FOUR DAYS TILL LEAVING SE ASIA

NARRATIVE

Still hanging around Cambodia eating Mexican food.  In about four days unless everything goes to hell a plane should be winging me rapidly toward Istanbul.   Since enough of this town has been seen to  be ignored, books have been read and a pretty awful free MMORPG called 'Crystal Saga' have been my only indulgences.

It will be nice to return to the Republic of Georgia.



SHOE STORY

Since making the extremely minimal effort at health known as 'walking around', shoes have begun to be demolished as rapidly as cheesecakes in times past.  Not only have my Czech walking shoes moved into the irreparable category but yet another pair of sandals has been lost.

Only the left shoe of the sandals seems to get destroyed.  Apparently left handed is indeed left footed as forensics has taught and the strain upon the primary foot greater.  This has ruined yet another left sandal.   Should it have been the right, perhaps mismatched sandals could have been added to patched and sewn shorts and - regrettably - tee-shirts.

Asia has become synonymous with a vast over abundance of shoe stores.   Should all shoe stores be forced to close and give their stock without charge to the inhabitants of the country, every person would be ten pair of shoes to the better.

Sadly the fashion of these shoes is regrettably Asian.  Shoes made by the same culture that thinks multicolored lights within a mouse which twinkle incessantly does not make the sort of unobtrusive goods I prefer.  Not being a teenage girl nor redneck, these sorts of overenthusiastic products are made to attract attention.

Better if my shoes made no sort of statement than quiet and competent.  Gaudiness pulls attention from where I'd prefer it - my face and my words just as the  overenthusiastic mouse draws attention from the computer screen with it's needless incessant carnival light show.

Knowing that any pair of sandals I purchased with the shoddy workmanship endemic to Asia will perish within a couple months, I went for low price and managed to ruthlessly bargain a poor lady down to $10.  Given that I may have been her only customer for the day it eludes me how she and others are able to keep their stalls open.




BOOK REVIEWS

John Keegan, "Winston Churchill - A Life".

Long have I had an abiding interest in Winston Churchill.  Arguably the greatest Englishman ever and certainly one of the most determined people to have lived.  Long conversations chiding my friend Matt Lunn that he wasn't nearly as cool as Winston Churchill come to mind.  His retort that I wasn't all that cool fell of deaf ears as I wasn't even English.

Reading this book helped dispel some of the illusions about W.S.  He was a great man - but a deeply flawed.  He was extremely smart but prone to many poor choices.

Overall, an excellent book.  It was detailed without becoming dull.  Unlike some of the other biographies of W.S. I've read this one kept things moving along at a fast enough clip you could listen to it without either nodding off or slitting your wrists.



Stephen Fry "Moab is My Washpot"

Prior to listening to this, I only had three thoughts on Stephen Fry:

1.  He is a 'treasure of England'.  This is the guy whose sonorous voice did the wildly money generating 'Harry Potter' audio books.  And, he just seems to be a 'treasure of England' though I'm sure that many people - including Stephen Fry - may disagree with that.

2.  He is a very smart person.  I've seen him on QI - 'Quite Interesting'.  I know that they feed him a lot of the answers and such via an ear piece, but this guy strikes me as very smart indeed.

3.  He is funny and has been in several comedy TV shows and movies.

After listening to the first twenty years of his life in autobiographical terms, my opinion of him is the same as of Winston Churchill after listening to a biography of him.  Both men are deeply flawed individuals, very human and it would be very nice to know them personally.  They are interesting people.

As to the book itself, Mr. Fry is very easy to listen to.  Much of what he says is interesting though he goes off onto huge tangents and a bit of rambling.  Since it is his autobiography, I feel he is allowed to do so.  Glad I heard it though it won't become something like the Discworld  series that I like to listen to again after a period of time has passed.


The Fry Chronicles - an Autobiography

This book picks up where 'Moab' leaves off and covers the next decade.

Although it is an interesting look into the rapid catapulting into fame, it wasn't as endearing as Moab.  Also, he makes  quick reference to many names, businesses, products and such that - not being English - I've never heard of.  For his countrymen, these probably bring a quick whiff of memory.  For foreigners, they become tedious lists of no consequence to the overall narrative.

Interesting but not as poignant as Moab.


Stuff White People Like


Currently listening to the book "Stuff White People Like".  As the philosopher Homer Simpson once said "It's funny because it's true."

They even covered an experience I've noted earlier in my blog about how upset other white people get when they are traveling abroad, in an obscure place and spot a fat white guy lounging around.  Since this destroys both their 'unique experience' as well as the 'authenticity' and they no longer feel like some sort of explorer, they become sad and upset.

Wack jobs.

The book itself is ironic and humorous.  Reading it immediately brings to mind many people who are white and middle class I know.  Disturbingly, I myself have done many of the things listed there.

More disturbingly, various directors and such listed are completely unfamiliar.

I don't feel like I am being a good white person.  I didn't even get a liberal arts degree.

I recommend this audio book.



LUMSIE STORIES (NERO LARP)

Lumsie loved the undead. Being a necromancer was great. Story: I was up at a chapter in Canada. It was dark and foggy out and all of the PC's were hiding in their cabins. "What's up?" Oh, I was told, there are loads of undead out there. We're going to stay in here till the morning. "Bugger that." So Lumsie wanders out of the warded cabin. Immediately two death knights jump out of the shadows. "Take me to your leader, beotches!" One is into it, the other makes lots of threats. I am taken to the leader. He rants about how it is his town, everyone is his subjects and he will crush everyone. Including me. Then, he asks who I am. "Brother Lumsie!" The guy playing the NPC and the NPC himself were both of one mind at this point. "Oh my god!" He gushes. "I have always wanted to meet you!" Big hand shakes and back slapping all around. Lumsie points to one of the death knights. "He was mean to me." Glower and a growled "I will deal with him...later..." The death knight shifted uneasily. I was then taken on a tour of the town and given armed death knight escort back to my cabin when tired. Upon gaining entry "Were you OK?" "Yeah", I responded. "Pretty quiet out there..."

Lumsie was hanging out in the woods.  There were half dozen ogres wandering around throwing up.  Their blood had apparently been tainted.  Tempest (Seth Warfield) wandered up and screeched in the high pitched dragon voice "Lumsie!  What happened?"  Lumsie, looking panicked said "Plague!  Real sudden like!  Best I should go!" and scurried off.  Tempest glared after Lumsie grunting "Uh huh..."


Big I'm not sure but one that comes to mind:  Lumsie has undead for parents.  'Not consorting' is simply not able to be done as it would be 'rude'.  So, it is Lumsie's birthday, Oct 31.

There were only a few people in the tavern.  Lumsie's mother (played by Amy L) - a very nasty vampire - swoops into the tavern with several minions.  Everything stops.  The people who are there are either unwilling or unable to take on this level of Fa King undead.  Plus, to do so might start a really nasty interplanular war.  They just sit, riveted to their seats.

Amy had baked me a chocolate cake.

It got very 'upper class English' after that.  "Lumsie are you being good?"  "Yes mummy!" and so on.

