Summit Saturday

We're off to climb Fansipan today (elevation: 3,143 meters.) We'll summit today, spend the night at base camp, and then return to Sapa tomorrow early afternoon. Stories and photos to come tomorrow!

Magical and mysterious Halong Bay

Behold the natural wonder that is Halong Bay. The natural preserve (declared a UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site in 1994) of more than 3,000 islands in the Gulf of Tonkin definitely lives up to the hype.

From Hanoi, we were picked up by bus to Halong City (approximately 3.5 hours journey) where we boarded the Indochina Sails for our two day/one night cruise. The day began with lunch on the boat as we cruised the bay and took in the sights: emerald waters, limestone cliffs rising out from the sea, and incredible caves.

After lunch, we stopped at Titop Island, where we climbed to the top to take in the 360 degree view of Halong Bay. We really lucked out with the clear, sunny weather.
After another 45 minute cruise, we arrived near Bat Cave, our kayaking spot for the afternoon. We boarded two-person kayaks and paddled through Bat Cave (yes, there were bats...LIVE BATS!!!) and all around the inlet before heading back to the boat to enjoy the sunset.

After working up an appetite with all our afternoon activities, we thoroughly enjoyed the fresh seafood buffet dinner. I clinched the title of Fat Kid of the Day by going back for thirds, and devouring a giant plate of delicious BBQ squid. (Tragically, Fritz stole the title back the next morning by beating me out at breakfast and going back for seconds of fried eggs--he has it coming though, because apparently we are climbing a mountain tomorrow.)

We were excited to see JP and Catherine--the very nice French couple we met in Hoi An--on our same boat. It was wonderful to have some friendly faces among the 24 passengers, and a group of about eight of us definitely enjoyed the 2-for-1 "happy hour" on the sundeck of the boat before retiring for the evening.

The next morning, we visited Surprise Cave, a massive, three-room cavern. I would have posted photos, but they really don't do the place justice. Let it suffice to say that it was quite amazing--definitely no claustrophobia, the thing was enormous!

Another highlight was the lovely, evening breeze on the sun deck of the boat. For the first time in nearly three weeks, I was not drenched in sweat. Apropos that very thought, I should mention that I am writing this post from Sapa, in the Northwest of Vietnam, very near the border with China. Sapa is a beautiful mountain town that is currently blanketed in mist and fog, and it is significantly cooler than anywhere we've been thus far. We are all very excited to finally break out the sweatshirts and fleeces we haven't used since our transcontinental flight, and have been lamenting carrying.

More to come from Sapa!

Deep Though of the Day: If I ever start my own punk rock band, I think I'll call it the Famous Embalmed Communists

Why is it that communists have such an affinity for embalming their leaders and having them lay in state in perpetuity? Something to ponder...

Today, we visited the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum complex, and saw Uncle Ho himself. He looks pretty good for being 119. The mausoleum is guarded by at least a dozen uniformed guards with bayonettes, and we all agreed that those guys are really high up on our list of people we would never, under any circumstances want to %$!@ with. Sneaky was chastised for putting his hands in his pockets while in the mausoleum. Those dudes are hardcore.

After a quick tour of his former residence and office as well as the Ho Chi Minh museum, we treated ourselves to a fantastic buffet lunch at the fancy-schmancy Metropole Hotel. The prix fixe appetizer buffet, main course and dessert buffet lunch was a whopping USD $20 per person; Somewhat outrageous for Vietnam, but the place was packed with power lunchers.

And my oh my, was it ever worth the $20 bucks! Sashimi, fresh spring rolls, noodles, pancakes, all kinds of fried Vietnamese delicacies I'd never even heard of. It was just the thing we needed after skipping breakfast to make it to the mausoleum on time! [Last tour is admitted at 10:15 a.m., in case you are thinking of visiting.]

This afternoon, we hit up the infamous "Hanoi Hilton," now a museum that documents the horrors inflicted there, first on the Vietnamese by the French, and of course later by the Vietnamese on the American pilots they captured. The propaganda photos and fliers they had on display were really something else. If you didn't know any better, you'd think that all the pilots there did was play volleyball, prepare elaborate Christmas feasts, and have their wounds carefully attended to by Vietnamese doctors. Extremely interesting exhibit to see; Quite famously, it includes John McCain's flight suit and parachute from when he was shot down over Truc Bach Lake.

