The end!

Hello and goodbye! This will be the concluding entry to our blog! We've had fun tromping around Vietnam and Cambodia and would love to do it again some time. Who knows, maybe 20years in the future we will!
The night before we left we decided to stay up late so that we would be tired enough to sleep on the plane. Bradyn fell asleep about 1:30 and I couldn't sleep until 3. We woke up at 4:45 so yes, we were tired.
Two nights previously we had booked a taxi to pick us up at our hotel. The only problem was that our hotel was down a little ally that no car would fit down. It barely fit a motorbike! So we weren't sure how our taxi driver would find us. When we woke up we decided to try meeting the taxi driver on the street. We just didn't know what street. It didn't take long for a taxi to pull up. We showed him the receipt, showing that we had booked and already paid for a taxi. The driver looked at it and then nodded his head and said, "yes yes." We climbed in and were off. Turns out it wasn't the right taxi driver (didn't come as a surprise) and he insisted that we pay him. We were tired and just wanted to be on our way so we paid the driver and walked into the airport. Once again getting ripped off. We figured out that everytime we got in a taxi we were ripped off! They're done now! Hooray!!!
First flight took was just over 2 hours long and took us to Hong Kong. We then had a short layover and boarded the next plane to San Fransisco. That plane was just over a 12 hour ride. LONG! And unfortunately, niether one of us slept. We were tired, but the space was small making it very difficult to get comfortable enough to sleep. Instead we played chess, watched movies and read books. I'm just happy the flight back was shorter then the 14 1/2 hour flight to Hong Kong we were on four weeks earlier!
At San Fransisco we went through customs and then had to wait to get cleared because there was a mix up with my old student visa I had for going to BYU. They just needed to verify that I was indeed no longer a student. We picked up our bags and re-checked them then went through security and waited! By this time we were already exhausted but anxious to get on the next plane and be homeward bound!
Our flight to Calgary was shared with a synchronized swimming team of young teenage girls. We had a good laugh. When we were landing in Calgary, one of the girls said out loud, "I wonder if there are many people here who speak American." Bradyn then said, "I hope you girls have been practising your Canadian!" What can we say? It made us chuckle.
Calgary was a welcome sight. We were through customs in a heartbeat and then were on to pick up our bags. Bradyn's came then we waited for mine. And waited. And waited. It didn't come! Apparently it got left in San Fransisco!!! So my bag was once again lost! Oh well. At least we were going home.
Rod and Sherri picked us up and we started with the stories. A nice dinner to Olive Garden was a wonderful touch! Real Western food again!!! mmmm! We talked and showed pictures until Bradyn nearly fell asleep at the table! We were tired!!!! The drive home was uneventful. We made a couple stops but eventually pulled into the driveway! Yay! Home sweet home!
The welcome home was a little bit dampened when we went to crawl into to bed. Bradyn put his hand under the pillow to find a nice pile of saw dust and mouse poop! Mice had been living under our pillows and our bed while we were gone!!!! Sick sick sick! And when we went to get clean sheets, each drawer that had the sheets was also covered in saw dust and mouse poop! We did a quick clean up job and used what clean-ish sheets we could find and then crashed! The soft bed and soft pillows were great. We weren't conscious for very long, so we couldn't relish the feeling of the comfort. But it was nice either way. This morning the mouse came and visited Bradyn up on the bed!!! Eek! So we are off to get some traps! And pick up our cat!!!! Yucky yucky yucky!!! Even at home, there is never a dull moment!

Last stop .... Saigon/Ho Chi Minh

Our last day in Asia has too quickly come, and the last day will shorty come to an end. We had the problem again today of having all day of nothing planned and a bit of money. We went shopping, and it is funny how easy you can tell what you are craving by what you buy. Today Nikki bought her 3rd pair of flip flops, and I bought my 115th movie. :) Well I think I want to sit down and watch a movie. That is my guess from what I have bought. 90 something movies are disney movies. You name it, we got it, except for The Lion King. We spent $30 on the lot of the disney, so hopefully they work. We then bought 20 other shows that we havent seen. They are less than a dollar here, so hopefully they are alright, and babies dont cry through the show. They were pirated. We have also bought many cookware that we thought were cool that they have here. (I can hardly think I am sooooo hot sitting here. We try to always be moving, because we can stay cooler that way, because the air will blow on us then.) We also have had the icecream crave here in Ho Chi Minh City, so in a couple hours we are going out for our 3rd icecream today. It is too hot, and something like that is needed.
In general, most things that we have in Canada are in Vienam and Cambodia, though not quite as much in Cambodia. We only do this once, so why try and save money by not doing things? Mind you though, we are already planning on going to Burma, Cambodia, and maybe Laos on our next trip, even if it is not going to happen for a while. We have sure fallen in love with Cambodia and its people. It is very slow pace and the people are extremely kind. We had a conversation with a lady a couple days ago and she invited us back to her farm so she could sit and talk again, with a transulator of course, and she could then feed us mangos and other fruit, if we go during their seasons.
So pretty much we have wandered around all day trying to kill time and save money.... We might go to a movie tonight at the cineplex. And maybe see if we can develop some of our pictures, and or go swimming (we did try to find the roman baths, but just ended up wandering through the park and not seeing anything except for lots of lovers...). Maybe we might even go out for ice cream a 3rd and 4th time :). Who knows, all I know is I can't sit at this computer much longer, it is too hot.
Next time you hear from us will hopefully be face to face! Astalavista! Take care and tune in next time!!!! I guess we might be able to let you know if and when we land safely. Adios!

Sherri! I hope you're happy! This is all your fault! After church today we walked through a shaded area by something called Wat Phnom and we passed a lady with a basket full of eggs! Not just any eggs, but THE eggs. Bradyn, being the brave one that he is just couldn't pass up the challenge and we bought two! I was ok until I realized we really needed to go through with it! I got so upset that I wouldn't talk to Bradyn the rest of the walk to the hotel and for a few minutes after! I was already sick just thinking about it!!!!! Here's how it went. We packed then headed downstairs for lunch hoping that having normal food would make it easier. Does anything make in easier?

Sherri this is all your fault!!!! Oh and it wasn't an almost hatched chicken egg, but it was a DUCK fetus!!!! Look closely and you can see the feathers coming off it. Sick sick sick sick sick sick sick.... etc!!!

Sherri, this is still your fault! Here is the duck fetus all curled up! Can you see the beak? How about the feet??? And one girl where we bought it at was sitting and eating it like desert!!!!!!

And of course Bradyn is the brave one who went first. He is also the successful one who was able to swallow the fetus! I was gagging as he was putting it into his mouth!

Here he is! Gagging but keeping it down. One chew at a time he got it down!!! Superman!

Need I say more? It got as far as into my mouth and one bite.... then out and back onto the plate!

So needless to say, after this our appetites were completely lost and we could barely finish our food! Luckily there was a little puppy nearby that I fed half of mine too and the remainder of the duck fetuses!

.

What? You didn't expect it to be dry like Alberta, did you? This is Cambodia in WET season. It's supposed to be wet.



Look at the blockade they have. This is the only thing stopping the water from going right into the boys bed area outside on the ground! And it is clay. Over where the lady is they have to scoop the water out every little while. Wish there was something we could do to help them


This is the ground in their school room. Water!! Everything in there is suspended above the ground to keep it dry. How bought that, going to school with your feet in water all day.

