Volunteering

I've enjoyed Cambodia so much and wanted to prolong my time here if I could, especially since my visa is good until April 14th. Battambang is my last stop, though, so if I didn't figure out how to extend my stay here, I was gonna be out of luck. Day one had me indulging in television, day two I saw some sights and the Cambodian countryside, and day three I slept in late for the first time in who knows how long and then spent a couple of hours talking to Stuart, a 60 year old British man who hasn't had a home since 1967. (Or, rather, he hasn't had a home base since then. He's been traveling for the last 40+ years!)

There's really not a lot to do in Battambang, though. Most of the city is closed by about 8pm and I'd already seen what there was to see. So how to prolong my time? Well, I said a long time ago that one of the things I wanted to do on this trip was volunteer and here I am, six months in, having not volunteered at all. I changed that today and was up bright and early to be ready for my 7:30am pick up to Cambodian Orphanage International. I'd arranged to spend the day there teaching and was looking forward to the opportunity.

CCO has 75 students ranging in age from five to 17 with classes grouped by age. The first class starts at 8am and the last class ends at 6pm. All of the teachers here are volunteers. 

This was a difficult day. Not because the children misbehaved or because they didn't want to learn. They were great - adorable, respectful, energetic, and excited about having a new teacher there for the day. Every kid who came into the classroom gave a little bow, with hands clasped under chin, and greeted me with "Hello, teacher." And although the heat certainly wasn't helping matters, that's not what made the day difficult either.

As I said, all of the teachers are volunteers. It's good that CCO has people who are able and willing to help, and who can give these poor and/or orphaned students vocational and educational training. The teachers, though, are teaching English and they can barely speak it themselves. One gentleman even told me that he had graduated from university with a degree in English; we were rarely able to understand each other. It was somewhat disheartening to see kids who are so excited about being at school and knowing that they are being taught by less than qualified teachers. 

Also, for someone who's never attempted to be in charge of teaching a group of children - wow, were my eyes ever opened to the challenges that teachers face. If teaching English abroad is something I'll really consider after this trip is over, I'll have to reach out to those people I've met along the way who are already doing it. Today the teachers basically said, "Ok, now you teach them something." I had never done this before and had no idea what to do or say and yet they trusted me and assumed that since I was a native English speaker then of course I was up to the job. I can't imagine that this is something that would happen in a proper school, but I'd have to find out for sure before I got myself involved.

So yes, it was a hot, difficult, and at times frustrating day. But it's something I'm glad I did because I really enjoyed meeting the students and teachers. It was another slice of the real Cambodia that I got the other day and I intend to seek out more volunteer opportunities in the months to come.

The real Cambodia

I arrived in Battambang, in western Cambodia, yesterday around 2pm. I decided to splurge on a room with it's own bathroom, a fan, and a satellite television (!) for $5/night at the Royal Hotel. I arranged for a full day of sightseeing for today, but all I wanted to do yesterday was, well, nothing. The temperature has been about 35-40C (95-104F) and I thought the idea of watching crap television and movies for hours on end sounded grand. (I haven't had a room with a tv in it since. . .hmmm. . .I think Hoi An.)

At 9am today I met up with my driver, Dollar (yes, that's his actual, given name!). Our first stop was Wat Phnom Sampeuo, aka the Killing Caves. Much like the Killing Fields, the Khmer Rouge played a role here, too, and thousands died at the hands of Pol Pot's regime. Also like at the Killing Fields, there's memorials here that contain skulls and other bone fragments of the victims. The temple and its grounds are spread out on the top of a mountain, so it took quite a few hours to see it all. 

From there we went to Wat Banan, a temple that dates back to the 11th century (pre-Angkor Wat). It was 359 steps to the top and I was drenched by the time I got there (even with my own personal fan boy - a five year old local kid who followed me to the top, fanning me the entire way), but the view was worth it. 

The last temple of the day I don't remember the name of, but it seems to be known for the fruit bats that hang out in the trees on the temple grounds. Fruit bats are massive, did you know that? I couldn't believe how big they were and I could've hung out for awhile longer trying to take pictures, but they're pretty fast, so it was tough. I also briefly saw the bamboo train, quite literally a bamboo platform on train tracks, but opted out of a ride when I found out it would be $10 to go 5km and come back (as a point of reference, having Dollar as my tour guide for the whole day only cost me $10 and we probably drove 50 or more kilometers). The bamboo train is the closest that Cambodia comes to having a proper train, but I'm told that sometime next year it will be no more as new tracks will be laid and Siem Reap and Phnom Penh will finally be linked by an actual train network. 

