. It has several caves which were such fun to explore. I've never actually had to squeeze myself into such tiny spaces as I did in one of the caves. Had I been any bigger, there's no way I would have fit. I walked out of there covered head to toe in mud. This wasn't the only time however. I went on my first ever mountain bike ride. Wow, what fun. If I thought I was dirty before, that was nothing. It's the rainy season now and the amount of mud I road through was such a blast. Luckily along the way, there were streams to wade through, which helped cool me down and wash me off.


Well, I finally had to leave Vang Vieng and headed down through Vientienne, very uneventful, then on to Si Phon Don ( 4 thousand islands). It was a long trek but there were some amazing sunsets around these tiny islands. There really isn't much to do here but I did meet a new friend, Keren from Isreal. We were both heading the same direction so after 2 days on Don Det, we hoped a bus to Cambodia. Ready for new adventures in a new country.


http://picasaweb.google.com/candimichael/LaosTakingABoatDownTheMekongRiver#
http://picasaweb.google.com/candimichael/LaosLuangPrabang#
http://picasaweb.google.com/candimichael/LaosVangVieng#
http://picasaweb.google.com/candimichael/LaosSiPhonDon#