Troy Archie – Everybody Knows This is Nowhere

Well I spent a whole 2 days in Battambang, took a cooking course, sat around was going to see some sights but just instead holled myself up in my room and watched TV.  From there I high tailed it Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, getting here on the 14th and am still here and will be here for a while.

In Phnom Pehn, again we have the usual extreme contrast of wealth and poverty, mixed in with a large dose of plenty of expats.  Also here we have a couple very stark and mallicious buildings and places that serve as a reminder of the madness of humanity.  One being the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and the other is the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek, both of which were setup by the Khmer Rouge in 1975 to facilitate the genocide of the Cambodian people.  I won’t give a history lesson on these places and the Khmer Rouge but I’ll let you click on the links for you’re personal education on the subject at hand.  Tuol Sleng was a former school located in the heart of the city and was used as the interrogation facility for the KR.  While the Killing Fields were just that, killing fields and were located just south of town.  Both places were terrible and I mean that in the worst possible way.  I was fighting a bit of a cold when I went to both so it didn’t help blunt the shock of this place.  To walk into a room knowing full well that an untold number of people had died in there was sickening.  I forgot my camera for both of these places but if I had it with me I wouldn’t have used it.  I’m rather speachless of how bad it was, especially the killing fields.  I was walking along and noticed what appearred to be garbage and sticks poking out of the ground.  On further inspection I realized it was bones and clothing.  I was rather happy to leave both of these places, they were just awful.

So that’s what I’ve seen in Phnom Penh so far, something you definately need to see but something that stick with you.  As for other thoughts and such, when I was back at Angkor I was sitting for lunch with another guy I had met and an old Khmer fellow started talking to us.  He was old by Cambodian standards at 70, which is ancient here and was a tuk tuk driver and was one of the most interesting people I’ve met in a while.  We got talking to him asking him about the past, present and future of Cambodia.  I swear every answer he had was in riddle, it was great.  He was saying that back in 1970 he made a documentary about Angkor Wat with Unesco and in the early 90’s had been asked to submit a list of reccomendations for what the country to do to get back on track.  I can’t remember all the list but the first one was the most important and that was that the people had to believe, believe in not only their god but most importantly themselves.  We were hooked on this guy’s every word.  He also went on saying about there were people living around the temples of Angkor Wat but have never seen Angkor.  Around the temples there were people living, making out a living in little huts and shanties, selling this throughout the day at the temples and such.  Most of these people had lived in the shadows of the temples all their lives but have never really looked at them, they were just there and they really didn’t care.  They were more interested in the tourists and the money they could make not really appreciating that in fact Angkor was their’s and was something they should be proud of and working to protect and restore.  After he said all this I really noticed it more so with simple things like the moats around Angkor being converted into rice paddies and the people fishing in the canels around them.  I guess people gotta make a living though but it was kind of an odd sight.  I saw this lack of respect or appreciation or whatever you want to call it at the killing fields where a local had setup a hammock on a tree that was growing over one of the mass graves that had been dug up.  It was a pretty sad sight.  Nice to see their respect their dead.  I see people of things like this from the Khmer people but I thnk that probably after years of poverty, war and strife, making out a meger living is more important than anything else…

Also in Phnom I got my teeth cleaned.  She showed me how dirty they were, it was quite shocking actually.  No cavities though.  I also donated blood at a local blood bank.  That was sureal.  The blood bank and clinic were surrounded by a tall concrete wall with barb wire on the top and guards at the gate.  There was a line of sick people outside of it and it was a pretty stark scene.  Stark scenes, that’s Cambodia…When I went up to the gate I was quickly cut off and questioned as to what I wanted.  Their faces lit up when I told them to donate blood though.  When all was said and done they gave me a can of coke, which was the first can I had drank since I can remember and a bag full of food ranging from cookies, instant noodles, sugar and condensed milk.  They love their condensed milk here.  And sugar.  They put it in everything ranging from coffee to their shakes.  I always make a specific point as to making sure they don’t put both in my shakes and even stand by watching them.  When they put it in the shakes all you taste is sugar and milk.  They do have another little secret with their great shakes though that’s rather odd; raw egg whites.  Makes it nice and frothy…

My Home is a Rome…
There’s a saying here in Asia that goes “Same Same But Different.”  It’s on people’s shirts.  It’s the name of guesthouses and restaurants.  It’s on billboards and so on.  The meaning of the saying is pretty simple; when two things are similar but different.  For instance Shell gas stations and Esso gas stations.  They both sell gas but are different companies, therefore they’re both same same but different.  Same as Safeway and Sobey’s.  Both are grocery stores that sell food.  Same Same but different.  I’ve begun to realize that was the case with my travels, many of the places I go and see are same same but different.  Eventually things start to become a blur, a painting on a wall that you take no notice of, or a tunnel that you look straight into not seeing what’s going on around you.