Countdown . . .

Bradyn and I can't decide if the countdown is backed up with feelings of excitement or sadness. I'm sure it's a bit of both. We're excited to come home and see family and get a rest from tuk tuk drivers, moto drivers, tourist traps, beggars, noisy city streets, climbing endless stairs up to our hotel rooms. We're excited to eat garden vegetables, taber corn, icecream on waffles with berries, milk shakes and crispy cream donuts! Oh and icecream and raspberries! We're excited for our soft bed, the quiet sounds of the countryside and fresh, clean air! Mmmm! But on the other hand we will miss much about Cambodia and would love to come back. There is still so much that we wish we could do but just don't have time for. The people here are wonderful (give or a take a few) and the children are cute!!!!! The life is simple and happy and people just live and love their families. What a blessing it has been to be among these people! We will miss the lush green countryside dotted with rice fields and people working in them. It's just been wonderful and tomorrow we leave Cambodia perhaps forever! :(

Today has been a day like most other days - not quite as planned! I think we've decided to stop having expectations because things always turn out different then what we expect! Breakfast was good though at a bakery! All for two dollars. Then we called a lady that works at the orphanage we were planning on visiting today. Arrangements were made for us to meet her in front of central market at 2 to be picked up. She did warn us that there was lots of water but the warning didn't really sink in.

Meeting Botevy (the lady from the orphanage) at 2 meant we had a full morning to kill and a full wallet! We've since learned that those are bad combinations!!! The day was spent walking around looking here and buying there. The deals were good and perhaps a bit too good because our wallet emptied much quicker then we had hoped. Well, not emptied but dangerously close! After a yummy lunch consisting of mostly fruit shake (So yummy here!) we met a tuk tuk driver who took us around to buy rice, candy, noodles and balloons before we were to meet Botevy. Bradyn and I had already bought a big branch of bananas and a bottle of nail polish. We were prepared so we sat and waited on a corner in front of central market.

Botevy arrived shortly after two. Problem - she was on a moto! And not even by herself. How to fit 50kg of rice, a branch of bananas, a box of noodles and four adults onto a motot? We didn't. Bradyn and I and another lady from the orphanage found a tuk tuk (which was quite easy really! It's actually easier to get a tuk tuk then it is to avoid them all! We had three at our disposal in a matter of seconds.) The ladies spoke to the drivers all in Khmer so Bradyn and I just looked at each other and shrugged!

It didn't take long for us to fully understand Botevy's warning of lots of water! The road a km before the orphanage became a lake! Our tuk tuk even died from flooding! So... we waited and soon a bunch of little boys on pedal bikes showed up. Three loaded the rice onto the back of one bike (we thought they were going to ride the bike and I was ready with the camera!) They walked them. The bananas were put on the back of another bike and Bradyn and I were both taken by the hand and walked through the knee deep water. So much for keeping our feet clean! The gauze we had on our toes quickly came off and we walked on. Soon we came to the orphanage but you couldn't tell by looking at the ground. The yard was an extension of the lake and the kids had built a dam out of mud to block the water from coming into their sleeping area. Their classroom was even filled with water!

The kids were so cute! They lined up, girls in one row and boys in another as we handed out bananas and candy. Only after all the bananas were handed out did we notice the slew of banana trees they had in their backyard! Oh well! We tried. Bradyn then started blowing up balloons while I started painting nails. The kids also performed for us. They began by singing songs that were oddly familiar! They were primary songs! They sang Children of the world, Love is Spoken here, A child's prayer, There's a right way and a few khmer songs. Then they danced for us. I couldn't see much of the dances because I was focused on nails, but Bradyn did some filming! Then they played a game of .... MINGLE! One I knew! And it proved to Bradyn that it's not just a crazy Johnson family game! It's played on the other side of the world too!!! :)

Too soon we had to go. They were getting ready to eat supper and the clouds were moving in. As a gesture of kindness, they offered me gum boots to protect my feet but the boots had a great big hole on the top of the foot and it was 2 sizes too small. So, not only did water and little rocks get in, but my sore toe was squished against the front of the boot. Oh well! They tried too and I just grinned and bore it. Cute kids and we have an email address to send pictures to.

After a shower and a supper of Japanese food (it was yummy but too expensive! Prices here were the same if not more then as at home and we got half the food!) Bradyn said he wasn't sure if he liked the place not because of the food because it was delicious, but because of the service! It was amazing and we felt obligated to tip lots! We didn't even half empty our glasses before they were filled again and if we set anything down wrong, it was soon put in its proper place!

Across the street from us was a taste of Vegas. Not the gambling but something very similar to the Bilagio. There was a fountain that kind of danced to the music and was all lit up in cool colors. We watched it for a little while. I think it was something new to Phnom Penh because the locals gathered too and were all taking pictures. It was beautiful and neat to see. Now we're on our way to the hotel for a good night's sleep!

The boys at the orphanage. They were sure happy and wouldn't let go of our hand. They wanted to play with us and show us everything.


This is the kids at the orphanage yard. They played in it anyways. They were drenched and muddy by the end. Not to mention that a block away the sewer was running into the stream.


Not just frog. Breaded Frog. They sure know how to make things look yummy here. Not!




Nikki is passing out bananas to the kids. Little did we know, they had a whole back yard made out of banana trees! Oh well.

You're on Candid Camera

Mmm! :( Look at how eaten my foot is! The ants, mosquitoes and whatever else bites have feasted on my feet over the last few days! It's hard to sleep at night they're so itchy!


That's it Bradyn. Plant the rice using ONLY your thumb! Who knew there was a trick to it?


"So bring me two pina coladas!" In this case two coconuts and we aren't exactly sitting on the beach under a palm tree but that's ok! A lady farmer who we had a chance to talk to while President Som interpretted for us cut us fresh coconut to drink the juice from. Not bad but I still prefer orange juice! And dad you're comment about fresh garden veggies, TABER CORN (we had some corn here....sick!), icecream and raspberries! That was just mean! I just hope you're saving us some. We'll be back in a few days!!!!! P.s. I've had fresh pineapple and bananas till I'm sick!


Look at this... bug? Actually it's a gecko that eats mosquitoes! Yay! We like them! This one was massive and they're fast! This one also sang to us during the night and we're actually glad to be away from it. That way we can sleep. It was so loud! But I guess look at it's size!


Here's my new boyfriend! Sorry Bradyn! Ok, so I'm not being serious but isn't he CUTE???? This is an old picture but I had to put it up. It was taken when we were at the orphanage in Battambang and this was one of the kids that wouldn't hardly let go of my hand.

