Cambodia

Well Cambodia has come and gone now. I can easily say it is the best country that I have been to in Asia. Although, the country is very poor and corrupt from what I can tell and what I was told, it really had the most friendly people of all. It is definitely a place that I could go back to. The pictures go something like this. My friend and myself. I met Dennis at my meditation in Chang Mai. He is working at the orphanage for 3 months. From left to right, the kids at the orphanage that were being taught a english lesson. The kids at the orphanage range from a baby until 18. Next picture over is a young boy who was floating on a local lake in a big metal bowl, holding a snake and basically looking for donations. The picture with the lady and baby is the cook at the orphanage holding a baby that was left at the door step. Most of these kids have no parents and were picked up off the street. The kids parents died from multiple reasons. The kids are then left to fend for themselves on the street. They sleep on the street, beg, and learn the basics of staying alive at a really young age. All of these kids that I met at the orphanage were extremely happy. The orphanage has only two rooms for the 30 kids and most sleep on the tile floor. It really is true
that kids don't cry if they are not going to get any attention. They are all so happy to just be off the street. COFCO is the name of the orphage. The last picture I took is of a local family I met. They were extremely nice, I actually met the girl in the upper left and she took me to meet her family. She also helped to have her friends show me around Siam Reap for a few days. It was great to meet some local people and get a better feeling for the local culture. Keep in mind that these people make about $40-$50 a month, but yet are the nicest people I have met on my whole trip, actually similar to the Nepalese people in the mountains.

Mother Nature wins another one!

One thing I have learned over the years is that mother nature always wins ! Here is my latest example. The temples at Angkor Wat are really cool, a definite must in the South East Asia itinerary. But it is amazing how after years of neglect that the trees and nature are starting to win the battle, as if to say I am boss. Same always goes in the mountains and the ocean! The temples are about a 1000 years old, give or take depending on which ones you are looking at. The temple carvings and engineering are really something to behold. They rival anything I have seen, ie , Rome, Mayan ruins, my work, etc.
So Cambodia is probably the best Asian country I have been to so far. Besides the hard sell on product, the people are really down to earth, good looking and friendly! People really are poor though, after talking to some workers, I have found that the average person working here seems to make about $50 / month. That is for a 54 hour work week!! Don't think I could find anyone at home to work for such wages. OK - this keyboard really sucks to type on, as keys keep getting stuck. Also this whole thing seems somewhat narcissistic, blogging that is, I don't really like it and I am not sure if anyone is even reading it. Share some love and let me know if you are, if not, then I won't waste my time! Hope all is well. JR

Human Atrocities

So Saigon has come and gone. Every city I have been to so far certainly has its own flare and identity. Saigon was the city of motor scooters. Literally thousands everywhere. It was like a peleton of motor scooters, crossing the road was a life and death experience. Try it hung over and tired and your lucky to make it to the other side. It really is just a sea of motor scooters.
My main reason for going to Saigon was to see the Cu Chi tunnels. These are the tunnels that the Viet Cong used in the war. In California I have a good friend of mine who's job it was was to flush the V.C. out of these tunnels. These tunnels are extremely tiny to say the least and I cannot imagine how difficult this job must have been. Not to mention the whole area was booby trapped with different forms of killing devices such as holes with speared bamboo sticks covered in poisonous snake venom. Crazy what humans will do to each other.
So there I am sitting at a cafe in Saigon, I pick up the news paper from Australia and open it up. Sort of ironic, because I opened it strait up to reading about my buddy that was killed down that way a few years ago. The driver that killed him was on trial and the case had just wrapped up. Damian played a signifigant role in me packing my bags and leaving, and here I am in Saigon, pick up a Aussie news paper, open it up, and there he is. Go figure!
Now I have made it Cambodia, checking out some of Pol Pots fine work. Sort of strange to be in this city that was in complete turmoil just 30 years ago. So after having my cappuccino and croissant I headed to the killing fields to see what this whacked out individual was up to. He was quite frugal in his ways of killing. To save money, he and his cronies would just whack the person upside the head, often times slow miserable deaths. Music played in the trees so that the others could not hear what was going on. What could possess someone to do this really is unfathomable to me. Another go figure!