I was diagnosed with ADD as a kid and I’m pretty dam sure I still have it to this day.  If I’m not challenged I bore quickly and lose interest.  I started travelling because I wanted a challenge, I wanted something new and that’s exactly what I got.  I was soon bored only after a couple weeks in Australia so I started wwoofing and I got a new challenge handed to me.  After a while that too became boring and I wanted a new challange so I flew to Sydney and got a job waiting tables.  Something new, something challenging but as usual it too became a bore and I looked for a new challange.  Asia I thought would be a good fun challange.  Sure enough it was but as time wears on it becomes less and less a challenge and becomes the everyday.  Travelling is my 9-5 job.  There’s only so many waterfalls, caves, museums and temples you can look at before you just don’t care anymore and there’s only so many tough routes you take to get to a place before it just becomes the norm.

Another great thing that I had been loving about travel and challenges in general is fear.  Fear and anxiety of the unknown.  Of not knowing what’s around the next corner and what to expect.  I felt it when I first left home way back when, experienced the rush when I started wwoofing, again when I landed in Sydney and when I flew into Bangkok.  It’s addictive and makes me feel alive.  I live for it.  I haven’t felt that fear for quite sometime now.  I also try to always get something as a person out of my travels in some way.

Here in Asia I’ve been having a tough time keeping active and fit.  In Oz I had no problem finding nice parks and isolated areas to workout in plus people just didn’t care.  Here on the other hand a green space with grass is such a rarity that I am quick to draw a crowd during a workout with numerous beggars drifting my way.  I could just not care and not workout but it’s something I love to do.  It makes me feel alive and good about myself.  I had felt that feeling my entire time in Sydney and when I left there in September I felt better than I had ever felt in my life.  Same when I was climbing in Thailand and also when I was biking around Laos.  I really enjoy living an active physical lifestyle.  I honestly don’t know how people can not exercise or be active.  I feel myself getting way out of shape and gaining weight.  My tendonitis has been acting up some days and my shoulder hurts some days, all this because I’m not working out.  All in all, physically I don’t feel well.  Going from being my strongest, fastest and in my best condition ever to feeling like I’m in my worse in years doesn’t help.  Couple this inactivity with the fact that their’s food everywhere and I’m a glutton and you get the picture.  I don’t care what anyone say’s, the Asian diet is not that healthy, in fact I’ll go as for as saying it’s unhealthy. 

I’ve been fighting with these thoughts and feelings for a while.  I was really thinking about buying a bike in Vietnam and cycling the country when I got there but the more I research it and see the bikes around here, it sounds like it would be a tough stretch to find a decent bike let alone gear.  Not to mention the Vietnamesse are notoriously clever, sly and pushy people looking to rip you off at any and every corner.  I know that sounds like a generlization but I hear it through and through from others.  All the people that I had travelled with and kept in touch with all sped through Vietnam faster than they had planned.

Back during Christmas I felt tired weary and to my dread board.  I was board, I looked ahead at my itinerary and the only thing that really spurred my interest was Angkor.  Well I’ve been there and spent a good amount of time there so now what?  Continue going on, going through the motions, taking the picture and more same same but different?

As one can see I’ve had a lot on my mind as of late and you’re probably wondering where am I going with all this?  Home, I guess.  I simply decided it was time.  I wasn’t amazed, enthralled or bedazzled by my surroundings as I once had been in fact many of the things I once was amazed with or found to be humerous were turning into being annouying more than anything.  Jumping on the back of some guys motorbike, speeding down the wrong side of the road, swerving between traffic, narrowly missing other cars and bikes all at 60kph just to get to someplace, isn’t that exciting anymore.  It’s just another day in the life of.   I’ve been dwelling and quarreling with myself on this subject for too long so I finally just decided to end it all and call it quits, all this over Indian food at a great restaurant (thanks for the recommendation again Kev&Tanya).  It all happened so suddenly too.  I was thinking that I’d spend a couple day’s in Phnom Penh, one day seeing the sights and then another getting my Vietnamesse visa and transportation to the border figured out and by in Ho Chi Min City by the weeks end.  From there I was stmped as what I wanted to do and see.  I figure that if I keep going like the way I was I won’t be really enjoying myself and fully getting all I could out of where I am and what I’m doing. 

