tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18805782051323847222024-03-14T02:46:10.395-07:00Summer in Cambodia 2007Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1880578205132384722.post-32732081129906933722007-08-03T03:18:00.000-07:002007-08-03T04:15:50.576-07:00The day of templesI wanted to do something a little different for this visit to Angkor since I saw most of the more <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMHbMt17rI/AAAAAAAAAN0/-ibGNLn1JxM/s1600-h/100_1049.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094423767337529010" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMHbMt17rI/AAAAAAAAAN0/-ibGNLn1JxM/s200/100_1049.JPG" border="0" /></a>famous sites the last time I was here. So I'd planned a day that would take me to two temples that were off the beaten path, with the furthest of them being about 80 km from Siem <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMHZst17oI/AAAAAAAAANc/GfGgMFeEkeo/s1600-h/100_1030.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094423741567725186" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMHZst17oI/AAAAAAAAANc/GfGgMFeEkeo/s200/100_1030.JPG" border="0" /></a>Riep. I had also wanted to go to <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMHast17qI/AAAAAAAAANs/HiEqmW8J_Kw/s1600-h/100_1037.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094423758747594402" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMHast17qI/AAAAAAAAANs/HiEqmW8J_Kw/s200/100_1037.JPG" border="0" /></a>Kbal Spean, a riverbed with thousands of carvings around it. But the road out there ended up being impassable by tuk-tuk. The girl I met on the boat thought it all sounded like a good idea, so she joined me.<br />These first pictures are of Beng Melea. It was built in the 12th century, and has been left completely to nature. Lonely Planet calls it the true "Indiana Jones" experience. I'd kind of <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMHaMt17pI/AAAAAAAAANk/z0Wvge1RrGQ/s1600-h/100_1035.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094423750157659794" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMHaMt17pI/AAAAAAAAANk/z0Wvge1RrGQ/s200/100_1035.JPG" border="0" /></a>have to agree since when we got there we heard all this yelling and some of the Cambodians were after a boa constrictor. Not sure what they were going to do with it once they caught it, but it was entertaining to watch. <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMI4ct17uI/AAAAAAAAAOM/DInOfovQWVc/s1600-h/100_1017.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094425369360330466" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMI4ct17uI/AAAAAAAAAOM/DInOfovQWVc/s200/100_1017.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMI3ct17sI/AAAAAAAAAN8/bzOPGZke3w8/s1600-h/100_1051.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094425352180461250" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMI3ct17sI/AAAAAAAAAN8/bzOPGZke3w8/s200/100_1051.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMI38t17tI/AAAAAAAAAOE/-eKohv-jCGY/s1600-h/100_1052.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094425360770395858" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMI38t17tI/AAAAAAAAAOE/-eKohv-jCGY/s200/100_1052.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /> This whole temple area was really amazing, and other than a few walk ways it really was an adventure. We crawled all over the stones to get up to other parts of the temple, and then through the more intact areas, fighting our way through spider webs and who knows what else. <br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMHZst17oI/AAAAAAAAANc/GfGgMFeEkeo/s1600-h/100_1030.JPG"></a><br />It was also blissfully light on tourists, making it well worth the trip out there. Plus the scenery on the drive almost made it worth it all on its own. <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMI6Mt17wI/AAAAAAAAAOc/7s6s0r1UoVc/s1600-h/100_0993.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094425399425101570" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMI6Mt17wI/AAAAAAAAAOc/7s6s0r1UoVc/s200/100_0993.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMHZMt17nI/AAAAAAAAANU/4EdR7ZH8Fes/s1600-h/100_1070.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094423732977790578" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMHZMt17nI/AAAAAAAAANU/4EdR7ZH8Fes/s200/100_1070.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMFRMt17mI/AAAAAAAAANM/L7b7xL5awIU/s1600-h/100_1075.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094421396515581538" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMFRMt17mI/AAAAAAAAANM/L7b7xL5awIU/s200/100_1075.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />After Beng Melea we headed to Banteay Srea--"The Citadel of the Women." It is one of the smaller temples, but it was thought to have been made by women because of the incredibly intricate carvings on all of the stone. It really was beautiful and very well preserved. You could stand and stare at one side of one of the small temples for 20 minutes and just continue to see new details emerge.<br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMFO8t17iI/AAAAAAAAAMs/ZcyuzzpnffI/s1600-h/100_1087.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094421357860875810" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMFO8t17iI/AAAAAAAAAMs/ZcyuzzpnffI/s200/100_1087.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMFPst17jI/AAAAAAAAAM0/7pezqv87JBQ/s1600-h/100_1101.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094421370745777714" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMFPst17jI/AAAAAAAAAM0/7pezqv87JBQ/s200/100_1101.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMFQMt17kI/AAAAAAAAAM8/bN8LqZVkgzI/s1600-h/100_1098.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094421379335712322" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMFQMt17kI/AAAAAAAAAM8/bN8LqZVkgzI/s200/100_1098.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /> <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMFQst17lI/AAAAAAAAANE/8AqsHbZfoek/s1600-h/100_1102.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094421387925646930" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMFQst17lI/AAAAAAAAANE/8AqsHbZfoek/s200/100_1102.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>We then went to Banteay Samre, a slightly less impressive temple, but still nice to wander around, and again almost tourist-less. </div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMDWMt17gI/AAAAAAAAAMc/9lTabeJ4_1U/s1600-h/100_1120.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094419283391671810" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMDWMt17gI/AAAAAAAAAMc/9lTabeJ4_1U/s200/100_1120.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div> </div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMDWMt17gI/AAAAAAAAAMc/9lTabeJ4_1U/s1600-h/100_1120.JPG"></a> </div><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMDW8t17hI/AAAAAAAAAMk/SgOsv5sG3RU/s1600-h/100_1116.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094419296276573714" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMDW8t17hI/AAAAAAAAAMk/SgOsv5sG3RU/s200/100_1116.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMDVst17fI/AAAAAAAAAMU/dej-gqOuDW8/s1600-h/100_1129.JPG"></a></div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMDWMt17gI/AAAAAAAAAMc/9lTabeJ4_1U/s1600-h/100_1120.JPG"></a> </div><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMDW8t17hI/AAAAAAAAAMk/SgOsv5sG3RU/s1600-h/100_1116.JPG"></a> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMDWMt17gI/AAAAAAAAAMc/9lTabeJ4_1U/s1600-h/100_1120.JPG"></a> </div><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMDW8t17hI/AAAAAAAAAMk/SgOsv5sG3RU/s1600-h/100_1116.JPG"></a> </div><div> </div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMDWMt17gI/AAAAAAAAAMc/9lTabeJ4_1U/s1600-h/100_1120.JPG"></a> </div><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMDUst17dI/AAAAAAAAAME/oLRIOBi7fI0/s1600-h/100_1160.JPG"></a> </div><div> </div><div>After that we hit Pre Rup, where we made a quick climb to the top. </div><div> </div><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMDVst17fI/AAAAAAAAAMU/dej-gqOuDW8/s1600-h/100_1129.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094419274801737202" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMDVst17fI/AAAAAAAAAMU/dej-gqOuDW8/s200/100_1129.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMDVMt17eI/AAAAAAAAAMM/PNwAa0OpWdQ/s1600-h/100_1139.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094419266211802594" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMDVMt17eI/AAAAAAAAAMM/PNwAa0OpWdQ/s200/100_1139.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMDVst17fI/AAAAAAAAAMU/dej-gqOuDW8/s1600-h/100_1129.JPG"></a></div><div> </div><div> </div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMDVMt17eI/AAAAAAAAAMM/PNwAa0OpWdQ/s1600-h/100_1139.JPG"></a> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMDUst17dI/AAAAAAAAAME/oLRIOBi7fI0/s1600-h/100_1160.JPG"></a> </div><div>Then on to Phnom Bakheng for the sunset. It was a super busy day, but absolutely incredible. We wrapped it up with dinner at a nice spot in the Alley and dessert at the Blue Pumpkin. The next morning I got up and wandered around the town, checking out galleries and markets until it was time to catch the bus back to Phnom Penh.</div><div> </div><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMDUst17dI/AAAAAAAAAME/oLRIOBi7fI0/s1600-h/100_1160.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094419257621867986" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrMDUst17dI/AAAAAAAAAME/oLRIOBi7fI0/s200/100_1160.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1880578205132384722.post-25967476280587576852007-08-03T02:48:00.000-07:002007-08-03T03:17:49.023-07:00The first night in Siem Riep<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrL7ict17VI/AAAAAAAAALE/U2PdpdYLIQw/s1600-h/100_0962.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094410697752046930" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrL7ict17VI/AAAAAAAAALE/U2PdpdYLIQw/s200/100_0962.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrL7jct17WI/AAAAAAAAALM/n81TgdioIrM/s1600-h/100_0963.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094410714931916130" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrL7jct17WI/AAAAAAAAALM/n81TgdioIrM/s200/100_0963.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After checking in to the guest house, Steph and I arranged with our driver to go to see Angkor Wat after 5:00 (the day pass for the next day starts at that time--so you get a little extra for your money). It started pouring rain as we approached Angkor Wat, but we made the most of it and had a great time exploring the Angkor in the thunder and lightening. It added a really interesting feel to the whole experience.<br />Angkor Wat is the largest, and most famous, of the temples in the area. These temples were the capital of Cambodia's ancient Khmer empire which lasted from about AD 802 to 1432.<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrL7l8t17ZI/AAAAAAAAALk/wLNZDYUoYVI/s1600-h/100_0976.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094410757881589138" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrL7l8t17ZI/AAAAAAAAALk/wLNZDYUoYVI/s200/100_0976.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrL7kct17XI/AAAAAAAAALU/CWCGPA1GAIo/s1600-h/100_0966.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094410732111785330" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrL7kct17XI/AAAAAAAAALU/CWCGPA1GAIo/s200/100_0966.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrL7lMt17YI/AAAAAAAAALc/RL6fjb1_EEU/s1600-h/100_0970.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094410744996687234" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrL7lMt17YI/AAAAAAAAALc/RL6fjb1_EEU/s200/100_0970.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrL7kct17XI/AAAAAAAAALU/CWCGPA1GAIo/s1600-h/100_0966.JPG"></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />We had a bit of an adventure on our way back, as the rain had caused the roadways to flood dramatically. Our tuk-tuk died out in the middle of one such road turned river and we had to get out and walk down the street while our driver pushed it to higher and drier ground. The moto was quite damaged by the water, however, so we enjoyed the hospitality of two Cambodian women under their food cart umbrella while our driver took the moto to be repaired.<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrL9jst17aI/AAAAAAAAALs/zlHV9SU5Pm4/s1600-h/100_0981.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094412918250139042" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrL9jst17aI/AAAAAAAAALs/zlHV9SU5Pm4/s200/100_0981.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrL9lst17cI/AAAAAAAAAL8/LyhEDRz73i8/s1600-h/100_0986.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094412952609877442" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrL9lst17cI/AAAAAAAAAL8/LyhEDRz73i8/s200/100_0986.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrL9kMt17bI/AAAAAAAAAL0/nfqwefGm37k/s1600-h/100_0985.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094412926840073650" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrL9kMt17bI/AAAAAAAAAL0/nfqwefGm37k/s200/100_0985.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />We finally made it back "home" though and dried off in time for a fantastic dinner at the Red Piano on a balcony overlooking "Bar Street." This street, as well as the "Alley," are an amazing find in Cambodia. Most of the restaurants have balconies looking over the streets which are shut down for pedestrians, there's live music and just a great atmosphere. Down the Alley (which is just that, so not so much with the balconies overlooking the street) I also discovered a number of little art shops that were fun to stroll through.