Battambang

Hey Everyone!

So...I've been in Cambodia for about 2 1/2 weeks now, and it's about time I let you know what's going down out here. Where can I start? Well, our drive into Cambodia was rather interesting. We packed all of our luggage and team members into two pickup trucks and took off from the Avana Hotel in Bangkok and headed for the Cambodian border. It was about a 3-4 hour ride to Poi Pet, which is a major border crossing through which many trucks pass through as they deliver supplies from Thailand to Cambodia. We had to get out of our trucks and walk across the border, but we hired some guys with a big wooden handcart to carry our bags. There is a "no-man's land" between Thailand and Cambodia that has loads of casinos. Casinos are illegal in both countries, but since this area is not considered part of either nation, these huge casino resorts were built here. We walked inside one just to use the toilets and found that they could hardly be called "casinos" if you compare them to the ones in Reno and Vegas. They weren't too spectacular and didn't have many slot machines or card tables.

Anyway, it took a while to get across the border (longer than it took to get into Mexico) because we each had to fill out these Visa applications and then wait for them to be processed and our team leader Rob had to bargain with the border officials because they try to raise the cost of the VISAs because we're Westerners and such. Finally, we got to walk through this big arch that said "Kingdom of Cambodia." Then we waited for a while longer sipping on some green tea for our contact to arrive to pick us up in a van and another pickup. The ride to Battambang from the border actually really reminded me of some of the van rides we had in Tijuana. It's really dusty and really bumpy. Of course there's some different scenery (palm trees, etc.), but people still burn their rubbish (Kiwi/New Zealander word for trash that I've picked up) so you can always expect to wake up to the smell of plastic smoldering in the morning.

The houses are also a bit different. Instead of shacks thrown together with garage doors and things like that, people actually live in thatched roof cottages. I was amazed to see this as we drove through the countryside. It looked like a picture straight out of National Geographic. During the rainy season, much of the land floods, and so the traditional Cambodian house is built on stilts to keep it above water. But the houses are made of plant matter woven together with dry grass roofs.

After a couple hours of cramped, bumpy van riding, we drove into our new home base. The city of Battambang is the second largest city in Cambodia, but it is still not very big. It has no skyscrapers or anything like that. The tallest buildings are maybe 5-6 stories. It's pretty compact and densely populated. Its streets are filled with mopeds or "motos" as we call them. There are some cars, but they are definitely a minority compared to the motorbikes, because cars are much more expensive. Battambang has no traffic laws. No stoplights. No stop signs. No yield signs. No speed limits. Nothing. So it's pretty much a free-for-all for all motorists. Our main forms of transportation have been "motodopes" which are basically taxis but on motos. You flag down a moto driver just like a taxi and then hop on the back. Usually 3 people ride on a moto (2 passengers and a driver), but I have seen a family of 6 (mom, dad, grandma, 3 kids, and cargo) on 1 moped. A couple times, we fit 4 guys on our friend and translator Seang's moto: Seang (a skinny Cambodian) and Seth, Dan and I (3 fat Americans). It was quite a challenge and we definitely had to be comfortable enough with one another to SQUEEZE all of us onto that little thing. The Cambodian people, or the Khmer people (pronounced Ka-meye) are very petit compared to Americans, and this has become even more evident when us guys go shopping in the markets and attempt to fit into their pants and shirts. We have to look for "Xtra Large" sizes because their clothes are so small.

This is only an intoduction to Cambodia, I know, and I will make sure to post another blog later today, but I need to try and make some phone calls before it gets too late back home in California.

TTYL

Dan