It sounds fairly hum ho, right? A typical day of sightseeing. Where's the realness that I spoke of? The realness came from Dollar and the conversations we had. He joked about Battambang massages (what you get riding a motorbike on really rocky, bumpy roads) and Cambodian snow (the dust that gets blown up from the road when something bigger than a moto drives by). He was gracious enough to share the story of his family's personal experience with the Khmer Rouge, of how his parents walked from Phnom Penh to Battambang (230 miles, it took a month) and how his aunt and grandparents all lost their lives. He taught me how to drive a manual moto! Not that I'd say I'm proficient at it or anything, but at least I now know how. I had a conversation with a monk and Dollar helped with some translation; the monk wanted to practice his English, but he's still learning so it would've been a lot more difficult without a translator. Dollar also translated with the fanning boy who was otherwise quite timid when I asked him "sok sabai?" (how are you?). 

But perhaps I got the best idea of what life in rural Cambodia is like when Dollar took me to his village to see where he lives and to meet his family. Dollar's dad died two years ago, so now he heads his household and is responsible for supporting his mother, three younger sisters, and younger brother. Three of the kids go to school and his mom and oldest younger sister would like to work, but can't find jobs (he tells me that the unemployment rate in the area is 60%). To help bring in a little extra money, mom and sister sell a fruit that's similar to tamarind (Dollar couldn't remember what it was called in English). Dollar collects a bushel of the pods and takes them home so his family can crush them to harvest the seeds. About 10lbs of seeds (which are about the size of apple seeds) fetches 1000 riel (only 25 cents). The six of them live in a tiny bamboo hut that Dollar and his dad built 10 years ago, with a cat and a chicken running around outside. The entire neighborhood is full of people in the exact same situation. Even so, poverty doesn't prevent friendliness and Dollar's family offered up the biggest smiles and were genuinely happy to see me; his sister, with a shy smile, told him to tell me that I was very beautiful. I told him to tell her I thought the same thing of her. And she was.

Kingdom of Wonder

Sunrise at Angkor Wat. Doesn't it sound grand? Well, it did to me anyway and that's what I got up this morning to do. I couldn't sleep last night, but somehow, with only about 2 1/2 hours of sleep, I still managed to drag my butt outta bed because I really didn't want to miss seeing the sunrise.

It was worth it, lemme tell you. I won't go into the history because it's all been told before, probably better than I could tell it. Go here and read up on it if you'd like, or just go here and look at my pictures of it. :-) 

What I can tell you is that Angkor Wat is big and imposing and dark and in a combined ruins/restoration state. And so cool. It's hundreds of years older than the Taj Mahal, has been neglected and left to the jungle, looted and pilfered from, and had damage from civil wars. All of these things are readily apparent.

As interesting as Angkor Wat was, I think Angkor Thom, specifically the temple of Bayon, may be even more impressive. The 12th century king Jayavarman VII established the Cambodian capital at Angkor Thom and then set to work building and building and building. What makes Bayon striking is the 216 stone faces on the temple towers. The faces themselves are believed to be a composite of the king himself and a Buddhist representation of compassion. Everywhere you go in this temple, faces are looking down on you. It would be kind of creepy if the faces weren't so peaceful looking.

There are over 100 pictures from today and they are ALL uploaded, so go take a peek!

More temples (and a side of shopping)

I did end up seeing some temples on Saturday after all, they just weren't at sunrise. Ta Prohm, the first of the day, is the least restored of all the temples I've seen so far. The jungle is very literally taking over; there are a lot more trees eating walls and piles of ruins everywhere. It was built in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, but then was neglected for hundreds of years after the fall of the Khmer Empire. Walking around, you get the impression that man first tamed the jungle by building this massive temple, but that now the jungle is reclaiming what land was once it's own. Ta Prohm was thisclose to being named my favorite of the day, but it's one of the more popular temples so it was fairly overrun with tourists and was kind of Disneyfied (boardwalks leading the way and sections that practically screamed "this is a good spot to take your pictures!"). 