She would alternatively threaten and speak at the other people in the tavern.  Whenever she had her back turned, I stuffed as much of the chocolate cake into my mouth as possible.  When she looked back, sit up straight and attentive - with huge chunks of chocolate cake falling out of my mouth.

She utterly failed to notice - by design is my guess since my face looked like I'd eaten out a chocolate golem.

"Yes mummy!" I'd say in stereotypical upper crust English to whatever question she had or statement she made then back to the face stuffing.

The thing I remember most about that whole scene was the frozen looks on the witnesses faces, halfway between humor and horror.  It was a nice birthday for Lumsie.

GOD IS ANGRY WITH YOU

While I wait for my flight back to Istanbul, here are a couple things that have been going on.  Wanted to publish this fast because thunder just went off that was so loud it sounded like Siem Reap was getting shelled.  It is only a matter of time before the electricity goes off.



SHOE STORY


Managed to find yet another thing not to do.

My ratty, many times patched up Czech walking shoes had gotten wet at some point in Trat, Thailand.  Since I had to  move locations, the shoes were sealed into a plastic bag.

And forgotten about. 

For two weeks.

Upon opening the bag a quite memorable smell drifted out.  Rather than keeping it to myself, I put the shoes out in the hallway to sulk from neglect.

The choices were clear - either buy new shoes or find some stuff that kills bacteria.

The anti bacterial spray is the better option.  Less money and the shoes are as broken in as they can get without removing the soles.

Six stores later and it is becoming clear that Cambodians don't know what 'bacteria' are.  Nobody has any sort  of antibacterial spray.  Some rub  on ointment but that really doesn't seem like a good idea for sneakers.  Not only would I feel like a tool sitting around massaging old ratty shoes but walking would be...squishier.  

Option two is new shoes.

Asians seem obsessed with shoes.  If all of the shoe stores were instantly teleported out from malls, the buildings would collapse from structural failure.

Looking closer at the shoes in a couple stores I am uncertain which are better - the falling apart held together with miscellaneous patches and uncertain stitching ones I've already got or the ones in the stores.  They were that bad.  

Perhaps tomorrow I'll go look for other shoes but honestly, I'm uncertain as to what makes a 'walking shoe' as opposed to other types of shoes.  Since few people around speak English there probably won't be any help from that quarter.




Thought for the day:

Back when I was living in the USA, one of the flavors of ramen I ate was 'oriental'.  I've lived in SE Asia for about a year.

I have yet to come across 'oriental flavor'.

What the fuck is 'oriental flavor'?

[Note for the Americans so overwhelmed by political correctness they consider 'oriental' to be a 'bad thing'.

Get over yourselves.

The people of SE Asia use it in advertising.  The have places called the 'Oriental Hotel' and such.  They don't think it's a 'bad thing'.  If you ask them if they are 'oriental' they would just be confused and say "No, I am Thai" or whatever country they are from.

Only the USA has gotten fucked up enough where it considers it an 'insult'.]



LARP

Lumsie story

Fond memory from NERO Kzoo:  I was in the tavern and saw three guys getting in the 'lets kill this bitch' position on a fourth guy.  I think he was accused of necromancy or something.   Nothing that violated Lumsie's personal ethos.

After watching for a second, Lumsie yelled "Hey look at me!"

He began dancing around and such.  I didn't think the guy would take the hint but after a second of gawking, he noticed the other three guys were gawking and made his escape.

What made it really funny was that one of the guys went to Seth to cry about it.  I listened in on Seth Warfield's conversation with him:  "It is not Logan's fault that Lumsie is extremely charismatic and distracting.  You just have to ignore him."

The guy continued to prattle on about how unfair it was but Seth shut him down in a much nicer way than I would have.   Probably because Seth had two factors I do not:  a) respect for all people, regardless of how whiny they are and b) knowledge that this person was a customer.

I can't remember what I did but I think it was something extremely immature, like dance around distractingly every time the guy looked in my direction.



MOVIE REVIEWS

MOVIE REVIEW - PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

Finally watched "Phantom of the Opera". Couple decent songs and a whole lot of fast forwarding. I think Pratchett in his Discworld book Masquerade did a better job of capturing the freaked out spirit of Opera but they did pretty well in this movie. I just enjoyed the tongue in cheek humor of Pratchett more. Some great scenery in the movie as well as people who are clearly out of their mind. I suspect from not eating enough.  I would like to say that if you see this movie, do so for the amazing sets and stuff.  Very nice.  Not enough to carry the movie but if you're being forced to watch it (probably by a girl who thinks it is romantic rather than that the heroine is a selfish, stupid whore), the scenery will give you something to look at.


MOVIE REVIEW - I HOPE THEY SERVE BEER IN HELL

I had tried to listen to this book.  Not as good as his second "Assholes Finish First" (second book) and deleted it.  The movie wasn't very good.  I give it five out of ten though I must confess I fast forwarded through chunks of it.  Not really worth watching, nor listening to the first book but I did get some chuckles out of his second book.  Apparently, he got better with experience.



GOD IS ANGRY WITH YOU

Why?  Because he's a vengeful bitch.  Now, go make him turkey pot pie!

NEW TERM - DITA

LEAVING TRET FOR SIEM REAP

When traveling overland in Asia, you learn to expect a certain amount of DITA from various problems incurred while traveling.   This is due to an unholy mix of poorly (non) maintained gear, general incompetence, poor driving skills and few driving rules.  [If you think this is harsh, I watched the bus driver nearly kill some guy on a scooter because he'd let his gaze wander out the window to the side of the road and linger there for over 8-10 seconds while traveling at speed.  That was just today.]

Although I did get some DITA, overall it was a very smooth trip.

Term:  DITA

The more clean minded of you can think of this as a frustrating situation.  The less clean minded think about rectal pain and build up from there.

To my extreme shock, the mini van was on time, nearly to the minute.  The discrepancy (being on time) was made up by the vehicle needing some sort of repair work.  A couple stops en route were made looking for the needed part but nothing was found.  Thought we were going to make it all the way to the border but a French couple wanted them to stop for a bathroom break.  This was thirty kilometers from the border and the vehicle died there.  Not sure if it also needed more gas but we waited for a mere half hour before a new vehicle showed up that took us the rest of the way there.

Since I already had an e-visa, the transportation company didn't try to scam me into anything else.  They figured I could have a clue and left me alone.

The border itself was quite a nightmare.  They didn't seem set up to be able to deal with even half the people that stood in lines.  There were a couple of old Israeli guys in line who reminded me of some other people.  It wasn't until they were nearly to the front of the line they realized they needed to fill out a bit of paperwork.  Since they didn't have their glasses, guess who got asked to do it?

Fortunate I did as I ended up sharing a cab from the border to Siem Reap.  The last bus had already left but the company told me I'd be riding in the cab for free.  The old guys - who had made no plans and apparently just somehow shown up at the border (possibly airdropped in by the Mossad) and decided to follow me around.  Fair enough.