All in all, a great day of sightseeing in charming Hanoi. Tomorrow we head for a two-day, one-night cruise in Halong Bay, which is supposed to be spectacular. I'll be sure to post photos from the boat.

What's multicolored and sounds like a bell?

That would be the Vietnamese currency, which never stops being funny to say: DONG! The exchange rate is approximately 18,000 dong = 1 USD, which makes retrieving money from the ATM quite funny, because you typically ask for about 1 million dong. It's really easy to eat very well, very cheap here. The other day, we had an amazing traditional breakfast of pho (noodle soup) and spring rolls and fresh fruit drinks for $12 total for three people. A beer is usually 10-20,000 dong. Cab meters in Hanoi begin at 12,000 dong. I got a coconut popsicle last night for 5.000 dong and that was pretty awesome.

A Night at the Opera

Tonight we saw Dream and Reality, a blog-opera at the Hanoi Opera House. Yes, you read that correctly; It was a blog-opera put on in joint partnership by the Swedish and the Vietnamese. The story centered around a female protagonist named An. A gifted musician, An wants to follow her passion by playing drums in a rock band. The antagonist, her cowboy-hat wearing capitalist father, wants her to study abroad--presumably in the US--so she can make more money. He had winning lines such as "Life is only worth living if you are rich." At some point in the opera, they visit a rural Vietnamese village, where of course all the peasants are perfectly happy and content to be living a traditional, agrarian lifestyle. Oh, there was also a girl who cut herself, a guy addicted to heroin, and another dude dying of blood cancer. Basically, it was the Vietnamese propaganda version of RENT, set in current-day Vietnam and prominently featuring blogger-musicians. Another line that generated big laughs among our party was: "But we are bloggers. We always tell the truth!" Indeed we do, my loyal readers. Indeed we do.

A Little R&R on China Beach

This afternoon, we hit up the beach at Hoi An, part of the stretch of coast known to American GIs as China Beach (see 1980s television show by the same name.) The beach itself is beautiful, We set up camp at a little bar/café bungalow recently openly by a French expat about our age. He lives right on the beach and in the past four months he has been here, has only made the 5 km trek into town about four times. C'est la vie!

After some body surfing in the wonderfully warm South China Sea, we enjoyed a Bierre Larue and some very fresh grilled squid. Tasty.

Pho Sure

I'm just going to throw this out there: I LOVE pho. For those of you not in the know, pho is the national dish of Vietnam: glass noodles in a clear broth, usually served with veggies and chicken or pork or seafood. It is delicious and I have consumed many, many bowls of it. My favorite thus far has been from Pho 24, a chain specializing in the soup. Pho 2000 "Pho for the President" was also very tasty. They renamed their shop after President Clinton ate there in 2000 on his first visit to Vietnam, and there are photos of him all over the dining area.

Hoi An

We arrived in Hoi An yesterday morning cranky and tired, having woken up early for a 7 a.m. flight. After a nice breakfast, chilling out in the breezy lobby of our adorable hotel, and a nice nap, we were ready to take in all that Hoi An has to offer, which, as it turns out, is quite a lot.

Hoi An Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and has some truly charming old architcture, musuems, markets, and hundreds upon hundreds of tailoring shops. The city itself is situated on a riverfront and is only about 5 km from the area known as China Beach, one of the most spectacular stretches of coastline in Vietnam.

Last night, we had a fantastic dinner at Mango Rooms, (Lonely Planet tells us that Mick Jagger dined there recently) a tasty Vietnamese-fusion restaurant right on the river. At night, the tiny. uneven streets of Old Town, are lit up with multicolored paper lanterns. It's absolutely beautiful.
While finishing up dinner, we saw the two BulCzechKian girls walking by the river, so we grabbed a drink together and hit up a bar called Salsa Club, which had absolutely nothing to do with salsa dancing but was fun nonetheless. There, we met another big ragtag group of travelers--Brits, Kiwis, Aussies--all on our same route, headed South-North and then to Laos.\

The ease with which you run into the same people while traveling in the off-season is one of the most fun things about it. It's pretty much the same people cycling through the same areas over a similar period of time. There are exceptions of course; Notably, the bartender at Angkor What? in Siem Reap who had been traveling for **eight years** and a few solo travelers (Cecilia, por ejemplo and some others we've met) who are on a six to eight month travel timeframe. I imagine it must get exhausting at some point--not the traveling and sightseeing itself, but the lifestyle of picking up and moving every few days or weeks, not having your own bed, carrying everything you need on your back. In any event, five weeks works just fine for me at the moment!

