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.