Normally, to rent a cab you need four people paying - one up front, three in the back.  Everyone pays $12.  My fare was free, that left $36 needed from the back seat.  They just split it.

We'd have made better time but the cab driver was trying to plump out his earnings by stopping to pick up other packages and such on the way.

Fortunately, we didn't get stuck with any music at all.  Happy days.

Got dropped off in Siem Reap part way between Angkor Wat and the airport.  The places there are not only reportedly three times as expensive but are out in the middle of nowhere.  In Siem Reap, if you're not near 'Pub Street', you're in the sticks.  Better to stay near Pub Street and get a tuk tuk to go to the sticks.

Immediately after checking into the usual hotel it was off to the Mexican restaurant.



LOGANISMS

Famous quote

There are a lot of great quotes out there.  It is not only a good idea to read other people's to gain wisdom but to perhaps pass on a bit of the wisdom you have gained in your life within a short quote.

The quote should be very short - easier to remember and understand.  It should also have a bit of instruction and perhaps even a nugget of truth within.  And the quote should help to tell future generations what kind of person you were.

The only quote I've come up with so far is:

"Happiness can be as difficult as convincing women your semen tastes like chocolate." - Logan Horsford.

[Which - if you think about it - could be true in more than one way.]



MOVIE REVIEW

Iron Sky

Pretty much the only good thing I can say about this movie is they speak a lot in German with English subtitles. After twenty minutes, even that no longer kept me excited enough to watch it.



PRICES

Bus from Trat to Siem Reap, 500 TBH
Evisa, tourist (only), Cambodia, 1 month, $25.  Note, word is that they are crooks at the Poi Pet (border town) and will charge closer to $40+.

TRAT AND KOH CHANG, THAILAND

RESEARCH INTO TRAT

Ticket Guy:  "And the price includes the boat out to Trat."

Logan:  "Trat is an island?"

Ticket Guy:  (Stares hard)  "Yes."

Logan:  "Huh!"

[Note:  Later it was discovered this was not true.]

JOURNEY TO TRAT

When you cross over the border from Cambodia into Thailand, prepare for what the military has termed 'a clusterfuck'.  

Because Cambodian buses do not have the correct license plates, paperwork or permissions, all of the passengers are disgorged from the large comfortable buses and squeezed into mini vans.  It is surprising how many people with luggage can be stuffed into a mini van.  The mini vans will show up when they are able to and leave when they have filled for various destinations. 

This means a lot of people sitting on the sides of their road with luggage.  They tend to find where to sit by chance as there was no one to direct them to the area about half a kilometer from the border itself.  

OFF TO  THE ISLAND  [KOH CHANG]

While on the bus ride was talking to a guy who has an interesting job.  He makes movies and music videos and had just gotten back from Russia or Republic of Georgia (not clear on which) making a couple music videos.  Chatting to people who have interesting work - and are passionate about their jobs - is always interesting.  There were also a couple of girls traveling together who seemed happy to hang out for a spell.

Sometimes, changing plans to accommodate new situations is a good thing.  Sometimes not.

It turned out that rather than heading to Trat, they were going to a nearby island.  Since the people who were doing the transportation seemed to have only a loose grasp of where we were bound, tagging along to  hang out with the three seemed more interesting than proceeding directly to Trat.

The island itself was nothing special.  Unless you have rented a motorbike, much of  the island is accessible only on the infrequent 'bhat bus taxis' which cost between 50-150 THB.  

When we were dismounting the ferry upon the island itself, the lady from the transportation office attempted to hard sell  tickets through fear for 100 THB.  Since she was in transportation, it is assumed that anything out of her mouth was by definition a lie.  This turned out to be correct.  The 'bhat buses' were only 60 THB.

As soon as we reached the island on the car carrying ferry, the girls ditched us by taking the last two places in a 'bhat bus' and drove off never to be seen again.   A bit disheartening, but not a huge loss.  They seemed to not need others for a conversation.

In the wind, rain and dark of night Tailor (the film producer) and I eventually reached the beach side hostels.  He stayed in one that only had one room left and made sure I got lodgings in another called  'Independent Backpackers'.

INDEPENDENT BACKPACKERS

This place seemed to be organically 'grown' rather than built.   Any time you create something on the side of a hill or mountain, the architecture seems to get more interesting and treacherous.  

The rooms themselves weren't terribly clean.  The space between the corrugated roofs and walls allowed plenty  of insects to make their way in.  The frayed and torn ancient mosquito netting seemed to be more of a marker for a feeding zone rather than a barrier to entry.  

In addition, the amateurishly made wood, stone and concrete steps of varying heights and widths became amazingly slippery in the rain.  The hand rails were ornamental.  Quite surprising nobody had ripped them off while avoiding falling down the side of a very steep hill.  

Not the kind of place you want to go when you are feeling sick.

Would it have been more enjoyable if  not sick?  Honestly, only if you are interested in playing in the water.  The same water that is alternatively marked 'no swimming' and 'danger rip tides'.  If you only go in waist deep there are plenty of waves to splash around in.   Not really worth returning.  Although the places to stay are pretty cheap (down to  $10)  there are better affordable beaches elsewhere in the world.

On the plus side, not many other people seem to think the beach is all that grand and it was a very deserted sand beach.  Some natives playing in the water and occasional tourist women in their twenties who were under the belief they were fifteen again gathering up bags of small and not very interesting shells were most of the traffic.

ILLNESS

For the last week, conjunctivitis had been rearing its ugly head.  For those unfamiliar with the symptoms, it can first feel like you have a piece of grit in your eye.  This intensifies.  The eye becomes bloodshot and you get an amazing dose of pain after a couple days.  Sensitivity to light - never handy on a beach - also causes additional pain.  Reading and perhaps seeing with the afflicted eye becomes impossible.

I had it in both eyes this time.   Arrival at the island seemed to give the signal for a massive 'flare up' and the condition worsened.

Due to the heat, massive pain and hordes of mosquitoes sleeping became quite impossible.  Being able to fight back a bit with the electronic tennis racquet did make me feel a bit better.  

After two days there it was time to resume my journey to Trat and find a hospital.   The Scottish woman who  owned the guest house (Fiona) told me of the two different options - a private hospital or the public hospital.  

TRAT HOSPITALS

Being sick, sleep deprived, confused and heavily burdened with baggage is not  a good way to  arrive in a new town.

The private hospital seems to be set up to suck the most money from "traveler's insurance" possible.  To even see a doctor is $100 USD.  None of the specialists were in.

Decided to check out the public hospital.  For a bit under $10 USD got to see a specialist though his grasp of English seemed dubious as well as issued two tubes of eye drops.  They were horrified at the prior use of 'Pred Forte'.  They seemed to regard it as trying to kill a mosquito with a sledge hammer and ordered it was not to be used for this flare up.  [For foreign readers, a flare up is what American doctors call it when some ailment you've got gets suddenly worse.  It only applies to certain medical problems.  For example, if you have a small cut and suddenly begin to spurt blood across the room, nobody would call  it a 'flare up'.  They may call it 'unintentional redecorating'.]

