2 days at a beach in Sihanoukville

The City of Sihanouk ville

Yesterday we arrived in a small city named Sihanouk ville. We are staying here two nights in Bungalows right on the beach. The weather has been very hot, but the sun is always out. Yesterday I sat on the beach with my friend Joesph and had some drinks. He said he recognized me on the beach by scanning the horizon and seeing a bright white glow (that was me due to my paleness). I was constantly being accosted by the locals, beggars and simple beach goers. It seems as though everybody is attracted to my pale skin. If I lived in Indochina I would simply drive the women crazy.

The people in my group are fun (for the most part). Joesph, the Canadian, and I hang out a bunch, it doesn't seem to matter that he's got 7 years on me. The kid from is always shopping and buying things. He came with 1 roller suitcase and now has more than doubled that since arriving in Bangkok. I have a little crush on this German girl (she's maybe 27-29?). Too bad she's only with us till Ho Chi Min City (or Saigon), which is in a few days. We loose several people but pick up 4 more at that time. When we get to Hanoi everyone except for 6 of us will travel through Lao. We have to take a 15 hour bus trip the first day of that Lao leg of the trip, which I am dreading.

The women here are very attractive, enough said... :)

So back to the beach yesterday...I was sitting down with Joe and women kept coming up to me and commenting on my chest (how I had trimmed the hair). They were rubbing my chest and saying something about waxing? I wasn't quite sure what they were saying, because their English is very broken. One woman brought out a spool of thread and said "[She] try on [me]." I say I have NO money, which is the truth. She says not to worry and that it's free of charge, and no money. I say, "um... ok?". She begins my wrapping the thread around her fingers on both hands and bites onto another piece. She then begins to tweeze individual hairs on my shoulder, VERY WEIRD. I tell her thank you but I'm OK and I have no money. She continues and then says she'll finish me and I can go back to my room and pay her. I tell her no, I do not consent. She didn't understand. I asked if she gave massages and of course she does, EVERYONE appears to. I had been wanting a massage (I'll be getting one today too), so I tell her that she Finnish my back and then give a 1-hour massage on the beach and that I would barrow money for her. I did barrow the money and after the 30 minutes of hair removal and 1 hour of full body massage (beach side mind you), I paid her $9. A very good rate, as I may get another massage today along the road for about $6/hr.

Last night after dinner and 3 beers Joe and I split from the group and went along the beach to check out the night life. Their were all you can eat BBQs that included Fish, Chicken, Beef, Pork, Seafood, Corn, etc. ALL FOR $3. Cocktails were between $1.50 and $3 and I stuck with Anchor beer on Tap that ranged from $.25 to $.75. We saw fireworks, very dismal.

We went to a bar and sat outside, about 15 foot from where waves stopped. We saw the Couple from Australia, Shelly and Michael. They were quite tipsy and had ordered a happy pizza. Joe and I looked at each other and laughed. They apparently did not understand why the pizza was 'happy'. When they asked the waiter he returned, "you mean you don't understand". They said no. He picked his fingers up to his mouth and side special ingredient. The Aussies then laughed at it a little skeptical and said they were fine and that they should continue the order. Joe and I also ordered one. It was essentially a pizza with cheese and Spaghetti-Os. I was tired to start with and we walked along the beach some more. We saw people doing tricks with fire twirling and heard all types of music. I heard Coolio, Led Z, Sublime, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the like. Some bars were themed in special ways, other more generic. We went to one and sat down on a mattress with pillows. Everyone looked at us and it soon became known to us that mostly everyone else was either with a prostitute or making out with their 'mate' on these cushions. Joe and I laughed it off and ordered a few drinks. I was very tired so we called it a night.

NOTE TO ALL: everyplace here has skype so if you'd like to talk to me, as I would you, give me your skype name and let me know if you want to set up a time to talk...it's free ya know.

see video of me eating a cricket below...

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Siem Reap, Phnom Penh, Cambodia...

Siem Reap...
Hey every body. I went to Angkor Wat the other day which was very very cool. It's a ~1000 year old temple complex that has many temples, one of which was used in the filming of Tomb Raider. It was Angelina Joli that was Lara Croft who was n Cambodia, that's when she find that Cambodian baby from the orphanage and adopted hi/her. Please see pictures of the ruins. That day I came back from the Wat and, well to keep things short, I lost my map, was alone and it had gotten dark. I was in a remote poor city in Cambodia and didn't even know the name of my Hotel. I knew it was named Angkor ___ Hotel, but that didn't help on account EVERY DAMN hotel had damn near the same name. I wandered aimlessly for 2 hours and finally found 1 tuk-tuk driver that spoke SOME English, and I MEAN SOME. He said for 2 dollars he would drive me around all night until I found my place. I found it and was very relieved . I wrote in my journal then went out again...nigh market, eating $0.25 meals of god knows what on the streets, etc... fun fun fun...


