Angkor

So I really wasnt that excited about Angkor Wat before I got here. Dunno why, but I really wasn't that keen. I don't know what I was thinking, the place is amazing. But the free internet here is painful and theres a line of people waiting to use the computer. Again the post is being delayed until I get back to Phnom Penh.

back

So im back from the jungle. things were ...interesting. to be honest i cant really be bothered writing about them now, so i'll do a mega post either in siem reap or when i get back to phnom penh in a few days.

Off to the forest

So, internet in Banlung is a little slow. Its taken me about 15 minutes just to load up this page, and its fairly pricy so I'll have to make this one short. Caught a crammed minibus to Banlung yesterday. Strange ride. And the last 3 hours were on some fairly poor quality dirt roads, but not too bad all things considered. I think the worst part was the bad Khmer karaoke and stand up comedy that was blaring at us the entire time. Apparently quite entertaining if you understand it though.

Went up to the volcanic crater lake last night. Can't remember the name but it was incredible. Look up photos of Ratanakiri lake and it should come up. Off to the forest today. I'll be gone about 3 weeks and I'll be giving a much more detailed description when I get back to Phnom Penh.

Have a good one.

The most high tech stop lights ever.

Wow. This place is insane. So incredibly contradictory. So amazingly friendly. Got here last Thursday and was picked up by my boss and what I thought was the most dangerous taxi driver of all time. within a minute of leaving the airport we were driving on the wrong side of the road, pretty much playing chicken with a massive truck. Now that I've been here a few more days I realise that if anything, he was one of the more timid taxi drivers. Thankfully cars arent the main form of transport in this place. All the locals ride around on scooters, and a couple have tuk tuks (a scooter with a trailer on the back which sits 4 people). so much easier, faster and safer (not to mention a million times more fun) to just hop on the back of a moto (the local name for scooters) and get a lift across town. you can get pretty much anywhere for under a dollar. fantastic. and the traffic lights. i've never seen lights that high tech anywhere. they all have timers telling you how long until they change and the little man that tells pedestrians to cross is this complete animation. he starts off just slowly walking, taking his time, but as time runs out he keeps speeding up until at about 5 seconds he is sprinting. so strange to see that in a country that doesnt have a working postal service. and everyone has mobile phones. but you pretty much throw your garbage in the street and some guy will come and collect it. oh, and all cafes and bars in PP have free wi-fi. but no one has a home phone. i think thats part of the charm of this place.

Been spending most of my time just getting supplies for the trip and meeting the local CI (conservation international, the NGO i'm volunteering for) crew. Everyone was incredibly nice. The local Cambodians I'll be working with seem awesome as well. Language seems like it might be a little barrier to start with, but they have at least a basic understanding of English and Khmer is a very easy language to pick up by all accounts (I've already got 2 of the most important sentences down, Beer moi (One beer) and moi tiat (One more)). Theres also heaps of Expats and tourists here, so thats helping with the homesickness.

Went for a drive out to the national zoo on Saturday. The drive was crazy, this place is so much flatter than anywhere i've ever been before. And all so uniform. Just pretty dead rice patty fields with occasional solitary coconut palms. it was a little depressing actually. the guys i was with were saying that because the country has been farmed so poorly for the last 1000 years theres just no nutrients left in the ground. its crazy, theres no dirt here. everything is sand. if its like this in the forest i might get a little thrown off walking on dirt when i get back.

Damn, nearly forgot to mention the interesting dining experience we had on Saturday night. ordered beef lok lak (cubed beef with some sort of sweet sauce) and I saw on the menu that there was 'friend red ant'. I figured I couldnt come to a place like this and not order, so we got some brought out. It was, interesting. Very spicy (i think from the formic acid they sting you with) and a strange texture. Not bad on its own but I dont think i'd get it again. Strangely it worked fantastically as a dipping sauce with the beef. I would order beef lok lak with ant sauce again in a second.

So I've got a bus trip up to Bam Long tomorrow. Should be interesting, apparently buses are another of those fairly high tech things in this country. but prone to breakdowns. The hotels in BL are meant to all have internets, so I'll try posting again when i get in. then its off to the forest on Wednesday. turns out that place may be even more dangerous than i thought. King Cobras and Pit Vipers are in the region as well. And theres a possibility that Siamese crocodiles (very rare) are in a river about 2 days walk from base camp, so we might have an expedition up there to see if they are around. should be awesome.

possible new title

so i thought of a possibly more awesome name for the blog at the zoo yesterday. the thin white douc. thoughts? comments? and if anyone figures out the 3 references in the name they get bonus points.

singapore and being attacked by monsters.

so i've got an hour of internets before i need to leave the hostel. time to get out as many stories as i remember.

got into Singapore on Tuesday night after an awesome flight. finally saw some episodes of Chuck (the sandworm episode if anyone has seen it), i think its coming to Aus tv soon. watch it. best US show in years. caught the metro into the city and after getting lost, wait no, 'exploring' little india for a couple of hours, finally found the hostel. carrying around that massive backpack by the carry strap got old after about 5 minutes, but i figure if i do that once a month, i'll be the freaking hulk by the time i get back. beds were covered in plastic, but it was a decent place apart from that. called footprints. you should go there.

spend all day (and a fair chunk of the night) at the zoo. so many awesome stories about that place. such an awesome place. there are a whole bunch of animals that just jump around in the trees next to the pathways. i think i saw at least 4 or 5 different primates free roaming. plus orangutans in the trees above the walkways. its so crazy the first time you look up and theres a big male sitting 5 metres above you just watching people go by. and the baboon enclosure is nuts. chances are that no one is interested in hearing this, but its my blog and i want to write about it. 70 baboons in one enclosure. its insane. i think in the end i sat there watching them for at least 3 hours. so much better than any zoo in Aus.

and they have these awesome walk-in enclosures. if you ever go there make sure you go into the reptile walk-in. as soon as i was in there i noticed this green iguana in a tree, so i walk around to get a better look. im there maybe 2 or 3 minutes when i feel something brush against my foot. i look down and i see this: http://jpatokal.iki.fi/photo/travel/Singapore/Zoo/Iguana_Orange.JPG (not my photo, but its the same iguana) except his throat sack is all puffed out and hes glaring and hissing a little bit. and hes about a metre and a half long. fun times. im actually a little surprised that i didnt scream like a little girl. i was feeling like a bit of a clown after that, until i was walking along a little later and some woman has a pissy little skink fall on her hat. she just brushed it off, looked down and flipped out. i dont think i've ever heard anyone scream that much in my life. i think she thought that since she touched it she was going to get ebola or something. it was a rad looking lizard as well.

Got my first taste of walking through monsoonal rain as well. in a weird way it was kinda refreshing. until the rain stopped and your clothes won't dry out because of the humidity.

night safari is awesome as well. its a completely different zoo right next to the normal one. only open between 6 and 11 pm, but full of nocturnal animals and really well laid out. plus they have this crazy 'fish spa'. you pretty much sit with your feet in an aquarium full of cleaner fish and they nibble away at your dead skin. the little ones just feel like bubbles. the bigger ones, yeah. they feel like a fish biting you. but in a good way. the water was also cool and moist (sorry. inside joke) a lot of people flipped out about it all, but after a day trekking around in mid 30s with insane humidity and monsoonal showers it felt pretty good. and then i went back to the hostel to sleep (i know i've already made one joke about USA stories, but they're just too easy to pass up)

and now im off to phnom penh. im pretty sure that im gonna have internets when im there, but if not i'll post again when i get the chance. hope the rest of the civilised world is going radly for everyone.