The public hospital was a good deal cleaner and more professional than many I'd seen before.   In some of the public hospitals, they seem either awed or freaked out to see a foreigner.  Because of either this or just being really nice, the foreigner is often bumped to the head of any line.  Not the case in Thai hospitals.  You are treated as any one else.  While it means waiting longer,  it is less embarrassing than being  'queue jumped'.

SETTLING INTO TRAT

From the main street of Trat, the tourist area is not obvious.  Most of the literature says 'south of the market'.  The market is also not obvious.  Questioned instead a fellow backpacker who gave directions to a place called 'Residang Residence Guesthouse'.

Since seeing was not possible, lying around on an extremely large and comfortable bed listening to audio books became the major preoccupation.  There was occasional staggering around in the bright light, protected by sunglasses.  If I don't walk around a few hours every day the body goes into yet more pain.  Since it was already enduring conjunctivitis, a cold and "traveler's tummy" we opted for the walking.

Trat itself doesn't seem to have any of the normal 'tourist candy'.  In fact, most people are here for a day at most.  The people are a good deal friendlier here than in other parts of Thailand - since they see less tourists.  You don't get hassled to purchase anything.   Trat isn't a popular town.

For just hanging out, it is fine.  There are some nice streets for walking, city type stuff and 'Asian crap architecture' depending on where you go.  They have a decent food block though no larger restaurants.  Apparently the low tourist population won't support them.

The 'food block' is a market place of food.  Find the stalls with chairs and tables first - otherwise the food will be put into small plastic bags rubber bands shutting them forever.  This is how takeaway is done.

CURRENCY EXCHANGE

Since it looked very unlikely that Malaysian Ringets would be needed in the near future tried to exchange them at a bank.  They have some crazy rule they only accept 50 and 100 denomination notes though they couldn't explain why.  It sounds like one of those silly rules that is followed and nobody knows why.  

This would not be a concern but no currency exchange places have yet been found.

VIDEOS

Baby Town

Residang Residence Guesthouse

PRICES (ISLAND)

Beer (300ml or so) $2 (60 THB)

Meal, 80-100 THB for simple stuff or Thai dishes

Taxi on island, 50-150 THB

Ferry to island, 60 THB

PRICES (TRAT)

Hospital including seeing an eye doctor and two different eye drops, 263 THB

Shave, 60 THB

330ml beer, 50 THB

Thai meal with rice from restaurant, 50 THB

Main with rice (Thai cooking) from food block with rice, 20-25 THB

16 GB thumb drive, 450 THB - way too much.

DOWNTIME IN SIEM REAP CAMBODIA

BACK IN SIEM REAP

Arrived in a bus station outside of Siem Reap.  A Japanese tourist offered to share a tuk tuk with me.  Why not, it saved us each a dollar and gave some nice conversation on the way into town.

Had been planning on checking out a new place to stay but the rain was just pissing down.  'Rainy season' means something here.

Decided to go back to the normal haunt.   We pull up.  A girl recognized me and produced an umbrella and the desk guy ran out to snatch up my bags and bring them in.  Both were very happy to see me again.

Because I'm stuck with Logan's brain, a list of options immediately presented themselves for this overwhelming greeting:

a) begin to masturbate wildly and erratically
b) play it cool, like I'm the president of the world and this kind of shit happens to me all the time.
c) break into spontaneous song.

Went with B.

This time.



SIEM REAP

Back here for the second or third time.  After my little fast jaunt around Cambodia I have assured myself that yes, this is the place I like better than anywhere else here.  I haven't been to absolutely everywhere but most of the towns I don't want to go to.  The major towns have more to see and do but the atmosphere of Siem Reap is very laid back.  Unfortunately, it is also a bit boring to me after several weeks here with not a lot to do.

In a country where I could learn the language (or had any desire to do so) I'd be working on doing that and hanging out with the natives and such more.  Here, meh.

This is a pretty 'family friendly' town.  I've seen a lot of tourists with kids and such wandering around it it looks like 'a good time is had by all'.

Also taken the opportunity to wander around and investigate the prices of other guesthouses, hostels and such.  Generally, they aren't a great value or are extremely remote.  Where I am currently staying is literally next door to pub street and it is very quiet.  Everywhere is quiet here after ten at night.  The words 'night life' have no real meaning here.



WHAT I'M DOING NOW

Biding my time, drinking some beer and eating mainly Mexican and Indian food.  I really dislike Cambodian food.



FUTURE PLANS

Getting from Asia back to Europe isn't real cheap.  It's looking like about $500 any way I go.  I'm going to do some research to see what I can shave off that.  My plan is to get back to Istanbul and from there take a very long bus ride to Georgia.

In doing my research, I've come across a lot of really badly designed sites.  Glad I don't have to pay to bail those airlines out.


On the 18th of this month it's off to Trat, Thailand to try to live cheaply for awhile.  After a couple weeks there (unless I hate the place, get bored etc) then it will be back to here.  Or Malaysia if I can think of something more clever.



RESTAURANT  REVIEW - "PIZZA $5", Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Seriously, that is the name and what they sell are twenty three different types of pizzas - all for $5.  Free delivery if you are so inclined.  It is run by a somewhat neurotic and extremely high energy guy whose goal is to get back to China to live 'once a little visa problem is sorted out'.  The pizza is probably the best I've had in SE Asia.

#81, Street 130
Sangkat Pshar Chas
Ph: 08989 5555

These are 30 cm pizzas.  That's a big pizza with expensive ingredients on it.  The normal price for a pizza that size is $7-$10.  I asked the owner "How are you able to sell them at this price?"  He responded they sold a LOT of pizzas.  Extra ingredients (anything - including meat and cheese) are only half a  dollar each.  I can heartily recommend it.



MAD RANTING

If I could easily travel to other dimensions (after getting rich) I would find one in which Firefly hadn't been cancelled and get the DVD set.  Where would the stories have gone to by the fifth season?

The lived in appearance of the space ships are a huge contrast to 'Star Trek' empty corridors and stark living.

Comparing the show to a PNP tabletop RPG game though, well perhaps the players I had were a lot more cautious and had the cynicism of people who were say a thousand years old.


Also, there must be several other dimensions where Sir Terry Pratchette didn't get Alzheimers.  Authors tend to get sharper with age and reading more books from him would be nice. 



VIDEOS

Asian Building
OK Guesthouse



LINKS WORTH LOOKING AT

Though it is done in a humorous way, I believe this link illustrates the huge difference in thinking between men and women.  It may be hundreds of years more before true 'equality of the sexes' is reached - if ever.



COSTS

Case of beer, 24 cans, $11.20.  Here, we call this 'cheap entertainment'...

PHNOM PENH MEDICINE RUN

MEDICINE TIME

I was sitting around Siem Reap.  The name means 'Siem Defeated'.  What a great name for your town.  Anyway, I decided it was time for me to get out of there.  After two weeks there was starting to feel pretty restless.  And five dollars would get me to the capital, Phnom Penh.

