Tuk Tuk Express

We are currently sitting in Siem Reap, Cambodia, finally with a good internet connection and time to burn.  Last time I wrote we were a couple thousand km away from here and our journey up to here has been adventurous. Planes, buses, guns, ping pong, palaces and temples.

From Ko Phi Phi we went to Patong to do pretty much nothing.  We organized our moves, went out on the town one night and then flew to Bangkok.  Bangkok is another one of those anything goes kind of cities.  It is famous for some beautiful things, crazy things and some confusing things.  The main form of transportation is the Tuk Tuk which is a scooter with a carriage on the back.  Cheap and a great way to feel the breeze in your hair and take in the sites. The best food is out of stands on the street.  I think I had about 12 pad thai's in the time I was in Bangkok for $1 a shot.  As long as you see people eating at the stalls, you know you will have a 90% success rate of not sitting on the toilet all night.  My study is based on nothing and so far none of us have grown any extra limbs or been sick (knock on wood and all that jazz).

Our first day in Bangkok was going to the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew Temple.  Unbelievable is probably the best word to describe the architecture and the amount of gems dressing the buildings.  One of our travel policies is when a tour guide is offered it is always worth the money.  We got a guide with an awkward accent and very interesting character.  The best way to describe him is he would make an amazing evil madman character for a James Bond film.  He showed us the ins and outs of the temple and palace that a person without a guide would just walk by. Plus a guide takes group pictures for you.

We got back to our hotel, Rumbutti Guest house next to Khaosan Road, and went out for some street food and prepped for the evening ahead.  Bangkok is known for some strange shows.  We made our way on Tuk Tuk to the Pat Pong district where some scandalous stuff goes on.  Our first stop was to watch dirty men (some clean looking but dirty inside) pick a numbered woman off the stage to accompany them for the evening.  The show is just a stage and these women come out in bikini and stand there blowing kisses at the drunk business men.  Now the best part, and the catch, is that every ten minutes or so the women on the stage get down and work the crowd and then a new group comes out.  The new group keeps the crowd going and the men drool after them just the same BUT the catch is they are MEN.  Sex-changed and you wouldn't even know it.  These dudes go the whole way reshaping their body by doing the basic boobs, nose, etc, but even go as far as shaving down their adams apple and adding ass implants.  It is very confusing and to the guys who don't know the difference, they take these lady boys home for the evening and all we can do is sit and laugh.  In this place, I jumped into the washroom expecting to see a girl peeing in the john but luckily it was just me and the towel guy.  I did my thing and go to wash my hands and this guy comes up behind me and cracks my back and neck, hands me a towel and sets me on my way.  Best washroom service I have ever had.

Our next adventure was down the street.  People try to sell you a ping pong show.  We have heard about this and have had enough beer to prep for it.  We found a group of tourists come out of one and we were informed that this one was ok.  We walk and are handed a drink menu and a show menu.  Naked girls on stage standing around not doing much until we order our beers. Then a horn blows but none of the girls had a horn in their mouth.  Don't think too hard and it gets better/stranger/grosser depending on your taste.  Have you ever seen a magician pull 10 meters of string from their sleeve, well this was more interesting to say the least.  It must have been one of those fine ladies' birthdays cause they brought out a cake and she blew out the candles.  Another girl shot darts at balloons with great accuracy from about five meters away.  A few more things happened with household items and fruits but I think the point has been made.  We made our way out and taxied back to our hotel area for a night cap and in bed by four or five in the AM.  The next day was a slow one of shopping, Pad Thai, movies and not much else.

The next day was 'fly day' to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  There was an option to bus but after experiencing border crossings before and reading about it a little we decided to fly.  This falls into another one of our travel policies - even if it's cheaper, it's not always better.  We weighed all of our options and spending $60 to fly versus up to a 12hr bus ride, getting ripped off, wasting time, hating life and possibly spending the same amount of money due to officials ripping us mad, it was a clear decision to fly.

First impressions of Cambodia are that the people are very nice, the busiest city is Phnom Penh (the capital) and for some reason there are a lot of Lexus's and nice cars.  We made our way to Smile Lakeside Guest House and really broke the bank.  Laura and I spent 4$ a night.  Very friendly people and they provided a bed to sleep on.  Being by the lake and all the heavy rain, the ground floor eventually flooded but luckily we were on the second floor.  That evening I learned a second way to have your heart broken.  We went to a children's dance performance which ended up being at an orphanage that no longer did performances because of a lack of tourism. That night, however, they put on a private 20 minute show for the three of us which melted our hearts.   These kids were amazing and did a great job.  With my heart broken we made donations and they were so thankful because I think we gave them a couples weeks worth of food etc.

The next day was a sad day of Cambodian history.  We went to S-21 torture building/prison and then the Killing Fields.  Very heavy and sad.  One of those things that blows your minds because you can't believe there are people in this world that can do things like that.  To cheer up the mood we finished the day off at a military gun range where I shot off an AK-47.  I wanted to shoot a grenade launcher but you have to go out of the city for that.

From there we went to a town called Kratie in Northern Cambodia.  It was a five hour bus ride where at our first stop Kristen ate the head and legs of a tarantula and I stuck with a can of coke.  Kratie is a little off the beaten path, as we were a sight for the locals just as much as we were there to see them and the fresh water dolphins.  We spent a day biking through villages up to an area of the Mekong river where these freshwater Irrawaddy dolphins live (an endangered species). You pay about $7 and a boat takes you out to see them.  They do not do too much but they are rare and interesting. We made our way back to Balcony Guest House and organized our bus to Siem Riep.  For our 11 hour bus ride to Siem Reap we bought a local dish, called Krolan, which is a specialty made in a town. It's sticky coconut rice with peanuts in a bamboo stick, usually consisting of three sticks that resemble an accordion.

Bus ride was uneventful except for the delicious rice.  We arrived in Siem Reap where we Tuk Tuked to our MotherHome Guesthouse.  MotherHome is one of the nicest hotels I have ever been in and it's only 25$ a night for the three of us.  The service is out of this world.  We show up to bowing, smiling faces and fresh, minty, chilled towels to freshen up, complementary fruit juice and they really voiced that they wanted to make sure our stay was the best.  That evening we went to a buffet and traditional dance called Apsara like the ones the kids did for us.  We got back early for our sunrise at Angkor Wat.

We woke up 4:30 AM to get to Angkor Wat to see the sunrise and so did a couple hundred people.  It was unbelievable.  We spent the day with our guide and Tuk Tuk seeing the temples.  The history and details were fantastic and the pictures speak for themselves.  We saw the sunrise at Angkor Wat then saved going inside for last.  We spent eight hours looking around other amazing spots and finished inside Angkor Wat where we were wished good luck by a Buddhist Priest and given a red rope bracelet.

Today we are walking around town and taking an overnight bus to Sihanoukville which is 'the' Cambodian beach town.

Kratie Bike Ride

Angkor Wat and Other Temples