Now where the hell is she?

So it's been almost an entire month since I've written anything on this blog...that's nuts. I just updated my journal today which was exactly a month behind. So I'm here in Chiang Mai, Thailand, a city in the northern part of the country. Its been a busy few weeks, with a double dose of Laurens, so I don't even know where to begin....

The last time I wrote anything I was in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We stayed in a super swanky guesthouse that came with the tour, but unfortunately it was in the middle of nowhere. Lauren and I ventured out for dinner with our guidebook handy to point out the Khmer language version of the sentence "I'm a vegetarian." Unfortunately, this was met with much laughter, and we ended up eating at a strange casino recommended by some Aussies at the guesthouse. We moved into the backpacker neighborhood and spent one sleepless night plagued by weird noises in the wall that sounded something like a duck might sound like if it were coming to kill you....So we upgraded to a guesthouse near the river with no killer animals. Phnom Penh is a strange city...its very poor (as is the rest of the country) and it has a strange mix of elements. On the one hand, there are wonderful cultural institutions to visit, like the National Museum and the Royal Palace; on the other, most tourists come to view the Killing Fields, sight of most of the Pol Pot regime's executions, and Tuol Sleng, the high school that was converted into a prison for the same regime. We viewed both of the latter in one day which was incredibly overwhelming, not only for what happened, but the fact that I knew so little about what happened. It was a terrible awakening and one that I still haven't really come to terms with. In Cambodia, their history is evident everywhere. The genocide was so recent, and there likely isn't a person anywhere who isn't affected by what happened. Around 1/4 of the entire population was lost and Cambodia is now stuck trying to rebuild itself amid crushing poverty and the trauma of its people. The regime ended in 1979 but it's estimated it will take several generations to recover. Being there, especially in the Killing Fields and seeing children begging and landmine victims--the tangible remnants of the regime--has made me reevalute my place as a tourist in this part of the world. I felt a bit strange before, but even more so now. I'm not sure how to reconcile my desire to see more of the world without contributing something to the places I visit other than tourist dollars. I feel guilt at having so much but haven't yet figured out how to turn the guilt into something productive. And I'm not even sure I'm explaining myself properly, but these are the beginnings of the thoughts....

From Phnom Penh we traveled north to Siem Reap, site of a much prouder period in Cambodian history: Angkor Wat and the temples surrounding it. We were able to meet up with Lauren Clarke, our English buddy we met in NZ. She was meant to meet us in Phnom Penh but sprained her ankle in Bangkok! But she was a major trooper and managed not only to get to Siem Reap but spend 3 days exploring temples with a bad foot. Angkor Wat is the most famous of the temples, which were built in the period of roughly 800's-1400's. We saw it the first day and the second day we saw the Bayon, built by the last of the major Angkor kings; I thought it was amazing, and you can see the pictures I've already put up. I'm afraid I'll butcher the historical information, so if you want more you can check it out here. We also ate at a restaurant that is rumoured to be owned by Angelina Jolie (she filmed parts of the Tomb Raider movies in Angkor) but I think she maybe just visited it. Cambodia had really good food...amazing coconut veggie curry and a dish called amok--fish wrapped in banana leaves and steamed with coconut milk. Yum.

So on from Siem Reap we took a bus to Bangkok (it was a loooooong day of waiting at borders) and were there for two nights. We had heard it's easier to enter Laos from Thailand, and it gave Lauren K a chance to see Bangkok, when we weren't originally planning to go. Bangkok is a crazy city, so busy. It was nice to enjoy some of the finer things in life that Thailand has to offer...like 7/11. Then we took another overnight bus to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Vientiane is a sleepy little city, not anything you would imagine a capital to be. We tried to find a restaurant listed in our book that was a bit of a walk, but couldn't find it (I have a habit of insisting on going to places that turn out to be closed or non-existant) and we ended up at a vegetarian restaurant in a residential area, where no one spoke english and they gave us a menu made up of pictures. We each picked a dish, then were told there were only two available. So we picked again and the guy indicated we should all pick the same thing, presumably to make the cooking easier. It was a kind of soup that looked like it had chunks of pork in it, though the restaurant's English sign said vegetarian. It turned out to be the most convincing fake meat I've ever had and was delicious. The next day we saw That Luang, a giant gold temple of sorts that is the national symbol of Laos, it was pretty cool. We intended to take a night bus that night up to the town of Luang Prabang, but then it was cancelled for unknown reasons. The woman who sold us the ticket offered to put us up in her guesthouse for free that night, which seemed a nice offer until we went to sleep in the sketchy dorms on bunkbeds paranoid about bedbugs. And not to mention there was a fellow traveller who kept us up all night with his screaming. Actual screams, like of horror. At first I nearly pooped myself, but I think he just had night terrors. Well, hopefully he had night terrors and wasn't slowly being murdered or something. I'll never know.

Phew....I'll keep going....Luang Prabang is a beautiful little town high in the mountains (the bus ride there is rather nauseating). Its a World Heritage site and is sometimes described as the most beautiful city in Asia. I can't be sure of that, but it was lovely. One day we did a little trek through the countryside to see Kuang Si waterfall, a major attraction that is pretty beautiful. There is also a small bear sanctuary there that takes in bears that were being traded illegally. Luang Prabang also had a amazing night market that we visited, well, every night. On March 2, Lauren K left for Vientiane to start her long trip home; Lauren C and I went down through Vang Vieng to go tubing on the Nam Song river. And play with puppies and a kitten. They find me, I swear! Then we took a another rough bus ride back to Vientiane (a little Lao girl vomited on my foot) and our last night together. The next day I headed for Chiang Mai, and Lauren went down to Bangkok, where she is leaving for the UK tonight.

So now it's just meeeee....alooooone. Well, only for a little while. I'll be going back to Bangkok as well in 10 days to meet up with the Israelis. For now I'm actually enjoying being alone and finding lots to do in Chiang Mai, and looking for some volunteer work if I can. So thats where I am and whats going on! Sorry for the failure to write for so long....Lots and lots of love from Thailand....

Mara