Well we weren't sure what was going to happen to us the last couple days. We got together with some guy (Som Rasmei) for the last few days. We thought the plan was to go with him out to the farms for an afternoon, or a day and do some work with them. We finished our travel back to Phnom Pehn and his son picked us up from the bus station and started driving. We thought we were going to their house and just going out from there for the next day, but we just kept driving. Finally after an hour of driving we figured out that we were not anywhere where we should be. Was he kidnapping us? Nope, just driving us to a place they have out in a small community an hour and a half away. It was night and dark out, and pouring rain, so we could not follow where we were going. While we were driving he asked us if we heard his story? He told us that Elder Oaks had talked about him in May 2006 general conference. "Only 5 percent of the people in Cambodia are Christians. A family in that country was searching for the truth. While their 11-year-old son was riding his bicycle he saw some men in white shirts and ties showing someone a picture and asking who it was. He felt he should stop. As he watched, he was prompted to say, “That is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and He came to save man.” Then he rode away. It took the missionaries a month to find him and his family. Today, the father is a counselor in the mission presidency." President Som also gave us a story of his life starting with him going through the Khmer Rouge time, and then on to the rest of his conversion story and on to now. Kind of interesting. His wife had all in her family killed by the Khmer rouge except for her and her sister because a friend, who was supposed to get her to go, warned them to not go back to their town like he was supposed to tell them to, or they would be killed.
We got out there and they gave us their bed and pulled out a spare bed and slept in the other room. While we were getting ready for dinner, we walked into the kitchen and there was a HUGE spider sitting on the wall next to Som's wife, she didn't mind it though. I kept my eye on it though, and added on top of that, there was a HUGE spider in the bathroom, that I had to watch as I was in there. So I started getting a little nervous, then I looked in the bedroom. Oh crap I thought as I looked at the holes on the top of the wall to outside. Anything that wants to can come visit us tonight. Som said that the spiders that were in the house weren't dangerous, but the tarantulas were dangerous and they sometimes visit. They said spiders weren't the things to worry about, it was the snakes to worry about. They kill people, not spiders. He told us that snakes often visit the house when they are gone, and also that he killed 2 in the last week out back their house. Well I thought to myself, at least the holes are on the top of the wall, so the snakes can't get in. I thought this until I looked at the doors. They had big cracks on the bottom to outside. Lucky for us they gave us a mosquito net to put over the bed. Dinner was great. Shortly after we went to bed slept soundly, until 6am when their family gets up. So up we got and went out for breakfast. We went to a Muslim restaurant and had some weird beef soup. We then went to a meeting and said hi to the whole organization he was with and told them we were here and wanted to see how things are run here in Cambodia. Then off to his next meeting where they were teaching kids about cleanliness and how they need to wash themselves. I guess the way the girls wash themselves is in the rivers they just pour water over their clothes and call it good, but they were told they need to wash under their clothes too. We also watched a movie of the presentation that Dudley's made while here, about the father being in charge of the family, and the importance of family council. At the end of their meeting, we were told to get up and ask the kids some questions and then give them a shirt as a reward. I asked them "what can you do to stop the spread of bacteria?" I.e wash hands. They could not get it. So I just gave it away. Cleanliness is a thing that really needs to be learned here.
We were soon on our way and off to the field. We stopped at one of the traditional fields and helped them for a couple minutes, or in other words, they let us put some rice into the ground, which they probably redid anyways. Then off to lunch back at President Som's house. We had rice and vegetables, surprised? Then we had a nap for a half hour before heading out to the farms again. We stopped at a farm and the lady took us through it to look at it. The church is funding an organization to teach Cambodian's a better way to farm that produces 2x more than their traditional way. After walking through the fields for a while she brought us back to her house and we sat outside and drank coconut juice right out of coconuts that were just picked for us. Too bad we don't like the taste of coconut juice because. It was a special treat from them so we drank it and acted like we LOVED it until our stomachs were so full of juice that we couldn't even make anymore go down. She wants us back during Mango season, so we can sit around and eat mangos together. She was so nice, and we talked about Canada and how well it is off compared to here. She wanted to live our easy life, because it is so easy to buy things here. We assured her that most people live with dept for most their lives, which makes for a pretty miserable life. So I think she is just content living here and owning nothing except her house, land, and animals, because she had no dept. It sure was fun there and it made us feel kind of part of the whole experience. After that we went back to their place they rent and went out for dinner. We ate from off a fire mountain, kind of same idea as a fondue. We sat on top of a table and ate. We forgot our camera. After that we went back to their place and sat outside and listened to the bugs and geckos, and you name it for a couple hrs till we went to bed and layed in bed and listened to them all, but this time through a mosquito net.
This morning we got up and went to another meeting with a bunch of younger people, that walked around a farm looking at the new way to farm. It was fun, because we felt part of them. Then off to Phnom Pehn for the night. AND we went to heaven for lunch and dinner. At McDonalds, or in their name, Lucky Burger. Mmmmm!!!! Soft and hard ice cream. We almost ate till we were sick of ice cream, were it possible.

Hello?....Helo?... Anyone there?

hey, has anyone heard from our families? Did the rest of the world blow up while we were here? We just haven't heard anything in a few days! This morning we woke up late. Ate breakfast, packed, ate icecream, walked around, and now we're waiting for our bus to the capital - Phnom Penh! Please just keep in mind the internet is our connection with familiarity so it's nice to feel connected!

The Day After...

Hello! You can rest assured that Bradyn and I didn't die during the night from some bug bite contracted while scrambling through thorns (of which we are still picking out pieces from our limbs) and ants trying to get back to our kayak in one piece. We decided that although it was our cheapest play day when speaking in monetary costs, it was our priciest day speaking in physical costs. But we also decided that the Lord was looking out for us and we were so blessed. In large part probably because of so many prayers on our behalf!

Shortly after we got back to our hotel, the lightning display that we had seen while out on the ocean broke out into a storm. The wind howled and the rain poured all night long and most of the morning. We were so fortunate to get back to the mainland and that we weren't stuck out on the island, injured and in the pouring rain! As it was, it was dark long before we got to shore. But we made it back in one piece. We just had a hard time sleeping last night. After we said our prayers, Bradyn asked me if I see sea shells and a million crabs when I closed my eyes. I saw that and a bunch of waves! While I was trying to fall asleep, I kept waking up with a start, feeling like I was slipping on another rock.

After a rough night's sleep the alarm went off earlier then either of us wished, but we had to get up to catch our bus. At least that's what we thought. We had booked seats through our hotel the night before but they had failed to give us tickets for it. At least we hadn't paid yet. Our tuk tuk driver showed up and off we went through the rain and lightning, looking for our bus. On the way the tuk tuk got a flat tire so we had to switch rides. Bradyn was able to bargain that so that we didn't have to pay more because of the ride change. So we got to the bus station and saw all sorts of buses lined up. We didn't know what was going on and the rain was pouring! Pouring! And our driver keeps driving past the bus station. Bradyn and I just looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders. Turns out we were taken to the shared taxi station and told that there was no bus to Kampot (yet we had booked it the night before!). A taxi driver approached us and we asked how much a ride to Kampot would be, the answer $5 each. Great! Cheaper then the bus by $2.50 each. So we jumped on that idea even after we were informed that there were six passengers. four in the back and two in the front. While Bradyn and I were waiting for our taxi to get ready to leave, the driver suddenly approaches us and says, now there were two passengers, Bradyn and I and the taxi would cost $25 total. We didn't like the sounds of that so we were prepared to go back to our hotel and arrange for different transportation, but we didn't have to. We did have to wait for another hour and a half while our driver tried to round up enough passengers to make the trip worth his time. We piled NINE (read it!) nine people into a small car for a two hour ride to Kampot. It was all part of the experience right? By the time we arrived at our destination, Bradyn and i crawled out of the car, numb from the waist down because of lack of circulation. It's all for the sake of experience! And we saved ourselves $15 by going through it.