Today we're going to do some sightseeing around the Old Town and perhaps bike out to the beach in the afternoon. More to come on Hoi An!

Hoi An riverside by night!

Apocalypse OW

Much like John McCain, Sneaky is unable to raise his arms above his shoulders. His injuries, however, were not sustained at the Hanoi Hilton, but instead are due to a debilitating sunburn on his back and shoulders acquired during yesterday's island-hopping booze cruise.

Today, after our mudbaths at the mineral spas and more than a few beers, Sneaky mustered up the courage to pop the giant sunburn blister that had formed on one of his arms. There is video of this entire debacle, which I will one day share with you. For now, you'll have to be satisfied with a photo of the absolutely heinous-looking thing he had on his arm up until a few hours ago:


Moms, please take comfort in the fact that this minor surgery was performed in as sterile an environment as possible; The needle was put through a flame, and--despite the major stinging and wincing on Sneaky's part--I used an alcohol swab before stabilizing the wound with Neosporin and a Band-Aid. I could have been a great triage nurse...

Behold the wonder that is the dragonfruit

Neon pink, black and white, it's the most chic fruit around. So hot right now.

We're on a boat!

Today we decided to hop a party boat around some islands in the vicinity this beach town, and party it up Spring Break Nha Trang style. We were extremely skeptical upon boarding the bus to the dock. Despite Lonely Planet's warning that this was not family-friendly fun, it didn't really seem to be a party-happy crowd, and Sneaky was coping with a debilitating sunburn from our previous day at the beach. Nonetheless, we hopped on the boat, watched it fill up with tourists from all over, and prayed it wouldn't be a totally miserable six-hour tour (a six-hour tour.)

It turned out to be just about the most fun we've had yet on this trip (apart from crossing the street in HCMC, which is an adrenaline rush unlike anything else.) We found some cool Aussies, a group of Eastern Europeans (from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia), and a few others to join our ragtag group of maritime hooligans. Together, we drank all the beer they had onboard, had swim races around the boat, and floated around in life preservers drinking some kind of sticky-sweet rice wine.

By far the most hilarious thing about this boat ride was that they blasted music from some old speakers, which seemed cool at first, until it became apparent that they only seemed to have two songs: "Dangerous" by Akon and "Right Round" by Flo Rida. By the third time repeat, we were all just about ready to jump overboard.

It was great to meet some other people doing the North-South or South-North Vietnam coast. Everyone seems to be in love with Hoi An (our next stop) and we got some great recommendations for boat trips in Halong Bay and restaurants in Hanoi. After we all went our merry ways to shower and rest, we had a reunion at the Sailing Club for one last hurrah together before the BulCzechKians hopped their bus north and the Melbourne chicks took their train to HCMC. We grabbed dinner with the hilarious Sydney couple--they are headed to Hoi An next as well, so we hope to go on more crazy adventures together in the next few days.

Remembering Linda

I must say, I was a little bit nervous about visiting the Lavang Boarding House yesterday, inasmuch as I did not quite know what to expect--not from the place itself nor how I might react.

Let me back up a bit and explain myself. My friend and classmate at Johns Hopkins, Linda Trinh, was killed our senior year. A violent homicide is difficult enough to stomach, but when it’s the second on your college campus in nine months, it cannot help but fundamentally change the way you think about the world around you. I remember our graduation ceremony as a tear-streaked, bittersweet event; The gloriously sunny day only seemed half-appropriate, considering the circumstances. Linda’s parents, showing the kind of fortitude that is unimaginable to most people, accepted her posthumous diploma. I remember my own parents later telling me that they could not fathom how they found the strength within themselves to do it.

Linda’s family left Vietnam for the U.S. shortly before she was born, and settled in Silver Spring, Maryland. At Hopkins, she was pre-med and she spent one summer in Vietnam, working at a cancer clinic in Hanoi and volunteering at an HIV/AIDS hospice for children in Saigon. It was her first and only trip to Vietnam.