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1880578205132384722.post-86943413704735778822007-08-02T07:20:00.001-07:002007-08-03T02:47:54.007-07:00Boat ride, floating villages<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHqB8t17MI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/tDyJAeonVk0/s1600-h/100_0905.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094109972731915458" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHqB8t17MI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/tDyJAeonVk0/s200/100_0905.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHqBct17LI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/N8y61_nSu08/s1600-h/100_0904.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094109964141980850" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHqBct17LI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/N8y61_nSu08/s200/100_0904.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHqB8t17MI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/tDyJAeonVk0/s1600-h/100_0905.JPG"></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The boat trip to Siem Riep was a beautiful trip--although it could have been about 3 hours instead of 7. As you can see, we were a bit crammed on not exactly comfortable benches, but it was well worth it.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHqCst17OI/AAAAAAAAAKM/QayOOtD8UXQ/s1600-h/100_0917.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094109985616817378" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHqCst17OI/AAAAAAAAAKM/QayOOtD8UXQ/s200/100_0917.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHqCct17NI/AAAAAAAAAKE/4tRtoTRyg20/s1600-h/100_0913.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094109981321850066" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHqCct17NI/AAAAAAAAAKE/4tRtoTRyg20/s200/100_0913.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHqCct17NI/AAAAAAAAAKE/4tRtoTRyg20/s1600-h/100_0913.JPG"></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />We travelled through some pretty narrow stretches where the going was a bit trecherous. Lost someone's bag at one point when the boat tipped quite violently, but they were able to fish it out. And we almost lost our guy on the front of the boat when we ran into some trees and bushes. He got knocked off, but managed to hang on to the side. A little wet, but not too much worse for the wear. You can see he sometimes had to work quite hard to get us out of the mud.<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrL29st17RI/AAAAAAAAAKk/tIiJDo20q4w/s1600-h/100_0948.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094405668345343250" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrL29st17RI/AAAAAAAAAKk/tIiJDo20q4w/s200/100_0948.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHqDMt17PI/AAAAAAAAAKU/Bcdv0agtLLs/s1600-h/100_0921.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094109994206751986" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHqDMt17PI/AAAAAAAAAKU/Bcdv0agtLLs/s200/100_0921.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrL288t17QI/AAAAAAAAAKc/eLtpGO9TfZo/s1600-h/100_0942.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094405655460441346" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrL288t17QI/AAAAAAAAAKc/eLtpGO9TfZo/s200/100_0942.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrL288t17QI/AAAAAAAAAKc/eLtpGO9TfZo/s1600-h/100_0942.JPG"></a><br /><br /><br /><br />But we finally made it to the some wider sections of river and the going was much easier. We passed by many floating villages where they have everything from floating churches to basketball courts. Then we got to cruise on Tonle Sap, the giant lake that is right in the center of Cambodia. After we docked (and the boat was overrun by aggressive tuk-tuk drivers) we found a nice driver named Kun and my new friend Steph (from the boat ride) and I made our way into town. <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrL2-ct17SI/AAAAAAAAAKs/2pBEPSOjc9g/s1600-h/100_0944.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094405681230245154" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrL2-ct17SI/AAAAAAAAAKs/2pBEPSOjc9g/s200/100_0944.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrL2-8t17TI/AAAAAAAAAK0/iRl0uSq7ehw/s1600-h/100_0945.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094405689820179762" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrL2-8t17TI/AAAAAAAAAK0/iRl0uSq7ehw/s200/100_0945.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrL2_ct17UI/AAAAAAAAAK8/w3wqHg8vE3c/s1600-h/100_0958.JPG"></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrL2_ct17UI/AAAAAAAAAK8/w3wqHg8vE3c/s1600-h/100_0958.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094405698410114370" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrL2_ct17UI/AAAAAAAAAK8/w3wqHg8vE3c/s200/100_0958.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrL2_ct17UI/AAAAAAAAAK8/w3wqHg8vE3c/s1600-h/100_0958.JPG"></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1880578205132384722.post-27668808943622876572007-08-02T06:37:00.000-07:002007-08-02T07:19:35.444-07:00Battambang<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHh18t17JI/AAAAAAAAAJk/bwsEcc6Nq1Y/s1600-h/100_0886.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094100970480462994" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHh18t17JI/AAAAAAAAAJk/bwsEcc6Nq1Y/s200/100_0886.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHgsct17EI/AAAAAAAAAI8/SAnFx-TtxZ8/s1600-h/100_0887.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094099707760077890" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHgsct17EI/AAAAAAAAAI8/SAnFx-TtxZ8/s200/100_0887.JPG" border="0" /></a> <div><div></div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHgsst17FI/AAAAAAAAAJE/BKWRQuu2WYc/s1600-h/100_0888.JPG"></a></div><div>Battambang was the first stop on my little four day excursion I just returned from. I left Phnom Penh early Monday morning, taking about a 5 hour bus ride up to Battambang. The main reason for this side-trip to Battambang was so I could take the scenic boat ride to Siem Riep, but Battambang has some attributes of its own that make it a nice stop. The primary one is its French colonial architecture. </div><div></div><div>I decided I wanted to just spend the afternoon walking around, so I spent about 3 hours wandering along the riverside (pictures above) and seeing most of the town. </div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHgq8t17DI/AAAAAAAAAI0/APnt8W4rmbU/s1600-h/100_0883.JPG"></a></div><div>The buildings really were interesting in some parts of the town. For the most part, they were rather dilapidated or covered in advertisements, so you don't get the feeling from the buildings that you would in say New Orleans (or France I would imagine?). But there are some that are quite impressive. </div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHgsst17FI/AAAAAAAAAJE/BKWRQuu2WYc/s1600-h/100_0888.JPG"></a></div><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHh3ct17KI/AAAAAAAAAJs/7jm353Te_Ao/s1600-h/100_0899.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094100996250266786" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHh3ct17KI/AAAAAAAAAJs/7jm353Te_Ao/s200/100_0899.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHgsst17FI/AAAAAAAAAJE/BKWRQuu2WYc/s1600-h/100_0888.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094099712055045202" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHgsst17FI/AAAAAAAAAJE/BKWRQuu2WYc/s200/100_0888.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHgt8t17GI/AAAAAAAAAJM/GK7Z88aXC3M/s1600-h/100_0894.JPG"></a></div><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHh3ct17KI/AAAAAAAAAJs/7jm353Te_Ao/s1600-h/100_0899.JPG"></a></div><div></div><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHguct17HI/AAAAAAAAAJU/PaGTAsoeINg/s1600-h/100_0903.JPG"></a></div><div></div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHgt8t17GI/AAAAAAAAAJM/GK7Z88aXC3M/s1600-h/100_0894.JPG"></a></div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHgt8t17GI/AAAAAAAAAJM/GK7Z88aXC3M/s1600-h/100_0894.JPG"></a></div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHgt8t17GI/AAAAAAAAAJM/GK7Z88aXC3M/s1600-h/100_0894.JPG"></a></div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHgt8t17GI/AAAAAAAAAJM/GK7Z88aXC3M/s1600-h/100_0894.JPG"></a></div><div></div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHgt8t17GI/AAAAAAAAAJM/GK7Z88aXC3M/s1600-h/100_0894.JPG"></a></div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div>There were also some really neat wats (temples) around the town, and of course cows. </div><div></div><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHguct17HI/AAAAAAAAAJU/PaGTAsoeINg/s1600-h/100_0903.JPG"></a></div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHgt8t17GI/AAAAAAAAAJM/GK7Z88aXC3M/s1600-h/100_0894.JPG"></a></div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHgt8t17GI/AAAAAAAAAJM/GK7Z88aXC3M/s1600-h/100_0894.JPG"></a></div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHgt8t17GI/AAAAAAAAAJM/GK7Z88aXC3M/s1600-h/100_0894.JPG"></a></div><div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHgt8t17GI/AAAAAAAAAJM/GK7Z88aXC3M/s1600-h/100_0894.JPG"></a></div></div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHgt8t17GI/AAAAAAAAAJM/GK7Z88aXC3M/s1600-h/100_0894.JPG"></a></div><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHh3ct17KI/AAAAAAAAAJs/7jm353Te_Ao/s1600-h/100_0899.JPG"></a></div><div></div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHgt8t17GI/AAAAAAAAAJM/GK7Z88aXC3M/s1600-h/100_0894.JPG"></a></div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHgq8t17DI/AAAAAAAAAI0/APnt8W4rmbU/s1600-h/100_0883.JPG"></a></div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHgt8t17GI/AAAAAAAAAJM/GK7Z88aXC3M/s1600-h/100_0894.JPG"></a></div><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHh3ct17KI/AAAAAAAAAJs/7jm353Te_Ao/s1600-h/100_0899.JPG"></a></div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHgt8t17GI/AAAAAAAAAJM/GK7Z88aXC3M/s1600-h/100_0894.JPG"></a></div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHgt8t17GI/AAAAAAAAAJM/GK7Z88aXC3M/s1600-h/100_0894.JPG"></a></div><div></div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHgt8t17GI/AAAAAAAAAJM/GK7Z88aXC3M/s1600-h/100_0894.JPG"></a></div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHgt8t17GI/AAAAAAAAAJM/GK7Z88aXC3M/s1600-h/100_0894.JPG"></a></div><div></div><div></div><div><div><div><div><div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHgt8t17GI/AAAAAAAAAJM/GK7Z88aXC3M/s1600-h/100_0894.JPG"></a></div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHgt8t17GI/AAAAAAAAAJM/GK7Z88aXC3M/s1600-h/100_0894.JPG"></a></div><div> </div></div></div></div></div></div><div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHgq8t17DI/AAAAAAAAAI0/APnt8W4rmbU/s1600-h/100_0883.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094099681990274098" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHgq8t17DI/AAAAAAAAAI0/APnt8W4rmbU/s200/100_0883.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHgt8t17GI/AAAAAAAAAJM/GK7Z88aXC3M/s1600-h/100_0894.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094099733529881698" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHgt8t17GI/AAAAAAAAAJM/GK7Z88aXC3M/s200/100_0894.JPG" border="0" /></a></div></div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div>I also did a little wandering through the marketplace (pictured from the outside below), finding a great deal on a fake designer purse. I also discovered a hair salon bearing my name, but refrained from exploring that one any further. </div><div></div><div><div></div><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHguct17HI/AAAAAAAAAJU/PaGTAsoeINg/s1600-h/100_0903.JPG"></a></div><div><div><div><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHguct17HI/AAAAAAAAAJU/PaGTAsoeINg/s1600-h/100_0903.JPG"></a></div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHh1st17II/AAAAAAAAAJc/ZTiG18StVCs/s1600-h/100_0885.JPG"></a></div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHh1st17II/AAAAAAAAAJc/ZTiG18StVCs/s1600-h/100_0885.JPG"></a></div></div></div><div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHh1st17II/AAAAAAAAAJc/ZTiG18StVCs/s1600-h/100_0885.JPG"></a></div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHh1st17II/AAAAAAAAAJc/ZTiG18StVCs/s1600-h/100_0885.JPG"></a></div><div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHh1st17II/AAAAAAAAAJc/ZTiG18StVCs/s1600-h/100_0885.JPG"></a></div></div><div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHh1st17II/AAAAAAAAAJc/ZTiG18StVCs/s1600-h/100_0885.JPG"></a></div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHguct17HI/AAAAAAAAAJU/PaGTAsoeINg/s1600-h/100_0903.JPG"></a></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHh1st17II/AAAAAAAAAJc/ZTiG18StVCs/s1600-h/100_0885.JPG"></a></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><div><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHguct17HI/AAAAAAAAAJU/PaGTAsoeINg/s1600-h/100_0903.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094099742119816306" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHguct17HI/AAAAAAAAAJU/PaGTAsoeINg/s200/100_0903.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHguct17HI/AAAAAAAAAJU/PaGTAsoeINg/s1600-h/100_0903.JPG"></a></div></div><div><div><div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHh1st17II/AAAAAAAAAJc/ZTiG18StVCs/s1600-h/100_0885.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094100966185495682" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHh1st17II/AAAAAAAAAJc/ZTiG18StVCs/s200/100_0885.