Phnom Penh...
The next day we took a 6 to 7 hour bus trip to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. During a 15 minute potty break I got a group of people to try some new foods...Only a couple did try though. The internet here is SO SLOW I can't upload my photos or videos. I will try again in a few days...
[here is the video of me eating a cricket]

We went down town in the Capital city and talked to some of the waitresses. One, who was 27, said she had a boyfriend from New York. When she showed us his photo I tried very hard not to laugh. He was 40+, had a paedophile's mustache, and was NOT attractive. I guess the term 'relationship' is a social construct and this was the first sort of culture shock' experience. It turns out many Thai and Cambodian ladies meet men (usually older, creepy, over weight, bald, greasy and just unattractive) and then 'date' them. What this means is the following:

• The man typically sends money over to the girl
• The man visits for several weeks (or longer) each year
• The man has sex and companionship
• The woman gets the ability to live outside of poverty.

The thing that blows my mind is that the men likely don't consider this AGREEMENT a relationship, but the girls are so vulnerable they believe anything. The power of un-education and poverty is enormous.

I must constantly refuse money for all the beggars. I counted last night but forgot the number so I counted again, of all the people, children and adults, that begged for money. I actually forgot that number again, but I do know that I had counted over 70 individuals that begged me personally for money BEFORE LUNCH TIME!

Today in Phnom Penh we went to the Genocide Museum and the Killing Fields. It was very reminiscent of the Holocaust. Afterwords we I went to the Russian Market with a couple of my friends. They had every animal and animal part you could think of (and couldn't think of). SHAWN...they had MANY types of Gucci, Coach, LV, etc. bags in all sizes. Let me know if you want any because I can get some in Vietnam or Bangkok. It was close to 100 degrees today and the smell of the raw, insect covered fish carcasses was not too appealing to us any more. Sonya and I were feeling adventurist so we decided to walk to the Kingdom Palace. A 6.5 km walk (that's about 4 miles). The other Germans came with us as well. After 2 hours and 15 minutes we arrived at our destination. It was more expensive than we though so only the girls went in and Stefin and I walked along the river and ate some food of the street. We ate some type of fried potato chive thingy? It was 800 Riel (about 18 cents). We took a motorcycle ride back to our hotel (two of us fit on one of the bikes). It was a 125cc engine, where as mine is a 650cc engine. So this thing was very 'scary' for me since I was on the way back and was nearly falling off. The driving on the roads here in unexplainable. There are not traffic signals or spot signs. No blinkers, NOTHING. People just drive with no regard for the lanes. 5 Motorbikes will span 2 lanes at times. If it's a one way street, it doesn't stop a motorcycle from just going up the center of oncoming trafic. I hear this is MUCH MUCH MUCH worse in Vietnam. I think I am going to get a suit fitted for me in Hoi An, Vietnam. I guess I can pick out any fabric (inside and out), style, and cut for about 50-70 dollars? Please help me MOMMY...

There is so much to say but it's hard to write it all out...I've been meaning to call but the times just SUCK, I am going to try to get a SIM card in Vietnam so I can call every other day or so.

I've been writing in my journal a lot, it's sort of a pain, but worth it. A couple other of the kids are doing it as well.

Tonight at dinner I had spicy frog leg stir fry and it was OK. The meat had so many bones and it was hard to eat. It was the hottest dish I've eaten thus far on my trip. I gave half a pepper to two other guys and they started crying and tearing and it was a mess.

I look forward to hearing from all of you and for the next two nights I will be in Sihanoukville staying on the beach and in a Bungalow.

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One night in Tokyo and meeting my group in Bangkok

Just Some More Logistics...

Hey everybody, So as you may or may now already know my flight to Tokyo was delayed so I missed my connection to Bangkok. United Airlines put me up in a very nice hotel in Tokyo and I had got a food voucher for 1,500 (Yen, that is). Even though I was full I forced myself to eat at least one meal while in Tokyo, so I got went to a restaurant and had a nice genuine Japanese meal. I think I like how the Americans do it (to be completely honest). But I digress, on to Bangkok...oh and one more thing, Singapore Air is the finest and best airline I've EVER been on. Can we say over 100 movies and over 200 TV shows ON DEMAND, WOW!