The Lavang Boarding house is a project of Vietnam Dream for Success, (VDS) is a charitable organization that supports underserved young students in Vietnam and helps them to achieve their fullest potential by providing books and scholarships. In 2006, VDS built a boarding house in Saigon where specifically for female university students who may not be able to afford room and board while attending some the country's most pretigious universities in Saigon. At the boarding house, these young women can live cost-free in a brand new dormitory-style house that allows them access to the city’s many public and private universities. For many young women in Vietnam who desperately want to further their education but cannot afford to pay rent in the country’s most expensive city, the boarding house is truly a blessing.

Lien, one of the students living at Lavang, graciously came to pick us up at our hotel in downtown Saigon. She accompanied us by taxi to the boarding house, where we toured the house, met some of the students, and ate a delicious homemade lunch together--truly a treat. The women living in house range in age from 15 to 30, and are studying everything from English to environmental engineering, teaching to traditional medicine.

Although none of the girls had ever met Linda, they were clearly inspired by all that she accomplished. They were so excited to have visitors from the U.S. and were eager to talk to us about our visit to Vietnam, the U.S., our families, and our interests. We shared many laughs, a delicious meal, and thoroughly enjoyed our time together.

The study room dedicated in Linda’s memory is a beautiful, peaceful space. There is a communal, conference-style table, bookshelves filled with reference volumes, and two computers. Having contributed to the fund that made the construction of the study room possible, I felt a great sense of pride in seeing such a beautiful and fitting memorial. Linda achieved so much in her too-short life, but never had the chance to truly live her life goals. Her legacy will be in helping other young women fulfill their dreams.

"Dude! They have flat screens!!"

[Editor's Note: This post was written aboard the HCMC to Nha Trang yesterday evening.]

This afternoon, when we decided we should take the train from HCMC up to Nha Trang, we acknowledged that this attempt at budget travel could be a fun and convenient way to get to our next destination, or that it could be a colossal failure resulting in a miserable god-knows-how-long trip inside a tiny shoebox of a sleeping car. After hearing the disappointing news that the Golden Express luxury train was not an option (it only runs during the high season) and examining five different train schedules where each train took anywhere from seven to eleven hours to run the same exact route, we took a leap of faith and purchased three berths in an overnight train departing HCMC at 9:40 p.m.

To be completely accurate, we actually purchased four berths in the event that our friend, Cecilia, wanted to join us. Fine, in the interest of complete disclosure, in the event that she did not join us, we wanted to ensure we didn’t wind up with some rando sleeping next to us (or on top of us, as it were.)

We arrived at the train station a little on edge. We knew the moment of truth would soon be upon us. Would the train be a plush and romantic way to travel the up Vietnamese coast? Or would it be a flea-invested, smoky, broke-down, no A/C nightmare of an overnight ride? Regardless, we all agreed that it couldn’t possibly be worse than Amtrak.

You can imagine the look on our faces and the delight in our hearts when we caught our first glimpse of the sleeping car through the train window and saw wood paneling and brand-new LG flat screen televisions. The downside is that it’s an overnight train, so we won’t really see anything. The upside is that we will wake up tomorrow on one of the world’s best snorkeling and SCUBA beaches.

And for all of USD $96, we have our very own, cedar-scented, 5 x 7, double-bunk bed box. Con flat screen. Score.

The television, by the way, is tuned to some kind of celebration in honor of Ho Chi Minh’s 119th birthday, in case you were wondering. There appears to be no way to change the channel.



7:42 p.m.-- And we’re off! On time!!

7:45 p.m.-- A lady conductor in a very smart uniform just came by to give us bottled water and a refreshing towelette. Awesome.



7:56 p.m.-- Another conductor knocked on our compartment door, said hello, then left.

8:25 p.m.-- We are stopped. Haven’t moved an inch in the last 10 minutes. Rethinking how great an idea this was…

9:00 p.m.-- I'm nodding off thanks to the gentle rocking of the train. G'night!

6:00 a.m.-- Fritz just went to grab us some water from the bar car and returned very flustered. Apparently he put his hand through a glass panel in one of the intra-car doors and the conductor is after him. This whole experience suddenly feels like something out of the Darjeeling Limited.

6:30 a.m.-- It was unclear exactly at what time we were scheduled to arrive, but we appear to have made it! Time for some fun in the sun.

Watch out, Pinkberry

Just had the most phenomenal fro-yo. I know it's a bold statement, but I think it was better than Pinkberry. It's called YogenFruz, and in addition to offering a panoply of delightful fresh fruit and cereal/cookie/chocolate toppings, you can also opt to have the toppings blended into your yogurt. I enjoyed an amazing kiwi-mango non-fat vanilla yogurt blend. Delicious and especially refreshing in today's 91 degree Saigon heat!