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHguct17HI/AAAAAAAAAJU/PaGTAsoeINg/s1600-h/100_0903.JPG"></a></div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHh1st17II/AAAAAAAAAJc/ZTiG18StVCs/s1600-h/100_0885.JPG"></a></div></div><div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHh1st17II/AAAAAAAAAJc/ZTiG18StVCs/s1600-h/100_0885.JPG"></a></div></div><div></div><div></div><div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHh1st17II/AAAAAAAAAJc/ZTiG18StVCs/s1600-h/100_0885.JPG"></a></div></div><div><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHguct17HI/AAAAAAAAAJU/PaGTAsoeINg/s1600-h/100_0903.JPG"></a></div></div><div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHh1st17II/AAAAAAAAAJc/ZTiG18StVCs/s1600-h/100_0885.JPG"></a></div></div><div><div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHh1st17II/AAAAAAAAAJc/ZTiG18StVCs/s1600-h/100_0885.JPG"></a></div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHguct17HI/AAAAAAAAAJU/PaGTAsoeINg/s1600-h/100_0903.JPG"></a></div></div><div><div><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHguct17HI/AAAAAAAAAJU/PaGTAsoeINg/s1600-h/100_0903.JPG"></a></div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHguct17HI/AAAAAAAAAJU/PaGTAsoeINg/s1600-h/100_0903.JPG"></a></div></div><div><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHguct17HI/AAAAAAAAAJU/PaGTAsoeINg/s1600-h/100_0903.JPG"></a></div></div><div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div>The day in Battambang was really, really nice. Everyone was super friendly as I walked around, saying hi and smiling, not trying to sell me anything. Even the moto drivers left me alone. I had dinner at a nice training restaurant and met an older lady from Boston who I chatted with. Then I had some dessert on the rooftop of my hotel, looking out over the town and watching the lightening. There was this terrific, cool breeze and the whole thing was just great.</div></div><div>My wonderful Battambang experience continued in the (early) morning. The van for the boat was leaving the hotel at 6:30 so I got up early and went to this nice coffee shop down the street to grab some breakfast for the road. I sat and chatted with another older lady from the States who is with some church group. She is the Cambodian coordinator for volunteer groups that come over and do things like build basketball courts and then do camps for kids. Not sure what else they do, but that's what her current group was doing. I got my breakfast and then got on the van, at which point some guy from the hotel I stayed at brought me a scarf and a bunch of bananas for the long boat ride. Not bad for $5 a night. I think everyone got a scarf, but the bananas were a special treat for some reason. I must have looked extra hungry. </div><div>So then to the boat....</div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RrHh1st17II/AAAAAAAAAJc/ZTiG18StVCs/s1600-h/100_0885.JPG"></a></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1880578205132384722.post-74083228407051247072007-07-29T07:46:00.000-07:002007-07-29T08:19:46.124-07:00SihanoukvilleI have returned from my trip to the beach, bronzed (maybe more of a reddish-bronze) and relaxed (maybe more exhausted). I traveled down by taxi on Friday night with two other Americans and a girl from New Zealand. We checked in to our beautiful hotel (see picture of pool) and then met up with Jens, Bernhardt, Anya, and Emir for dinner at Eden. <br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyrzct16_I/AAAAAAAAAIU/x3ncYJjizKE/s1600-h/100_0839.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5092634179019336690" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyrzct16_I/AAAAAAAAAIU/x3ncYJjizKE/s200/100_0839.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /> After dinner we ended up at the Blue Dolphin, apparently quite the hopping place. Here we stayed, drinking, playing in the water, dancing like fools, and watching people much crazier than us, until 4 am. This bar also has these chains with balls on them you can light on fire and do all sorts of fun dance type things. I stayed away from the drunk people with flames. Although, there was a young girl there who was quite skilled at it. After the bar we went back to our hotel and swam in the pool until about 5, watching the sun come up in a light rain. <br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyp2st165I/AAAAAAAAAHk/XE_YZA9AO0w/s1600-h/100_0827.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5092632035830655890" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyp2st165I/AAAAAAAAAHk/XE_YZA9AO0w/s200/100_0827.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyr0Mt17BI/AAAAAAAAAIk/FPvDDwho1HA/s1600-h/100_0877.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5092634191904238610" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyr0Mt17BI/AAAAAAAAAIk/FPvDDwho1HA/s200/100_0877.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyp3ct167I/AAAAAAAAAH0/3wmibDnGctY/s1600-h/100_0832.JPG"></a> </div><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyr0st17CI/AAAAAAAAAIs/aKV300tQnk4/s1600-h/100_0879.JPG"></a> </div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyp3Mt166I/AAAAAAAAAHs/erMschcBoyQ/s1600-h/100_0834.JPG"></a> </div><div> </div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyp3Mt166I/AAAAAAAAAHs/erMschcBoyQ/s1600-h/100_0834.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5092632044420590498" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyp3Mt166I/AAAAAAAAAHs/erMschcBoyQ/s200/100_0834.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div> </div><div> </div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyp4Mt169I/AAAAAAAAAIE/hEHL1RRnmm4/s1600-h/100_0835.JPG"></a> </div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyry8t16-I/AAAAAAAAAIM/8PzGf168m-w/s1600-h/100_0872.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5092634170429402082" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyry8t16-I/AAAAAAAAAIM/8PzGf168m-w/s200/100_0872.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div> </div><div>Saturday we just spent playing on the beach and in the water. Really beautiful beaches and warm, clear water. Was extremely relaxing and much needed after our late night out. </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyr0st17CI/AAAAAAAAAIs/aKV300tQnk4/s1600-h/100_0879.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5092634200494173218" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyr0st17CI/AAAAAAAAAIs/aKV300tQnk4/s200/100_0879.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyp3Mt166I/AAAAAAAAAHs/erMschcBoyQ/s1600-h/100_0834.JPG"></a></div><div> </div><div>Saturday night we all went out to dinner (joined by one more American at this point), then we all went for a walk down the beach to meet up with some other people. I made it in before 1 am this time! </div><div> </div><div> </div><div>This morning just got up and went to the beach for a few hours before we had to head out on the bus. </div><div> </div><div>Some of the interesting things to happen to us: Danielle's camera fell out of her bag in the taxi and even though she called the next morning the driver, of course, could not find it. Johanna had her camera stolen out of her bag at the beach on Saturday. Lots of little kids around there stealing money and valuables right out from under you. I caught one before he made off with stuff from another girl's purse. Kind of brings the relaxation value down a notch.</div><div>Saturday night when we were walking to dinner a moto flew by and tried to grab Johanna's bag. The guy didn't get it, but he pulled her along for a second and she has bruises all over her arm now. Then on our bus ride home we saw someone on the side of the road who'd been killed in an accident--probably on a moto. So that was a little tramatic. </div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyrz8t17AI/AAAAAAAAAIc/A5Mh0J9FPoc/s1600-h/100_0870.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5092634187609271298" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyrz8t17AI/AAAAAAAAAIc/A5Mh0J9FPoc/s200/100_0870.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div> </div><div> </div><div>On a lighter note, a cow came onto the dance floor at the Blue Dolphin last night. Stood there for a few minutes (not quite long enough for me to get my camera out although I tried) before they chased him out. That's almost better than home! </div><div> </div><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyp3st168I/AAAAAAAAAH8/mzVHDhBWOsY/s1600-h/100_0833.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5092632053010525122" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyp3st168I/AAAAAAAAAH8/mzVHDhBWOsY/s200/100_0833.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyp3Mt166I/AAAAAAAAAHs/erMschcBoyQ/s1600-h/100_0834.JPG"></a></div><div> </div><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyp3ct167I/AAAAAAAAAH0/3wmibDnGctY/s1600-h/100_0832.JPG"></a> </div><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyp3ct167I/AAAAAAAAAH0/3wmibDnGctY/s1600-h/100_0832.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5092632048715557810" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyp3ct167I/AAAAAAAAAH0/3wmibDnGctY/s200/100_0832.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyp4Mt169I/AAAAAAAAAIE/hEHL1RRnmm4/s1600-h/100_0835.JPG"></a> </div><div> </div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyp3Mt166I/AAAAAAAAAHs/erMschcBoyQ/s1600-h/100_0834.JPG"></a> </div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyp4Mt169I/AAAAAAAAAIE/hEHL1RRnmm4/s1600-h/100_0835.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5092632061600459730" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyp4Mt169I/AAAAAAAAAIE/hEHL1RRnmm4/s200/100_0835.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div> </div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyp4Mt169I/AAAAAAAAAIE/hEHL1RRnmm4/s1600-h/100_0835.JPG"></a> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyp3ct167I/AAAAAAAAAH0/3wmibDnGctY/s1600-h/100_0832.JPG"></a> </div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyp4Mt169I/AAAAAAAAAIE/hEHL1RRnmm4/s1600-h/100_0835.JPG"></a> </div><div> </div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyp4Mt169I/AAAAAAAAAIE/hEHL1RRnmm4/s1600-h/100_0835.JPG"></a> </div><div>Tomorrow morning I'm heading to Battambang, a town that's supposed to have some of the best French-colonial architecture in the area. And from there I'll take a boat to Siem Riep and spend some time at the Angkor Wat temples. So, the next blog will be when I return from that little trip--should be good pictures! </div><div> </div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyp4Mt169I/AAAAAAAAAIE/hEHL1RRnmm4/s1600-h/100_0835.JPG"></a> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyp3ct167I/AAAAAAAAAH0/3wmibDnGctY/s1600-h/100_0832.JPG"></a> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rqyp3ct167I/AAAAAAAAAH0/3wmibDnGctY/s1600-h/100_0832.JPG"></a> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1880578205132384722.post-52201509068152095702007-07-25T18:26:00.000-07:002007-07-25T18:27:48.410-07:00Anyone looking for a business opportunity?Maybe I really will move to Kratie. Sitting here reading the Cambodia Daily at the office and I see this: Riverfront Bar/Restaurant/Guesthouse for sale in Kratie. $5,000. Think it's a fixer-upper?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1880578205132384722.post-29580415532695170432007-07-22T08:35:00.000-07:002007-07-22T21:13:20.336-07:00Been nice to know ya, I'm moving to KratieHad an absolutely amazing time in Kratie this weekend. Saturday morning I met up with 6 Germans who are working in various fields here in Phnom Penh and we took a 7 hour bus trip into the Northeast area of Cambodia. That, in itself was a bit of an experience, as we stopped in a few towns for food breaks and had such entertainment on the tv as a Cambodian comedy show, a Chinese movie with baby ninjas and the worst (irritating) dubbing voices I've ever heard, and Cambodian karaoke videos (primarily lovely love ballads filmed in the rice paddies). This first picture is from the bus--as you can tell it was raining a bit, which kept it nice and cool (that and the a/c).<br /><div><div><div><div></div><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5090059182916627026" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RqOF28t16lI/AAAAAAAAAFE/QuTBra5bjnM/s200/100_0547.JPG" border="0" /></div><br /><div></div><div>We arrived in Kratie around 2:30, and set it up with our hotel guy to go see the dolphins around 3:00. This next picture is the view from our balcony of the Mekong River. Kratie is a really nice little town from what we saw. Lovely restaurants along the riverfront and some nice markets and such in the "downtown" area. </div><div></div><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5090059191506561634" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RqOF3ct16mI/AAAAAAAAAFM/HUDjLoumE4M/s200/100_0548.JPG" border="0" /></div><br /><div></div><div>We each had our own moto-driver to us the 15 km to the boat docks. The drive itself was almost worth the trip. We went down this smallish road, probably 12 feet across, lined on each side by houses. It was just beautiful, and it smelled like cows, which made me feel right at home ;-) In fact, on the way back after seeing the dolphins (did I just ruin the surprise, yes, we saw lots of dolphins) we actually had a rather entertaining moment that completely reminded me of home. Cruising along on the moto when all of a sudden this cow, who is being led by a little boy, decides to become a bit frisky (it was that nice cooling off part of the evening when they tend to want to do that) and jumps and spins and kicks into the road--close enough I could easily touch him even after my moto driver swerved. Everyone was okay and I think it scared the driver much more than me. It just reminded me of my days in 4-H. </div><br /><div>These pictures below are of our journey out. First, all the foreigners (us) on our motos, then some cows and a goat coming into town, then a pony and cart (they use these quite a bit up there...I think I'd have to get one as well), then one of the houses along the road, and then the actual road. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5090059195801528946" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RqOF3st16nI/AAAAAAAAAFU/JYBTKOpE7wA/s200/100_0549.