Instead the honor went to Ta Keo, even though I almost didn't make it out alive. Ta Keo was cool because it's essentially a five-tier pyramid. Standing at the base, you can't tell just how tall the temple is, but I later found out that it's 45m (about 150 feet, or the height of a 15 story building). The stairs leading to each of the tiers is nearly straight up. It's more like climbing a ladder than walking up a staircase. And the temple is more than a thousand years old, so a lot of the stairs are worn and not in great shape. All of this is to say that the height was particularly dizzying when it came time to come back down. I'm only afraid of heights when there's a chance I can fall (when I'm not supposed to as opposed to bungee jumping or sky-diving when you are supposed to; that, I think I could handle) and with my clumsiness and the condition of the stairs, that was a very real possibility. I took my time - and lots of big, calming breaths! - along the way and I eventually made it.

By comparison, Phnom Bakheng was the least interesting temple. I'm almost glad that I missed the sunrise because this is the temple I would have seen it from. If Ta Prohm was the least restored temple, Phnom Bakheng is the most restored. Well, it's the most in process of restoration anyway. One neat thing about this one is that you can see destruction, preservation, and restoration all happening at the same time.

After a shower and dinner I went to the Night Market. I hadn't intended to buy anything, but I was just in such a good mood that I couldn't help it. :-) Nothing for me, actually, just a few souvenirs. It was one of the more pleasant night markets I've been to: things were fairly priced so you didn't have to do a lot of bargaining, the stalls were laid out nicely, and the vendors were friendly and not pushy.

Today is a lazy day, intended for playing catch up on email and picture uploading (everything's up! go check it out!) before my last temple day tomorrow. I am getting VERY excited about finally seeing Angkor Wat!

Reoccurrences

I intended today to start day two of temple viewing at sunrise. I'd arranged with Rawy the other day to meet me at my guesthouse at 5am. Unfortunately, Rawy had something else come up and he was on the other side of town; he sent someone else in his place. In negotiating a price for the day before the driver and I set off, I felt more and more like I was back in India, being taken, assumed to be someone who didn't travel much and would blindly pay an overinflated foreigner price. (He wanted to charge me the same amount Rawy had charged me to see half the temples in half the day and half the distance.) I didn't like this new driver and he reminded me of another driver I once had. Ah, but I haven't told that story yet, have I? It's sitting in my drafts folder somewhere; I'll have to dig it out soon. In the end, I decided to go back to bed, grab a few more hours of sleep, and go to the temples later in the day.

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Two days in a row now I've removed what I'm convinced is the same lizard from my room. I'm sure it's the same one because he's the littlest gecko I've ever seen, barely as long as the first joint of my pinkie finger, with the most translucent skin. He doesn't move nearly as fast as his full grown brothers and he's easy to catch. I can't even tell he's in my enclosed hand, that's how little he weighs. He's cute and I actually liked seeing him the second time. Maybe there will be a third day when he'll visit?

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Yesterday at the supermarket I ran into Yacob. We passed each other in the aisle, saying hi as we walked in opposite directions. A moment later he came back saying, "Hey, I think we. . ." I hadn't recognized him with the hat he was wearing. We stood in the aisle for awhile, catching each other up on what we've been up to in the last few months since we parted ways. (He's mostly been in India and will be heading back there once his visa is in order.) Then we said our goodbyes, good-to-see-you's, maybe-we'll-run-into-each-other-again's. These random meet-ups really are happening a lot more than I ever expected.

Missed the sunset

(The South Gate of the Angkor Thom complex)

How happy was I that my bus arrived in Siem Reap yesterday morning at 7:30am instead of 4:15am? Really happy. By then, all of Cambodia had been up for a couple of hours and it was easy to find accommodations. I'm at Green Town Guesthouse where my room doesn't have a window, but it does have it's own bathroom, free internet/billiards/nightly movies, and is really close to all of the temples for $5/night.

Speaking of temples, you did know that it's the Temples (plural, with an 's') of Angkor Wat, didn't you? If you're like me, you didn't know this and I only figured it out a couple of weeks ago when I really started to look through the LP guide. By my count, there are upwards of 70+ temples in the area. It would take you weeks to really see them all.

My tuk-tuk driver from the bus station to the guesthouse was nice and spoke good English, so I arranged for him to be my driver for the day ($12). I showered, ate breakfast, and met up with Rawy and his motorbike to begin our tour. I had it all planned out - I wanted to start with temples in the Roulos group, the oldest temples in the area, to give some chronological perspective to things. From there I wanted to see a couple of the larger temples on what is referred to as the big circuit, finishing up at Pre Rup, supposedly a good spot to watch the sun set.

