Koh Kong

Greetings Friends,

I write to you today after a long hiatus from the quaint town of Koh Kong, on Cambodia's southern coast. We arrived here three days ago via a 15 hour bus ride from Battambang. It is here that I have caught my first glimpse of the ocean, and where it is starting to feel like I am really on a vacation -- how can it not when you are lounging in beach chairs, the warm ocean lapping at your feet while you read and drink a coke.

Our first day here we rented bikes for $1 and road about 12km outside of the town to a nice little beach. We ended up spending most of the day reading and hanging out at a little 'restaurant' right on the water. The bike ride wound through dirt roads between mangrove forests and little fishing huts before finally ending at the beach.

Yesterday we joined an organized tour that took us to a remote island -- about a 2.5 hour boat ride from the mainland. We were hoping to see the endangered Irawaddy Dolphin on the way, but alas, no dice. The island is inhabited only by a few coconut farmers, so our boat (about 8 of us) had the place to ourselves. We snorkeled around the rocks -- which was actually quite sad. The coral is almost entirely gone, but is starting to grow back in a few places. We did see some fish, hermit crabs and sea fans though. The rest of the time was spent lounging, reading, and building sand cabins. It wasn't until we returned that we realized just how suburned we were. Despite our best efforts, the sun here just seems to be too strong for our very white (er, red) skin. On the boat ride back we detoured through Asia's largest mangrove forest. I had hoped that the guide would tell us a bit about them (to supplement my knowledge gained from my 11th grade marine biology project) but really we just sort of sped right through them. It is a pretty amazing forest though, that seems to go on forever and ever.

We plan to go east along the coast and spend a few days in Sihanoukville before crossing the border into Vietnam by the 3rd or 4th of December when our visa's expire. There we will visit an island we've heard a lot about and explore the Mekong Delta before venturing further north.

Since I last wrote we have also been in the city of Battambang. For some reason, unbeknownst to us, we spent five or six days there, even though there wasn't much going on. It is Cambodia's second largest city, but is quite small and everything seemed to close around 8pm -- quite a change coming from the super touristy city of Siem Reap. We spent a few days on Tuk Tuks visting temples and Khmer Rouge sites and visited a school we considered volunteering at before ultimately deciding to head south.

LoveLoveLove

Safe in Battambang

Thanks for the concern everyone. We are safe in Battambang and have not been in Phnom Penh for 10 days or so. We only heard about the stampede yesterday -- very very sad news.

I will write a longer update soon. Thanks for the love.

Siem Reap

I seem to already be taking the heat for neglecting my blog, so here is a wee little update.

We have spent the last six days or so (it's hard to keep track of time when you're on vacation, ha) in the city of Siem Reap -- home of the Angkor Wat temples. The popularity of the temples has led the creation of an extremely touristy little city -- complete with fancy hotels and restaurants. We have shacked up in a nice little guest house -- the Royal Key Angkor GH -- where for $13 per night (total) we have quite a large room, bathroom with hot water AND, air conditioning (to the point where it's actually cold). The humidity outside is still quite shocking. We have explored the city's markets (see my photos) -- mazes of shops packed tightly together selling foods, illegal DVDs, souvenirs etc -- where are always limitless photo opportunities, AND, where I bought a fully functioning copy of Microsoft Word for $4. YES!

Much of our time here has been consumed with exploring the temples. In addition to the famous Angkor Wat temple, which we visited today, there are tons of other much smaller complexes scattered around the city. I don't think I can aptly explain how gorgeous they are -- so please, check out the photos. One day we also traveled about 30 km outside the city, via tuk tuk -- a long, terrifying ride -- to visit the Cambodian Landmine Museum. As depressing as it was, we all learned a great deal both about how landmies work and how many still exist throughout the country and much of Southeast Asia.

The food here turns out to be quite interesting. We have all decided that we much prefer thai food but are slowly beginning to enjoy Khmer food as well. The main Khmer dish is called Amok -- essentially a combination of spices that meat or vegetables are cooked in. I believe that it is primarily a combination of coconut, lemongrass. We have also learned that Cambodians eat everything. One little jaunt through the food market reveals piles of animal parts that I would never imagine could even be eaten. Pig heads, chicken feet, frogs, crocodiles, cow brains, various eggs. Wow. We have found that it is relatively easy to eat a meal for $1.50 -- I believe breakfast for the three of this morning cost $5. We have all become obsessed with fresh fruit shakes as well. Yum. Spring rolls have also become a staple of my diet.

That's all for now. Tomorrow we are off to Battambang via a 4-6 hour boat ride through Tonle Sap (google it!).

aaaaaand.....here's the photo link for those of you that don't have facebook

LoveLoveLove

Phnom Penh

Hello from Cambodia!

When I stepped off the plane in Phnom Penh two things happened: 1) I started sweating profusely and 2) I was transported back in time toNepal and India. I'm starting to think that all Asian countries must smell and sound the same -- a combination of spices, sewage, diesel, burning garbage, cigarettes and sweat overwhelm your nostrils while the sounds of loud voices yelling "tuk tuk? tuk tuk lady?", squeaking breaks, car horns do the same for your ears.
I spent the first day lounging in the vicinity of the guesthouse crippled by jetlag. I traveled for over 30 hours and then arrived in Cambodia at 9am. It proved rather difficult to stay awake but I think I lasted until 4pm before falling asleep. Only now am I starting to get back on schedule here.

