I'm so tired

I had to get up early to catch my plane and, as I always do, got there earlier than necessary. Once in Bangkok, I didn't immediately check into the guest house cause I wanted a single room. Since none were available and I've been a regular at Merry V Guesthouse, they gave me a room with a big bed for the price of a single room with a small bed. The only draw back is the room is four flights up, on the top floor. Being on the highest floor also means it's much warmer up there. It's a good thing Bangkok is cooler right now than it was even last week.

I wanted to buy three things today: a hammock, new shorts, and lip balm. I actually couldn't remember what the third thing was so I substituted. I haven't bought anything yet. Mondays are relatively quiet in Bangkok. If Porn had not told me most of the street vendors take Mondays off I would've been a little freaked out by the emptiness of Kao San Road.

I started to read a book called And Then They Killed My Father. It's written by a Cambodian woman who was a little girl when the Khymer Rouge, under Pol Pot, killed at estimated two million Cambodians, about a quarter of the population at the time. After two chapters I've determined she's no Shakespear, but it's a story that has to be told.

I don't know if it was my mind playing tricks on me but when I drove up to the killing fields outside of Phnom Penh I felt a chill in the air. Strange considering it was well over eighty degrees that day. As I stood there over looking the mass graves all I could think about was how America once said it would never allow someting like this to happen again. I don't know if my facts are straight but I think FDR said that after WWII. Well guess who supported the Khymer Rouge. The good old U.S.A.

Back to Koh Pha Ngan

So I may have been a little harsh on my comments about Cambodia. It's a little rough around the edges and right now I need some place easy. I was also quite lonely at the time of the last entry, missing the company of the people I met in Laos. I'm a moody bastard when I get lonely.

Besides Angkor Wat and the other surrounding temples and the horrible history of the Khymer Rouge, I haven't found much to keep my interests here. This is why I'm yet again shelling out more money than I should to return to Thailand to meet up with Gareth, Steve, Hans and Sara for the upcoming full moon party on Koh Pha Ngan. These four people along with Nicole, Nir and Pete were the group I was with for most of the time in Laos.

I think if I had seen Cambodia earlier on in the trip (before India) I might appreciate it a bit more. People do seem to like it here. It is a bit unrefined and I guess would seem like an adventure, but it lacks the excitement of being in a crazy place (like India). I know I shouldn't compare countries. When I come back to south east asia, I'll check out the southern part of Cambodia. It might be nicer down there.

Here's a little info on my mates.

Gareth and Steve are English, Hans and Sara (father and daughter) are Dutch, Nicole is Swiss, Nir is the coolest Israeli you'll ever meet, and Pete is the friendly Kiwi.

And the award goes to...

After further thought I'll try not to rag on Cambodia so much, although I still do think it's the asshole of South East Asia. I think I'm mostly missing the company of the people I was with in Laos. It wouldn't have been half as fun there without them. I also am itching to get to the islands in Thailand to meet up with a few of them.

I'm currently in Battambang. I won't go into it too much but this town is a dump. True I haven't seen too much of it yet, but from what I've seen it's a dump. Fuck it who am I kidding. Release the hounds.

For being as poor of a country as Cambodia is one would figure it'd be budget travelling paradise. As far as accomodation goes there is no such thing as value for money. It's down right (relatively) expensive here. The food is a hodge podge of Vietnamese and Thai with half the flavor. There is a direct correllation on food of the country and whether or not I like the place so maybe that explains my negative feelings.

If Angkor Wat wasn't so close to Siem Reap that town would be a shithole too. There's something inherently wrong when I'm ok with going to sleep before ten, which is what happened every night in Siem Reap. The temples were amazing, Siem Reap not so.

I'm a heartbeat away from booking a bus out of Battambang even though I just arrived. The shit towns in India were more exciting than this. There I go again with India.

Ok as I was saying before I'm itching to get back to Thailand. I'm considering going to the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh to get a two month visa just so I can leave Cambodia sooner than planned and not have to worry about doing a visa run in Thailand. I think I'm finally getting a little tired of all the travelling. I just want to be in one place for a while chilling with familiar people. Koh Pha Ngan sounds lovely for this.

It's only nine more days until I planned on going back to Thailand. Can I find something to occupy my time until then?