Just like that huh?  Just like that…  All I had been doing a lot of the time was pissing around, drinking coffee and eating food, all things I could do at home plus I was becoming more and more eager and wanting to do everyday things like watch TV, cook a meal, go grocery shopping.  Borring stuff.  The last couple days after Angkor while I was in Battambang all I did was sit around and watch movies on satellite TV.

I don’t want to go home but here I am setting the wheels in motion.  I’m not homesick in anyway, I’m just sick of being homeless.  Living out of a bag for 14 months is hard.  I just don’t see me getting anything out of continuing on past this point.  I’ve experienced all I’ve wanted to experience, seen what I want to see and am content for a break from this life for a while untill the next go at it.  It’s on my blood now and there’s no way I’m going to be able to stay still.  I’d love to hit India on a bike…

I’m not really looking forward to going back to Edmonton, in fact I’m kind of dreading it.  Sydney would be much more fun or perhaps Vancouver but I know if I went there I’d be just spinning my wheels as it would be much harder to start up my next goals in those places.  I think about my next step, my next set of goals in life and it scares the shit out of me and I like it.  The thought of settling somewhere, looking for a job, upgrading my highschool and applying to University scares me to death.  It keeps me up at night and gives me a nice dose of the anxiety and fear of failure drives me.  New goals, challenges and opportunities are all that lay ahead.

I know a lot of people have major problems when they get back home from long term travel but pretty much all of them step right back into their old pattern, something I intend not to do.  Going back to Mascto or even drafting in general would kill me, I couldn’t do it.  I view going back there as taking a step back in life regardless of the fact I could make a pretty penny there.  I’ll take and expect to take a huge pay cut but money doesn’t matter.  I’ve seen how simple other people on this planet live.  All the way from a basic simple living in Australia to complete poverty here in Asia.  People do manage to live on just basic necessities, it strangely enough is possible .  I know nothing has changed back home and I expected just that.  I’ve changed though and I won’t be going back to the way things were.  It’ll be nice to see friends and family again but it’ll be nicer to be handed a new set of goals and challenges.  I do think one of the toughest things about going back home will be the culture shock.  I didn’t really experience much shock here in Asia or in Oz but I honestly think that after all I’ve seen and done that the culture of back home will shock me the most.  I actually have a bit of a tough time remembering what back home is like but I’m sure I’ll be quickly reminded.  It’ll be interesting to say the least.

So yeah, I’ll be flying from Phnom Penh, Cambodia on the 28th to Beijing where I’ll be meeting my mom, who’s coming to pick me up.  I’m such a big boy.  From there I think we’ll be landing back home on Feb the 3rd.  One day short of 15 months away.  As for now I’m held up in Phnom Penh doing my shopping that I’ve been holding off doing, picking up some odds and ends that I’ve had my eye on and will probably do a bit more in Beijing.  So far I’ve bought lots of knives.  Gonna get a suit made in Beijing along with some other clothes.  I feel like I’ve gone awol with all the stuff I’ve bought but then I realize it’s really not that much comparing with how long I’ve been gone for and what i could have been buying.

So that’s the plan and now that you know all my thoughts and plans I hope to have no one pester me with questions on why or questions as to why I’m “home already”.  The only other people that I have met that have been away from home as long as I have are people working abroad, usually teaching English or expats in general.  That said I know people will bother me with it and annouying questions.

Well that’s that.  I’ll probably put up one more update on here but after that this blog will become an archive but I’m sure I’ll be starting up a new one of my personal thoughts and keep my Crossfit blog going or start up a new one with more frills and gimicks.

