Damnnnnn... It's been a while since I blogged.  Sorry, folks.  I know you all have been waking up everyday at 6am to run to your computers to breathlessly check if I'd blogged, saying a short prayer beforehand, then moaning in dismay when you discover there is no entry.  How many keyboards have you mutilated, loyal readers of mine? No matter, here goes.

Gee whiz, 11 days is alot to catch up on. The last time I blogged, I was supposed to go to the Chi Cui Tunnels but alas, I woke up the next day with stinky liquids spewing from both of my respective orfices and ended up in bed all day doubled up in a fetal position while Day and Bren went cavorting in the Chi Cui Tunnels. Damnation! They said it was quite interesting.  In any case, Phnom Penh was our next stop.  The second we stepped out of the bus (6hrs), we were overrun by taxi drivers - most of whom were working in conjunction with guesthouses for comission - literally screaming and hollering for our fares.  They surrounded us at all sides and shoved pictures of their guesthouses in our faces.  We fnally selected one Tuk Tuk and off we went to the "backpacker road," that is so common in every city we've been in. The highlights of the Phnom Penh visit, although 'highlight,' seems almost insulting and paradoxical, were the Killing Fields of Choe ung Ek and the S-21 prision.  For those of you not familiar with Cambodian (Kampuchean) history, in 1975 (I think), the Khmer Rouge won the civil war against the [aaiiee... forgot the name.. Thon something) army who had itself recently overthrown the Prince, saying his government was corrupt and catered to the rich.  In any case, in 1975 the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot (Cambodia's version of Hitler, I guess), sought to implement a communist and classless society which, in contradiction, actually had classes with the Khmer who were darker skinned and with thicker lips enjoying the advantages and with the military assuming almost total power.  To do this, the K.R. forced everyone to evacuate every city - Phnom Penh was almost empty for 3 years.  This was to bring more hands to the farmfields to grow more rice for this supposedly utopian classless agarian society. They also proceeded to close every school and university, then began killing people. Anyone who wasn't full Khmer, educated, doctors, lawyers - anyone who had the slightest possibility of being a threat. Even people who wore glasses, because this was a sign of intellect.  The Killing Fields was one of these mass excution sites. People were bludgeoned to death to save bullets and put into mass grave pits and sprinkled with the pesticide DDT  to stave off the smell in addition to ensuring that those who were still alive died from the chemicals. Here, the Khmer Rouge killed 17,000 of the 850,000 to 3 million (numbers aren't definite) Cambodians. There is a monument of skulls dug up by historians after the fact, the pits where the open graves were and a tree where children were stripped nude and beaten to death not to mention a tree where a loudspeaker blared music to mask the sound of the death moans of the dying so the neighbors would remain unawares. It is a truly chilling place. The Japanese bought the place and is now managing it as a tourist attraction and this upsets many Cambodians, although citizens of the country get free admission.  

This picture needs no words.

The S-21 prision was a large converted high school that housed at times thousands of prisoners who were chained to metal rods, starved, tortured, made to eat their own shit and all kinds of deplorable things were done to them. It was just so wretched.  At the end of the day, we were so depressed and melancholy.

Oh also, we went to the shooting range and I squeezed off 15 rounds from an AK-47. WOW. Goddamn loud, man. It only made me respect the true power and fury of guns, designed specifically to end the life of other human beings.

Phnom Penh

Have more stories to tell about Phnom Penh, but ask me in person. :) After 2 or 3 days in Phnom Penh, we headed north to Siem Reap. The city's name actually means, "Siam Defeated," pretty insulting to the Thai only a few hours away! Seems alot of the guesthoues are owned by european - the ower of ours was Austrian and we ran to him after an even more aggressive horde of taxi drivers assaulted us upon disembarking from the bus. In any case, the purpose of our visit was to see Angkor Wat (wikipedia has this to say: "Angkor Wat (or Angkor Vat) is a temple at Angkor, Cambodia, built for King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. The largest and best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre — first Hindu, dedicated to Vishnu, then Buddhist — since its foundation. The temple is the epitome of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Wat) I'm telling you, we were BLOWN away. The man-made moat is the largest in the world and is as wide as the freaking Potomac River in Washington DC! The Temples cover an area of 25 miles and it is stupendous. EVERY inch of the walls, ceilings is covered with relief carvings chiseled into the stone. Huge Buddha heads everywhere. I cannot describe it. It is a MUST see. I'm glad we decided to go to Cambodia for this one reason. Cambodia, however, probably contributed to the week-long bout with diahhrea that ensued afterwards. Pure liquid streaming from between my cheeks almost every hour - it was horrible.  At least I wasn't really sick in the sense of the word, I just got tired of sitting on the toilet.

Angkor WatOther temple, overrun by jungle.

 Angkor Wat - check out the size of the moat! These palm trees in front are TALL, fyi, to give you an idea of the sheer size of the structure.

Then it was off to Bangkok. Day elected to fly straight to Bangkok and then Ko Samui. Bren and I took a bus to Bnagkok were we met up with Jay Bunnag and stayed with him for 3 days. We joined him to a deaf gathering and met some Deaf Thais as well as Noah Beckman who is in Thailand working at a deaf school for 2 months. The next day we paid a depressing visit to an orphanage for 'disabled,' people with some deaf children there. It was pretty decent in the sense of accomodations but oh boy, the staff just sits there and does nothing. It was just sad. Noah Beckman was shocked to see that the teachers at his school don't assign homework, there are no organized after-school activities nor sports teams. After dinner the girls stay in the dorm while the boys mill around outside and play.  The girls clean everything in the school. I repeat, no homework. No tests. Aiieee. We'll visit the school on our way back, and I'll report more then. It was great seeing Jay and his girlfriend, they are doing great. I did get sick one whole day when the diahhrea took a turn for the worse and my stomach started cramping and missed a visit to Jay's wealthy aunt. Not again *groans* heh.

Then we headed south, a overnight bus ride then a boat ride to meet Day at Ko Phangan. This is were we have been for the last few days. It is a small beach with a dive center right next door. We went for a warm-up beach entry dive three days ago which was alot of fun... Simple dive. Yesterday, however, was amazng. We took a 1 hour boat ride boat to a dive site called Sail Rock. Pictures below. I am hooked to scuba diving, so I am gonna see if I can dive more  before going back to Bangkok.  It was simply amazing.  I sumberged and was met with an explosion of brillant blue water with a reef that grew on a rock  thats about 20m wide..    Fish everywhere in every imaginable color.  Clownfish, Angelfish, Triggerfish, etc etc etc.  Impossibly multicolored shrimp and lobsters.  First dive was 38 mins. second, 34 mins.  15 meters depth ( 45 feet).  It was such a rush.  If I did this everyday Id never be in a bad mood.  On the boat, the divemaster joked, spreading his hands expansively indicating his environs, "How do you like my office aquarium?" The divemaster said I should get training to become a divemaster and come work for him next summer.  It might be a fun thing after I graduate in May.

  Sail Rock

Sunset I'm about to see. Haad Yao

I think that's enough for now, folks. Sunset now and I m gonna drink a beer and watch the sunset.

ILY

JCT