It's hard to explain what I was thinking and feeling as I was exploring the various temples. Those in the Roulos group - Preah Ko, Bakong, and Lo Lei (these are just the ones I saw, there are many more) - date from the late 9th century and are crumbling into a state of disrepair. Although they're not nearly as old as the pyramids, I found myself thinking similar thoughts. "Wow. Hundreds of years ago, people just like me though they're now long dead, built these temples with their hands. Amazing. How did they do it?" You know, that kind of thing.

(Tree overtaking part of the wall enclosure at Ta Som)

After the Roulos group, it was a 15km ride back to town to see Preah Khan, Preah Neak Pean, Ta Som, East Mebon, and Pre Rup. A number of these are literally being taken over by the surrounding jungle. In fact, if you've ever seen the movie Tomb Raider, you should have an idea of what I'm describing; parts of it were filmed at Preah Khan. Preah Khan turned out to be my favorite temple of the day. It was a massive maze of enclosures within enclosures, pieces in ruins, and jungle encroaching. At times I was torn between taking pictures of everything I saw and not even bothering to try, simply sitting down and letting it all soak in. I'm afraid I'm not doing it any justice at all, so when all of my pictures are finally uploaded (over 100 yesterday alone), you'll have to go take a peek and see for yourself (although I'm equally afraid that my pictures don't do it justice either).

Although Rawy and I breaked for lunch, our timing for sunset was still off. We arrived at Pre Rup at about 4pm, a good hour and a half to two before the sun would begin its descent. I wandered a bit, snapping pictures, and even sat at the top of the western side of the temple to await the sun set, but after about 45 minutes I admitted defeat. After little sleep on the night bus the night before and a very full day of sight seeing, I was exhausted. And in desperate need of a cold shower! There was a break from the heat in Sihanoukville (notice the lack of complaints, lol?), but it's back in full force in Siem Reap, and I was covered in sweat (and grime, since every time the wind blew, the dust stuck to my sweaty skin).

Last night was Rhian and Marina's last day in Siem Reap and I had hoped to meet up with them before they head back to BKK, but I had energy enough to watch a movie and that's about it. Hopefully the three of us will catch up again in Australia in a couple months. Today I woke to find that it had rained overnight and the day is much cooler, at least so far; it's still early and that could change. Now, today would be the day for more comfortable temple viewing, but I decided yesterday that it would be an off day. (It's $40 for a three-days-in-one-week pass to the Angkor temples and I figured I'd do them every other day so that I don't get templed out.) Instead I will try to catch up on picture uploading (the connection is painfully slow) and go to the markets later to buy a couple much needed t-shirt replacements.

More of the same

Sunday morning Rouven and I checked out of our room on Serendipity Beach and made our way to Otres Beach, eventually landing at a place called Vanny's where Rouven got a room with a shared bath for $4 and I got one with an en suite for $5. I mentioned already that we'd planned to make this move, but forgot until I was there that the quietness of this particular beach meant very limited electricity and no internet access. It would have been better if I'd remembered that before I scheduled a Skype call with my sister for Monday that I not only missed, but which I wasn't even able to explain until two days after that. Sorry again, Aim!

There's not a lot to do at Otres Beach except consume. Consume drinks (fruit shakes and iced coffee with sweet milk mostly, but the occasional beer, too). Consume food (SO good here. Better than in Vietnam). Consume sun (as much as can be consumed while wearing SPF 45 as I sit in the shade, that is). Consume books (I think I read three in the last few days). And why - of all the things Dad taught me - did I have to learn the joys of hammock lounging all on my own? :-) It was great. The Cambodian people have been so incredibly friendly, it's kind of hard to believe. Vanny's is a family run guesthouse and you end up meeting and interacting with the whole family. One person arranges for the bus, one person takes food and drink orders, one is a tuk-tuk driver, they all care for the baby; each has their role. Some speak more English than others, but it all somehow works.

