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.

Quiet Moscow Night

At the request of several people, I will start a series of small moments of everyday life for me. I have told a few people this, but sometimes when I'm bored, I like to narrate whatever's going on at the moment...the weird part is that it's usually in the voice of Jim Dale , or David Attenborough. Keep in mind, these short blips are naturally quite boring, but maybe a boring post is better than none at all?

On Exploring Peanut Twizzlers

I don't think it's possible to connect the goings on of my last few weeks in any comprehensible way, other than I haven't written a blog post in several weeks. I have been quite busy though. Here's a quick overview of what's been most important.

My friend Olya was in America, and was gracious enough to bring me back a piece, in Twizzler form. Possibly the best form America takes. I mean, except when America takes the form of a sweet dinosaur or something.