Welcome to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Phnom Penh was like a warm-up for the traffic in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC, or Saigon, as all the locals still refer to it, or so Lonely Planet says.) Now we are in the big leagues.

I found out that part of the vehicular insanity in Cambodia is that most of their cars used to originate in Thailand, where cars have a right-hand driver side and people drive on the left side of the road. Now, most cars come from other parts of Asia and are US-style. Understandly, this has caused mass chaos, as no one is really sure on which side of the road to drive, and a good percentage of the vehicles on the road (maybe 10-20%, by my totally unscientific standards) still have a right-hand driver's side.

Also, I have learned that, in Asia, honking your horn means "I am going through this intersection, and I'll be damned if you don't stop or at least slow down to let me pass." As previously mentioned, there was a serious dearth of traffic lights in Cambodia, so I guess this is a pretty entrepreneurial way of dealing with that problem. We're taken to singing, "Moooooove bitch / Get out da way" everytime we hear a car or moped honk its horn.


Turns out that honking is common place here in HCMC as well. Except that with 3 million (yes, you read that correctly...THREE MILLION) mopeds on the streets, it's a nightmare of epic proportions. I hope to soon be able to upload a video of us attempting to cross the street here. To be fair, there are technically crosswalks. However, they prove to be of little use. If you were to wait by for a break in the traffic to cross, you might be there for hours. Instead, the preferred technique is to just go, walking with purpose at a steady pace; They will avoid you. It's kind of like a Jedi mind trick. You just have to take the situation into your own hands and will them NOT to hit you.

Other initial thoughts on HCMC: it's more impressive at night. When we first got here, we were ready to spend one night and leave as soon as possible. After a fun night out, we were more inclined to give it a chance. It definitely feels more like Bangkok that Phnom Penh, and considering it is technically a socialist country, it is astounding how much of a free market there is. It's probably more capitalistic than the US. You can buy or sell absolutely anything here, and all prices are negotiable.

Other first impressions on HCMC: for a purportedly socialist country, they are way into free markets. You can buy or sell just about anything you can imagine here, and all prices are negotiable. Also, it's a lot easier to warm up this city at night. When we first got in this afternoon, we were convinced we'd only stay until tomorrow. After a fun night out, I think we'd be inclined to give it more of a chance, but knowing that there is so much to see and do in Hanoi, we'll probably keep moving north.

We ate some great food and then went for a walking tour, ending up at a fancy riverfront hotel where we enjoyed a drink at their rooftop bar overlooking the city. They had a live band that was just starting up as we left. The band was playing American country music. No joke. They played "Johnny Come Lately." I am not even kidding.

From there, we continued on to a bar called Yoko, which was legit. They also had a live band, but they were awesome. They played mostly 1960s and 1970s classic rock; Everything from The Doors to Led Zeppelin to Eric Clapton. They sounded great and the placed was packed without being uncomfortable. It was a perfect scene.

Tomorrow we will hit up the War Remnants Museum and visit a study room dedicated in memory of a friend of mine (more on that later) then probably start heading to the beach later in the day--either Mui Ne or Nha Trang.

In Defense of Absinthe

COUNTERPOINT --

For over a century, absinthe has been a forbidden pleasure for those of us in America. Romanticized for its potency and alleged hallucinogenic properties, it was the drink of choice for 19th century artists and poets such as the notoriously even-keeled Pablo Picasso.

The liquor has an exotic green flavor, and a delicious licorice taste. While best enjoyed in a Parisian cafe with a cube of sugar melted in from above, I believe that a warm sugarless shot in a backwater Cambodian bar can be just as pleasant. The Angkor What? bar in Siem Reap, loved by travelers since 1997, serves a drink called an "A Bomb," a shot of absinthe dropped into a cup of Red Bull; to quote Vincent Chase, "Good till your heart pops!" What's the use of leaving the country if not to enjoy liquors banned stateside?

Kangaroooooooooo! [Editor's note: Sneaky's first post!!!]