I got to Bangkok and met up with my group with only a handful of problems and issue as to be expected. In my group there are 15 total and 1 trip leader, who's name is impossible to pronounce so we call him AJ. The people are as follows (I'll spare you the names), including myself there are 2 of us from the US, 3 from Canada, 4 from Germany, 1 from England, 1 form Holland, One couple from Finland, One couple from Australia, and our guide is from Thailand. I am the youngest at 22 yrs, and the next oldest is the girl from Holland. Many are in the ages of 26 to 33, but there is a married couple from Canada that are 79 and 80 years old (yeah, you hear correctly).

My Indochina trip consists of 3 separate trips that focuses on 1 (Cambodia) 2(Vietnam) and 3(Lao). Of all the 15 people there are only 6 of us that will be traveling the entire 30 days, the other 9 will be either doing only Cambodia or Cambodia + Vietnam. I believe we will be picking up other backpackers though? The 6 are the married couple from Australia and the couple from Finland, plus me and a 27 year old German named Stefin. He and I are sharing a room together, which is tough on the account we can barely understand each other.

SO ENOUGH WITH THE DAMN LOGISTICS....

Last night in Bangkok a couple of us went out to a curbside restaurant (but I think they cooked out food outside). I ordered...Chicken Pad Thai. I thought that was an appropriate first Thai meal. I also had genuine Thai beer, Singha, and ordered it by the 22 oz. The cost of my Pad Thai, 30 baht ($0.85) and the entire cost of dinner + a full night of drinking...... less than $5. We got back to the hotel around 1 or 1:30 and woke up at about 5:30 for breakfast and hit the road by 7. We were off to CAMBODIA

oh, and by the way, I am at an internet cafe right now in Siem Reap, Cambodia with someone on my tour who reminds me of Andrew York.

ON TO CAMBODIA...
We split up in two groups and took privately hired vans to the Thai-Cambodian border. The trip was 3 to 4 hours. After getting out Cambodian Visas, stopping for lunch and some other pit stops, we were back on the road on the unpaved roads of Cambodia to Siem Reap. The 160km journey took 4 hours and was very very 'bumpy'. Looking out the windows into the world of Cambodia was very interesting. It was very different than the RICH Thailand. Here there is only one main road, that it's not even paved. The houses can barely be called houses and look like they should have fallen down years ago. People of all ages work in the fields and swamps. They tend to their cattle and are fishing in the dirtying mud-water--I wonder what those fish taste like?

After traveling for 8 or so hours we made it to Siem Reap, Cambodia and checked in to our hotel that we will be at for 2 nights. I am waking up at 4:30 tomorrow and taking a hired shuttle with some people to watch the sun rise over Angkor Wat. We will be spending the day there and head back to the hotels after sunset. I am going to try to get back online at that time and then maybe a nice Cambodian Massage? I mean an hour massage for $6 and no tax, it's hard to turn up. This evening we went to a local restaurant and I ordered Khmer Lok Lak, very good. For lunch I got a spicy Thai Soup with Pork. It was VERY spicy, I LOVED IT. We then watched a performance of traditional Cambodian Dance and Music and Song. I'm sure I missed a lot, so please write me and tell me what you want to hear. It's VERY hard to write down EVERYTHING that happens and it's VERY likely I'm missing the important or Interesting things.

I got a little sad and lonely yesterday when I woke up at the hotel in Japan and thought to myself, "Am I really going to be gone for that long". But I think it's going to be perfectly fine. I am meeting people and fitting in nicely and have been learning/doing a lot (and I've only been gone for several days). Mostly everyone on my trip has been or will be traveling for an extended amount of time in addition of this tour. A few will be gone for a total of 5 to 9 months, while the majority will be traveling for around 3 to 4 months. There are only 2 people that are only doing this tour, 2 girls from Germany who are Radiology Technicians. The people traveling in my group have been all over the world and have done amazing things. They are very independent and adventurous and make my 10 week trip sound like child's play.

Oh and by the way, no one here uses toilet paper. There is a hose beside the toilet to 'clean' yourself. Also, all the hotels here so far have had toothbrushes, soaps, and shampoos. ALSO, the toilet in TOKYO was SOOOO high tech. I didn't know how to flush it at first. There was also a bidet with multiple settings. Why you would need more than 1 just is beyond me. O well, cheers!

I would like to apologize for all typos and stupid grammatical errors I have or will be making. I have a lot to get across and I hope you don't hold my writing against me. ALSO I will be putting up some photos for this posting in the next day or two, or three.

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