It's time to start the long awaited journey back to the northwest...thank the Lord!!
I like to think that I'm similar to Chance in the acclaimed movie about two dogs and a cat making their journey home...but some would say I'm too "sassy" to be Chance
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Angkor Wat with Baby Crames
We biked the whole day. Super fun!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
Cambodian Kids..two different stories
Story 1:
I went on a run yesterday through some parks and then along the mekong river in Phnom Penh. It was nice, it was sunny and it was early in the morning so the masses weren't out quite yet. At the end of my run I stopped in at a public park to do push-ups, pull-ups and stretching...earlier in my exploration of the city I discovered a jungle gym station that was PERFECT for a variety of different pull-ups..I took advantage. I arrived at the park at around 9 am only to find swarms of kids all over the place. I tried to mind my own business and bee-line for my jungle gym...i was successful. BUT within 4-5 minutes I had gathered a crowd of 10+ children that were ALL under 8-yrs-old. They were asking me questions about my hair, where I'm from, why I was wearing certain clothes (particularly my shoes...), how old i was, etc., etc. Before I knew it 3 of the boys had starting imitating everything that I did...they would do the same stretches when I did them..they would do pushups with me...they'd even attempt pull-ups whenever I did them...it was adorable. I MADE LOCAL FRIENDS!!!! Yesterday morning I said, "Its pretty easy to talk with locals if theyre under 8-yrs-old because theyre definitely not trying to scam me!" So great
Story 2:
BUT THEN....as I was crossing the border from Cambodia to Vietnam yesterday (later in the afternoon) I needed to go to the bathroom so I took a few minutes to find a toilet. Found one instantly. When I got to the door I noticed this little 7-yr-old girl sitting at a table outside the bathrooms collecting money from users. VERY normal. I also saw a sign above the girl that read "2000 D or 'foreign-language-squiggly-line'00 Riel"...which means it either costs 2000 in vietnamese currency or an unknown amount in cambodian...well, i ONLY had cambodian, so I gave her 2000, thinking it was definitely enough. It was enough and she tried to pay me 1000 D in return..cheating me big time (now I know she was cheating me 30 cents!!!). I told her NO way! So she proceeded to to stuff the massive wad of vietnamese currency back into her pocket and then reach down her lack-of-cleavage into her shirt/bra area (remember this is a 7-yr-old girl) and pull out an enormous wad of cambodian money...so weird. She gave me two 500 Riel notes. Each note has english numbers on them and cambodian numbers...I matched the cambodian number 5 with the squiggly line on the sign and immediately realized that the bathroom only costs 500 riel and this little girl tried to cheat me out of an extra 500 (thats 12 cents!!!). I WASNT HAVING IT. So I made her give me all of my change. I'm not getting ripped a single penny anymore...
I take back all previous claims about young children being innocent and ignorant of scamming tourists...theyre definitely out there
I went on a run yesterday through some parks and then along the mekong river in Phnom Penh. It was nice, it was sunny and it was early in the morning so the masses weren't out quite yet. At the end of my run I stopped in at a public park to do push-ups, pull-ups and stretching...earlier in my exploration of the city I discovered a jungle gym station that was PERFECT for a variety of different pull-ups..I took advantage. I arrived at the park at around 9 am only to find swarms of kids all over the place. I tried to mind my own business and bee-line for my jungle gym...i was successful. BUT within 4-5 minutes I had gathered a crowd of 10+ children that were ALL under 8-yrs-old. They were asking me questions about my hair, where I'm from, why I was wearing certain clothes (particularly my shoes...), how old i was, etc., etc. Before I knew it 3 of the boys had starting imitating everything that I did...they would do the same stretches when I did them..they would do pushups with me...they'd even attempt pull-ups whenever I did them...it was adorable. I MADE LOCAL FRIENDS!!!! Yesterday morning I said, "Its pretty easy to talk with locals if theyre under 8-yrs-old because theyre definitely not trying to scam me!" So great
Story 2:
BUT THEN....as I was crossing the border from Cambodia to Vietnam yesterday (later in the afternoon) I needed to go to the bathroom so I took a few minutes to find a toilet. Found one instantly. When I got to the door I noticed this little 7-yr-old girl sitting at a table outside the bathrooms collecting money from users. VERY normal. I also saw a sign above the girl that read "2000 D or 'foreign-language-squiggly-line'00 Riel"...which means it either costs 2000 in vietnamese currency or an unknown amount in cambodian...well, i ONLY had cambodian, so I gave her 2000, thinking it was definitely enough. It was enough and she tried to pay me 1000 D in return..cheating me big time (now I know she was cheating me 30 cents!!!). I told her NO way! So she proceeded to to stuff the massive wad of vietnamese currency back into her pocket and then reach down her lack-of-cleavage into her shirt/bra area (remember this is a 7-yr-old girl) and pull out an enormous wad of cambodian money...so weird. She gave me two 500 Riel notes. Each note has english numbers on them and cambodian numbers...I matched the cambodian number 5 with the squiggly line on the sign and immediately realized that the bathroom only costs 500 riel and this little girl tried to cheat me out of an extra 500 (thats 12 cents!!!). I WASNT HAVING IT. So I made her give me all of my change. I'm not getting ripped a single penny anymore...
I take back all previous claims about young children being innocent and ignorant of scamming tourists...theyre definitely out there
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Walking 'round the city
Mekong River
Some cool temple
Independence monument
They have all kinds of people here....buddhists and cripples
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Some cool temple
Independence monument
They have all kinds of people here....buddhists and cripples
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Cambodia is the one to the left of Vietnam, to the right of Thailand and below Laos...)
- I'm on day 319 out of a total 334 days being deprived of the Great Pacific Northwest..
- Its the 240th day (out of 243) of this whole Bonderman experience...it'll be 8 months since arriving in South Africa on June 11th!
- My beautiful darling little sister becomes my travel companion on June 13th and we fly home together from Bangkok on June 23rd.
- Today is gorgeous, cloudless and very warm...phnom penh is surprisingly beautiful with city parks scattered throughout town and the mighty Mekong River quietly rolling past towards the east.
- This morning I did my best to emulate Caleb Van Essen's run and workout routine, failed miserably, but still got a GREAT workout (for me). I'm trying to train so that I can compete in the inevitable sporting events that will ensue on June 25th in Cashmere, WA...
- Despite the hard statistics surrounding home-deprivation and the fact that I AM LITERALLY ALMOST DONE!!!!!!! I'm doing very well. Very well, indeed.
Pictures of this unexpectedly pleasant city will come soon....
- Its the 240th day (out of 243) of this whole Bonderman experience...it'll be 8 months since arriving in South Africa on June 11th!
- My beautiful darling little sister becomes my travel companion on June 13th and we fly home together from Bangkok on June 23rd.
- Today is gorgeous, cloudless and very warm...phnom penh is surprisingly beautiful with city parks scattered throughout town and the mighty Mekong River quietly rolling past towards the east.
- This morning I did my best to emulate Caleb Van Essen's run and workout routine, failed miserably, but still got a GREAT workout (for me). I'm trying to train so that I can compete in the inevitable sporting events that will ensue on June 25th in Cashmere, WA...
- Despite the hard statistics surrounding home-deprivation and the fact that I AM LITERALLY ALMOST DONE!!!!!!! I'm doing very well. Very well, indeed.
Pictures of this unexpectedly pleasant city will come soon....
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