The uhhh, the Nutcracker

 Yesterday I went to the ballet Щелкунчик (The Nutcracker) by Tchaikovsky at the Bolshoi Theater. It was absolutely magnificent, and especially festive. The set, dancers, and especially orchestra were just so incredible...it's no wonder they're the best in the world. Now, some of the readers may wonder, 'How is Bryce able to go so such spectacular things on his modest budget?' Well, there are two answers to that. One, the ticket cost me 100 rubles, or three dollars since I'm a student. Two, life can get pretty manageable when you're only looking after yourself. So the answer to financial stability is maintaining a miserly attitude folks.

And here I am wallowing in my miserly gluttony. It's beautiful isn't it?

The real story though was how we got the tickets. We woke up at 5 am to make it to the theater just as it opened so we could sign a random 'student ticket' notebook that in no way was official, but is enforced by those who sign it. Throughout the day we were supposed to check in to ensure the notebook's safety from others who came later. On the metro ride to the theater, I was fortunate enough to have a very drunk, and very fragrant man sit next to me. We had such an emotionally berserk discussion. First he explained that he really liked me, we shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. At another point his drunk eyes found the curious ability to give me a death stare, and he threatened to hit me in the most unpleasant of places. I told him, 'Sasha, I don't believe you would do that. We've gotten along so well thus far, and I don't think you want to hit me in the яички.' His eyes softened, and began their drunken wander again as he admitted that I was right. He was drunk, not angry, he just got a little confused. In the end, we became fast friends. I think my time in Ukraine really polished my ability to talk to angry drunks, if nothing else.

Whose woods these are I think I know

It's minus 25 Celsius outside on Christmas Eve, what am I going to do? Go running of course. Last year during the winter I often found myself staying inside my apartment to hide from the cold. Well, it turns out that's really boring! So this year I've made a concerted effort to do things no matter what...and it's turned out so great! I went ice skating with new friends, midnight strolls through glittering snowstorms, running in new forests, and there's only 5 more months of these types of activities. Today (Christmas Eve) I went for a run in my forest, Troporyovo, and I had to think of how lucky I am to live in a winter wonderland (even though I've always hated the cold, this time of year it just seems to fit).

How the End of the World Will Affect the Economy

I can see the end of the world tomorrow playing out in two basic scenarios, with varying affects on the state of the economy.

Consumer driven economies will be more affected by the end of the world, says expert (me).

'It was precisely the renunciation of self that was my project.'

After Angkor Wat, we rode to Phnom Penh, Cambodia's shining capital...well, the capital anyway. The most difficult part of the trip came next, because we had to be serious for about 24 hours. We visited the killing fields, the monument to the genocide of the Khmer Rouge in the 70's. Sent here from the prisons in Phnom Penh (which we later visited), or any number of other cities where they had been tortured, this was their final stop. It was truly sobering for me to sit there wondering how people are able to sink so low. As you walk around this hallowed ground, you can still see bone and cloth fragments from the victims of this genocide that surface because of the rain, almost as if nature itself is still slowly reminding us about the atrocities that went on there. The central monument is a tower containing human skulls of those who were murdered here. Several times as I was there I just couldn't keep going, and would force myself to sit down and just stop thinking about death.

As if all of this wasn't terrible enough, the worst part for me occurred as we exited the museum. We boarded our tuk tuk, and as usual were approached by several children asking for money. I had worked my face into a sort of blind numbness by this point because there had been so much of this at Angkor Wat. I still really don’t know how to react to begging children, or begging people…I realistically don’t have enough money to give even a little to everyone I see who asks, but how can I turn my back on someone in need when I’m justifying buying a trip to Thailand? ('freedom is all too often self-deception among people'). Then it happened. The children showed that they really did just want/need help by asking for simply water. And I, still in my blind stupor, coldly said no. One of the people with us (left anonymous, sort of) wasn't so blind, and gave them his water. Seeing this shook me out of my numbness, but too late. As the tuk tuk pulled away I looked back at the kids, rejoicing over their clean water. That’s when it all sort of came together in a self-incriminating rush—the killing fields, the prisons, the begging children. All of this can happen when we decide to not see what’s happening right in front of us. I am a human being, and am therefore capable of sinking just as low as others if I allow it to happen. Or I can decide that I AM a human being, and am capable of showing sympathy. Most of the time my choices end up somewhere in the middle of the extremes of human capacity. 