The rest of the day was spent touring the caves in the countryside. We went to two caves and at each one there was a group of small children wanting to be our guides. Previously, our driver had told us he would be our guide so we just let him deal with the kids at the first cave. Four of them tagged along and told us all sorts of things about what we were seeing around us. Smart kids and their english was great! They were cute too! One girl, I thought she was 4, but turns out she was 7! The kids here all look so much younger then they are. It's crazy!

We walked on. The first cave was supposed to be the "most impressive because there's a 7th century brick temple located inside the main chamber"(Quoted from our guide book). So in my mind I imagined climbing through a cave for fifteen minutes or so and coming upon a large open space where a brick temple - like a little ankor wat, was built. Wrong! We were in for a disappointment. Keep in mind this was the whole reason we came to this area and rode in the taxi. So, back to the story. We arrived at the entrance gate area to the cave and had to pay $1 each to enter. Up we climbed. Up cement steps and then we descended a few more down into the cave. There at the bottom of 20 steps, barely inside the entrance to the cave was a brick doorway - the 7th century brick temple! We were suprised I guess. Disappointed, but I guess it's pretty hard to get a large temple in a cave hey? It was preserved very well though. Since Bradyn and I are not so good at the archeology thing we didn't spend much time looking at the temple. We were back to the tuk tuk before long and just before we left the children asked, "could you please give us some money for school?" We gave them each 1000riels (equivalent to 25 cents basically, but we had already arranged for a guide previously.) They were quick to be laughing and talking with us again. They showed us grasshoppers the size of mice! They were huge!!!! I guess that's a whole meal in and of itself!

We were on to the next cave. Along the way we stopped for a quick snack of grilled bananas, coated with coconut and wrapped in banana tree leaves to cook. It was...good? Not bad, but a little wierd.

The next cave we arrived at and kids were running after our tuk tuk as we drove up to park. Once again a crowd of boys, this time quite a bit older, followed us wanting to be our guide. We told them before we left that we only needed one guide and were going to pay $2. That was it! the guiding is a five minute job! This time we were willing to pay one a bit more because our guide/driver said he wasn't going to guide us through this cave. This cave was more interesting then the first, but the boy who was guiding us was also supposed to shine the flashlight for us to see where we were stepping. He didn't do such a good job. The lack of light combined with injured feet from yesterday made the going slow. When we left that cave we weren't impressed with the boys and their behavior. They acted quite inappropriately and so we were happy to leave.

We got back to the hotel, bought a fresh coconut to try drinking the milk straight from it and then headed out in search of food. Supper tonight was interesting! I wouldn't say appetizing by any means. Bradyn ordered grilled crab and I ordered grilled chicken. Bradyn's order came and suddenly I was worried about what mine would look like. Bradyn's crab came out on a plate and it looked still alive! It was all attached and didn't even have any seasoning on it! I was glad it was Bradyn's meal and not mine! Unfortunately niether one of us knows much about eating crab so we didn't know how much of it he was to eat. We broke the body open and passed that up. So Bradyn ate the meat in the pinchers and some in the legs.

My order came. Grilled chicken legs with everything! I couldn't eat much. I more so played with the toes of the chicken. It tasted like the smell of the markets so I just couldn't finish it. But like always, we had rice to fall back on!

Ok have a look at this picture. Can you see the thrill of hiking to and seeing their cave temple? Ya, me niether. But here it is, one small room with a buddha statue. They even made us pay to help maintain buddha!

Look at the grasshopper! Yes it is as big as it looks! YUCK

Yum! Grilled crab. The only problem is that I didn't know how to eat anymore than the pinchers, or even if you do eat more. So I left it except for the pinchers.

D&C 122:something

"And above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. "
Today was one of those days. We set off with our day happy for a day we finally decided to go kayaking on our own and go visit a couple islands. We rented the motorbike and took most of the morning getting ready, buying snorkel set and food and getting lost. We got to the kayak rental place and took it for the day. The waves were white capping the whole time, so it was fun to rock back and forth and get eaten by the swells. We finally made it to our first island and took our goggles and mouth piece and started looking in the water. Kind of dirty ocean water, so we couldn't do very well, and on top of that the snorkel set would not keep water out of our mouths or our eyes. So we opted out and started to walk around the island. We collected seashells the way around. It started pouring on us, but smart of us, we brought our rain jackets finally. The only problem was we weren't smart enough to bring them with us around the island, and there was no going back by then, so we got soaked, may as well been swimming. We had a lot of fun though. There was a million crabs all over the place, and lots of shells for collecting. We got around and had lunch, a baguette . Then off to the next island. The waves were even better now, bigger. We paddled for an hr and made it there. There was lots of shell around, so Nikki got started right into it. The tide was coming up, so I said if we wanted to walk around, we should get going before we can't. Off we went. We walked the shore, then the rocks, then the water. We were having fun, and slipping all over the place. Nikki found this sand dollar looking thing and I carried it, she told me to guard it with my life. Death was better than breaking it!! So we kept walking, until Nikki fell and broke her finger. We didn't turn around, that's not us, we kept walking. We walked and slipped and walked, I took the camera and put it in my pocket and, still had that shell that I had to guard. I took one step and tripped and tried to catch myself by moving my feet right into a sharp rock, and gouged my toe in two places. Here sharky, sharky, sharky!!! My toe was cut the whole way across and another big one on the tip. And on top of that, I fell flat into the water. Our camera was still OK though. We kept walking and soon ran into a problem , the tide had come up. So we tried to climb up higher, but had to go into the trees. Remember where we are, THE JUNGLE!!! This island was small and with only two little houses on it, so it was just run right over with unexplored jungle. Fun you think? Well let me continue. We started to trek up the hill and into the trees and vines. These are spike trees and spike vines and spike plants and spike everywhere. Each step was followed by a scream of pain as spikes tore at our flesh. The spike vines were like barricades we had to push through. To add to that any pause in our steps resulted in large red ants climbing on us and biting us. I felt like being a gentleman and letting Nikki go first and braking through the webs. We ran into one that Nikki had pushed through and there was the biggest, scariest looking spider I had ever seen, so, yes I screamed like a girl. For Nikki the worst thing was the spikes, for me I didn't care how many spikes jabbed me, I was too scared of the spiders. Yes I'm a wuss when it comes to spiders. I would do anything for Nikki, but not that! We kept on going, and saw these HUGE millipedes, or whatever they were, and huge worms, and huge ants, and huge spikes, and huge .... I think you get the idea. I thought we were going to die from some big thing. I was just waiting for a human eating spider to come out!! We pushed and we pushed and we cried with pain, and cried with pain, but we made it through, to a cliff edge. We wanted to cry. We were tired and hurting, and I was too scared to go back in to find a new way. So we started scaling the ledge, the big problem was that every time we would put our feet or hands somewhere it was a big red ant pile. OUCH!!! These are the ones that bite and HURT very bad for a long time. But we made it down and ran into the water to get all the ants off of us. We were both so grumpy by then that we didn't care if we left each other to get eaten by the ants. At one big drop off I jumped and turned around to help Nikki, but I looked at the ground and I was standing on red ground because the ants were so thick, so I said she was on her own and took off. But I did come back and help her while I danced. So we made it out, and started walking through the water and rocks, because the tide was coming up too high. We had to time the waves and jump from rock to rock in between the waves. We did this until all of a sudden Nikki screamed with pain, so I ran back to see her. Her big toenail was standing up, broken almost all the way off. OUCH!!! Where was the closed toe shoes? In the hotel! Where was the first aid kit? In the hotel! Smart thinking eh! At least we packed them for this trip. We had no option but to keep going because it was getting late and would soon get dark. We pushed and Nikki cried with pain every little movement that her toenail made. But we finally made it to the boat and that was the happiest part of our day. We headed right off, watching the sun setting at the same time. We paddled on the calm sea. That sure helped our spirits out. We paddled and paddled and ya, paddled. We soon had the privilege of watching a lightning show going on all around us while on the sea. It soon became our only light as the sun was down. We finally made it to shore, but it was not the right one. We had to walk for a couple km in the water so we didn't get eaten by dogs. One of us pulled the kayak and the other one followed, and by now the waves were huge, and pushing us all over. The water and sand would mix and climb right into our shoes. We finally made it, following the light that the guy would send out every little while. I saw a firefly in the process. Banged, bruised and broken, we hopped on our bike and headed back to the hotel and straight to the shower to clean off the sand. Nikki's toe nail was all the way back by then, and my gouge is black with dirt, and who knows what else I picked up in the jungle trekking. Nikki has rashes all over from rubbing and I get big white blisters everywhere my sandal strap was, and also blisters all over my shoulders from getting sunburn 3 days ago, while we were on the beach for 2 hrs. Nikki has since done surgery to herself and removed the toenail with my leatherman scissors. Now we are all bandaged up and off to bed.