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5090059204391463554" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RqOF4Mt16oI/AAAAAAAAAFc/b0dMPf3-FeU/s200/100_0550.JPG" border="0" /></div></div></div><br /><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5090060969623022242" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RqOHe8t16qI/AAAAAAAAAFs/PwdGtNcisUI/s200/100_0556.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5090061003982760626" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RqOHg8t16rI/AAAAAAAAAF0/YbOG0AYqA3A/s200/100_0557.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5090059212981398162" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RqOF4st16pI/AAAAAAAAAFk/y59rSMTNACY/s200/100_0560.JPG" border="0" /></p><br /><br /><p>We arrived at the boat area and headed down to the flotilla. Four or five to a boat so our little group split and I did my boating with a French couple and Jens and Christian from our group. </p><br /><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5090061046932433602" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RqOHjct16sI/AAAAAAAAAF8/Z7EV_RsL6oo/s200/100_0562.JPG" border="0" /></p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5090061076997204690" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RqOHlMt16tI/AAAAAAAAAGE/xg1OecubxVw/s200/100_0566.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5090061107061975778" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RqOHm8t16uI/AAAAAAAAAGM/HyuryBbet1I/s200/100_0791.JPG" border="0" /></p><br /><p>It was just a short little trip out to the main feeding grounds of the dolphins. Once we were there the driver cut the engine and tied up to some twigs and there we sat, listening to the river and the frequent exhale of breath and water as the dolphins surfaced. Absolutely relaxing and soul replenishing. The dolphins usually surfaced in groups of two or three--it was extremely tricky to get a picture of them although I did my best for all of you. They came up quite close to the boat though and we were able to see them fairly clearly. Beautiful animals that look more like a small whale with their rounded heads than the bottlenose dolphin. According to the tickets we got for the boats there are only about 100 Mekong Rivery Irrawaddy Dolphins left in the world. They feed primarily in these two deep-water pools, usually around 25 at a time can be found at one of those areas. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5090065973259922162" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RqOMCMt16vI/AAAAAAAAAGU/dr1kV6hQqjo/s200/100_0790.JPG" border="0" /></p></div><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5090065986144824082" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RqOMC8t16xI/AAAAAAAAAGk/yjPGT6pwImw/s200/100_0789.JPG" border="0" /></p><p></p><br /><p>We stayed out with the dolphins for around two hours, and then headed in right as the sun was beginning to get a bit lower. One of our group had the brilliant idea of heading up to Wat Sampot, at the top of the hill seen in the first of the pictures below to watch the sun set. So we took our motos up to the wat. The picture of the tall statute is at the base of the first set of stairs to the top. There were three similar sets of steps, and I quickly realized how out of shape I've gotten sitting at the office! Also at the base, our moto drivers set up a card game while they waited for us, and I found myself a horse. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5090065981849856770" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RqOMCst16wI/AAAAAAAAAGc/m1gBBB_-h9c/s200/100_0787.JPG" border="0" /></p><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5090065994734758690" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RqOMDct16yI/AAAAAAAAAGs/Uhc1B4Vkn6I/s200/100_0797.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5090066003324693298" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RqOMD8t16zI/AAAAAAAAAG0/gpLX2lZwXo8/s200/100_0799.JPG" border="0" /></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5090068606074874706" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RqOObct161I/AAAAAAAAAHE/vxSYUwosZgs/s200/100_0801.JPG" border="0" /><br /><p>The hike up was well worth it, as once we got to the top we had incredible views all around of the fields and Mekong. The sun set up there was rather nice as well. We went down while we still had a little light and watched the end of the sunset as we went back on our motos along the river. We ended our evening with some dinner at a nice little restaurant on the river and then sat on the rooftop terrace of our hotel. </p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5090068593189972802" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RqOOast160I/AAAAAAAAAG8/lqAztQ6qmek/s200/100_0815.JPG" border="0" /></p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5090068623254743922" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RqOOcct163I/AAAAAAAAAHU/tWrg5P_HBsw/s200/100_0816.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5090068614664809314" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RqOOb8t162I/AAAAAAAAAHM/pKf8-YE_vhM/s200/100_0813.JPG" border="0" /></p><p>This morning we got up, had a bit of a look around the town, and then headed home on the bus again. The last picture here is of a field with what we think is a hay pile (just for Cece, reminded me of the stacks) and some cows--much like the one that tried to kill us. So, overall it was a terrific getaway, and I think I might get myself a cart and pony, a kayak in which I can commune with the dolphins, and move on up to Kratie. Or I'll just come home to Idaho :-) <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5090068631844678530" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RqOOc8t164I/AAAAAAAAAHc/Zth6M_UfhGU/s200/100_0825.JPG" border="0" /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1880578205132384722.post-27531684966570935212007-07-17T19:06:00.000-07:002007-07-17T19:32:37.580-07:00Morning commuteI took these photos last Friday of my morning commute, it's just taken me a little while to<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rp13cvhw6TI/AAAAAAAAAEk/JXcIgowSk7I/s1600-h/100_0531.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rp13cvhw6TI/AAAAAAAAAEk/JXcIgowSk7I/s200/100_0531.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5088354489676654898" border="0" /></a> get them up here. Things have been busy around here lately. Friday we met with two men from the Asian Development Bank who have been instrumental in the creation of the draft Law on Education. I'll discuss this with anyone interested after I return home, as not all of the things I have to say are terribly complementary and it wouldn't be nice to post them online. I will say that the Cambodian representative was extremely competent and was able to clearly articulate the pros and cons of compulsory education (which I'd already researched and included in my memo, so nothing new there), and he finally agreed that if we could find a way to get our suggested changes to the Commission of the National Assembly that would be looking at the draft, ADB would support having a debate about the issue.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rp13cPhw6SI/AAAAAAAAAEc/sPtA9wwPliY/s1600-h/100_0512.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rp13cPhw6SI/AAAAAAAAAEc/sPtA9wwPliY/s200/100_0512.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5088354481086720290" border="0" /></a><br />Yesterday I attended a workshop on Education for Sustainable Development at the Senate. It was primarily for Senate and National Assembly members and was hosted by UNESCO. Kind of interesting, but much less about education than it was about sustainable development. The UNESCO reps spoke very broadly about what the goals of education for sustainable development are, and then there were speakers from the Ministry of the Environment and some Senate members. The highlight was really the coffee/tea breaks. One productive thing did come out of the<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rp13b_hw6RI/AAAAAAAAAEU/ptRA2r3iSTM/s1600-h/100_0511.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rp13b_hw6RI/AAAAAAAAAEU/ptRA2r3iSTM/s200/100_0511.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5088354476791752978" border="0" /></a> workshop; we spoke to the head of some organization here (can't tell what Doris is calling it, will have to have her spell it out for me) and he was very interested in the issue and agreed to give our memo (Doris condensed it, but yep, my work) to the leaders of each of the political parties and then organize this meeting tomorrow with people from the Ministry of Ed., and all key players in the issue, to see if we can get a debate going about compulsory education. It's pretty exciting. To tell you the truth, I understand the government's argument (according to the ADB guy) that they shouldn't put something into a law that there's no way they can enforce. But on the other hand, compulsory education is mentioned as a goal in every other Cambodian plan and document on education, so not putting it in the law would be a step back. Okay, enough<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rp13dPhw6VI/AAAAAAAAAE0/qvuy-eU9pPE/s1600-h/100_0541.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rp13dPhw6VI/AAAAAAAAAE0/qvuy-eU9pPE/s200/100_0541.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5088354498266589522" border="0" /></a> about all that.<br />Regarding the pictures....most of obviously of the drive to work. The tower looking deal with the clock in front is Wat Phnom, a Buddhist temple. There's an elephant there, as well as monkeys, that I get to see on my way to work every morning. Then a picture of my driver (he lives near me I think). He's a cool guy, man of few words. He speaks Khmer to me and I speak English and somehow we get things worked out. Then we've got some monks walking down the street (extremely common). And then there's Doris, Savady, Vanny, and me (the legal team) in front of the Ministry of Women's Affairs sign.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rp13c_hw6UI/AAAAAAAAAEs/iB73HJwWbY4/s1600-h/100_0537.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rp13c_hw6UI/AAAAAAAAAEs/iB73HJwWbY4/s200/100_0537.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5088354493971622210" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rp132fhw6WI/AAAAAAAAAE8/yG3YJ5H0JoQ/s1600-h/100_0543.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rp132fhw6WI/AAAAAAAAAE8/yG3YJ5H0JoQ/s200/100_0543.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5088354932058286434" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1880578205132384722.post-74024329647156466882007-07-11T20:15:00.000-07:002007-07-11T20:36:57.174-07:00What I've been up to....This week has been a fairly slow, uneventful one. Probably a good thing because I've become an insomniac for some reason. Either I can't get to sleep until 2 or 3, or if I do, I wake up at 2 or 3 ready to go. So I've been just kind of dragging though my days. Maybe it's some sort of really, really delayed jet lag?<br />I have been working pretty hard all week though with the current work project being this draft education law. All week I've been voraciously reading everything I can get my hands onto about education in Cambodia, and today I'll be typing up a little report on why the new law needs to have a compulsory education requirement. To tell you the truth, after all of my research I've come to the conclusion that while such a requirement is needed, it is also unrealistic to expect the country to meet it. When parents simply cannot afford to send their children to school because 1) they are hit with high costs for uniforms, books, and fees to teachers (who are incredibly underpaid to the tune of around $20/mo. in many cases and for the most part completely unqualified) and 2) cannot afford the opportunity costs of sending children to school who could be working, especially girls who have numerous domestic duties if nothing else. On the costs, for example, it is estimated that private expenditure for having one child in primary school represents 79% of the per capita non-food expenses of the poorest 20% of the population. So now what if you have two children? Choices have to be made, and girls are kept at home. Also, the per capita cost of secondary education is between two and seven times greater than the non-food consumption expenditure of the poorest 20%. So you can see why only 2% of the students in the upper secondary come from the poorest 20%.<br />This is just one of the obstacles standing in the way. Others include: 1) distance to schools (parents are less likely to want to send girls longer distances as well because of the perceived danger), 2) lack of toilets (seems like a small thing but with 65% of primary schools not having a toilet when girls hit puberty and toilets are shared or non-existent modesty becomes an issue), and 3) pupil-teacher ratios of over 50. So clearly, until some of these obstacles are at least lessened, a compulsory education requirement is not going to accomplish much.<br />However, I would still argue that it is necessary to put it into the law because it demonstrates the commitment of the government to making education a priority in the country. In addition, it is required by international human rights standards. Also, the Cambodian Constitution has a provision stating that "the State shall provide primary and secondary education to all citizens in publi schools. The citizens shall receive education for at least 9 years." This does not create a compulsory system (although some have interpreted it that way), but shows <span style="font-style: italic;">some</span> level of commitment that should be solidified in the education law.