One of my goals in life is to eat every animal on earth. I want to go to "The Carnivore" Restaurant in Kenya to eat big game animals, and i have a trip planned to Alaska that involves a meal with Inuits so i can eat Polar Bear. However, despite the prevalence of Australian restaurants in Manhattan i have never eaten Kangaroo. I got to check this delicious marsupial off the list the other night at a restaurant called "Cambodian BBQ" in Siem Reap. Kangaroo is delicious; I think the closest comparison would be venison, which is not suprising considering that both Deer and Kangaroo live an active healthy lifestyle. All in all, Chef recommends. For those of you in NYC who are inspired to eat some Kangaroo, I believe they serve it at both Bondi Road and 8 Mile.

Absinthe was a bad choice. I immediately regret this decision.

POINT -- I drank absinthe in Paris about 8 years ago, and I definitely don't remember it tasting so vile. It's like Sambuca with some green food coloring in it. I thought I was going to yak. To be fair to absinthe, the fun is in the process. Not that I know what it's like to do herion or freebase crack, but it's the same idea: you cook some sugar up on a spoon, you add soda water to the taste. It's about the ritual, not just about the high. By comparison, this shot was like drinking warm, neon green ipecac.

Sneaky will provide a counterpoint.

Angkor Ruins, Day #2

We woke up at 4:30 yesterday morning to catch the sun rise over Angkor Wat and I am so glad that we did! When I was here last year, we didn't get much of a sunrise at all; It was too muggy and overcast. As you can see from the photo above, this was not at all the case this time around. In fact, it was probably the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

We hired a fantastic tour guide to take us around for the day. After hitting up Angkor Wat, we saw Ta Prohm, which is especially spectacular in the early morning light. Also referred to as "Tombraider Temple," this is partially where the film was shot. The trees were left to give a feel for what the entire temple complex looked like when it was rediscovered in the mid-19th Century, but also because the structural integrity has become so dependent on the trees, that most of the temple would collapse were they to be removed. This temple is probably my favorite. In the morning mist, it looks eerily beautiful; Unlike anything else I've ever seen.

From there, we made our way to Bantay Srei, another favorite. Bantey Srei means Citadel of the Woman, and was built as a shrine to the Hindu goddess, Lakshmi. It features the most intricate

carvings of any temple in the complex, and the use of different layers of sandstone gives it natural yellow, pink, brown and red shades. The spectacular blue sky yesterday and the vividly green grass (the rainy season is just beginning here) made it absolutely perfect.

Of course, with the three of us, there is constant comedy along the way. Fritz decided to try to teach our Khmer guide some key Yiddish words. For example, to shvitz, because we were certainly doing a lot of that.


Climbing to the top of some very tall temples via extremely steep, narrow, and uneven steps was fun on the way up, but terrifying on the way down, especially for Sneaky who is afraid of heights. We had to coax him down with the promise of cold beverage.


We returned to our room at 1:00 in the afternoon, feeling like it was 5:00 p.m. It was in all likelihood one of the most productive Satudays any of us have had in a long time!

Angkor Ruins, Day #1

Let me just say it now and get it out of the way immediately: I love ruins. Like, LOVE them. And I must say that of all the ones I've seen (Macchu Picchu and Chichen Itza come to mind) Angkor is just above and beyond.

This photo of me and Sneaky was snapped by Fritz in front of Bayon, one of the most spectacular structures in the Angkor Temple Complex. It's famous for its many carved faces, which look awesome from far away, but even more amazing from up close.

After working away through Bayon and a few surrounding temples, we took a break during the midday heat for lunch and then chilled out by the pool the rest of the afternoon. We enjoyed massages in the early evening (this is a story better told by Fritz, but it involves the masseuses thinking that Sneaky and Fritz are a couple) before stopping by Angkor Wat at sunset.

Thus far, the only real bummer of the trip is that the mosquitoes are signficantly worse than I remember them being last year. I guess being one month closer to the rainy season makes a difference with such things. DEET has become my new best friend, and I came back to my room tonight armed with a mosquito coil, so hopefully I won't wake up covered in bites again tomorrow.

Early wake up tommorrow for Angkor Wat at sunrise, so I'd better hit the sack; Or, as it were, the "full-body condom." Good night!

"Can I tell you guys a secret?"

"I fucking hate my pillow, and I spent $110 bucks on it." --Sneaky

"Are you guys discussing the etymology of 'vajayjay'?"

It was barely 5:00 a.m. but in fact, we were. I had awoken to the sound of one of Sneaky's colossal, Shofar-like farts, and as a result, he and I both had a serious case of the giggles. Fritzy was snoring up a storm, the sun was rising, and Phnom Penh was beginning to wake up.