Our second day in Phnom Penh we hired a tuk tuk driver to take us on a city tour. Development-wise the city reminds me a lot of Kathmandu. Dirt streets surround a few wider, paved boulevards both of which are equally chaotic. Unlike Kathmandu, though, PP doesn't have an old, huge tourist area. Instead there are a few different streets, spread out. We were staying in one of those areas but there weren't huge numbers of tourists and the street was busy with locals as well.

Our city tour took us to three different sites -- the Choeng Ek Killing Fields, S-21 Museum and the Russian Market. Choeng Ek, located about 15 km outside of the main city is the sight of some of the largest mass graves created by the Khmer Rouge. Thousands of bodies have been recovered and only half of the area has been excavated.

The S-21 museum is a school that Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge turned into cells and torture chambers. Many of the former classrooms were turned into cells with pretty shoddy wood or brick construction. It is clear that they must have been in a hurry. It is hard to believe in walking through these areas that this happened in the 1970s and that there are many people alive today who lost family members.

Finally, the last stop on our tour was the Russian Market. Roughly the size of a square city block, you entered through one passageway and were transported into a network of paths leading you through little shops/stands/stalls selling everything from touristy shirts, eggs, porcelin spoons, illegal dvds, cow hooves, fruits -- you name it, it's there somewhere. (Ceddy, i did see an illegal copy of the Killer Inside Me!!)

Jade and Kade have been eating street food, and fruit and haven't gotten sick, so I have been happily following suit eating fresh pineapple and mango as much as possible.

We spent most of yesterday on a bus blasting loud cambodian music en route to our current location, Siem Reap. It is a much smaller, much more touristy city almost directly north of Phnom Penh and home to the famous temples of Angkor Wat. We plan to spend four or five days here cruising around the temple complexes and anything else that seems of interest. There is a place next to our guesthouse where we can rent bikes for $1/day so we may take advantage of that. We made the mistake last night of being cheap and getting a room without AC for $8, after last night I believe we are going to splurge and spend $13 for AC. It's freakishly humid.

That's all for now. It appears that the easiest way to upload photos is on facebook, so I will make the link available here when I post some.

(hiiiii kg)

lots of love!

Hair Straightener.....Check

So, I feel like I learned a lot in the past four years, most notably though, I learned what life is like with access to normal electricity. Our house in Vermont is solar powered, and as a result, I was deprived (unknowingly) of many simple pleasures, things like -- hair dryers, portable phones, certain CD players and (drum rolllllllll) hair straighteners. I was first introduced to the humidity fighting wonder that is a hair straightener at Syracuse University. My neighbor in my dorm, and now close friend, Elizabeth had a Chi -- what I now know to be an expensive, and freakishly effective straightener. A few passes over your hair with this Chi had it looking irresistibly straight, shiny and luscious. However, it wasn't until my sophomore year at Middlebury that I actually invested in one -- a move that allowed me to have beautiful unpuffy hair regardless of the humidity levels. And here I am, now a college graduate, headed to South East Asia with a tiny backpack filled with, among many necessities, my Chi. It is this addition to my backpack that has drawn the most attention and the most criticism. When did it become such a big deal to travel with a hair straightener -- they are small, light and aid in the maintenance of beautiful hair. Jeeze.

But anyway -- there has been some interest in my packing list, so here's what I have -- I think.

My Chi :) ...judge away....

The Good Book: Lonely Planet's SE Asia Guide

Another book that is supposed to be really good: Shantaram

A journal

Dr. Bronners

Camping Towel

Bag O' Meds: anti-histimine, anti-malaria, band aids, cipero, cough drops, ibprof

A conservative gray skirt (that survived Nepal)

Jean Shorts

Black Hippie Flowy Capri Things

One pair of jeans

Undies

Wool Socks

Normal Socks

A Fleece

A Rain Coat

Bug Spray and Bug Spray Wipes

Pack Cover

2-person Mosquito Net (so romantic)

Batteries

Emergen-C

Chacos

Hiking Boots

A few tank tops

A few t-shirts

A few long sleeve shirts

Long Underwear Pants

Face Wash

Leatherman

Headlamp

5 Packs of Gum :)

Laptop

Camera

Sunglasses

Headband

Watch

Earplugs

Chapstick

Granola Bars

Nacho -- my stuffed elephant that also survived Nepal

A hat

Passport

Wallet

Cash Money

Pens

One last visit from AP, helped my folks get some wood on the porch and off I go.

Farewell for Now

Hello and Welcome!

In an effort to continue to avoid packing, I will write my inaugural blog post that hopefully a few people will read. On Wednesday evening I will begin my journey east to Cambodia -- a voyage that should take about 24 hours and include stops in both Germany and Thailand.

As of now, I have no solid plans. I learned in India and Nepal that plans never really work out the way you expect them to -- and they often make you miss out on other opportunities. Thus, I am going the plan-less route. All I really know for sure is that I will meeting my friends Jade and Kade in Phnom Penh on Friday morning. In addition to Cambodia, we hope to go to Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos -- and as always, I'm making a plug for Nepal.

While I will have my lap top with me I'm not sure how often I will be able to access the internet, or get myself together enough to post anything meaningful -- so this could very well turn into a photo blog (which is probably more interesting than listening to me ramble anyway.)

I have arbitrarily selected a return flight for June 2, 2011 but I have no idea how close to that date I will actually come home. So, please be in touch (especially if you want a postcard OR if you are going to be anywhere sort of close to South East Asia). You can reach me via email (rpvara@gmail.com) or this blog.

Hugs from Vermont!