<br />So that's what I've been up to. Next Tuesday is a public hearing in the Senate that they're calling "Education for Sustainable Development." Between now and then Doris is trying to set up meetings for us with UNICEF (UN Children's Fund), UNESCO (UN's Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization), UNIAP (UN Inter-Agency Program) and ADB (Asian Development Bank) so that we can develop a united front to show at this meeting in trying to get this law amended. The law is currently before the National Assembly, and it becomes very difficult to get a law changed at this stage, as I've discussed previously. So it's pretty exciting and interesting, and that said...I guess I should get back to my work so I'm prepared with something for these meetings. Wish us luck!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1880578205132384722.post-15351735804197550712007-07-06T00:29:00.000-07:002007-07-08T19:03:25.869-07:00Friday afternoon here in the office<span style="font-family: georgia;">I've been trying to be productive, but it's a little crazy in here today. I think we have a bit of a "while the cat's away" situation going on. Suzanne is the boss here, and it's her house and cat I'm "sitting." All week there's been quite a bit of non-work going on around here. Pizza parties, random strangers hanging out, talking and laughing. Okay, I'm really just trying to justify why I'm blogging instead of working right now.</span><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">This week has been filled with meeting new people. Tuesday I met with the German legal advisor to the Senate, and he was great. He is a law professor in Germany, primarily in Constitutional Law. We spoke about what the role of the Senate is here in Cambodia (really quite limited as they get laws after the National Assembly and we've already seen how much the National Assembly does) and what his job is here, which seems to consist of quite a bit of much needed capacity building. I'm going to be reading over some articles for him that he's writing for this Encyclopedia of Public International Law that is being put together. Professor Miller is also contributing to this, seems to be a worldwide effort. </span><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">Wednesday morning I had a top secret meeting that I can't talk about, but I just want you all to know I'm attending top secret meetings :-) We were somewhere we weren't supposed to be, talking to people about things we're not supposed to be involved in. Okay, I guess it's really not too top secret, maybe just semi-secret. I got to contribute some of my research and ideas on a law to a UN agency and then they're going to put together some pressure groups to try to get some changes to the law implemented. The Ministry just can't be seen to be behind the changes.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: georgia;">Then Wednesday afternoon I met with someone from the International Organization on Migration to discuss issues relating to human trafficking and sexual exploitation in </span><st1:country-region style="font-family: georgia;"><st1:place>Cambodia</st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: georgia;">. It was really interesting, as much for the information on that as for the general information about working in development and working in </span><st1:country-region style="font-family: georgia;"><st1:place>Cambodia</st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: georgia;">. The man has been in </span><st1:country-region style="font-family: georgia;"><st1:place>Cambodia</st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: georgia;"> for something like 10 years (also knew a lot of the people from </span><st1:city style="font-family: georgia;"><st1:place>Moscow</st1:place></st1:City><span style="font-family: georgia;"> who've worked over here) and had a lot to say about going into development work. </span> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">Thursday I had lunch with the legal specialist from the World Bank. We talked more about broad concepts of how to best go about development and legal reform. Instead of trying to change the whole system to fit to western ideals of "best practice" he thinks we should work with what is the current situation in <st1:country-region><st1:place>Cambodia</st1:place></st1:country-region> and find ways to just make little changes to make it more equitable. Maybe not indicative of World Bank's approach, but interesting. He's worked a lot on labor reform, land issues, and umm, some third issue I can't remember. So we talked a little about the land issues and how people tend to want to use conciliation methods instead of the courts to deal with conflicts.<br />Today I had lunch with someone from GTZ who works on land management issues and has been in country for 9 years. He has been very involved in that conciliation system here and we talked about that some. Pretty much an Alternative Dispute Resolution approach that utilizes the local officials instead of the courts. He also shared information on the frustrations associated with working in a place like this, not the least of which is the foreigners who are all out for their own gain.<br />This is something I've noticed here as well. I was expecting to meet more people who were here because they want to make a difference, change the world, etc. Maybe they started out that way, I don't know, but what I see is that for many people here these are just jobs like any other. Cooperation with other agencies in an attempt to create positive change is often sacrificed for personal gain. And maybe everyone does want to make a difference but they think everyone else is out for personal gain and so they get frustrated and a little less likely to cooperate. Chicken and egg problem. Or it could just be all the different ideas about the best approach to a problem coming into conflict and people wanting their way to win. I'm really not sure though. It does seem to take a different sort of personality to make it here for a long period of time though, that seems clear. <br />Anyhow, that's been my week. Oh, and I got a Thai massage on the 4th as my little Independence Day celebration. This weekend I'm just going to stick around the house and read law review articles (people trying to get onto law review have submitted papers that we have to grade and rank to determine who gets invitations to join) and get some other errand type things done. Hope everyone is doing well. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1880578205132384722.post-33333661962179305662007-07-01T19:22:00.001-07:002007-07-01T19:29:49.651-07:00A day at the spaYesterday I took a day away from the hustle and bustle of Phnom Penh (again) and went to the lovely Raffles Hotel Le Royal-a $260-2000 a night hotel that is absolutely amazing. The speaker at the workshop I went to last Thursday is a professor at Eastern Kentucky University, and she was staying at this hotel and invited me to come swimming. So I spent the day laying by the pool (FINALLY got a little bit of sun) and then hanging out in the spa. Then we had some beers in the Elephant Bar. It was really nice to spend a little oasis time after constantly being around traffic, yelling people, and dirt. <br />I also moved in to my new house yesterday. I will be there until Suzanne comes back on the 20th, and I think it will be really great. Really nice rooms, an exercise bike, huge garden area with hammocks, maid to do my laundry--everything a girl needs. And I found out yesterday that the Irish Pub I'd been staying at is apparently some sort of mercenary hang out. Figures I'd be attracted to a place like that. There were always all these very sketchy looking middle aged men sitting around at the bar, guess that kind of explains that. Not sure what Irish mercenaries do in Cambodia, but probably better I don't know. <br />Later today I'm going to go pick up the pants I had made. For $5 you can have pants made, and then I got a whole suit for $30. Hopefully the clothes will all turn out nice, but they should because I gave them my favorite suit and favorite pants to use as models. Okay, time to get back to work.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1880578205132384722.post-4225914507422830892007-06-30T02:41:00.000-07:002007-07-09T23:46:41.196-07:00Lions and tigers and bears!Actually, I'm afraid I missed the lion. Didn't see it at all. But in its place were elephants, monkeys, deer, birds...yep, I finally made it to the wildlife refuge.<br /><div><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RoYpQP2XJTI/AAAAAAAAAD8/rpuVOnWr4cw/s1600-h/100_0485.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081794588643370290" style="" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RoYpQP2XJTI/AAAAAAAAAD8/rpuVOnWr4cw/s200/100_0485.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RoYpQf2XJUI/AAAAAAAAAEE/FslIRBgvHQw/s1600-h/100_0499.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081794592938337602" style="" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RoYpQf2XJUI/AAAAAAAAAEE/FslIRBgvHQw/s200/100_0499.JPG" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RoYpPP2XJRI/AAAAAAAAADs/8YlV3IbMsyM/s1600-h/100_0463.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081794571463501074" style="" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RoYpPP2XJRI/AAAAAAAAADs/8YlV3IbMsyM/s200/100_0463.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RoYq9P2XJVI/AAAAAAAAAEM/D3fFl15DB30/s1600-h/100_0488.JPG"></a><br /><br />The things I do to bring you people some pictures, it's insane. Caught the bus this morning with no problem and it dropped us (thankfully a French couple was also making the journey) probably 4 or 5 miles from the place. There were no tuk-tuks like Lonely Planet said. Just a couple moto drivers who spoke no English other than to say $6 each. Yeah, right. We started walking and they dropped it to $4 for all of three of us. They dropped us at the gates and then it was still quite a hike in, but we got some good quality exercise. It was also GREAT to get out of the city.<br /></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RoYnNP2XJGI/AAAAAAAAACU/K_P3IYm7fYc/s1600-h/100_0368.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081792338080506978" style="" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RoYnNP2XJGI/AAAAAAAAACU/K_P3IYm7fYc/s200/100_0368.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RoYnNf2XJHI/AAAAAAAAACc/BMllS9IeajA/s1600-h/100_0373.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081792342375474290" style="" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RoYnNf2XJHI/AAAAAAAAACc/BMllS9IeajA/s200/100_0373.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RoYnOf2XJKI/AAAAAAAAAC0/33n-K-SYXPw/s1600-h/100_0426.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081792359555343522" style="" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RoYnOf2XJKI/AAAAAAAAAC0/33n-K-SYXPw/s200/100_0426.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div> </div><div></div><div>And the sanctuary itself was pretty cool. Once again, these are animals that have primarily been rescued from traffickers and poachers. As you can see from the pictures, there were a ton of different animals there. I've even left off many pics of smaller creatures. And most of the animals were within touching distance, or, as with the deer, you can actually wander through their pens. Even the tiger was within touching distance if you tried hard. I read the signs to learn about the harms that befall these animals in the wild, but I'm afraid my memory of the names of the creatures is quite lacking. And I tried to put labels with the pictures, but my blogging abilities are equally lacking I'm afraid. Sorry. </div><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RoYpPv2XJSI/AAAAAAAAAD0/CNDPD_f4RTY/s1600-h/100_0470.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081794580053435682" style="" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RoYpPv2XJSI/AAAAAAAAAD0/CNDPD_f4RTY/s200/100_0470.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RoYoQv2XJLI/AAAAAAAAAC8/jYtbFQaaZkU/s1600-h/100_0435.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081793497721676978" style="" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RoYoQv2XJLI/AAAAAAAAAC8/jYtbFQaaZkU/s200/100_0435.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RoYoQ_2XJMI/AAAAAAAAADE/H7TjkYoPrUg/s1600-h/100_0441.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081793502016644290" style="" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RoYoQ_2XJMI/AAAAAAAAADE/H7TjkYoPrUg/s200/100_0441.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div>As we were leaving though it started POURING rain and we got thoroughly soaked, especially on the moto ride back to the road. Then we stood there in the rain for about 45 minutes waiting for the bus to come, but it all worked out just fine and I'm back safe and sound. Tomorrow I'm moving into another house, a woman from the GTZ office will be gone for 2 1/2 weeks and asked me to housesit and feed her cat. I'm kind of excited about having a kitty around, not quite Chey and Maggie, but something anyhow. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RoYpOf2XJQI/AAAAAAAAADk/mSE8T0OCzRk/s1600-h/100_0451.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081794558578599170" style="" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RoYpOf2XJQI/AAAAAAAAADk/mSE8T0OCzRk/s200/100_0451.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RoYoR_2XJOI/AAAAAAAAADU/PJdHpejB8MA/s1600-h/100_0449.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081793519196513506" style="" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RoYoR_2XJOI/AAAAAAAAADU/PJdHpejB8MA/s200/100_0449.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RoYnOP2XJJI/AAAAAAAAACs/kz0KDAHrwKA/s1600-h/100_0394.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081792355260376210" style="" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RoYnOP2XJJI/AAAAAAAAACs/kz0KDAHrwKA/s200/100_0394.