Things I look forward to about home:
–No dust and air pollution
-Not having to see litter and garbage pilled everywhere
-Cooking
-Owning more than 3 pairs of clothes
-Not living out of a bag
-Not having to wash my underwear in the sink or shower
-Sleeping in the same comfortable bed for an extended period in my own room
-A clean bathroom
-Being clean.  I always feel dirty.  Sweat and dust is all I know
-Not talking about travelling.  Where I’ve been, what it was like, how long I was there for, where am I going next, how long have you been travelling, how much longer do you plan to go for…blah, all questions I don’t want to hear.
-Quiet/Silence – Asia is noisy.  Music going on everywhere, cars, dogs, roosters and people.  I was always under the impression Asians were soft spoken.  Not true.
-Not having to constantly say NO.  No is the single word I use most on a daily basis.  Beggards, drivers, sellers.  No No No No No No.  I was thinking about making a shirt to sell here that just had the word No on it.  I would probably make millions.  Every single foreigner would be skooping them up left and right.  Actually I’d probably sell like 10 of them and then every bloody local would be selling them from then on in.
-Working out and getting back into shape.  I’ll be honest, I think this is one of my biggest reasons to going back home.  Taking away something someone loves to do on a regular basis that’s part of their life is torture.  It’s like if someone took away your right to drink beer everyday or something blue collar like that…

So let the comments, complaints and whatever flood in. Cya Soon I guess
Troy

Angkor
For a year while working at Mastco I had hanging on the wall of my cubical a picture of Angkor Wat.  It was there partially for symbolism and partially because I really wanted to go there.  Angkor is a huge ancient city built from about 900 ro like 1200AD.  The place is huge and is a masterpeice to a kingdom long forgotten.  You can read more about Angkor here as I’m not writing an essay on it.  

All those hours spent in my cubical being miserable have paid off and that time has come.  I bought myself a 7 day pass to the temples and all the temples in the area and have been slowly chipping away at a good portion of them.  I’ve been taking my time in them and in some cases spedning two hours in them.  The place is huge and I can’t really describe the vastness of it all.  There’s temples seemingly everywhere.  Lots are pretty beaten up and others are still being taken over by the jungle.  Restoration seems like a pretty slow process and because there’s so much to restore I can imagine it’s pretty overwelming.  Add in the fact that profit seems to be a little bit more important than restoration due to the entire plus up untill about 10 years ago this place was still in the grips of civil war you really get a feel of why things are where they’re at.

The amount of toursits here is quite insane but I guess that’s to be expected, Angkor is quite the thing to see.  Mainly Korean and Japanesse tourists with a mix of French.  The tour groups and the sizes of them are ridiculous.  Lot’s of French in Laos too, I guess because they both used to be under French “Protectorite”.  There’s been a couple places where the amount of people has been a joke and other times not another soul to be seen.  I kind of think that a lot of the tour groups are told what to like and appreciate.  I went to Angkor Wat for a quick stop to look at these carvings that I somehow missed earlier.  There was a line up going in but everyone was just going straight in and climbing to the top, which is what I did my first time in there too.  This time though when I got into the main door I went down one of the side halls to where these carvings were and was astonished as to what I saw.  All the way around the entire complex was some of the most detailed and beautiful carvings in most likely the world and the only person there was me.

Wall to Wall Carvings

Turning of the Ocean’s Milk

Judgement

I am the best self-photographer in the world.

I was a bit confused as to how I could have missed the carvings but how the tour groups missed all this I couldn’t believe.  Mean while at another temple with some OK art work, people were flocking in droves to see them.  The ones on the outside of Angkor were nsane though and was the highlight.  The detailing was amazing, the fights and battles etched on those walls were epic and the accient Buddhist and Hindu stories breathtaking.  If you’re ever passing by Cambodia, stop on by and check this place out.

I was a bit confused as to how I could have missed the carvings but how the tour groups missed all this I couldn’t believe.  Mean while at another temple with some OK art work, people were flocking in droves to see them.  The ones on the outside of Angkor were nsane though and was the highlight.  The detailing was amazing, the fights and battles etched on those walls were epic and the accient Buddhist and Hindu stories breathtaking.  If you’re ever passing by Cambodia, stop on by and check this place out.Yeah so Angkor Wat is freaking cool.  I spent a lot of my time there just pissing around, getting lost and general wandering.  I really can’t put it in words and explain any of the things in writing in words only really breath taking.  I took crap loads of pictures of the place but they give little or no justification as to what I saw there. 