All geared up and ready to hunt for shells! Notice happiness and lack of pain?



Here's the fragile sand dollar that Bradyn took such good care of until we made it to shore and had to pull the kayak along. He soon found it broken in his pocket!


Once again, Happy!!!! Here is Bradyn on some of the rocks we climbed over. We decided we weren't boring, but may be stupid!




Here is our thick jungle we pushed through. If you look close you can see spikes on everything, including all the leaves.

See! We weren't kidding about the huge spikes!!!! About two inches long. OUCH!!!



Here is my broken toenail and if you look close, its Bradyn's gashed toe. BATTLE SCARS

So pretend this was written and posted LAST sunday! It was written last sunday but I just didn't post it! Sorry!

Today has been a relaxing day with nothing on the agenda but HOT! I think the weather has gotten hotter the more in land we move. We woke up shortly after six, which has become a normal wake up time for us here, and got ready for church. The night before we had called the elders to get directions to the building where church is held. It was nice and easy! After breakfast we got a ride with a "tuk tuk" driver (kind of a cart pulled behind a motorbike) then walked the remaining few blocks. Their language here looks so different then anything I've seen before. Not like asian symbols and not at all like letters! The only way we could tell it was the church was the arrangement of the words on the sign and the fact that there were people sitting outside with shirts and ties and skirts.
What a welcome they gave us! The members would smile and stick their hands together like an asian bow to greet us. I guess that's a kind way to say hello! Those who didn't greet us that way were anxious to shake our hands and practice what little english they knew. Unfortunately Bradyn and I did not know their language like they knew ours. When they would say something, we would quickly open our guide book to guess what they were saying. Oops! But I now know how to say how are you without using the book!
Bradyn and I were reflecting on the day this evening and talking about it all. The missionaries were such an added strength to the teaching and running of the branch here in Siem Reap. It was the last Sunday here for two elders, one was going home, the other was being transferred. It was so neat to see the love those elders had for these people. But who can blame them? I would love to spend more time among them and get to know and serve them! They are such wonderful and accepting people! And humble! That's what I want. I want to serve and love people so much that it breaks my heart to leave them! Bradyn and I have vowed to have an early retirement so that we can spend many years on missions! I'm excited! I just wish we could go now! Unfortunately we haven't been able to get as involved as we had hoped. We have contacted one of the counselors in the mission presidency and he will take us with him for a couple of days and we're going to work in an orphanage for a couple of days, but that's about all we can do. We've learned our lesson and know now what to do for our next trip (sometime down the road). Another thing that we noticed today about church was how simple the gospel really is! The talks, the lessons, everything was taught like youth talks. So simple! Give a principle, give a scripture and apply. There's nothing complicated to it! The church is new here and so the members are learning bit by bit, but the gospel principles don't get more complicated. Understand and have a testimony of the simple things, then more understanding will come. It's a great pattern. The rest of the day we spent time walking around, looking for cheaper hotel but didn't have much luck. We're going to stick it out for one maybe two more nights and go from there.

So here's the bike in the shop that would fix it properly! These guys were honestly life savers! What good people Cambodia has. :)

Here is one of the greatest gifts the Lord gives us each day! Isn't it beautiful? I once read a thing from Young Women's called "A Letter From Home"and in the poem the Lord talked about gifts he gives us that most people don't even notice. One of the things he talks about is painting the sky colors as the sun sets. Ever since then I've tried to notice sunsets more. They are beautiful and a great time to think and reflect!

On our walk back from the beach Bradyn and I saw a crab. Here Bradyn caught the crab and managed to pick it up. Brave soul!

Here's a picture of us and our new found friends. Although by the end of the day, I think they were bored of us. I guess that's what happens when you can't talk to one another very well.

Here's Bradyn in charge! Hoist the anchor and let's go!

We decided that Sunday was the perfect day to sleep in, especially after we learned church was 6 hrs away on bus. We woke up at 8am and went to bed at 9pm. Sick and sore. We decided that today would be a good day to rent a moto (moped looking motorbike) and go tour around town. It costs $2 a way to town and back, or $5 to rent a moto for the day, so we took what we thought was the better deal. We headed off to find the hidden beach that had kayaks and we wanted to find out prices. First of all we couldn't find the right road, and when we did find it it wasn't even a finished road. It kept getting worse and worse, until we were driving through mud bogs, but were we surprised to see mud, its the rainy season. The next thing we knew it just kept getting worse until we were forced to turn around. We finally got out onto better roads, when the footpegs fell off. Oh crap!!!! I looked under and out of the four bolts in the frame 2 had broken. We thought it was a $600 expence on the way. We drove along, Nikki holding the foot pegs, when 2 boys 21 yrs old drove by and looked at us, then turned around to see if we needed help. I told them my problem and they said for us to follow them. Speaking to them was hard, because they knew very little english, but they got us to a shop. The guy at the shop stuck two bolts on it and said that the other 2 holes were broken. He stripped one of the holes that were good, to try and force a wrong bolt in. It was still wobbly so we thought it was game over for us. Then the pegs fell off again. Oh crapper this time. They looked at it and then said we should take it back to the people we rented it from and ask for a new one!! Not in our plan. So they took us around town looking for a shop to fix it. Everyone turned us away because it was lunch time, until after the 5th turn away who took the bike and put the pegs back on, this time with all 4 bolts, that apparently all worked. It was finally sturdy!!! So we gave them both $5 and took them for lunch. We played pool with them while we waited for lunch, and Nikki wrote down the words to a song one of the guys played for her. Then he asked Nikki if he could see her again. I was away playing pool then. Remembering that 27 yrs old is getting married early here, so I'm sure he never thought we were married. We just let them think what they wanted for the day. They then wanted to hang out with us longer, we didn't know anything to do, so we said we needed to go put our pictures on cd. They said they would do it for us, Okay. They led us to one of their houses and went to burn it for us while we waited. After sitting across from his mom for a while and smiling, because we spoke none of each others language, they finally got back and told us to go with them because we needed to buy another cd to burn the pictures onto. So we went and followed them all the way across town to the other guys house where we tried to burn the pictures again, but to no avail. So we headed to a photoshop and got it done. By the time that was done, they got sick of us and went home. They were very nice and a very good help. Saved us $600 and they really wanted nothing out of it. They even paid with their money for us and would not let us pay, so we just tipped them for their help. Came back to the hotel and went and read scriptures on the beach and had our own little sacrament meeting watching the sunset over the ocean. Beautiful!!! Nikki then drove the moto around to go get some icecream. I first thought I was going to die, but she did rather good. One thing I didn't tell her until we were well on our way was that the last time I drove a motorbike was when I was 16 yrs old. She told me to shut up and dont ever say things like that again!!! There are no road rules here in Cambodia, everyone and noone has the right of way all the time and helmets are almost unheard of. So lots of fun, but still alive!!! We will see what tomorrow can bring.