I've been to Phnom Penh two or three (I forget) times and I have a basic understanding of the city.  From the central market, you can either go south to some sort of tourist ghetto that many of the better known tourist guesthouses are or straight toward the river to get to the places I normally stay.

Naturally, I messed up when I got there - again - and was in the tourist ghetto.  Why anyone stays there is a mystery to me.  Not much going on there as far as restaurants, bars and other things tourists like.

I was going to go check into a new place but I was told that a room would open up at noon and to check back then.  Since it was eight in the morning, that gave me some time.  I got a shave and a haircut ($3) and then found out about the 'French pharmacy' that allegedly had 'everything'.

A half dozen other pharmacies were trying to convince me that one of the medicines I am on was the same as ibuprofen.  I had told them it wasn't but they still wanted to sell me...anything.  I tried carrying around the boxes of the medicines I was actually trying to get.  This worked better as it seemed to prove to the pharmacists that lo, they actually exist but still no luck.  A visit to the 'French Pharmacy' which I wasn't smart enough to get the business card to finally ended my hunt for the medicines.

And then I figured 'why stay'?  I've spent a lot (too much) time in Phnom Penh and it really didn't thrill me so I went to the bus station, bought a ticket and hired a tuk tuk to drive me to the hotel then return with me to the bus station ($2).

When I burst into the hotel, I grabbed five cigarettes out of the case and said "I want to make a gift of these cigarettes to you for keeping an eye on my stuff but I won't be able to stay tonight - I've been called to Kampot."  Remember, bribe before you need to.  Had I not done that, chances are good they might have demanded money for gear storage.  Even if they didn't, I figured it was the 'classy' thing to do.

Either way, a win.

So, I went to Kampot.  They said it was a four hour bus ride.  Naturally, that means a six hour bus ride.  I found out later that it is possible to get a shared taxi where you sit alone in the front seat for $10 and it takes two and a half hours.  As Adam points out though, I do have plenty of time.  I can't help but fantasize that for a bribe of a soft drink I could demand no music for the entire trip though.

It wears you down to watch these god awful Cambodian music videos.   They film people doing karaoke and line dancing and make a music video out of that.  Horrible dancing, horrible music.  I've never been tortured before but if I am, I pray they don't find out about my hatred of these sorts of videos.  I'm sure that they would put them on, loud.  I'd rather just hear the sounds of my own screaming and begging for death.  Really.

So, I got to Kampot and allowed myself to be persuaded by one of the annoying touts to go see a guesthouse.  It is called the 'Cozy Elephant'.  I'm not sure who would name their guesthouse thusly, but it has been done.

After I specified I was looking for a room for $10 per night, the Belgian owner said his was $12 per night and I wouldn't be able to get anything in Kampot for $10 per night.

I looked him dead center and said "Want to bet?"

So, I am staying at the Cozy Elephant, $10 per night.  It has hot water and air conditioning but no mini fridge.  In deference to the cost of electricity, the lighting is so dim that I am worried about going blind here.  Not cool. It does have a balcony.  No view to speak of but there is a place to smoke.

The neighborhood it is in is extremely poor.  We're talking corrugated metal roof type of poor.  But, it's away from the regular tourist area and - aside from the noisy packs of half wild constantly barking dogs allowed to flourish in poor countries - quiet.  I may stay for one or two nights.

The problem I ran into was when I was walking down the street, I said "Fuck, does this look familiar."

And it was.

You see, I am both an idiot and forgetful.  I am forgetful in that I forgot I have been here before.  I am an idiot for not checking my own blog to see if I've been here before.  Ah well.

After doing some research on other towns within Cambodia and seeing the prices of their rooms (alarming) I'm thinking stay here for a couple days then possibly go to a place called Koh Kong.  It looks like a small and possibly shitty border town that Thais go to for gambling.  Or I'll just go back to Siem Reap.  Not sure.

The big problem I have right now is that I need to burn time until the Georgians are ready for me in October and try to spend as little money as possible in the meantime.

Unfortunately, the only countries really cheap enough for hanging out in give me a choice of Thailand and Cambodia.

My possible plane route would go through Dubai (very expensive city) then to Istanbul.  Turkey is fairly expensive.  My plan is to basically bus through it unless I find very cheap airfare to Tbilisi.

So, I'm stuck in Asia.  If I wanted to stay longer than two weeks in Thailand (not sure if I want to) I'd need to buy the plane ticket to show 'proof of onward travel' when getting a visa.  Otherwise, I can just do a land border crossing in and get two weeks.  That will take me up to September.  Spend September in Cambodia and then head off for Georgia.

Who knows?  I may just buy the plane ticket if my research can turn up other cheap places to go hang out in Thailand.

Either way, I'm looking forward to getting out of SE Asia.  If the Georgians were ready for me, I'd go there tomorrow...  Well, as soon as I could procure a cheap ticket that is.



WEIRD SHIT

Basic Celsius for Americans.

Many Americans become confused about Celsius vs Fahrenheit.  They normally try to figure out the conversion from one to the other.  This is frustrating and time consuming.

May I instead submit this easy to follow chart:

0   You may freeze to death.
10  Oh my god is it cold.  Bundle up.  You may be in Canada, eh?
20  Comfort.
30  Really hot.  You will try to find air conditioning if possible and sweat if not.
40  You are in a desert.  Your camel may complain loudly.
50  You may melt and die.   Your camel is already dead.

That's how easy it really is.  These are not absolutes.  Some people will  say "Actually, I find 18 C is comfortable.  Just slap them.  These are general readings so that you have an idea what is up.


Chris will especially enjoy this.

Years ago, several people were sitting around the table during a table top RPG.  One of the people decided to make a disparaging remark about someone who was not there.  I can't remember the person's name so I will call them X.

The person said "X is book-smart, but not street-smart."

I asked the person if they knew where to go in downtown Chicago right then to buy a fully automatic weapon.  They said they didn't know so I said "I don't consider YOU to be 'street smart' either."

"Oh, like you do."  said the 'disparager'.

I smiled at the person as everyone else around the table assured the person that 'yes, I did'.

In a new update, I have recently learned which country to go buy an atomic bomb in.

I do have doubts if I could actually get it into the USA.  In a country where they have you take off your shoes to get x-rayed (the only one BTW), I'm thinking that I might have trouble getting that in.

Sure, I could claim it was for 'home defense'.  I guarantee that if it were set off there would be no living beings around alive to actually burgle my home.  But, I don't think they would like such a large 'kill radius'.



COSTS

In both Phnom Penh and Siem Reap if you are paying over $10 (or possibly $12) per night you are either desperate, gullible, silly or living at a higher social standard than I.  For this amount of money, you should get air conditioning, hot water, wifi in your room and probably a mini-fridge.  If not, seek better lodging.

Beer cost:  Siem Reap has the cheapest beers at $.50 for a draft beer pretty much everywhere.  The 'happy hour' cost in both Phnom Penh and Kampot is $.75.  Not very happy by comparison.

