After being in Cambodia for a few days I received an alarming email from my mom. Her email explained how worried she was that we were in the middle of nowhere in Cambodia, she also included several warnings from the US embassy advising against travel in Cambodia. We had done a fair amount of research before we arrived so we were aware of the annoyances and dangers... But there is just something about a mother's intuition that I couldn't deny, so we cut our time in Cambodia short by a few days. We filled our last few days there with rides on the bamboo trains, playing hackie sack with locals,visiting more temples, and a trip to the 'killing fields'. The trip to the'killing fields' was tough. Our guide was an orphan as a result of the terrible time that the Kehmer Rough ruled. He had such an interesting and alarmingly humble/understanding/pensive take on the sad history of the beautiful country. The monument and the fields had a very dark, somber presence. I won't post any of the pics, it seems disrespectful and morbid. I left Cambodia with a lot of respect for the people.
On to more positive topics. We went back to Bangkok for one night before going down south. We went to an area in Bangkok that I would describe as "Vegasish." Lots of big shopping malls with designer stores, flashing lights, chain restaurants. It was a quite a departure from the authentic part of the city we spent most of our time in, and it lacks much of the charm. But, we did see a live taping of a Thai reality show, I think it is kinda like American Idol (called PopTeen!) (but hard to say because I haven't actually ever watch American Idol). Anyway, it was an interesting evening filled with window shopping and yummy American food.
I know several people who say that southern Thailand is their favorite place on earth, I have also seen so many beautiful pictures of the area, so with this in mind I tried to manage my expectations before arriving. So far, this place is as perfect and as stunning as everyone says. We are now in Railay Beach in southern Thailand. I've never seen such dramatic landscape. The area is also less developed than I had anticipated. Well, hope all is well at home. Happy Birthday Emmett, Grandma, and Blake!
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