I am now in San Francisco, California. It's been two weeks since I got back. It's really cold here! I was mentally preparing myself for the shock, but it didn't matter. I have always said that SF is an air-conditioned city, but I think I may start to refer to it as a meat locker.
The job search has already started. While in Thailand, I was online... checking out Craig's List. I am delightfully surprised as to how plentiful the job market is. I've had a few interviews, but everything's in the early stages.
After securing a job, I will start looking for places to live. I don't have much stuff - I got rid of most everything when I left New Orleans and what I did save was kept with friends in NOLA. I lost my clothes and personal documents, but the CDs, cookbooks and photographs survived.
If anyone's got a lead on a job or a place to live, lemme know!
Monday, April 24, 2006
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Angkor Wat - one last adventure
One destination that has been on my list of To-Do is to visit Angkor Wat in Cambodia. This area has been declared a World Heritage site by the UN and quite deservedly so. It contains the ruins of an ancient empire dating as far back as the 12th Century. What it is most famous for are giant stone sculptures of faces. I first saw these images in the movie Apocolypse Now, where Brando is nuts and has an army to call his own (but the movie was actually shot in the Philappines).
The first part of my adventure starts with just getting there. People have told me that it's a harsh journey to Siem Reap, the town that borders this area. Though it's only 200 kilometers away (120 miles), people have told me that it took 12 hours out of their lives. But a reputable source told me that these people are wussies who can't handle a five hour bus ride and that the road is bearable. Always looking for an adventure, I followed the latter opinion.
He was right, but failed to stress the conditions of the road. I chose to take a minivan (instead of a huge charter bus) and that was a poor choice. I've been on some horrible roads before, let me remind you that I've lived in Senegal, West Africa where there's a running joke of who's drunk: the driver who is going a straight line or the driver who is swerving all over the road. Answer: The driver in a straight line because he's not avoiding the potholes, mounds of random dirt and wandering animals.
This road to Siem Reap can't be as bad as that, I thought, and if it was, I've been conditioned to handle this rough terrain. Well, I gotta say, that if this wasn't worse than what I 've been on in Senegal, it has to be the longest stretch of crappy highway that I've ever experienced. It took six hours to get to Siem Reap!
I should consider myself lucky, though. The rainy season just started - prior to this, the 200 km would take twelve hours because of the loose dirt and sand.
But I made it to town safe and sound.
Siem Reap is an odd town. First of all, though the Cambodian currency is the riel, US dollars and Thai baht are preferred. The few ATMs in town don't distribute riel, either. It gives dollars, with a maximum amount of $800, a limit that I haven't seen since Las Vegas.
The town also has a wild, wild west, outlaw feel to it. While walking alone at night, many a motorcycle taxi would pull up next to me and ask me a series of questions: 1) do I need a ride somewhere. 2) do I need a woman for "boom-boom" 3) do I need any drugs.
Angkor Wat is just a buncha temples from a time long forgotten - in fact, it wasn't "discovered" until the 1860s by a French biologist. Words just can't do justice to what is here, so I'll just post some of the many pictures I took.
The first part of my adventure starts with just getting there. People have told me that it's a harsh journey to Siem Reap, the town that borders this area. Though it's only 200 kilometers away (120 miles), people have told me that it took 12 hours out of their lives. But a reputable source told me that these people are wussies who can't handle a five hour bus ride and that the road is bearable. Always looking for an adventure, I followed the latter opinion.
He was right, but failed to stress the conditions of the road. I chose to take a minivan (instead of a huge charter bus) and that was a poor choice. I've been on some horrible roads before, let me remind you that I've lived in Senegal, West Africa where there's a running joke of who's drunk: the driver who is going a straight line or the driver who is swerving all over the road. Answer: The driver in a straight line because he's not avoiding the potholes, mounds of random dirt and wandering animals.
This road to Siem Reap can't be as bad as that, I thought, and if it was, I've been conditioned to handle this rough terrain. Well, I gotta say, that if this wasn't worse than what I 've been on in Senegal, it has to be the longest stretch of crappy highway that I've ever experienced. It took six hours to get to Siem Reap!
I should consider myself lucky, though. The rainy season just started - prior to this, the 200 km would take twelve hours because of the loose dirt and sand.
But I made it to town safe and sound.
Siem Reap is an odd town. First of all, though the Cambodian currency is the riel, US dollars and Thai baht are preferred. The few ATMs in town don't distribute riel, either. It gives dollars, with a maximum amount of $800, a limit that I haven't seen since Las Vegas.
The town also has a wild, wild west, outlaw feel to it. While walking alone at night, many a motorcycle taxi would pull up next to me and ask me a series of questions: 1) do I need a ride somewhere. 2) do I need a woman for "boom-boom" 3) do I need any drugs.
Angkor Wat is just a buncha temples from a time long forgotten - in fact, it wasn't "discovered" until the 1860s by a French biologist. Words just can't do justice to what is here, so I'll just post some of the many pictures I took.
Some of you may have seen this image of the buddha face, but the face isn't as obscured by the tree roots. This is an example that there is still real growth in these ancient ruins.
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