Motorcycle ride - can be to multiple destinations $1.  Tuk tuk (also can be to multiple destinations), $2.  Note, it wasn't a long wait - it was 'take me to the pharmacy, I will buy something then take me home and I'll give you this shiny dollar.'  Yeah, it worked.  Yes, they did try to convince me it was that amount each way but when I said "Let me go check with the other guys to see if they'll do it."  I got waved into the vehicle.

CAMBODIAN ODDS AND ENDS

COST OF LIVING IN CAMBODIA

Well, my visit to the village (see videos below) showed me that it is indeed possible to rent a place cheap (with bills, under $40 per month) but you wouldn't want to live there. It is in a village and not 'a nice place to live'. For that amount, you get a decent sized living space, bucket showers, some electricity, no wifi and woken up by lots of noise at the same time your neighbors get up every day. Since it's a village, that's five or six AM.

Even then, I'm not so sure that it is actually a 'cheap' place to live. The nice guy from Belgium who I interviewed has basically become the 'godfather' of the village. He's paid money to build a very basic school and given fairly large cash loans to many of his neighbors. Either they pay it back or he eats at their house to diminish the debt. Considering they eat rice and maybe part of an egg, it's not a lot of food. The Belgium man said he's lost a lot of weight since living there. While this is a great diet plan for Americans, it doesn't look all that healthy.

In short, not how I'd like to spend my time. I am sure that the villagers are grateful to have him around.  Not something I think I would enjoy.  I don't like lending money to anyone (friends or otherwise), especially since I don't have any.  Nor do I like being tied down to one place for long.

INTERESTING LINK FOR ALL THINGS ABOUT CAMBODIA

Check out this.

THE NEW NEW NEW PLAN

I could get my visa extended once for only one month for $45 or leave the country when my visa is done. Should I go by land to Thailand, I get a free two week visa. I can then re-enter Cambodia should I be so inclined. At that point I can either get the long extendable (and no proof required) business visa for $25 or the lame tourist visa for $20.

Not sure what I'd like to do on this yet, however. I have found a town in Thailand close to Cambodia that is reputed to have extremely cheap places to stay.   I may just go there and enjoy the free Thai two week visa (land crossings) then head back into Cambodia.  Or, perhaps start working my way toward Georgia and a job at a hostel to try to save money.

LOGANISMS

I've been thinking about a great hidden camera thing. Tuk tuk drivers always are bugging people by saying "Tuk tuk?" I've been imagining the bloke who says "Don't mind if I do". He then grabs hold of the side or rear of the tuk tuk and begins to wildly dry hump it. I'd be very curious as to what would happen. Sadly, since the Asians I've encountered don't have a dearth of imagination, my guess it would simply be a demand for money. Sigh.

If you ride in a tuk tuk in Cambodia, one of the things they always ask when they drop you off is "What are you doing tomorrow?" Unfortunately, their English isn't good enough to understand the phrase "Furiously masturbating." Please - give generously to the "Get Cambodians to understand English so that Logan's stupid jokes can be understood" fund.



MOVIE REVIEW - THE GUARD

Some other traveler or tourist I had met suggested I watch 'The Guard'.  They said it was funny.  On the cover of the movie, it describes it as 'raucous comedy'.  Personally, I think whoever put that there needs to be beaten to death with a dictionary.  

It's an hour and a half of my life I'll not be getting back.  2/10.

VIDEOS

Venetian Village 1

Venetian Village 2
Tuk Tuk Ride Back
Siem Reap War Museum





COSTS


Liter bottle of 'Kiprinski' vodka, $5
Large bottle of Kahlua, $13
Box of milk, $2


Ticky (snack bread with vanilla or chocolate), $1 per box


Box, 300g 'Frosties' (aka "Frosted Flakes" for USA), $3.80


War Museum - tuk tuk there and back again, $4.  Admission $5.  Was it worth it?  Meh.  So - so.

LOGAN GOES TO THE DENTIST

LOGAN GOES TO THE DENTIST

Since I know some of you sadistic people enjoy reading in poignant detail about the pains I go through, I figured I'd write this out in detail.

Last night, I was sitting around drinking at Viva with a nice Icelandic couple I'd met. Viva is my favorite restaurant in Siem Reap. It's a Mexican place. Yeah, Cambodian food sucks. As a side note, I did ask the couple to let me know if they were interested in going to a nearby full auto gun range later. If they do, there will be photos and videos.

Something odd was up in my mouth. It felt like a piece of potato chip had lodged in my teeth. When I eventually got it removed it turned out to be part of a filling I'd had put in a couple years ago. Joy.

When you're in a foreign country, it is always somewhat alarming to need medical insurance. You don't want to go to the doctor. They probably don't speak English. I don't have travel insurance. It may not be all that expensive but with just three people having pushed the 'donate' button I'm still trying to save up enough to escape Asia much less have insurance.

The next morning, I decided to roll the dice and see what I could get for a dentist.

There is an older man who is a hotel manager. He is pretty educated and trilingual. Unfortunately, none of those languages is English. Khmer, French and Chinese. I went with French. I asked him where I could find a large, professional dentist clinic. He was pleased I'd spoken to him in French.

He tapped his teeth with a finger and said "Dentiste?" I nodded vigorously. He took me over to a very young tuk tuk driver and had an animated conversation with him in Khmer. It was obvious from the kids body language he had no clue where there was a dentist. The old manager indicated the ride would cost me a dollar. I nodded and climbed aboard.

We then played the 'drive around and hope to run into a dentist office'. He even tried calling people on his mobile phone but his friends seemed as clueless as he was. Eventually, we happened upon one.

It wasn't really what I had been hoping for. It was built into a rundown house and guarded by a hairy kick dog that seemed to have free run of the place. Dog owners can say what they want about the cleanliness of their mutts, but they aren't the kind of thing you want in a 'sanitary' place.

The dentist was an older lady who didn't speak any English at all. She had her ten year old son - who had two years of English schooling - to try to translate. When that failed, she got her friend onto the phone. As I've noted before, phones are useless unless the person speaks fluent English. Her friend didn't. Pretty much all I could figure out from the conversation was that for $10, she'd give it a go.

I decided I could do better.

I used the two translators to find out the name and simple directions to a large dental clinic. A one dollar ride on the back of a motorbike got me to a much more modern dental office. No small yappy, hairy dogs. Bonus.

After waiting a couple minutes for the doctor to be summoned by his non English speaking staff he showed up. For a Cambodian man, he was impressively tall at about my height of 1.8m. Even more impressive, he spoke decent English.

After giving him some time to investigate my mouth I asked how much a new filling would cost.

"Thirty dollars."

I blinked at him. "Thirty? Three zero?" He confirmed it. I blinked at him again. "How much is a cleaning?"

"Fifteen dollars."

I pondered this briefly, confirmed the total would be forty five dollars. "Hook me up!" I said. Long pause. "Er. Yes, please." Apparently, he didn't speak 'street English'. I'm so ghetto.

The cleaning portion went quickly and painlessly. During both procedures, they used a lot of water. I am curious if I will become sick from it.