That was hard to write, and surely hard to read. Here's something I think we can all enjoy:

You can't really tell, but that's a cockroach in my hand, soon to go in my mouth. It was actually not terrible. The larva I ate before that was much worse.

All quotations from Franz Kafka's 'A Report to an Academy'

Angkor Wat?

Cambodia comes at you in a flood. Movement is everywhere at the border, crashing over you in a wave of hustlers trying to earn a quick 20 bucks off of the unwary traveler willing to buy a fake visa, only to find the real border 20 yards further along. The roads suddenly become hectic, and I just found myself sort of swimming with the current. Once we made it to the real border (without being hustled I might add) we were herded into stalls at passport control. I had neglected to print off passport photos, so Tyler and I conducted a social experiment...I used his spare photos for my visa at the border. It turns out that not only can Asians not tell the difference between white people, they can't tell the difference between two identical photos. Either that, or someone really just doesn't care about his job.

Anyway, we arrived in Siem Riep after a long day of travel. Siem Riep is the tourist town next to Angkor Wat, and it's possibly the worst place I've ever been. Dirt roads wind through neon lit massage shops, night markets, and garbage restaurants. The whole town is built around providing sex, drugs, alcohol, and knock off Cambodian food to tourist trash that wanders these streets. The only good thing about the place was our hotel, which only cost $6 a night, and was super nice. Here's Glen's reaction to our hotel: 

Angkor Wat itself was magnificent, and made the trip worthwhile. 

 Glen's 'everything is pointless' look

 -"Hey little guy, did you get lost?"

-Holy mackerel, a talking dog!

 Glen and I wandered into the forbidden temple...really though, we weren't supposed to be there. But you all know me, I'm a rule breaker.

Glen totally snuck up on me there...

I got lost, but in the end it was I who found me...or I just wandered around for awhile.

Thailand: the beginning of an endless bus ride

Yes, Bangkok was the first stop on our tour. This was a time of cultural shocks, grand displays of golden temples, running from rain storms, and the pungent aroma of street food EVERYWHERE. To top it all off, it was really incredible just joking around with Tyler and Glen.

 
 

That night we took a train south. It was really great because they let us pretty much climb outside the train as we drove, so we watched the sun rise over Thailand's southern peninsula...pretty stunning. We were then shuffled around on several buses, trucks, and tuk tuks to finally end up in Ao Nang...rock climbing paradise. Imagine rock climbing on mother of pearl limestone cliffs jutting out of an azure ocean. Or you can just look at the picture of it. 

 

 This innocent looking band of thugs stole fruit from Tyler and me on separate occasions. And I'M the bad guy in this story for punching a monkey?! They know what they did...

The food was so amazing...I especially loved the mango shakes, but the pad thai and curry weren't bad either.

Coming soon: Les Aventures de TinTin au Cambodge

All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.

I arrived in Bangkok about 5 hours before Tyler and Glen would. After checking in at the hostel, I went out to get a bite to eat (I had, after all, been travelling for about 19 hours). As I wandered around the streets next to my hostel, a scene from Blade Runner unfolded. Street vendors and hookers lined the road, all but blocking the various shops that were lit in gaudy neon lights as high as I could strain my neck. About three stories up, the metro roared by, temporarily drowning out the constant hustling on ground level. A consistent wave of "hello friend, you need belt?" or "i give you good bargain" was almost too cliche for me. One very ambitious lady of the night was so bold as to even attack me when I rejected her offer to go into a club (surprisingly, that's the first time I've ever been slapped by a prostitute). Here's a pretty close depiction to what happened (I'm, of course, Harrison Ford, and the prostitute may or may not have been a man, I really don't know...)

After that, I ate some tasty street soup, and went back to the hostel to wait for Tyler and Glen to get there/cry in the shower.