Pork to go

I couldnt get a better picture while running in flip flops after this
bike. There are 2 dead pigs on the back of the rider's seat.

Pork to go

I couldnt get a better picture while running in flip flops after this
bike. That's a dead pug on the back of the rider's seat.

Bonk

I had Daria watch my head while I took this. I think you should direct
your attention to the sidewalks, which are full of pits, rather than
search the skies or falling fruit.

Boston Inn, Sihannoukeville

I didn't stop to ask. Maybe they're expats? But I'm surprised they
went with the Pats and not the Red Sox 'B'.

Scooter diaries pics

Here are the pictures that didn't show up in the scooter diaries post.

Sent from my iPhone

Daria biking through the south gate of Angkor Thom

Bayon

Angkor Wat is only one of dozens of tenples on a main site that
stretches over more than 100 square kilometers. Angkor also covers
other farther flung temples in the same region.

The temple below is Bayon, with giant faces carved into the towers.

Monks collecting alms

As in Thailand, all men are expected to be monks at some point in
their lives. Most do it after school but before a career or marriage.
Many are only monks for a couple of weeks, though it varies widely.

Every morning they leave their temples barefoot and carrying pots.
They collect food donations as they walk the streets, and they live at
least in part on what they collect. When you donate, they chant a
prayer with you.

Diesel flavored Fanta

This is an informal Cambodian gas station. You pour the bottles
through the funnel into your gas tank. I don't know which colors are
which, but one is diesel and another is unleaded.

We've been in Cambodia how long?

We crossed the border to Cambodia about a week ago. We've been so busy
that I've been horribly behind in my journal and posting here.

The border crossing was interesting. Cambodia has a huge corruption
problem, and we ran into it immediately. The cost of a one-month
tourist visa is $20. The police officer at the border asked us for
$25. We objected that the price should be $20, and he came back with
$23. We were haggling with a government official on the size of the
bribe he should receive. We said that we only wanted to come in for 3
weeks, and would only pay $20 for that, since we weren't using the
full visa. He relented pretty quickly, and we paid no markup, but it
was pretty brazen for a guy who stamps his name and police number
(presumably his own...) into our passport, along with the price of the
visa. I wonder if the officials who check visas as you leave the
country get a good laugh at the most extreme visa price inflation. The
officer also wouldn't accept the first $20 bill I offered him- someone
had written a number on the corner of it, and though it was fresh out
of a US ATM, it wasn't pristine enough for him.

We also had to pay $1 for a health inspection certificate. We filled
out a form saying that we were in good health and didn't have any
symptoms like fever or a cough (does anyone ever admit to it, even if
they do?). We then got a form with a stamp certifying our health. The
form suggested we share the certification with our doctors for their
records. I'll be sure to do that- it might be diagnostically useful.

As we left the border post, the difference in road conditions between
the Vietnamese side and the Cambodian side was extreme. In Vietnam the
road was paved and flat. In Cambodia the bus's shocks were bottoming
out with every pothole and bump. The road was dusty red dirt, and
lined with shacks.

The shacks are raised on stilts to avoid flooding in their living
areas. The cows grazing in the brown fields were skeletal. Beneath the
raised houses are large clay urns for rain water storage, though I
don't know whether it's because there are no water mains there or
whether water is too expensive. Parts of this country are desperately
poor.

Another difference from Vietnam was the huge number of wats and
temples here. They're built in a Thai style, with peaked roofs and
edge ornamentation. Most of the practicing temples in the country were
destroyed by the Khmer Rouge, so many of these have been built in the
past 20 or so years. Cambodia is either much more Buddhist than
Vietnam, or its brand of communism is less atheist and more openly
religious. Cambodia is actually a kingdom and not a communist state,
though as in Thailand the king is more symbolic, and the Cambodian
People's Party is dominant.

We saw dozens of the CPP signs on our ride from the border to Phnom
Penh. They were displayed on a wide range of buildings, and at first
we thought those were the local party offices, some in shacks and
others in mansions and temples. Now we think they're more like
election signs, just voicing party support. There were also signs for
FUNCIPEC, the royalist party, but far fewer.

Life changes as you enter Phnom Penh. There is a higher ratio of cars
to motorbikes in Cambodia than in Vietnam, but this is especially
clear in the capital. In Saigon and Hanoi there were often hundreds of
motorbikes at an intersection and not a car in sight. In Phnom Penh it
might almost be an even split. Most of the cars are Toyotas and
Lexuses, and many of them have huge decals on the sides with the brand
logo- imagine a Lexus SUV with the word Lexus occupying the entirety
of the front corner panel and both side doors. I guess they're proud
of their cars. I don't know where all the money to buy them is coming
from, but surely some of it is from visa scam kickbacks...

Sent from my iPhone