Mmmm! Relaxing on the beach with a cocunt in hand! Look closely and there's a straw coming out of it. Only problem was that this wasn't Bradyn's coconut and there bugs coming out of it! Yummy! But, they do drink the coconut milk like this here.

August 16 - Sihanoukville

Guess what? It rained! ... ... It actually rained ALL day but we weren't surprised. It just meant a change of plans. We woke up early this morning to try once again to catch a sunrise, but for some reason I think the weather is working against us. It was too cloudy to see much of a sunrise so we went back to sleep. Mmmm! :) At seven we woke to a sunny, beautiful morning and caught a ride to town. Only problem was, large dark clouds were quickly moving in from the ocean. Our original plan had been to rent a kayak and kayak out to one of the surrounding islands and have a picnic lunch and snorkel. We decided it may be wiser to wait for a calmer morning. Good thing too!
Once we came out of the building after booking a trekking trip to Ream National Park, the wind had really picked up and the rain started, not just started but dumped! The initial dump eased up around 9 but it rained up until 2:30 (the letup rain was like a heavy rain back home) so we wore bright yellow rain coats all day!
The trip to the park included breakfast (if you could call one small baquet and jam breakfast), entrance fee, a guide, lunch and a boat ride to the shore. The boat ride was around an hour one way. Pretty, but rainy. Good thing our boat had a little tarp over it, but we still needed the rain coats because of little holes and open sides. Once we got to the shore we trekked through the "jungle" for forty minutes. At least they call jungle here. I guess it had some vines and lots of rain! We pretty much walked through a stream of water on a sandy path. One man slipped and twisted his ankle. I felt kind of like a first aider but there wasn't much that could be done. Besides, it wasn't broken and he could walk on it without much pain. So... pretty much he just slowed us down a bit.
Bradyn and I decided either we're wierd or everyone else is boring! Please just let us think that everyone else is boring. Once we got to the beach we were hiking to I was the only one that got in the water up to my waist and Bradyn and I were the only ones that explored the beach. We saw a couple large crabs scurrying around and hiding. Wow can they move! There were some little grey ones too! We didn't take many pictures because of the rain, (even if we did, we can't load them onto the computers from our camera anymore. So you'll have to wait until we can get the pictures onto cd by someone who knows what they're doing.)
The trek back came way too soon because we had just reached the cool rocks and had to turn around and head back. We were given half an hour to explore and we were back in 27minutes and everyone was anxiously waiting for us, sitting on a log. Boring? At least we thought so! We're not wierd right?
After a lunch of BBQ'd baracuda and fruit. I liked the fruit! Bananas and pineapple, all fresh! mmm! Can life get any better? I submit it cannot! On the trip back to the boat dock, Bradyn played captian of the ship for a bit (basically he steered it. I couldn't find a cool word for it.), sick and all! For all you who experienced the Peru sickness, I think Bradyn is starting it. Let's just say he's a fan of the bum sprayers that the toilets have!
As we talked to our guide I felt very appreciative of the Canadian education system and my current financial situation. Our guide has been working for the same company for the last two years without pay and has two more to go (I guess Bradyn says he gets $30/month, so he likes tips!). He has to work for them because they supported his education. He works from sun up to sun down and doesn't get any days off. He's only seen his family once in two years and they live an hour and a half away. He's so homesick that sometimes he cries when he's on the phone. He also told us a bit about his growing up. He went to school and then straight to the field to help with the rice. What a rough life! I wonder if when he talks about family, if he has a wife or if it's his parents and siblings. I don't know and probably won't. I'm sure he doesn't have a social life, especially during the busy tourist times.
The rest of the day has been spent doing.... nothing! Bradyn on the toilet, me looking for text books online. (I know! School starts soon! :( )
P.s. when we chose our hotel, we picked it because it talked about having some peace and quiet! They weren't joking! There are only two other tourists staying in this entire place! And the beach is empty. Mind you, it's a long walk to town. But what's there to do in town but drink?

Last night we stayed in a hotel that had stuff on the pillow cases from the last 20 tourists to stay there so we pulled out our bed sheet to make a good use of it. The room was $7 a night and they said just had a fan, no a/c. We got in there and saw a a/c on the wall, so we went to it and turned it on and it ran cold. The bed had a sheet that covered, well, half the width of the bed, to go on top of us, so we sure cuddled close last night to stay under it, because that a/c only had one temperature, COLD, and if we shut if off it got WAY to hot to think. Mind you though, I am a little sick, so I need cool air on me to be able to fall asleep.
We got up this morning and rode a bus to the coast. The bus ride took 4 hrs, and the a/c only mostly worked. But we did make it to the coast. We got off the bus one spot too early, so we needed to catch a ride from motorbike drivers. A whole bunch of them surrounded us and one grabbed my bag out of the bus and started walking to his bike with it, so I had to fight him for my backpack and I finally yanked it out of his hands and walked away. Nikki had it a little easier and he just held it by her until I told her to get it from him. Then one grabbed our guidebook out of Nikki's hands and sat over on his bike for us to go with him, so I walked over and asked him for it, but he just kept pulling it out of my reach until I finally could get it and had to fight for the book out of his hands and then as I was walking back to Nikki a bunch of them were trying to pull the pack off my back, so I had to push through all of them. I got over to Nikki and she had lost her bag to one of the guys who was waiting for us on his bike, so I just gave up and went with one of them who was not trying to yank the stuff out of my hands as bad as the others. I got kind of grouchy at them and told a bunch of them that we would not go with them because how they were acting and told them to get out of there, so two of them left but a couple wouldn't so I just had to ignore them. We did make it to our hotel which we are splugging for and spending $20 a night because it is very nice and overlooks an almost deserted beach, the rest are FULL of locals, and tourists. We got all unpacked and ate a meal and then headed to the beach for 2 hrs. We are so burnt that we hurt. I am not going to bore with much details, but we headed to the other beach to find a place to rent a kyake tomorrow and it was interesting how the locals and tourists were seperated and there was a clear line when it turned into the tourist beach. Also interesting is that ALL the locals swam in their clothes, pants and shirt, or in a very modest single piece swimming suits, and then we passed into the tourist side, and there was not one modest swimming suit. We did eventailly find a kyak rental spot and also snorkal gear and then went for dinner. I had a crab for $3 and shrimp and rice, LOADED with shrimp, and Nikki had some noodle dinner, all for $7, and the waitress was waiting to our every need. I never even emptied half my cup of water before it was full, and when I put the crab shell aside it was gone soon as well. So we tipped her pretty good. After dinner we HAD to stop for ice cream and then grabbed a motorbike ride back to the hotel.