After the cleaning was done, the real work began. The dentist thought it would take an hour. What he didn't know is that every dental procedure I've ever had has gotten the word 'epic' assigned to it. Hence, it would be an 'epic filling'. Get your mind out of the gutter.

Three long pain filled hours then started. It felt like he had given me very clunky braces on the entire right side of my head. There was some metal bits which reminded me of a horse bit that kept me from being able to close my mouth. It felt like he was trying to drill through my entire jaw.

Lying down for a long time on my back isn't really easy for me. My neck and back have 'special needs'. That means they are pretty much fused together and this causes my legs to sometimes go into spasm and such. While this may create more fun for a special friend riding reverse cowboy on me, it can alarm a dentist. I tried to keep my legs locked together so he wouldn't think I had gone into seizure or become possessed.

I'm not sure what they do to possessed people in Cambodia. Burning would be my guess.

American dentists like to take x-rays and explain to their patients what is going on so they can be reassured.

I don't think they owned an x-ray machine. Given the upkeep that goes on of machinery in Cambodia, I'm guessing most of the x-ray machines can also cook a hot dog at fifty meters so I was OK in missing out on an x-ray.

The process of explaining what is going on to the patient has always confused me. It's like you're getting a test afterward on it. I am not at all curious as to what they are doing. I know only there is pain, it must be endured. My maxim is "I give you money, you fix teeth." It's a good system. I don't want to be taught what the names of the teeth are and exactly what they're going to do. I don't care. What will happen? Will the dentist say a procedure and then I say "But have you considered this factor?" Will the dentist then say "My god - had you not reminded me of that, I would have completely fucked your mouth up! I am so happy you mentioned that!" I don't think so. If you don't trust a man to stick a drill in your mouth and know what he is doing, don't go there.

When he finished and had massaged my jaw enough for it to shut, I felt pretty decent. Surprisingly good. On the way out he told me that was the longest time he'd ever spent doing that type of procedure. Oddly, he didn't ask for any additional money. Fair enough.

When I was leaving I told him that if I had any problems, I'd be back. "You'd better." was his only reply.

The downside is that you won't know if the dentist did a good job until a few weeks have passed. Assuming he did, here is the contact information in case anyone else needs dental work while in Siem Reap:

CHHUON MENG DENTAL CLINIC

#144 TAPHUL VILLAGE

SVAY DANGKUM

SIEM REAP TOWN, CAMBODIA

The phone number (if you are fluent in Khmer only) is 063 690 1518

COSTS

Teeth cleaning, $15

Filling, $30

Celebration 'wet' burrito, $5.50

ALL OF THE SMART PEOPLE GOT KILLED

CAMBODIAN RESTAURANTS

I've noticed I've been shushing and tutting at Cambodians more than seems 'politic'.

In Europe, they have a lovely custom.  When you approach a restaurant, they usually have a menu posted outside.  It is my belief this is done so that you can inspect the menu without either needing to bother the staff or be bothered by the staff.  Just take a look and see if you want to eat there.

I like this custom.

Every restaurant in Cambodia has a menu outside of it.  However, if you pause even momentarily to examine it, a person will immediately show up to either hustle you to a seat or sometimes grab the menu and flip the pages.    They want to try to strike up a conversation with you just to get your butt into a seat and your money.

These people are getting my shushing when they approach.  Since some of them even have no concept of personal space I may direct them to move back to a certain point so I can look at the menu without them being too close.

The shushing usually works.  They don't have the skills at English to even operate within the limited conversations of a restaurant, much less question why they are getting shushed.  They simply don't get it.

Where to sit within a restaurant here can be tricky.

The best seats for watching the world move by - or street theater, as I call it - are outside of the restaurant and pretty much on the streets or where the sidewalk would be if they understood the concept of sidewalks.

If you take these seats, you are constantly beset by beggars and people selling junk.

Or you can choose to see less and sit within the restaurant where you are aloof from these beggars.  In Cambodia, the people running the restaurants do not drive them away.



WHY I'M NOT BOTHERING TO LEARN CAMBODIAN

When you are speaking many languages, you have a certain leeway with the pronunciation.   In some, you can be wildly off the mark and a couple of questions can nail down what you are trying to say.

After a mere six weeks in Indonesia, I had accumulated enough words and phrases that I was starting to get asked if I spoke the language.   Learning pieces of the language of the country you are in can be rewarding, make the people happy and pay off in small, unexpected ways.

Not in Cambodia.

Here, if you attempt their language they won't understand you because:

a) you have slightly mispronounced the word
b) you may have pronounced it correctly, but your strange foreign accent prevents them from understanding
c) you have correctly and exactly pronounced the word but because they were not expecting you to be speaking their language, they don't get it

Despite how it may sound to people who have never traveled here or a few whose language skills and patience far exceed my own, I am not going to bother learning this language at all.



BEGGARS

Ignore beggars.  Fortunately, the idiots that get taken in by their scams aren't usually the kind of people interested in reading a blog like this.  They are the 'do gooders' of the world.  Perhaps that entitles them to get scammed.

I was sitting in my favorite restaurant ("Viva", Mexican food) watching a husband and wife tourist get scammed.  A kid had brought the ole empty bottle and real baby and gotten the gullible husband to go 'buy some formula' from the store for her.  That's fifteen minutes of his life - as well as a decent amount of money - he'll never see again.

While the husband was gone with the kid, I asked his wife who was sitting at the table wondering what could be taking so long if they'd been to Asia before.  She responded haughtily they had been there often on vacation.  I figured this meant they either normally traveled on pre-packaged safe group tours, they were stupid or both.

For those not familiar with this particular scam, you need at minimum an empty bottle.  Having a baby certainly makes it more effective but sometimes finding a baby - even in third world hell holes - can be difficult.  With your bottle you then approach the silly tourists and tell them you don't want money, you just want formula to feed your baby.  Some tourists will just give you money but others you get to walk to a nearby store.  In the store, the tourist buys prepackaged powdered baby formula which is very expensive.  They give it to you then you take it back to the store and get back most of the money from the shop keeper and on to the next sucker.

While the husband was off getting hustled, a random tuk tuk driver even tried to brief the wife on this well known scam.  When the husband returned, he got the message passed on from his wife.  For the next hour, he got to sit around looking indignant.  Apparently, their loads of Asiatic travel hadn't prepared them for this simple scam.

I heard about this happening in India but with a twist.  Someone went to buy the formula but they took it out of the original packaging and put it into different packaging.  The beggar freaked out on the 'do gooder'.  A lot of screaming and even throwing the baby formula at them.  Clearly, not really interested in the baby formula.

Keep in mind that most of the money beggars get go to the local 'beggar king' aka 'crime lord'.

Don't be a chump.



BOOK REVIEW - THE DARK TOURIST

I just got done listening to  this book on MP3.  I like his story telling style - it's very personal and conversational.  Hopefully, he'll write more stuff on this topic in the future.

CAMBODIA, SIEM REAP - REDOUX

ENGLISH EXPECTATIONS

Siem Reap is the jumping off point for the single largest tourist draw within Cambodia - Angkor Wat.  I would guess that more tourists pass through this town than any other town in Cambodia - possibly than all of the other towns combined.