We decided to make good use of our morning hours, so after enjoying at lovely little breakfast at our hotel (which included the elusive dragon fruit) and a dip in the lovely pool, we took a short stroll over to the National Museum. We were delighted it was actually open at 8:00 a.m., because it was relatively cool(er) out, and we had the whole place to ourselves.

From there, we walked around, enjoyed breakfast #1/lunch #1, and then made our way to Tuol Sleng, formerly known at S-21: Pol Pot's torture camp for enemies of the Khmer Rouge. It was my second time visiting, so it didn't quite drum up the emotion and horror I felt as a first-time visitor. There was a very interesting, new (since last year) photo exhibit by a Swede who had visited Cambodia during the Khmer rule as part of a propaganda tour. He admitted that, due to his Maoist sympathies, he bought most of what they were spoon-feeding him--However, the exhibit had been put together by him to show how mistaken he was about the Khmer Rougue. He was extremely apologetic about the role he played in their propaganda machine. Very interesting stuff.

Not to dwell too much on genocide (those of you who know me well know that I could go on and on...) but despite its obvious effects on modern Cambodian society, it is quite amazing how the country has been able to repair itself, at least emotionally. It's a very tranquil place and apart from the extreme poverty and the land mine victims begging in the streets, you would have no idea that they had suffered through such a horrible civil war in such recent memory (I say this comparatively speaking, having spent time in the Balkans in 1999-2001.)

Great efforts are being made, especially on the part of NGOs, to create a functioning civil society in Cambodia. We felt great about supporting Friends, a restaurant that is run by an NGO and trains street kids in the hospitality business. We had a great lunch there before leaving Phnom Penh for Siem Reap this afternoon.

Which brings me to the present (I am finally caught up! Back to live blogging!) We arrived in Siem Reap this afternoon by taxi, which took close to five hours. It was a fascinating ride through the countryside into Siem Reap, which is the town in and around the Angkor Wat temple complex. We'll spend the next three days doing our best Indian Jones/Lara Croft impressions, bouncing around Bayon, Tah Prohm, Bantay Srei, and of course Angkor Wat. I am so excited to be back here. I absolutely love exploring ruins, and these are probably the most spectacular ones in the world--certainly the most spectacular I have ever seen.

We have a great suite-like room and I'm on the daybed in the living room area, so hopefully I won't be awoken by any colossal farts. The boys have already been asleep for over an hour while I've been typing away, so I should probably get to sleep as well. Lots of exploring to do tomorrow!

"And, they're HERE!"

Our Phnom Penh adventure started off as, well, an adventure. We arrived with a hotel/guesthouse in mind, and once we got to the Indochine II, we were fairly satisfied with the place. Although very basic and spartan, it appeared to be spotless. We went out for a beer or two and some food, and when we returned, to our horror, we found the floor covered in what I can only hope were ants and not bedbugs. [NB: We are still debating whether or not bedbugs are actually visible to the naked human eye; I attempted to Wikipedia bedbugs, but Sneaky and Fritz forcibly grabbed my laptop and closed the window, effectively saving me from myself.] Coupled with the fact that the A/C did not appear to be working--and the temperature here is approximately 90 degrees at night, with 80% humidity--we were displeased, to say the least.

After a few shrieks emanated from all our throats (Fritz, I discovered, is actively scared of bugs) we had a brief discussion as to whether or not we should bolt, then quickly grabbed our bags, and left. The staff did not seem particularly surprised nor sympathetic, and we managed to get out of there paying ½ the agreed-to rate, a grand total of USD $15.

From there, we decided to hold court at the Riverside Café, where we could enjoy a beer or a fruit shake, watch some English premiere league soccer, use their free wi-fi, and debate our options. A quick tuk-tuk ride over to a place called The Pavilion turned out to be fruitless, as they were all booked up for the next. A place just a few blocks away, however, showed us to a sparkling room with a charming balcony and some pumping A/C. We had seen all we needed to see and we were exhausted, so we gladly took the room and called it a night.

Leaving the buggy, waterfront guesthouse was the best decision we’ve made so far. The place we ended up, the Blue Lime, is a super laid-back oasis behind a big, sliding wooden door. It’s down a little alley that’s tucked away from the rotting garbage and insane traffic (more on that in a moment) on the streets of Phnom Penh.