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RoYpPP2XJRI/AAAAAAAAADs/8YlV3IbMsyM/s1600-h/100_0463.JPG"></a></div><div> </div><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RoYoSv2XJPI/AAAAAAAAADc/wVfGner0hRU/s1600-h/100_0468.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081793532081415410" style="" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RoYoSv2XJPI/AAAAAAAAADc/wVfGner0hRU/s200/100_0468.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RoYoRf2XJNI/AAAAAAAAADM/a9mpslbCDRU/s1600-h/100_0448.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081793510606578898" style="" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RoYoRf2XJNI/AAAAAAAAADM/a9mpslbCDRU/s200/100_0448.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RoYnNv2XJII/AAAAAAAAACk/GQecME-SsRk/s1600-h/100_0393.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081792346670441602" style="" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RoYnNv2XJII/AAAAAAAAACk/GQecME-SsRk/s200/100_0393.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1880578205132384722.post-79097584568655575092007-06-29T02:59:00.000-07:002007-06-30T02:40:42.772-07:00Theater of AbsurdityThis is the term my boss frequently uses when referring to things in Cambodia, and I found it very appropriate. Not only for here; I think it could be equally applicable to several events that have occurred throughout law school as well, nights at the Garden in particular. But it is particularly applicable to the way in which the legal system works here. It is understandable that things cannot simply be plopped down by international donors and expected to work. It has taken "developed" countries decades to do the changing of mind sets, education of the population, etc. that will be needed here. When your entire education system (including all of the educated) was wiped out just 30 years ago, it takes some time to rebuild. But it leaves you currently with extremely uneducated persons, even those who have completed their law degree.<br /><br />For example, they have been trying to organize a legal team for the Ministry of Women's Affairs for months. A woman named Savady is the head of it, and there were two girls who worked for the team. And then Doris is kind of the advisor of this team, but of course in practice she is the one working directly with the Minister. These two girls, who both have their law degrees, would rather cut and paste and stuff envelopes for the GTZ project. So they refuse to do any legal work, and get salaries (very small ones though) from both the legal team (Ministry) and GTZ. So the Minister has recently hired two new girls to work on this legal team with Savady and secured a room on the third floor for them to work in (we're currently on the first floor). Savady has decided that it is a violation of her human dignity to have to walk up three flights of stairs and refuses to work up there with the rest of the legal team. She has said that she will simply not come to work if that's where she has to work.<br /><br />Now, one might logically say, that's fine, don't come to work. We'll find someone else to take your job who wants it. Problem: she's CPP (ruling party) and our Minister is FUNCINPEC (opposition party); therefore, if she isn't accomodated she can cause the Minister even bigger problems on bigger issues, effectively blocking her from being able to accomplish anything. So she stays, and nothing gets done with the legal team. This is just one example of the ways in which politics and lack of intelligence get mixed in with everything here.<br /><br />Yesterday I visited the new National Assembly building, it's absolutely amazing. There's some hope (on my part if nothing else) that this new building with make the Parliamentarians feel like they have some power. The system is set up pretty well with a PM, elected parliament, senate elected by commune councils that are elected by the people. But in practice the PM, Hun Sen, pretty much rules everything. A Vietnamese leader who was recently visiting the country stated that it is important for Hun Sen to drop down because changes in leadership are necessary. This is coming from a Vietnamese leader! And not surprisingly, Hun Sen had a cold while that guy was here and wasn't able to visit with him. It's an interesting dynamic all around. And the story with the new National Assembly building is that the original bid was put in by a friend of the CPP (maybe a friend of Hun Sen's). Sam Rainsy, who is the leader of an opposition party and a parlimentarian got someone to put in another bid that was $20 million less. That contractor "disappeared" and his company withdrew it's bid. Kind of like Halliburton, only people play with AK-47s over here. <br />Just a few examples of things that occur in the theater of absurdity.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1880578205132384722.post-17542908802370277142007-06-22T21:28:00.000-07:002007-06-22T21:54:24.468-07:00I have failed in my mission to provide an entertaining entryHello all. Things have been a little sparce around here lately, what with me not doing too much worthy of reporting. Yesterday I decided it was high time I do something more newsworthy, so I pulled out my Lonely Planet and discovered that there is a wildlife sanctuary about 35 miles south of here. It is sponsored in part by WildAid, an organization I once read about and fell in love with immediately as they are kind of a Greenpeace meets CIA operation. Very proactive in going out and stopping traffickers and poachers in this area. Anyhow, this sanctuary is animals who have been saved from such traffickers and poachers, and while I guess it's more like a zoo it's quite nice to see (according to LP). This sounded like the perfect place to get some pictures that would bring some life back into this blog. Not to mention that I'm more than ready to have some new scenery. <br />So it seems you can take a moto there, but the thought of 30 miles with a moto-dop was not terribly appealing. The LP recommended catching a bus to Takeo and then just getting the driver to drop you off there. So I got up ready to go this morning (after a late night at a party, more to follow) and headed down to the Central Market--the rumored home of buses. I asked a few people where the buses were, very proud that I had learned the word for bus, and everytime the crowd of 10 or so aggressive men who had gathered around would say "no buses" or "no buses to Takeo" or "only by taxi (moto, van, tuk tuk, take your pick here depending upon what the guy drove)." This went on at numerous places as I walked all around the outside of the Central Market, which is a great big dome building housing zillions of vendors selling anything and everything. I went up a few streets, finding more people who just insisted no buses to Takeo. I found one taxi driver who spoke decent english who stated that, while there was a bus to Takeo, it would not let me off at the sanctuary. But he would, of course, be happy to take me for $30. Growing angrier by the minute at all the people around me I decided perhaps it would be best to retreat and just go hire a moto from the Okay Guesthouse to take me there (I'd checked into this and it would just be $10). So I get a motodop to take me home and we end up on some random street, go a few blocks and low and behold, buses. And as we drive by, the Takeo bus pulled out in front of us. Had I been industrious I would have hopped off and ran after the bus, but I was a bit in shock. To top it all off, my motodop guy went completely the wrong direction and it took me 30 minutes to go the 5 minutes to my house. I even gave him names of all the things around my house in Khmer and he seemed to understand. But that is a specialty of some Cambodians (and Thais)...don't want to lose face by admitting they don't know something and before you know it you're in some new province. Then we got in a fight over how much money he should get because he used so much gas. Grrrr. So, my deepest apologies, but there are to be no tiger pictures this week. <br />I am instead going to spend my day packing up stuff and shopping (more browsing) at one of the big markets. Tomorrow I'm moving to a guesthouse/restaurant called Rory's Pub. Always had a dream of living in an Irish Pub some day. <br />Last night I met up with Tim and Agnieszka, the Aussie couple I met at the World Bank workshop. They were heading to a house party of some friends of theirs and invited me along. We had a few beers at their place (I kind of nursed one, still not 100% healthy), and then headed out to the house shared by 4 or 5 volunteers. I'm pretty sure that by the end of the night every volunteer in Phnom Penh, and nearby provinces, under the age of 30 who was out last night passed through that party. It was insanely packed. Finally met some of the U of Mich. folks, but only one of the law students. I ended up hanging out with these three med students from Toronto who are working at the Children's Surgical Center. They're going to be my new neighbors at Rory's, have an apartment right next door, so hopefully I'll be seeing more of them. Really interesting group of people there last night, and it was great to get to mix and mingle a bit. Well, I'm off to do my retailing, and I promise that next weekend I will try to do something that will shock and amaze, with good pictures.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1880578205132384722.post-49089649185683539402007-06-20T06:26:00.000-07:002007-06-20T06:40:36.892-07:00Jungle fever<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rnktx2S6ZGI/AAAAAAAAAB8/2fc2OSxx9Lw/s1600-h/100_0358.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5078140389248623714" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rnktx2S6ZGI/AAAAAAAAAB8/2fc2OSxx9Lw/s200/100_0358.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />I haven't had much to report for the last few days because I haven't left my bed, let alone the house, much. But before I came down with this lovely fever, which seems to have finally subsided, I did do a little walking tour on Saturday. The pictures are of Independence Monument and the garden at the National Museum. I also visited the Royal Palace, but they charge you to take a camera in there and I was feeling cheap. The other monument I took a picture of (last picture) is the Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Monument.<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5078140397838558322" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RnktyWS6ZHI/AAAAAAAAACE/U-8gV7Wb2W4/s200/100_0366.JPG" border="0" /><br /><div>Last night I went to a dinner at the home of a law professor from the University of Michigan. I was hoping he could put me in touch with some of the law students who are here this summer, but he had a hard time remembering where they were working, let alone there names. So that ended up being a bit of a dead end. But I did have frog and some soup with baby shrimp in it. Still wasn't feeling too great so I didn't eat much, but the frog was actually pretty decent. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5078140406428492930" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/Rnkty2S6ZII/AAAAAAAAACM/V9YmxD9G_Vc/s200/100_0362.JPG" border="0" /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1880578205132384722.post-49493836986044908022007-06-15T04:47:00.000-07:002007-06-15T05:05:13.030-07:00Raining cats and bullets?I think I have survived my first monsoon rain here. Well, it's still raining and thundering and lightening, but I've at least made it safely back to the guesthouse. <br />I spent the day at the office working on the first part of the introduction to the Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence. Doris is putting this together and currently has about 60 pages or so I think. Her English is quite rough so I'm trying to re-write it and then I'm working on incorporating the new civil and penal codes throughout, as well as adding concrete stats from reports and such to back up the information on incidences of dv, effects of dv, how the law works within the cultural framework here, etc. It's all pretty interesting. <br />Then about 4:00 the storm started and it went completely black outside. It was thundering so hard that it was setting off car alarms all around the building and the power kept cutting in and out (surprised actually that it didn't go out completely). And raining like crazy. If you haven't experienced a monsoon rain just picture the worst rain you've seen and add a few gallons of water a minute. Then we started hearing what were clearly gunshots. Apparently, sometimes when big storms come Cambodians feel it is a good idea to fire their guns into the air to ward of the storm. Yeah, works like a charm. So I apparently need to get a Kevlar rainjacket. I don't think it happens too often as Doris had not yet heard of this and she's been here two years. <br />So we waited until about 5:45 foolishly hoping it might pass but then had to make a go for it. There was only one moto out front so we decided to share it. Imagine three people crammed onto a small motorcycle in the middle of a huge rain storm; I was in the back and it was quite slippery with nothing holding me on. So we get going and the road in front of the Ministry is completely flooded, meaning that as faster cars and motos go by we are literally covered from head to two in a wall of water. It was really kind of fun actually. I had on a little plastic poncho so just my legs got soaked. Then our moto broke down and we stood there chatting and laughing, getting continuously splashed while our good driver got it going again. Last part of the story--the best way to get back to my little home is on a road that runs along the river. This was apparently one of the few non-flooded roads as it was jam packed. So there we were, crammed on this moto, constantly being run into and running into others. Miraculously made it unharmed, had my knees banged against cars a few times, but whatever. Probably good that the street was so crowded cars couldn't move very quickly. So that was my exciting first good storm. It's 7:00 now and still going fairly strongly, about at the level of a good thunder and lightening storm back home.