Cambodian Adventure!

Greeting from Cambodia! I know it is early, but Happy Easter to all! I am probably not going to be on a computer before Easter. Okay so I know you all want pictures and I promise I have a lot of good ones, but i left my cord and David's grandmother's house so I will not be able to post pictures for at the very least a week, but maybe closer to two. Have no fear, I am putting in a link to David's pics, a couple of which have me in them. As for the scenery, we were all seeing the same stuff anyway. So check out his pics here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2230674&l=9bebc&id=3300453 and also please read his and Nick's blogs. They have big updates that I am not going to be able to do right now. The links are on the right. But quickly, Kevin and I left the other guys in Siem Reap, Cambodia, when they went back to Thailand and we stayed. We took a boat to Battambang, but the river was too low so the boat could not make it all the way and we had to take a "bus". By "bus" I mean a Toyota pickup truck picked up everyone from the boat and took us the rest of the way on the "road". The "road" was literally a dirt path built for a motorcycle for the first 14 kilometers. There were 19 of us in the bed, plus the luggage. Luckily the truck had 4WD and no one fell out. Today we took a real bus to the capital Pnohm Pehn, and we saw the National Museum. As Nick says, we plan on doing some dirt biking. We are renting them tomorrow so we can take the road less traveled and see some more temples. But no one worry! Safety first! We will be careful. Cambodian Adventure! I will tell you all about it when I next get to a computer! So read the other guy's blogs, they have a lot more detail on the last week or so! That is all for now! I miss you all!--Mark

More Thailand

ไน้กฟำ --That is just a little Thai for you all. I don't think it is a real word, i just typed some Thai letters, but it gives you a taste of just how foreign the writing is. Ao Nang, where we got scuba certified, catered to tourists, so they had English words as well as Thai on the menu. The Marriot was a huge resort, also catering to tourists, so they spoke decent English there as well. The last couple of days however, Nick, David, David's brother Jon and I have been hanging out in Chachoengsao and other less tourist friendly areas where there is no English writing, and the only ones speaking it are us. It has been an interesting switch, and I'd say a pleasant one. We spent our days at the Marriot lying in the sun, reading and sipping drinks. Nick let me go sailing with him one day, to say the least we had a pretty relaxing existence. Thanks again Greg. After the Marriot I had the choice of going back to Ao Nang with Greg while he got scuba certified or to go back to Chachoengsao, and I already told you which I did. When we got back to Chachoengsao we had another amazing dinner at the restaurant on the river. This time the owner of the restaurant was there, and since she is good friends with David's family we were treated like royalty. Like I said, everyone is speaking Thai, but I have learned a few key phrases like the polite way to say hello, thank you, its good, i don't want it, i am fine etc so that I can speak sometimes, but I am no where near following the conversation or knowing what people are saying to me most of the time. But everyone is extremely friendly, and I get by smiling and nodding and accepting whatever they offer. The next day another family friend ( I swear they know everyone in this town) took us to a farm up near the border of Laos, in the north east region of Thailand. It was great to experience such a remote region, where Nick and I were the only white people, or "falongs", that we saw the entire time. On the way our guide "Pi-Ow" stopped at a small shop near his house and got three huge, live fish from a bucket, which he put in a bag under his drivers seat. At his house he transferred them to a converted plastic gas container with a little water in it and so they were kept alive all the way to our destination. We made numerous stops like this, picking up whole chickens (these were cooked) and rice and other snacks until we at last reached the farm. A word about Thai car rides: On a two lane road in Thailand there are really three lanes. What I mean is that all drivers feel free to pass at anytime, even if another car is coming at them. The car they are passing moves over, as does the car coming at them, and so two lanes becomes three. Needless to say it took some getting used to. Anyway the farm was a good time, we had a feast. Nick, Jon and I saw the last part of a cow getting butchered, David opting out because it was the middle of dinner. The next day we went to a bull farm where they were milking a bull. Yeah you heard me. After that we spent the day going to a royal library/garden, vistas, a military support base converted into a museum, and a military monument. Then we began the seven hour drive back to Chachoengsao. Did I mention the car did not have air conditioning? That night we went to a different restaurant with its owner, got some more VIP treatment there and at a nearby club. At the club a popular band was playing, it sounded like Thai pop music. It was kind of intimidating being the only non-Thais, but it also made it a really enjoyable cultural experience. Yesterday we played 18 holes of golf. Golf is golf, but it is slight different in Thailand. For one, we had to use caddies, which I have never done. It was weird to have someone hand you your club, pick up your ball etc. Also, It was extremely hot and humid. We all drank gatorade and water constantly, and David and I had huge umbrellas that we carried around, and our caddies held for us while we took our shot. Overall it was loads and loads of fun, despite the sweat. I shot a course record! Highest score ever! Not really though. Now today we are updating the blogs (duh!) and then going to Bangkok. Kevin will meet us there. Greg will hopefully be there Sunday. He had more bad luck in Ao Nang. The doctor he went to for his sinuses had given him bad meds, so they did nothing. So diving was still a problem. So he has to dive again tomorrow. It is really a bummer and we are all hoping that Greg's luck turns around! Could it get any worse? On Monday we go to Cambodia. Once again David's mom has been amazing and made some arrangements for us so we are being very careful. Thanks Bubpha! I am not sure when I will update again. Hope everyone is safe and happy!--Mark