So, the traffic in Phnom Penh is epic. It it perhaps best described as a giant game of chicken, the participants of which include backpacker pedestrians, families of up to five on a single moped, the Lexus SUVs of high-ranking Cambodian government officials, and tuk-tuks driven by the most relentless and fearless drivers imaginable. Traffic lights do not exist, and where they do, they are ignored. There is no right nor left lane. There are no dotted nor solid lines. Potholes the sizes of craters are abundant, and some roads aren’t paved at all. In true New York fashion, we did learn that if you approach the curb with authority and confidence, the Moped Madness will stop for a nanosecond so as to allow you to cross.

"And her naaa-aame was Cassandra..."

Hong Kong is awesome! After the amazing pork bao at breakfast (discussed previously) we hopped the Star Ferry and made our way to the island of Hong Kong. Sneaky and I had never been, Fritzy was privileged enough to have spent a summer working there (although nearly a decade ago) so he played something of a tour guide to us, for which we were all very thankful. I was amazed by how hilly the city is--it's basically built into the side of a mountain, and it looks like some kind of bizarre, post-modern hybrid of San Francisco, London and Tokyo.

Despite the heat and humidity, we hiked more than half the way up to Victoria Peak. We kept telling ourselves this was 1) Good for us, as we had just spent 16 hours on a plane; 2) The coolest climate we were going to be in the entire trip, so we'd better acclimate.

Along the way up, we paused at the Hong Kong Zoo and Botanical Gardens, but it's quite tragically nothing special. I was hoping for pandas, but the best they could come up with were buff-cheeked gibbons, which sound more like a Shakespearean insult than any kind of real animal. Also, the Reptile House seemed to lack reptiles. In fact, in seemed to lack animals of any kind.

The view from the top of the Peak is stunning. You can see the entire Hong Kong skyline and harbour (note the British spelling), as well as across the South China Sea to Kowloon Bay (where we stayed, and most notably, where Cassandra was born.) Unfortunately, it was rather muggy so our photos will be a bit cloudy, but I'm sure I'll never forget the Hong Kong skyline, because it's absolutely breathtaking.

On the way down, we hopped the Peak Tram back into the center of the city. It looks and feels a bit like a roller coaster, and most notably, at one point, it stops at a perfect 45 degree angle. We were all too petrified to stand up, much less get out at this stop, so you can imagine how amazed we were when a woman who clearly must have been a local threw her toddler on her hip and jumped off while the tram was parked at such an incline.

All in all, I'm definitely glad we stopped in Hong Kong, and I'm hoping we spend another day there on the back end. The city itself is a metropolis on steroids, which is pretty impressive to this New Yorker.

"Good morning, Pork Bao. I am going to CRUSH you!"

I had **the most** delightful little pork buns at breakfast today. That is all.

[NB: In the interest of full disclosure, this photo was taken while I enjoyed my second dim sum of the day at the Hong Kong Airport. The second round of shui mai nearly cost us our flight to Phnom Penh, but it was worth every delectable bite. In this photo I am enjoying my third pork bao of the day, for those of you keeping score at home.]

"I was born in Kowloon Bay!"

My first impression of Hong Kong is that it is an extremely cosmopolitan, diverse city. I was expecting the cosmopolitanism to some degree, of course, but I've only been here about seven hours, and I already think I could enjoy living here.

After landing two hours late, we hit up the hotel, checked in, showered, and went on a search for some late-night eats. With the help of our concierge, we wound up at Knotsford Terrace, a very Western area in Kowloon, but at least it had restaurants that were still open and serving dinner.

From there, we taxied it across the Cross Harbour Tunnel to Lan Kwai Fon, where we found a great expat bar amidt a freakily spring-break like atmosphere. For a Tuesday night, it definitely wasn't half bad. We then meandered across the street to a very unassuming bar that ended up having an awesome live band, where we joyfully rocked out to "Sweet Child O'Mine" and "When I Come Around."

It's well past 3:00 a.m. and there is much sight-seeing to be done tomorrow before we ship off on Dragon Air to Phnom Penh, so for now I will go sleep...in...my...bed. [In the event that the punctuation didn't make it completely obvious, that was meant to be half-sung to the tune of "And then I jizzed...in...my...pants.]

Until tomorrow!

And they're off...

We are officially on our way! 16 hours to Hong Kong, EWK to HKG direct, baby.

So excited, I might pee my pants!