Journey into Cambodia ...

Hello Everyone!

I'm sure you are all wondering where the heck I am!? I am in a place called Sihanoukville, Cambodia. The computer connection here is quite questionable, and power outages occur everyday, so it's been tricky to get any substantial writing down on the blog, nevermind uploading any pictures. Nevertheless, it has been quite a journey to get here ...

I was one of the first flights back into Bangkok since the protests ended. I spent only one night in Bangkok, roamed the streets a little bit, then from the advice from a taxi driver friend that drove me to the hotel from the airport, he thought I should get out of Bangkok and go to the holiday spot "Pattaya". I will admit, I was happy to get out of Bangkok - just a little bit too big for my liking. I might spend 1 or 2 days checking out the temples and monuments around there before I fly home. Pattaya was about 2.5 hours Southeast of Bangkok. I spent only a couple nights here and did lots of wandering around. Streets are crammed with shops and food vendors, and one of the main selling items in Thailand that I noticed was custom made suits. Everywehre you go someone is offering to make you a Georgio Armani suit. The other main selling item, SEX! It was actually quite gross to see all the older men walking hand in hand with their little Thai girlfriends. There are also entire side streets packed full of "girls girls girsl"bards, "go-go bars", "boyz boyz boyz bars", etc. You name it, they had it! And just in case you are wondering - NO i did not go into any of them lol.

I was certain that my taxi driver was overcharging me, so I did not have him take me back to Bangkok. I took a shared bus back for half the price I paid to get to Pattaya, then booked a bus into Camobodia to meet some friends. The bus picked me up at 7:30am from my hotel in Bangkok (i made sure to spend a little extra $$ to get a nice bus), we battled Bangkok traffic for 2 hours to get out of the city, and we arrived at the Cambodian border around 12:00pm. All of us on the bus applied for our visa's - about $45cdn - while we ate lunch at a nice place just outside the border. We all had to walk across the border with our baggage and meet a different bus on the other side. I was fortunate to meet up with a nice english guy that informed me he had been pickpocketed twice here in the past. The worst part about that is that it is the small children that do most of the pickpocketing. I beleive we all made it through the border without any theft issues.

I was than separated from the group beecause I was going to a place called Phenom Phen while most others were going to see Angkor Wat temples. So, I was directed to a car, a Toyota Corrolla, that was to take me the rest of the way. The only problem was that there weas 5 passengers and it was a 7 hour journey to get to Phenom Phen. Although the journey was long, the people in car were great and we made the best of being in the small car for the long trip. The driver who spoke no english did his best to get us there as fast as possible, and I'm not sure his speed dropped below 80mph very often, unless he was slamming on the breaks to avoid hitting something, or someone. In all honesty, I am suprised we didn't his something along the way!

Phenom Phen was truly fascinating! Completely different from any place in Cambodia i'm told. It actually looks somewhat developed in some places, and some of the vehicles are pretty nice. We arrived in Phenom Phen at 9:30pm and I quickly hopped in a Tuk-Tuk to get to my hotel - The King Angkor. The room nice - again along nicer to be away from dorm room styles.

Computer connection is getting worse here, so I will have to resume this blog entry a little later. Just so you are all aware, I am in Sihanoukville, Cambodia and have met up with my friends. We are having a great time here and the experience of Cambodia thus far has been unforgettable. Unfortunately I am not feeling too well today - some flu like symptoms. If they persist into tomorrow or the next day, I will probably head to a clinic just to be safe.

Love and miss you all