August 14

Well we've made one conclusion from today! To truly enjoy khmer cooking, you must like garlic! We used garlic in every dish that we made in our cooking class this morning. For the most part they were pretty good and pretty clean. I just really don't like the smell of the market and I'm glad things come prepackaged back home!
This morning I woke up right around six and slipped out our balcony door to try to watch the sunrise. Sadly I needed to be one floor higher to get a good view. I mostly just sat and listened to the sounds of the morning in Battambang. A rooster crowing here and a few people moving around there. Fairly quiet. By 8 the streets are full and buzzing! And the sun is scorching by nine!
After walking around aimlessly looking for an atm, we found one and then picked up a quick but yummy breakfast at a bakery!!!! Mmmm! Homemade banana cake, a donut and a baquet! Fed both of us for $1.25. Sweet deal hey? It was a nice change from eggs.
We had a half an hour to kill so we booked our bus ticket from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville for tomorrow morning. That gave us some more exercise and a bit more change out of our pockets to get back to the "Smokin' Pot"Restaurant for our cooking class at 9:30. There was nine of us doing the cooking class and once everyone arrived we set out for the market. There I also learned and we decided, that this cooking course would not have been a good choice of activities for a vegetarian or an animal rights' activist! You want fresh meat? They'll kill it in front of your eyes! We saw a headless frog still trying to croak. They killed the fish and gut the scales and fins off all before we headed on for vegetables. I was relieved when we didn't have to clean the fish ourselves. Does that make me a wuss? Like I said before, I like pre-packaged food!
We made three dishes this morning. One called Fish Amok (a curried fish dish and the curry paste was made from scratch), another called Beef Lok Lak and the last was a soup that was much too spicy for me to eat it all. Thankfully we had to leave quickly to catch our bus on time. The cooking class was worth it and we might try a few recipes at home... maybe, if we're not sick of Khmer food by then. I guess I should say, if we're not STILL sick of khmer food by then. :)
Our bus left shortly after 1:30 and I thought it was going to be a long, long 4-5hour drive. The bus was hot and muggy. We were the only foreigners on the bus and it smelled like stinky feet! No windows opened and the air conditioning trickled out the vents. I guess I got used to it because after 2 hours it didn't seem so bad.
Once again the rain came down hard this afternoon. I was glad that we were in a covered bus that kept us dry. It's fun to watch the Cambodian life. I saw a little girl standing next to her bike holding a very large armful of sticks. Picture perfect but I was on a bus and flew past her. I also saw a woman getting on her pedal bike in the rain and she was holding a small infant in one arm and using the other to help herself onto her bike. Yikes! I'd be nervous, but I guess it's just part of life for them. It reminded me of a time when I saw a man in Ho Chi Minh. He rode by on his bike and had his child (young. Probably about 7months) on his one knee. The child was sleeping and had his head flopped forward onto his dad's hand. It was cute, but it's hard to describe. I hope it makes sense!
We arrived safe and sound in Phnom Penh. The hotel we wanted was full so now we're staying in some run down shack down who knows what ally! Hopefully we can find our bus station in the morning before the bus leaves at 7! Life is good. We're hungry and we're going to find some food for our bellies.

This is us by the bamboo train that we were on. It started raining so hard me could hardly keep our eyes open just standing there. These were a bunch of the our new friends that were riding the bamboo train. The one without a shirt was with us. They all got excited when the camera came out and started posing for it. These kids in the country are so fun!!!
This is the orphanage that we went to. It was lots of fun and these kids were so grateful to have us there. I call this picture, Nikki in Heaven. The only problem is they only know Khmer and we only know English. But when we left after playing with them they all had to do their cool handshake with us 5 times each and then we could leave.

Last night we had the wonderful opportunity to shower in a cold shower. And I mean cold. It was alright though because we finally decided to go with a room without a/c which can get pretty warm.
This morning we finally had the wonderful opportunity to sleep in until 7:45am. And it was not that wonderful. We hurt so bad we both got out of bed without laying around. We went for breakfast and then off to figure out what we wanted to do today. When we got to the hotel front desk, trying to see what they had posted for what to do, a motorbike guide started telling us all the things to do. We could rent a motorbike for $7 for the day or go with a guide for around $20 for the day. He finally talked us into going with him because we had no idea where to go to get anywhere. So we both hopped on the back of 2 motorbikes and off we went. They took us right off the main highway and onto the farms. The farmers were out transplanting their rice crops and also plowing and getting ready to plant new ones. As we went a long every little kid would yell and wave at us, even if their parents had to point out us for them. Its kind of nice being a celebrity. I hope things stay that way when we get home. So as we went we asked them to pull over and let us go into the field and watch some farmers transplanting rice. It was sure hard work they were doing planting each plant individually throughout the whole field. And I complained that an ant bit me while I watched them work. Then on through lots of more fields and to the killing cave. We hiked up a mountain with a little kid we payed $1.50 to take us all the way to the top and guide us. He took us and showed us a building that the Khmer Rouge would cut people and then kill them first of all. Then onto a place where they would bludgeon the people and then throw them into a deep cave. They had a big cave where they threw little kids and babies they killed, and then another one where they would throw the adults. Sick people they were. They had killed over 10,000 people and threw them into the caves. These places are all thoughout all of Cambodia almost. Then our tour ended with us walking through some pagodas and then down. The heat was almost unbearing. But we made it with the help of our water bottle. Our trip continued with us eating at a small restraunt on the side of the road, and yes the meal was rice and noodles, surprised? We did try something new though, it was some plant they have here. It tasted pretty good. Then off we were again. We went by many more fields and then to a rice processing plant where they shell the white rice. Kind of like combining, but just with the seeds. Then onto the bamboo train. It ran 7 km one way and then back again. So we hopped on and took our guides raincoats, because we had forgot ours, and then off. We only made it a couple kms before it started pouring buckets and it didn't matter rain coat or not, we were drenched, and everything with us was. Our camera is still in the hotel drying out. The next thing we did was go buy rice, books, pencils, and candy and head to an orphanage. It is run by a monk who takes in unwanted children and children with AIDS and makes a family out of all of them. They were so happy to see us and grabbed our hands and led us under the place where the monk was sitting. We talked to him and all the kids for a while and gave the monk the rice, notebooks, and pencils, and then started handing candy to the kids. They would come forward and put their hands together and bow their heads to us, a very repectful way and take the candy while saying thank you. There was a bunch of them, and I decided it was Nikki's heaven. She just ate it all up. Then we went and played games with them. I played football (soccer) and Nikki played some hand games with the girls. One of our guides videoed us playing with our video camera, he actually was probably having to much fun with it and just kept videoing forever. When I got sick of soccer I walked over to where he was videoing Nikki and he threw the camera on me and ran to play soccer. I guess the main income of this orphanage is the tourists that go there, and most of them don't go there, probably mostly because of the AIDS. After a while we decided it was time to go, it was hard not being able to talk to them. So we went and told the Monk and the kids goodbye and the kids all wanted to say goodbye with their new handshake, so we had to do it with every kid, and multible times at that. It was sure fun and they were sure grateful for the rice and treats. Our guide then ended.
We went back to the hotel and got ready for dinner. I swear there was raw chicken in mine. Oh well, I guess that is what you get out at these restraunts.
We are now off the Phnom Pehn for tomorrow and then to the coast the next day.