<br />Tomorrow morning I'll move out of the guesthouse and into Doris'. Not looking forward to repacking all my worldly possessions but it will be worth it. Monday is a holiday so I should be going down to the beach but I'll miss all the buses out in the morning because of changing locales. I'm going to hang out with some U of Michigan folks though, and maybe my new Australian friends if they decided to stay in town. Was going to go out tonight to see a little of the local hotspots but the weather is keeping us all in.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1880578205132384722.post-83688181930881241282007-06-14T04:45:00.000-07:002007-06-14T23:04:33.032-07:00Kompong Thom and phone<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RnEu2WS6ZFI/AAAAAAAAAB0/gb-Tvqpt5tM/s1600-h/100_0335.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5075889766255977554" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left;" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RnEu2WS6ZFI/AAAAAAAAAB0/gb-Tvqpt5tM/s200/100_0335.JPG" border="0" /></a> I've gotten a cell phone now so if any of you have a calling card you've just been itching to use...now would be a great time to break it out. I've yet to figure out how much it costs me; I know calls I receive from here are free so my foolishly optimistic little fingers are crossed that it's the same for international calls. I'm just about positive however (at least with Verizon) that it's just .25 to text me, and .10 to receive a text from me. So my number is 011-855-12-971-203. Dial away, my friends (wow, can't even use that now without cursing John McCain, how very sad). Not saying a phone call from you will lock in a souvenir, but it will certainly increase your odds ;-) Send money and I'll guarantee at least a keychain. Oh, and I'm 14 hours ahead of PST, so please keep that in mind...this gift thing works the other way as well. (Not sure the texting works since I didn't get the one Stacie says she sent).<br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RnEu1mS6ZDI/AAAAAAAAABk/hVlJYMHYj-c/s1600-h/100_0338.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5075889753371075634" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left;" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RnEu1mS6ZDI/AAAAAAAAABk/hVlJYMHYj-c/s200/100_0338.JPG" border="0" /></a>Anyhow, I've just returned to Phnom Penh from the provincial town of Kompong Thom (which is also the name of the province, very confusing). It's pretty much smackdab in the middle of the country. I went with members of GTZ for a workshop on domestic violence. The primary purpose of the workshop was to gather district officials, NGOs, provincial government, police officers, and line ministerial people so they can put together a service directory. So that, for example, when the governor of the province has someone come to him with a domestic violence situation he can look in this directory to know who to call. But since they had them all gathered it was also a good time to do a little training on what domestic violence consists of, the stages of it, and what services can be offered at all levels. There were a little under 100 people there and they all participated quite a bit. </div><br /><div>On a positive note, everyone was very interested in using the legal remedies to address the problem. The new domestic violence law has been very well publicized and officials seem almost eager to use it. GTZ is focusing more on the social side of things though, so it was a little troubling for them <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RnEu1WS6ZCI/AAAAAAAAABc/B-GavqaskFQ/s1600-h/100_0347.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5075889749076108322" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left;" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RnEu1WS6ZCI/AAAAAAAAABc/B-GavqaskFQ/s200/100_0347.JPG" border="0" /></a>not to have people responding to the question of what can we do for the victim at each of these stages with examples of social services. It's great that they're recognizing that the perpetrator should be punished, this represents a positive change, but now they need to start thinking about helping the victim as well. After the participants were redirected they did start to throw out service ideas that are offered and could be offered, however, such as counseling, medical assistance, etc. Please note this whole thing was in Khmer so I was relying on members of GTZ to translate for me when they could. So I pretty much just got the gist of it. But it was interesting to see how the Ministry of Women's Affairs has provincial and district departments (the provincial department for Kompong Thom was in charge of this), and how things work throughout the countryside. The pictures here are from Kompong Thom and the workshop. The billboard is produced by GTZ.</div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RnEu2GS6ZEI/AAAAAAAAABs/1iwAO4lLHSM/s1600-h/100_0337.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5075889761961010242" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left;" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RnEu2GS6ZEI/AAAAAAAAABs/1iwAO4lLHSM/s200/100_0337.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Tomorrow back to the office, and meeting with a poverty specialist from the World Bank at some point. This weekend I'm moving out of my favorite little guesthouse and into Doris' house for the week since she'll be gone and it's free. Yep, have my own house complete with security, cook, cleaner, laundry, driver. It's a rough life I lead. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1880578205132384722.post-52333707140938079162007-06-12T04:17:00.000-07:002007-06-12T04:40:40.841-07:00The legal stuff (skip to next post if not interested)I just wanted to make some points about the legal system, and the World Bank workshop this morning that might not be too interesting, but I want to have down in text anyhow. First off...the things I learned on my first day. For those who are unaware, much of Cambodia's law has come from UNTAC (United Nations Transitional Authority for Cambodia). So they are just now going through a huge period of reform/creation. When I say I sat and read the civil and penal codes for the country I'm referring to drafts created by the Japanese and French respectively. The Japanese have created a criminal procedure code as well as civil procedure and civil code (haven't looked at these last two yet). They are incorporating the current system in Cambodia as well as making changes, but just trying to put something concrete down so that there is a system to actually follow. I read the entire criminal procedure yesterday and it was incredible. It includes everything on how the judiciary, prosecutors, judicial police, etc. are to operate. Pretty much the entire legal system. The French have produced the penal code setting out more specific definitions of crimes, etc. They very kindly have only given it out in Khmer and French, but Vanny has been working on a translation so I've read what he's done of that. I'll be looking at these in conjunction with the law on domestic violence as it does not provide for penal remedies, just civil in the form of a temporary protective order and some sort of administrative remedy that I'm not too sure about yet. It was extremly poorly drafted it seems (pre-Doris) and is very rudimentary. So hopefully it can be combined with the draft penal and civil codes to produce something that will work.<br />Underlying all of this, of course, is that the judiciary is corrupt. Today, at the World Bank workshop, the WB's country manager stated that only 18% of Cambodians believe judges to be trustworthy. And similarly only 29% believe police to be trustworthy. Makes putting together a legal system rather difficult. Regardless, the draft codes are currently in the National Assembly and Senate and are likely to be approved soon. I forgot my little flow chart on how something becomes law here, and it's interesting enough to deserve a thorough explanation, so I'll do that next time...but I can sum it up by saying separation of powers doesn't exist. Essentially once Hun Sen says go, everyone goes. <br />Speaking of, he did an interesting thing at the World Bank workshop today that deserves some explaining. Yesterday another thing I read was a recent report from the UN Special Representative Yash Ghai who is really at odds with Hun Sen. But one thing he was very concerned with is this granting of land concessions. Apparently about 70-80% of land is state-owned and the government as part of its economic plan has been granting land concessions to businesses it theoretically believes will improve the economy. But Yash Ghai reported that many of these concessions are going to family and friends of the powerful, while the poor who could benefit most from such land remain landless. Today Hun Sen announced that yesterday he rescinded five such land concessions to businesses and that land will be re-distributed. Very interesting, and I can't wait to find out what these "businesses" did. Would be really something if he truly rescinded the concessions because they were not efficiently using them. <br />More on the World Bank workshop: The basis of it was a concern with rising inequality as Cambodia sees rapid growth. Over the last three years the country has seen an average growth rate of 11.4%. But it was noted that between 1994 and 2004 the living standard for the richest 20% gad grown by 45% and that of the poorest 20% by only 8%. So World Bank was asked to do this study/report on this and discovered that most of that growth in inequality had occurred from 1993-1997, after which it leveled off. Sooo, disaster averted I suppose. So the workshop focused on decreasing the gap and development as a whole. Okay, I'm getting bit by mosquitos and apparently Dengue Fever is a real risk here, time to retreat for some repellent.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1880578205132384722.post-55752120753577063402007-06-12T03:50:00.000-07:002007-06-14T04:38:22.095-07:00Coolest job on earth<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RnEnj2S6Y-I/AAAAAAAAAA8/nHcYE-RQieY/s1600-h/100_0315.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5075881751847003106" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RnEnj2S6Y-I/AAAAAAAAAA8/nHcYE-RQieY/s200/100_0315.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div>Okay, I'm still not exactly sure what I'm going to be doing for the summer, but I think that's just how things work here. As projects and problems come up I'll just be diving in. So for those not interested in international stuff I'll sum up my last two days sans NGO and legal language. Then I'll do a separate post about all that for those who care (um, is Amanda the only one? ;-)) And for thos<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RnEmDmS6Y8I/AAAAAAAAAAs/6E8Hjq_8WeI/s1600-h/100_0318.JPG"></a>e who are just checking this for pictures of cute Australian boys (Stacie), I've been selfish and not taking pics, just keeping them all to myself ;-) Okay, I haven't really met too many people. A few at the guesthouse but they're always leaving the next day. Today, however, I met a couple from Australia who are working at the university here and I will hopefully be hanging out with them this weekend. Maybe tripping down to the beach.<br />Let's see....Sunday I just took it easy: sleeping in, a leisurely (and very hot) stroll down the riverfront, discovering the Pencil (great grocery/everything you need store). Then Monday morning Doris came to "pick me up" (consisting of showing up on a moto and me getting one to follow her). Oh, and Mom-she gave me a helmet that I wear everytime I ride the little motos around. Hotter than hell but given that I feel I've already nearly died three times probably a good idea.<br />We went to the Ministry where she introduced me to everyone. The legal department is very small, pretty much just her and a Cambodian named Vanny, but we share an office with a GTZ domestic violence project--a German organization similar to USAID. Tomorrow I will be going with them to a village where they will be doing a training workshop on Thursday. Little field trip just to see what a grassroots training program might look like. So Monday Doris gave me background on how the Cambodian system works (details below) and then I got a whole stack of reading material including all penal and civil codes (again details below) and the domestic violence law. Umm, a gecko just ran across the computer screen...that was strange. Anyhow, moving on, I spent the rest of Monday reading and learning a ton.<br />Today was where the amazing comes in. This morning we attended a "workshop"put on by the World Bank in conjunction with the Cambodian government introducing the World B<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RnEmqWS6Y9I/AAAAAAAAAA0/56swnCDGNJI/s1600-h/100_0329.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5075880764004525010" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RnEmqWS6Y9I/AAAAAAAAAA0/56swnCDGNJI/s200/100_0329.JPG" border="0" /></a>ank's report on equity and development in Cambodia. Of note from this meeting--the Prime Minister Hun Sen was the keynote speaker, preceded by the Country Director for World Bank who I was able to briefly chat with on the coffee break. The German and US ambassadors were present (only ones we recognized, and they jetted after Hun Sen's speech), as well as all sorts of just cool international development people. Then I went to lunch with Doris and a woman who is just starting work for the Asia Foundation and has been working here in the area of trafficking for the MoWA (where I work).