Yesterday, Tuesday, I decided for a little more activity. Rouven and I joined up with some others for a boat ride out to two different islands for some snorkeling (for us) and diving (for the others). The visibility was no where near as clear as it had been in the Red Sea, but it was still pretty cool. At one point I thought I saw an octopus. And then, city girl that I am, I realized it was just a rock. Oops. The thing about snorkeling, for me, is that it's terrifying. As far as I can remember, nothing traumatizing has ever happened to me in or around water and yet I get panicky more quickly than I'd like to admit. I'm not a strong swimmer, so that could be part of it, but snorkeling doesn't involve much more than floating face down and kicking your fins every now and then. For whatever reason water and the things in it are scary. I don't want to touch anything because it's either damaging (coral reef), ouchy (have you ever seen a spiky sea urchin?), or icky (pretty much everything else). Sometimes I'm floating along, things are fine, and my heart starts racing. I try to talk myself off the edge and try to consciously slow my breathing and my heart rate. If it works, I'm good for another few minutes until the next panic attack; if it doesn't work, it's back to the boat for me, to wait for the others.

I'll be in Koh Tao, Thailand in the next couple of weeks. Besides the fact that PADI certification is cheaper than in the US by half, the diving is supposed to be amazing. Getting certification would mean that I'd be able to dive in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Australia's Great Barrier Reef. I think I'd kind of hate myself a little if I went to all those places and didn't dive because I was too scared. But I've been hoping that snorkeling would ease me into feeling comfortable with diving. After three tries at snorkeling, that hasn't happened yet, but I don't think I'm ready to give up yet.

Anyway. . .I'm back in the Serendipity Beach area, hanging out for the day and waiting for my bus tonight to Siem Reap. I'm hoping the bus will arrive late tomorrow because otherwise I'll get there at 4am and that's just SO not a great time to find accommodations. I'm actually trying to figure out a way to stay in Cambodia even longer because by not going to China and Korea, I'm a bit ahead of the skeleton itinerary I'd worked out for myself. That, and I'm really enjoying Cambodia more than I expected.

* * * * *

On another note: Obviously I've been out of touch with news and current events these days. In scanning a few of the blogs that I read regularly, the topic of a passed health care bill in the US came up. Would someone like to give me the lowdown on what this is all about and what it means for us?

Peaceful

Oh hey, look at that! I have a blog! I just realized today that it's been a few days since I posted anything, but things have been pretty quiet.

After Phnom Penh, was Kampot for two nights. The first night I spent at a guesthouse called Long Villa. The guesthouse was fine until it was time to check out. They tried saying that I hadn't paid for my meal the day before and I know that I did. I could have argued the point over principle, but decided that for $2.10 it just wasn't worth it. The sucky thing is that I found out just today that Rhian and Marina had had the same exact problem (coincidentally, they stayed at the same guesthouse a couple of days earlier than me). My second night in Kampot I had a CS host. Tony is American but has been traveling for the last year or so, and has been living in Cambodia for the last couple of months. Tony was more than happy to accommodate my feelings of laziness, so we didn't do much more than hang out. I got to meet a number of his friends, we shared a couple of meals together, and talked about our travels, but that's about it.

Yesterday, as I was sitting on the mini-bus waiting for it to leave for Sihanoukville, I ran into Rouven. We happened to be on the same bus, so shooting the breeze with him was a pleasant way to spend the hour and a half trip. We decided when we arrived that we would split costs and share a room. It's SO much cheaper to travel in a pair or triple than as a single. As an example, a room for a single might be $10, but the double room is only $11 (meaning $5.50 each as opposed to $10). That might not seem like a very big difference to you, but if your daily budget is $20, every dollar counts. Anyway, we're staying at a place called Sen Penh Chet Guesthouse for $4 each and it literally takes about 30 seconds to get to the beach.


For the rest of the day yesterday and all day today, the scene kinda looked like this: find a lounge chair and umbrella or a big, comfy, cushy chair, order a fruit shake, "no, I'm not interested in buying a bracelet," read, order iced coffee with sweet milk, "no, I don't want a massage," read, listen to iPod, chat a bit, order a fruit shake, "no, I don't have any money to give you," read. Lather, rinse, and repeat about 87 times and that was my day today. Although the touts on the beach are a bit annoying, the girls are actually pretty sweet. Their English is really good and they always ask the same questions: 1) Where you from?, 2) What's your name, and 3) You have boyfriend/girlfriend? Poor Rouven, though. As a 20 year old kid, he's probably mortified that anyone would think this old lady is his girlfriend! We did manage to pull ourselves off the beach for dinner. . .but then we went back for an after dinner coffee. :-) The ambiance is just nice and the breeze coming off the water (the Gulf of Thailand, btw) is cool and relaxing. Oh! The other interesting thing that happened today? Remember Adam? Yeah, I randomly ran into him today at the beach. This keeps happening to me and I can't decide if it's cool or creepy.