Cambodia
Siem Reap is the town just south of Angkor and therefore has become the base for massive amounts of hotels, restaurants and spas.  It’s really quite sureal to see some of the nicest 5-star resorts I’ve ever seen next to some of the poorest people I’ve ever seen.  The disparity here is pretty huge.  The rich are rich and the poor are dirt poor.  Everyone in Laos on the other hand was much more close together.  The people weren’t, on a whole as poor as they are here but they’re not as rich either.  That’s communism for you I guess.  I read that something like only 20% of the country has power and I’d believe it, when coming from Laos all of the farms and small farm towns had no power, unless they generated it themselves.  I also read that like 90% of the country is substance farmers, meaning that what the people grow they use for their own use and don’t take it to market.  The place is pretty dam poor.  Fair amount of beggqars and even worse amputies from all the mines and UXO’s left over from years of fighting.  Meanwhile you look across the street and see luxury items and shops and imported items from back home all over the place.  I had this expat that lives in Phenon Phen, the capital telling me things weren’t all that bad and that things were actually really good.  I brought up the lack of power in the rural areas and fact that most of the houses I passed on the way from Laos to Siem were in pretty rough shape and made from just about anything from plastic bags, feedbags and cardboard.  He said they prefered it that way, that they liked houses that were breezy and open, it was there style.  Sure, whatever you say.  It’s pretty easy to think that when all you see is city and it’s inhabitants.  I saw another side which I have written of down more.

Schedual to Asia Time
One thing about traelling here in Asia is that it’s nearly impossible to sleep in past 7am, as they’re all early starters here.  I’m often up at 6am  and in some places as early as 5 depending on the mood of the town.  The more of a market town it is the earlier the people are up and doing there thing.  In Nam Tha you could go down to the market at 6:30 and the place would be packed and the streets would be buzzing but once 8 rolled around it was a ghost town.  It also doesn’t help that there’s fame animals meandering in the streets and nearly everyone has a couple chickens kicking around.  Even in the large centers like Chiang Mai with a popullation of 1 million I was often woken up at 6 by roosters.  In Siem Reap, a city of about 160 000 with an economy based around tourism I saw a guy herding cattle in the main street.

Ordering food in Asia
I have the this re-occuring problem here in Asia where when I order a meal I’ll often get something more than I ordered.  In Pakse I enquired about the steamed fish and was told it would take 20 minutes to cook so I decided on the red curry.  I got my curry and was about to pack up to leave when I was given the steamed fish that I enquired about but didn’t order.  Good thing I was still hungry as I ordered the curry without rice and was going to go down to the market for some nibbles.  In Siem Reap I was asked if I would like another coffee, I said I was good.  2 minutes later I was handed another coffee.  Again in Siem Reap I saw this Japanesse Cafe and my coffee sences were tingling, telling me that they might pour a good cup there so I went to look at the menu.  They had the lunch special on display and I looked at it a bit enquiring about how much it was.  I then sat down, looked through the menu andordered an espresso.  Minutes passed by and I still hadn’t recieved my coffee but this is Asia and everything takes forever and I’m used to it now.  Plus I thought it must be a really good coffee to be taking this long.  Along comes the waitress with the lunch menu set.  I guess espresso is Japanesse for lunch set.  In this case I was just about to go for lunch after my coffee so it kind of worked out plus it was dam good.  Same with the steamed fish incident and the coffee one too.  Again it happened just the other night when I was having dinner with a couple from Ottawa, Ryan & Julia.  We all ordered a set meal and all ordered the same soup but when the soup came they gave us all the wrong soup.  It was still dam good though.

Also, when eating in Asia it takes a really really long time.  They don’t do any pre-prepping the food so when you order something they gotta go and chop it all up and then cook it.  Getting your food quickly just doesn’t happen.  I’m used to this by now and don’t even notice it, meanwhile I have to feel bad for the people that come in here for 2 week vacations or in package tours and expect the same speed and hospitality because they just don’t get it here and most don’t seem to understand it.  Asking for something to be a little different, have something held or have more of isn’t going to happen and you’re going to get it the same as they always cook it.  It’s not that the people are being rude it’s just that most of the time they don’t understand and just smile and nod out of politness.  It’s sad to see the people get chewed out by some fat tourist and there’s lots in and around Angkor, as the people just don’t understand and they try so dam hard at the same time too.