August 12

Hey! Happy Birthday Skyler! I didn't forget! Hopefully you read our blog. Today has been a day of travel. Surprised? We travelled in style this time going by fast boat or we thought that's what it was supposed to be. Last night when we booked our tickets we were told the trip should be about 4-5 hours. It was 8! I don't know, maybe we got on the wrong boat, but we ended up in the right place and saw a few sights along the way. And we weren't cramped up in a bus (but we were breathing in exhaust fumes because we sat just behind the engine.) I just feel sorry for those who rode on the roof! There weren't any seats up there, but they cram everyone in so tight that people have to sit there. Bradyn and I just got lucky and we were in the first van that arrived at the dock so we got first pick of the seats, after that there was no choice!
We woke up early, as usual, and made it outside our hotel at six o'clock when our transportation was supposed to arrive. It showed up just before 6:30 so we thought we were the last ones to be picked up! Wrong! There were four more people to cram into that van! Bags took up the front seat and two people had to sit on the already "extra" seats. And there was no air conditioning. Luckily it was still morning. The morning weather was beautiful and turned hot quickly! Those up on the roof had no shade and got quite sunburned. So they had the sun beating down on them for 7hours straight, had the roar of the boat engine as constant noise and then to add to it all, it poured buckets for the last hour of the trip! Poor guys! And they still had to pay $20 for the trip!
On our boat trip we saw so much about life along the river. Lots of it was bare bottomed kids, mostly boys, swimming. But there was also people washing their clothes, their hair etc. in the river. People lived on the river and the rice fields at times looked like they were planted in the river! We saw them harvesting and preparing rice for storage. Fishing and lots of it! It was just so fun to watch! At times I thought it would be a great life. Live off the river and only be concerned about gathering food. When you're hot, just jump off your boat and swim a bit! The people sure seemed happy, at least up until the waves from our boat hit the little boats. None of them capsized but some came close. It was just a fun experience!
We arrived in Battambang and felt like celebrities. Handfuls of representatives from two hotels were shouting at us all in unison to get our attention. Apparently they are big competitors! They didn't even give us room to think. We walked over to a roped off section on purpose, but they followed us. A security guard did help us out a bit, but I felt bad because he smacked a guy pretty good. We got a hotel and ate a delicious supper complete with fruit smoothies and large bottled water all for $5! Good deal? We thought so! We also booked a cooking class for the day after tomorrow. Now we just need to figure out how to occupy our time until then. Hopefully we can find an orphanage. Keep fingers crossed!

Ok, ok this was not my doing, this was Nikki's picture taking. But this is much of what we saw all day today while boating down the Sangker river. There was always naked little boys and girls that would run out and wave at us as we drove by. This little boy here had a little more fun and pulled his butt cheeks apart and waved his bum in the air at us. No we are not pedophiles




Well, we did get excited when we read this, we were finally ready to know that our meat was safe from any weird meats, especially woroms. I think they meant worms.

To our much excitement we ordered a dish called Cambodian fried rice. We started eating and it tasted real wierd, so we tasted the meat, and decided that it was either or rat. I dont think it could be worms, it was too meaty, but I have been wrong befor,e. dog, cat

Temple time! No, not taco time, but temple time! This isn't the famous Ankor Wat temple but it is on Tomb Raider. This temple was called Ta Prohm. Cool. We did see Ankor Wat, but the pictures weren't as cool.

So here's the infamous Ankor Wat temple. It's bigger then that I promise. We spent 2 hours exploring it. Unfortunately the coolest and highest parts were roped off and yes, we did obey THOSE signs.

And why not end the day with pringles??? Mmm! I thought I was going to have to go a full month without chips! Turns out these Cambodians know how to live! :)

TEMPLES OF THE CAMBODIANS

Angkor Wat day was today. We woke up at 4:45am to go to the temple. We got there on a tuk-tuk and it was still dark. We thought to ourselves, Ha, we beat the crowd we will be in and out and the crowd will just be waking up. Wrong. There was such a big crowd going in when we got there that we had to wait our turn to take a step. I thought of being a drill sergeant and yelling, "STEP, STEP, STEP, etc. It might have sped things up, but I'm not sure everyone spoke english so it might have caused a bigger mess. When we finally got to the gate a lady asked us to put an incense by Buddha. We turned them down, well I had to grab Nikki and pull her away since she is buddhist now. I'm working on her, don't worry, I think she will come around soon. We made it in to watched the sunrise, we were sure it was going to be clear because our driver told us the day before that he would call to his god, but no to our dismay his god did not give us a clear morning. So we just went in to look at a dark temple. We had to wait to take pictures till we came out, because it was to dark to do it on the way in. It was an impressive temple, but I think Khmer Rouge had gone in to all the worship places and stole all the heads and arms to all of the Buddhas, so they were worshiping Buddha's bottom, I guess. But after an hour in a temple that sometimes takes people days to go through, Nikki and I were ready to do something new, so we started acting like Indiana Jones. We did get up a 4:45am so give me a break, we were tired. Soon we made it out and yes on to the next temple. It was cool as well, at least for a little while, then we were on to the next and the next and the next temple. We saw the temple ruin that is in Tomb Raider, and no we did not act like we were in Tomb Raiders, we were in Indiana Jones still. We did find one temple that we were the only ones out at, so we videoed us having fun, but soon decided it might be blaspheme so we grew up a little bit and act like we were almost our age. There was one spot where some mine victims that were playing traditional music, so because they were doing something and not just begging we donated money, and then later bought a cd from them. Figured we could buy one thing from all the people asking for our money. Soon we finished out ancient temple visit and went to another temple that was functioning. The ancient temples were very cool, don't get me wrong, but we just couldn't do it for very long. At this other temple we took our shoes off and went in and talked to a monk for a little bit, and got a picture with him. They are cool, I guess I don't blame Nikki for joining their religion. Soon after that we made it back to the hotel and gave our tuk-tuk driver $15 for the 8 hrs of work. And that is lots here. We then organized a boat to take us to Battambong tomorrow morning, because we are sick of the tourist capitals. And yes we did make that decision 5 minutes before we did it, because all of our other plans we made were all stumped because the airlines dont fly anywhere right now in all of Cambodia besides the 2 big cities. Not to where we wanted to go.
Also, it rained so hard this afternoon that the roads were rivers of water. Mmm!!! Walking through garbage and sewer water. But it is OK, we will wash our feet tonight. I think the rain might have been mostly made up of the sweat that fell rolled off my face today. It was SO HOT!!!
Well got to go, its time to go and find some Khmer food. Mmm rice with dog and maggots are on the top of my menu tonight. Aren't you jealous?