I will not buy anything else from kids

With the above title being stated... I now own 4 bracelets, 10 postcards, too many t-shirts to count, and a nasty beach massage habit that's going to be hard to kick. (@ $5 a pop, c'mon who wouldn't?) I bargained this one kid in Siem Reap down to $1 for 3 flutes... 3 flutes for a buck I say! Then I realized I had no use for 3 flutes and left. I think I left her a bit disappointed.

Siem Reap was amazing. And after days of saying Cambodia is my favorite country, it finally happened. 2 hours after a nice meal of Lok Lak, my body decided to clear all of it's contents (like a garage sale of my intestines). The result wasn't good, in either direction, but 24 hours of rest and rice later, I was back in action. I actually had the opportunity to help out at this orphanage before I left Siem Reap. I wrestled kids, delivered some rice to a village, and realized how useless I was compared to other people. Good experience none the less.

Phnom Phen was another world. I found a nice (cheap) lakeside guesthouse and randomly met up with a Spanish guy and Italian girl I had traveled with previously. The backpacking scene in Phnom Phen is a crazy cast of characters. From stage right: you have the super nice Cambodians running the guesthouses, the motorbike drivers offering you everything from a ride to heroin to boom-boom, the backpackers who come to basically consume everything in site (read: EVERYthing), and then you have me... somewhere in the middle (right next to the heroin). If you get away from that area you'll finally get to see some of the real city. The S-21 museum is an experience much like what I would expect from Auschwitz. It's the site where the late 70s Cambodian regime tortured and killed countless thousands of people. Then you move on to the killing fields where they've discovered numerous mass graves of rebels, intellectuals, and former affluent citizens. Needless to say these sites make for a long day. You might want a breather at some point. On a brighter note: take a cooking class! Seriously. I took one with the aforementioned pair of backpackers, and it was some of the most fun I've had in weeks. Just wait until you try my Amok fish kiddos, you're in for a treat. (the recipe is actually for "fish amok", not "amok fish kiddos". There are no children in the recipe.)

I decided to tack on Sihanoukville to the trip while the (sneaky) Vietnamese in Phnom Phen sort out my VISA... which has turned out to be a great decision. While the beaches in Thailand are beautiful, the ones here are almost as impressive but with 80% less tourists and 72.5% more personality. Maybe I'm just saying that because I love Cambodians... but it's true. I'm on my 2nd straight grueling day of fruit salads, beach massages, motorbike riding, and fighting off evil bracelet selling children. All have been amazing. I think I might just add on another day or two here before I head back up for my passport and ticket to Saigon.

My next post might be from Vietnam. (*high five* Viet-effin-nam!)