Buying Stamps
So after my Japanesse espresso incident I asked where them where the post office was and made my way off to buy stamps to the lucky few who get postcards from me.  Along the way I started chatting with a young Cambodian guy and he asked me if I wanted to sit down and talk a while.  Sure I said, having no having no where of any real importance to be plus talking with him might open up an interesting insight to the country and people of Cambodia.  We chatted for a bit and learned that he was a student studying English and at night vollenteers to teach young children at a school for kids who are too poor to go to school during the day.  Pretty honorable I figure.  Soon he asks me if I could give him money for the school aka a donation.  He pulls out this crumpled piece of paper that has some information on the school and on the back a list of names, a short list albeit, of people who have made donations in the past.  He tells me a bit more about it all and points out his friends nearby that they all help at the school.  They’re the typical looking Cambodian teen and there’s lots of them here as the average age in Cambodia is 20.  I’m thinking that this is a bit fishy and decided to call the guy out asking him if we could take me to the school.  He says yes and that it’s not far, we start walking down the street and he hesitates saying that it would be better if I went with his friends on their motorbike.  I say sure and jump on with two other guys on this little scooter and we take off down the road.  We drive the length of Siem Reap, which isn’t that big, and start to get to the outskirts of town, vear off the main road where all the traffic is heading out to Angkor and continue on.  I can feel the guy behind me holding on to the seat of the bike and can swear he’s feeling out my wallet.  I think great, another strange one I could be getting myself into.  I’m starting to get a bit uneasy and we soon pull off down a dirt road, while we do one of the them points out a beaten to crap old, or appears to be old, sign on the side of the road that says something about a school for empoverished youths.  It’s pretty rustic and am eased a little by it.  We drive past some artists carving statues and such and pull into a little area with some regular looking straw huts and they proclaim we’re here.  They take me into what appears to be the main office and sit me down.  There English is not that great and they and explain what they’re about and that the director will be here soon.  Sure enough a young monk pulls up on a bike, orange robes flowing in the wind and a greating smile.  He introduced himself, Nn Rathana and told me about the school and all it was about.  I’ll save the typing and link their site.  I thought it was pretty cool and made a donation.  What I really liked about the school and his operation was that it is grassroots.  I get the feeling that here in Cambodia, with so many charitable organizations, NGO’s and international funding that much of this money is not getting to the people and tackling their problems directly but instead is disappearing into the blackhole of bureaucracy and corruption that is Cambodia. 

After we talk for about an hour or so he asks me if I’d like to help out by teaching English at night from 5-7.  I tell him I’ve never taught before but he says that I can speak English and that’s all I need to know.  It was about 4 and I thought sure, maybe tomorrow I’ll stop on by and check it out.  I kind of stutter a “yeah sure” and as I say that I’m shoved into a classroom and suddenly from around the corner a stream of young kids come ushering in and take their seats.  For the next hour I teach English, going through my name, where I’m from and lists of words that many of kids produce that they want the pronunciation for and the definition.  One girl had what appeared to be a list of words she took from a keyboard and mobile phone.  Words like “Anykey”, “Delete”, “Text Alert”, “Instant Message” and so on.  Defining “Anykey” was fun with me drawing a keypad from a mobile and going from there.  It was good fun and an hour passed by pretty dam quick.  I’ve ended up going back a couple times now to help out at nights.  2 hours passes by really fast in those little wood thatch huts and I leave with a good feeling inside, which is a nice change from how I feel when going around the town of Siem Reap.  I helped out there a couple more times, it was good fun and rather insightful.  Talking to one of the guys was really interesting and had some interesting things to say about the furture of Cambodia and it’s many young people.

Arbitrary Thoughts and Happenings
Coffee Laos – I miss Laos coffee big time.  In Vientaine I found this little cafe that roasted there own beans and served nothing but coffee.  In the cafe they these big bins of raw beans and while I was there after the owner had served me she began sifting through the raw beans meticuously picking out the top beans for roasting.  Good coffee there.  Someone mentioned I should open my own cafe.  Someone else mentioned I should write a coffee guide book.  hmm…. 

Ryan and Julia – Two Canadians that I kept running into all throughout Laos and now a into Cambodia.  They’ve taken off to Nepal now so I guess that’ll be the end of chance meetings with them.  Here’s a small worlder for you; Julia was in New Zealand and Australia for a month or two before Thailand.  She flew from Sydney to Bangkok on Oct. 31st.  So did I.  She flew with Thai Airlines.  So did I.  She flew on the evening flight landing in Bangkok at 10pm.  So did I.  Don’t get too much smaller then that.

A shout out congrats to Kate and her new baby Slater.  Wish I was there.

That’s all I can think of typing for now.  In Battambang now and just finished taking a Khmer cooking class, good stuff.

Troy