And the level of English spoken by wait staff and workers within the tourist areas can be summed up as 'abysmal'.

If I go off of the 'beaten path' for tourism, I don't expect any English from the natives.  Maybe a little French from a member or two of the older generation but that's about it.

But the amount of English spoken by people who normally work here is painful.  They don't even understand basic sign language.  Note that I try very hard to never get angry with wait staff (eg waiters and waitresses) for their lack of understanding in the travel language of the world.  While food made 'with love' is arguably indistinguishable, food made 'with hate' is not.

This has probably saved me from being beaten up several times by desperate tuk-tuk drivers.  Sarcastic responses are totally not understood.  The only English many of them seem to speak is 'tuk tuk?', 'yes' and anything directly resulting in them getting money.  Even after over a week of eye rolling and tutting at them many still enjoy harassing me daily.  They don't realize (or care) that annoying every tourist in this way actually may decrease business rather than give them money.   They are not businessmen, rather beggars with bikes.

Siem Reap sadly is a 'one trick pony' in that they have only Angkor Wat to show off to tourists.  They haven't done anything else noteworthy in literally the last nine hundred years here.

Once tourists have darted in and spent their one, two or in extreme cases three days viewing Angkor Wat - and only that - they can leave Cambodia knowing they've seen the best it has to offer.   After a few days of being hassled almost continuously by the natives, I'm sure they are happy to escape Cambodia forever.

It was a bit of a shock for me to come straight from Indonesia to Cambodia.  In Indonesia, the 'neutral' facial expression might be described as 'friendly', 'happy' or 'content'.  With the prices of alcohol there I am not sure how this is possible but yet it is so.   In Cambodia, I would liken the 'neutral' facial expression to something I might see in a concentration camp.  Not on the happy guards faces either.  I've seen more liveliness in the eyes of hookers Matt has murdered and hidden in his own interpretation of the English children's game 'Murder in the Dark'.

I'm not sure what brings this on but I wish they would learn the Thai insincere smile at least!



POST OFFICE

I nearly died of shock when the easy to understand and easy to follow directions actually got me to the Siem Reap post office.  There was a bit of 'sticker shock' when it turned out to be $17 to send off two notebooks to the Czech Republic.  I'm sure that part of that price goes into 'time spent to locate the country'.

Normally, I don't like paying more for the postage than the books originally cost.  I'm pretty sure my aimless scribblings decrease - rather than increase - the value of the notebooks.  Since I've gotten tired lugging them around, I spent the money.

I know that mailing these off to Jana will form a part of my legacy which shall be left to future generations upon Ebay as soon as my death is discovered.   Should they not sell, one day it is possible that a future descendant of Jana  will be playing in the attic and discover an old large chest.  Childlike wonder shall  ensue as the chest is pried open.  A dust cloth shall be pulled back to reveal a series of mismatched small notebooks.  The boy or girl will tenderly pick up and open the cracking cover to reveal unfamiliar handwriting.  At this point it will  be slammed back shut and tossed back in the chest as the kid was probably never taught English.

Well, if Mother Russia ever reaches forth her hand and takes back over the Czech Republic at least the notebooks will make good firelighter for those long cold winters.  Or, perhaps they will fill some critical niche in a landfill.

The future is wide with possibilities.



TRAVEL IN CAMBODIA

In addition to wikitravel, I found this map.  Clicking around the other buttons on the site also shows other useful maps.  A nice resource for Cambodia.



HAMBURGER

Quote:  Chiun: "I can see the deadly hamburger has done its evil work."

When I first returned to Cambodia, I found myself strangely drawn to cheap hamburgers.  Because they are  not as tasty as the hamburgers of the USA, I hoped that meant they were killing me a bit slower.

[Note, if you don't know who Chiun is, he is perhaps the best and brightest Korean man ever to grace a movie. Played, unexpectedly, by a white guy.  He was even nominated for an Golden Globe award in the role.  Reference, Remo Williams movie.]



TRAVELER'S TIPS

When is the best time to bribe someone?

Answer:  Long before you need to.

I was feeling a bit guilty about blowing so much money in Cambodia.  I did some thinking about it and determined I'd blown less than $20 USD on myself (booze) and the rest of the money had gone to things that I need - like cheap medicine and cheap eyeglasses.  Not really a 'wastrel' situation.

Since I'm going to be staying at this hotel for awhile (possibly a month, we'll see) I decided to bribe a minor functionary (desk guy) with a small bottle of whiskey.  When I was leaving, I asked him which he thought was better - whiskey or rum.  He had no idea what I was talking about - whiskey seemed to be the only word he knew.  Since that was the case, I picked him up a 200ml bottle (very small, hip flask sized) bottle of whiskey - for $2.20.

He acted as though I gave him The Grail.

Life will be easier by just a bit here.

Remember, bribe before you need to.  It costs less and you can begin laying ground work for later.



PHILOSOPHY

Well, the biggest disadvantage to where I'm currently staying seems to be the musicians that set up next to the night market nearby.  Their music has all of the variety of a Peruvian flute band.  The music sounds all the same.  I'm surprised that none of the locals have beat them to death with their own instruments yet.  That's the disadvantage of being in Cambodia.  Still, I suppose, it could be worse.  I could be in Thailand where they may rename the Thai Bhat into 'Whore Vouchers' so the tourists aren't confused about the money.


I detest in others what I dislike in myself, seen in that living mirror.



BOOK REVIEWS

I read this book and found it amusing and a bit thought provoking.



This book is much more serious and worth the reading time.  I listened to it on MP3.  Sadly, the speaker was more interested in speaking with clear emphasis rather than in a normal voice  tone.  Although I realize the usual three things which stand in the way of any of the self improvement books I recommend will effectively block most people from bothering to check out this book (they being laziness, ignorance and arrogance) for the small percentage of you which have realized interaction with other humans will be a lifelong endeavor, I recommend this book.  It is dry and I found it a bit painful to listen to - however I will listen to it again after I hear a couple other books.  This will allow time for the material to sink in.  For those who have gamed with me or listened to the numerous MP3's of games, this book increases 'empathy' skill.



RESTAURANT REVIEW - ALL RESTAURANTS THUS FAR IN SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA

I've been to approximately twenty or more restaurants within the Siem Reap tourist area.  All of the food is 'decent, yet slightly disappointing'.  The best I've found thus far is a Mexican food place which I would describe as 'slightly less disappointing than normal'.



VIDEOS

At last, the huge bulk of videos has been uploaded.  Let us all rejoice until the next batch.

Temple B 1
Temple B 2
Temple B 3
Temple B 4
Temple B 5
Dani Home Stay different room
Bit o Holiday Music
Diablo Beer
Not For Rent
Weird
Gili T Pan shot
Flying Saucer
Momma Party
French Revenge
Ferry's



COSTS

Siem Reap to Battambang.  By boat, $22.  By AC bus, $3.75.  Looking at the map, taking the boat really doesn't make any sense as most of the journey still works out to be overland.