<br />Then I went to a meeting of the Technical Working Group on Gender, presided over by the Minister of my ministry herself. Here there were to be presentations on trafficking, domestic violence, and something else. But only the gentleman presenting on trafficking showed. And it was pretty high up people who didn't show. Someone from the MoWA and someone from Ministry of Justice. There was also no AC and the power cut out 5 times. Far cry from the too-cold AC in the conference room of the Intercontinental Hotel at the World Bank deal. But it was interesting to get a little look at the "functioning"of a co-ministry working group. Pressing issues were brought up to address and the next meeting and in choosing between early July or the end of August for the next meeting, they chose August. Which means all of those issues will pro<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RnEoF2S6Y_I/AAAAAAAAABE/UK-z93geAxc/s1600-h/100_0331.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5075882335962555378" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RnEoF2S6Y_I/AAAAAAAAABE/UK-z93geAxc/s200/100_0331.JPG" border="0" /></a>bably be moot by then. But whatever.<br />So that's been my job so far. I'm setting up meetings with people from different agencies so I can explore as much as possible this summer, and it looks like I'll be working on putting together an introduction to the domestic violence law, suggesting changes for the upcoming draft laws on education and trafficking, and looking at the labor laws to see where gender can possibly be incorporated. Not sure what will come of all that, but it's a good starting point. Hope everyone is well.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1880578205132384722.post-69397003097198951632007-06-08T21:44:00.000-07:002007-06-14T04:43:56.303-07:00Wahoo...I'm here!<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RnEp12S6ZAI/AAAAAAAAABM/EJlF1Dmgwfw/s1600-h/100_0308.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5075884260107904002" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RnEp12S6ZAI/AAAAAAAAABM/EJlF1Dmgwfw/s200/100_0308.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div>And waiting for room number two to be cleaned for me. Room number one was a closet in the basement with no window, I'll take pictures before I move out. For just $2 more I get windows, room to stand up, and a shower that isn't directly over the toilet. What a deal!<br />Flights over were fairly uneventful but I met two characters in LAX that are worth some describing, mainly because we all had a long layover together there. First was Trang, lovely young Vietnamese girl who was dressed well, umm, like a hooker. Barely there shorts and knee high boots and a tank top that showed off her hot pink bra. As I was sitting on my luggage waiting to check-in (ticket counter didn't open until 9:00 and I got there at 6:00) when she sauntered my way and decided we should be friends. She was a very nice girl however, and it was fun just to watch everyone stare at her as they walked by. Not much else to do when you've forgotten your Ipod (stupid me). But it was friend #2 that was really something. Sitting waiting for the flight, Randy from Illinois took the seat next to me. I then learned all about his truck driving (including a recent exposure to some sort of deadly gas that he believes he'll need a lawyer for, of course), his best dog ever that played with his coon and ran off with a new puppy (don't they all), and then, when it couldn't get any better, his mail-order Chinese wife who ran off with all his money. They'd corresponded for a year before he flew over to meet her, seemed nice, they got married, he visited a few more times before he could get her to the US, and then she ran off once she got her. Poor guy. I'd have felt more sorry for him if he wasn't flying to Manila to meet the sister and family of his buddy's Phillipino wife. Hopeless romantic. Just hope it all goes well for him. <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RnEp2GS6ZBI/AAAAAAAAABU/ymXOv79pyJI/s1600-h/100_0318.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5075884264402871314" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RnEp2GS6ZBI/AAAAAAAAABU/ymXOv79pyJI/s200/100_0318.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />Well, better go check on my new suite. Going to meet up with my boss this evening so I'll have a better idea of what work I'll be doing. Pictures and stories to come.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1880578205132384722.post-37896216507134339512007-06-04T11:54:00.000-07:002007-06-04T12:48:14.272-07:00And still in Coeur d'Alene<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RmRsOT-FlsI/AAAAAAAAAAc/lK7nP09LmXo/s1600-h/100_0286.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5072298073460676290" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RmRsOT-FlsI/AAAAAAAAAAc/lK7nP09LmXo/s200/100_0286.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div>Well, the Cambodia trip got off to a bit of a rough start, seeing as how I'm not there yet and I should be. Thursday afternoon I arrived at the airport, packed and well prepared. Got checked in and found out the flight would be a little late. No problem, had 2 1/2 hours to kill in Seattle before my flight out of there to LA. So we boarded our plane about 20 minutes late and sat there for a few minutes before the pilot announced there was something leaking and they'd have to have the mechanic check it out. 30 minutes later the mechanic arrived. Probably another 30 minutes later they decided they needed to deplane us. 3 hours later, it was apparent there was no way I could make it to Seattle in time to catch my next flight. Which then meant no way to get to LA to catch my flight out of there. And the soonest I can get a new flight from LA to Phnom Penh is this coming Thursday. A little frustrating, but on the plus side I now have a week to kick back a little, unwind from the DC/NY excitement, and do some of the North Idaho outdoor activities I love so much. </div><br /><div>Saturday I went up and gathered horses and did a trail ride at the ranch. Then I headed up to Sandpoint to hike Scotchman's Peak on Sunday. That was a great time, even though I found out how terribly o<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RmRsOz-FltI/AAAAAAAAAAk/hFxgEnGYdBU/s1600-h/100_0293.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5072298082050610898" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RmRsOz-FltI/AAAAAAAAAAk/hFxgEnGYdBU/s200/100_0293.JPG" border="0" /></a>ut of shape I am! Beautiful views all the way up, and then a friendly mountain goat at the top. Apparently Mr. Scotchman is the peak's mascot, and has discovered that people are a good source of salt. It all makes sense now--I didn't make it to Cambodia this week so that I could have the experience of being licked by a mountain goat. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1880578205132384722.post-59219889345480757142007-05-29T13:29:00.000-07:002007-05-29T13:49:37.004-07:00DC and NY<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RlyRwz-FlrI/AAAAAAAAAAU/wNHCIV2qFxI/s1600-h/100B0730.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5070087548282705586" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9FdmY2kvsQ/RlyRwz-FlrI/AAAAAAAAAAU/wNHCIV2qFxI/s320/100B0730.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Have just returned to Coeur d'Alene after a little over a week spent in DC and NY. The moot court competition went very well. Seth and I advanced to the semi-finals--placing us in the top 12 out of 63 teams. So we worked hard Monday-Thursday, but made sure to take some time to eat good food and see a little of DC. Friday I flew to NY to spend the weekend with a friend who is working there. We did a lot of shopping, saw some of the sites, and stayed out way too late! Got to see the sun come up both Sunday and Monday...hadn't gone to bed yet Sunday morning, and was up to head to the airport at that time Monday morning.<br />Monday I spent with my friend Amanda in DC, and we had an incredible Memorial Day experience. We decided to head to Arlington, and just as we were getting off the metro they were getting ready for President Bush to come through. So we saw him go by in the motorcade coming into Arlington, and then leaving after his laying of the wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers. We then watched veterans laying wreaths at the Tomb for awhile. We then went to the WWII memorial and spent some time there. Incredibly moving way to spend the day. When I was driving home last night the topic of discussion on the radio was whether Memorial Day has become more about the start of summer (bbqing, boating, etc) than about remembering our soldiers. Spending the day at the memorials and Arlington served as a powerful reminder of what the day is for.<br />Two days now until I leave, so better get back to packing.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1880578205132384722.post-67941420334178598312007-05-10T14:41:00.000-07:002007-05-10T15:00:58.538-07:00Leaving three weeks from todayIn the meantime, I've got some exciting activities planned that I can start thinking about now that finals are OVER! First up, packing and heading out of Moscow...after some post-finals celebrating of course. Followed by a week at home with a possible short trip to Seattle thrown in. <br />Then I head to DC for the Inter-American Human Rights Moot Court competition (<a href="http://www.wcl.american.edu/hracademy/mcourt/index_en.cfm">http://www.wcl.american.edu/hracademy/mcourt/index_en.cfm</a>). Teammate Seth and I finished our brief in, um, April I think? Seems like years. So now we travel to DC for oral arguments. 45 minutes of getting grilled by a panel of judges for those of you lucky enough to never have experienced oral arguments. That said, it should be a lot of fun. Our case this year involved the detention and torture of a woman alleged to be involved in a terrorist organization. Unfortunately, Seth and I are representing the state...but it still provides a great opportunity to explore the international and regional treaties involving torture and inhumane treatment.<br />After the competition is over I'm taking the train up to NY for my first trip ever to the Big Apple! Going to visit my lovely friend Katherine who got a summer job in a big firm there. Yay! Coming back from NY on Monday, and then off to Cambodia on Thursday!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1880578205132384722.post-81828538418656261962007-05-05T12:16:00.000-07:002007-05-05T12:38:08.116-07:00Here's what I know so far....<span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">From the Cambodian Ministry of Women's affairs website (at http://www.mwva.gov.kh/about_mwva.htm) here is a brief overview of conditions for women in Cambodia: </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em>Two decades of war and civil strife have placed extraordinary strains on the status of women in the country. Cambodian society is marked by a hierarchical order, with notions of power and status conditioning social and gender relations. In this social order, women are considered to be of a lower status relative to men. However, gender relations in Cambodia are undergoing tremendous change, with new opportunities opening up as a result of economic, social and political developments. As Cambodian women pursue these opportunities, they are becoming a more integral part of Cambodia's overall development.<br /></em>This summer I will be primarily working on domestic violence laws for the country. The website describes the domestic violence situation in greater detail:<br /><em>Cambodia is a sending, receiving and transit country for trafficking of women and children. An estimated 100,000 women and children are being overview of the trafficked in Cambodia at any given time, with 47% of commercial sex workers stating they were trafficked. Approximately 800 women and children are trafficked into Thailand each month and 400 are deported back by the Thai authorities. Other young girls turn to the sex industry as they have few viable alternatives. Poverty, social upheaval, underdeveloped legal instruments and weak law enforcement are all contributing to the rapid growth of the sex industry.<br />Domestic violence continues to represent a threat for Cambodian women. Violence against women in the family is a serious problem experienced by a significant number of women. While it is difficult to determine the actual incidence of domestic violence, some indicators suggest that the number of cases is increasing, and an estimated one in four women experience violence in the home.<br />It is now assumed by social scientists, that unequal access to wealth and goods, frustration due to economic competition, pressure to earn higher income, and work-induced migration are contributing factors to domestic violence. Rampant poverty, cash economy, limited availability of jobs and rises in the price of basic goods and services, act as additional burdens for the already challenged familial and social structures. The involvement of women as primary earners and their increased participation in the labour force, although not necessarily changing their social status, alters the perception of gender roles and increases frustration in male partners.<br /></em>Soooo...it's going to be a very interesting summer. I'm super excited about getting to go back to Cambodia, and I'm also really looking forward to working with a different legal system that draws heavily from the international system. In particular, it should be interesting to see how some of the broader theories and practices that are generally considered "western," are adapted (or not) to meet the needs of the Cambodian culture. Can't wait! Now, if only I could magically be done with finals! </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2