Tomorrow we're moving from Serendipity Beach in Sihanoukville to Otres Beach. Otres is supposed to be quieter, with not as many backpackers, and an even more laid back atmosphere. Considering that I have days of temples (including Angkor Wat!) ahead of me, I think a few more days of beach time will suit me just fine.

Haunting

Day three in Cambodia now, the capital Phnom Penh to be exact. Unfortunately, it's just as hot and sticky here as it was in Vietnam. I suppose I'm getting more used to it, but I'm not doing a whole lot in the afternoons when it's hottest and I'm sucking down TONS of water and iced tea.

After a six hour or so bus ride on Sunday, I arrived in Phnom Penh but didn't do a whole lot for the rest of the day. I found accomodation at the Grand View Guesthouse for $4/night and I started reading The Girl in the Picture over a leisurely late lunch/early dinner. It's about Vietnam and Vietnamese history and some may think that maybe I should've read it while I was still there, but I don't do it that way. I like to read about the history as I'm leaving a country or after I've already left because I can appreciate it more. After reading for awhile, I headed back to my guesthouse to watch the 6:30pm movie, 1984's The Killing Fields, about the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, particularly in Phnom Penh. I planned to go to the actual Killing Fields the next day, so I figured it would give me a good starting point.

I woke up early, had breakfast, and arranged for a motorcycle taxi for the day. For $8, my driver took me 14km south to the Killing Fields, to S-21 (more on that in a bit), and then back to my guesthouse. The price was a bit high, but still less than the $10 quoted to me by the guesthouse.

The Killing Fields is an actual field where the Khmer Rouge systematically killed men, women, and children and "buried" them in mass graves. The largest grave had 450 corpses in it, but there were a total of 129 mass graves and nearly 17,000 dead. The largest graves were marked with signage, but there were dozens of sunken holes everywhere. I don't know how long I walked around before I realized that all of those holes were also graves. In the middle of the field is a stupa, a religious monument, which houses the bones of 9,000 victims and serves as a memorial.

(Inside the stupa, human remains behind glass)

S-21 started out being a school and was turned into a security prison by the Khmer Rouge. Prisoners there were interrogated and tortured before being sent to the Killing Fields for execution. Of the nearly 20,000 prisoners kept at S-21, only 7 made it out alive. Seven. The prison consisted of four buildings, buildings that looked like it would have made for a very nice school before the KR came through. Some classrooms were kept whole and hosted a single prisoner; others were divided up into teeny, tiny individual cells. Several classrooms were filled with hundreds of mugshots of the prisoners - men, women, and even babies. There were also photographic exhibits about the lives of people before, during, and after the reign of the KR.

(Hallway view of the individual cells at S-21)

A morning of this kind of intensity meant that I was emotionally shot for the afternoon. I went back to my guesthouse and read and napped for awhile. Met up with Rhian and Marina for dinner and then said goodbye to them as they left Phnom Penh today.

Today I intended to go to the Royal Palace and to a couple of wats and pagodas, then hit the central market before the day got too hot. Yeah, that didn't happen. Over breakfast this German kid, Rouven, and I started talking and, next thing you know, it was almost noon. Together we decided to get a moto to the central market - it was just too damn hot to attempt a walk that one person said was 4km away and another person said would take 20 minutes; we didn't want to risk it! For just $1 a piece, we decided the moto was well worth it. We wandered around a bit and then stopped for lunch. Rouven had fried rice and vegetables, I had marinated beef with bread, and we both had 2 glasses of super yummy lemon iced tea. It tasted nothing like lemon iced tea, but it was very cold and very refreshing. Actually, and you Marylanders will know what I'm talking about, it kind of tasted like a not-too-sweet orange snowball. The grand total for lunch for two was $4.25.

That's pretty much the extent of today. I've uploaded the rest of my Saigon pics and some of the Phnom Penh shots. Although the internet connection is pretty decent, the upload speed is not so much. I'll get there, though! Tomorrow I have a 9:30am bus to Kampot (on the southern coast) and described by Lonely Planet as having a "lovely riverside setting" with "aging French buildings."