New Post

Well, it has been a while since the last post, so there is a lot to tell. Unfortunately, I cannot upload pictures at this time, but hopefully I will be able to soon. So it seems like forever since we left New Zealand, so I am just going to briefly touch on all the things I have done. From New Zealand we flew into Sydney, Australia. Nick was our guide because he had lived in Sydney for two years during high school. The first thing we did was buy a transit pass which would enable us almost unlimited access to Sydney's public transportation. This was the best thing we could have done and it was a great way to see the city. The first day we saw the Sydney opera house and thhe botanical gardens, but as we had all our luggage with us we felt a little out of place and did not do much sight seeing. We made our way out of downtown Sydney to Manly, where Nick's friend Guy lives. Guy was our host for the week, and he was an amazing one. He let us pretty much take over his house, never complained, and overall showed us a great time in Sydney, thanks Guy. The next day we went back into Sydney and went to the Sydney Aquarium. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera that day so I do not have any photos of the ferry ride or the aquarium, you will have to check Nick and David's photos eventually. The next day was a beach day, where we all went to the beach in Manly and soaked up some sun. It was a lot of fun, the water was the perfect temperature for body surfing and swimming. I think the next day was Thursday, and I explored Sydney on my own. I took a tour of the opera house, explored the entire botanical gardens, then just wandered around the city. I really liked the mixture of old and new architecture around Sydney. I took the wrong bus back to Manly, but I quickly figured it out and found the right bus, so it was not a big problem. After resting Friday morning, we were ready to meet Guy in downtown Sydney after he got off work. He then took us to some of the city's greatest pubs, where we had a relaxing evening. On Saturday we went to Guy's parents house, and had a really amazing meal. Like I said before, Guy was a great host! Sunday was relaxing, David and I went back to Sydney, saw some tourist sites, then all of us went out to dinner and had kangaroo! It was pretty good I must say, even as a former vegetarian. Monday morning we had to get a taxi at 5:45 to go to the airport and catch our 8 hour flight to Bangkok. David's Mom met us at the airport with a huge van and driver to drive it. She was also an amazing host, and I am very grateful of all the things she did for us. We put our stuff in our airconditioned rooms (very important in Thailand) and showered before She took us out to dinner. The restaurant was floating on a river, and if you threw bread or rice into the water hundreds of catfish would fight over it, very entertaining. I cannot even remember how many different dishes there was, but I enjoyed all of them, and got thoroughly stuffed. After dinner a friend of the Chen family took us to a tourist town for an exciting evening of playing jenga, connect four, and dice with the bartenders. It was a long day. The next day we went to David's grandmother's place, and another friend came over and took us to the mayor's house. His ouse was amazing. Western style interior with a large pond, swimming pool, and even large putting green complete with bunkers in the backyard. Very cool. Next we drove to Bangkok where we caught an overnight bus to Krabi. When we got to Krabi, we were picked up by someone from the Ao Nang Scuba school. We met our scuba instructor, who gave us a great deal thanks once again to the Chen family, and we found some bungalows right near the beach to stay at. That same day we started our scuba course. The next day we went out on a boat and completed two dives, and did the same the day after. Scuba is so much fun! The next day was Saturday, and we had the day off. Kevin and I rented scooters for about $7 and drove them all day, we had a blast! Sunday was our last day for scuba. We had all passed the test so we were officially certified. Greg, however, had come down with a nasty sinus infection that had actually been bothering him since New Zealand and was not able to dive. My sympathy goes out to Greg, but I think he is planning on completeing the course after we go to Phuket, so he will end up scuba certified as well. Our dives on Sunday were just fun dives, meaning we got to just swim around and explore, instead of learning new skills. They were a lot of fun, we saw two ghost pipe fish, which are apparently very very rare. Today is Monday, and we are going to look into going deep sea fishing tomorrow, because Nick still has a day of diving to get his advanced diver certification. That is all for now, we will be in Phuket on the 5th, and hopefully will have time and the computer needed to put up some pics! Hope everyone is doing well!--Mark