Is Not Chicago

Ankor Wat:

The beach at Koh Phi Phi Don:
Maya Bay on Koh Phi Phi Leh (as seen in The Beach)

Full Moon Party: Hat Rin Beach, Ko Pha Ngan

After a crazy day in Bangkok of temples and being dropped at tailors and jewelry factories by my tuk tuk driver, we awoke at five in the morning to make our flight out to Siem Reap, the home of Angkor Wat. At the airport we hopped on the back of two motor bikes and headed into town. Cambodia is an interesting country. On one side of the road are giant hotels with all the amenities. On the other side, tiny shacks with a moat where the people grow their fish to eat.

Our drivers offered to take us around Angkor for the day for a very modest price (modest by our standards not by theirs). The ruins of Angkor are absolutely mindblowing. We don’t have our cameras at the internet cafe, but there’s somewhere in the range of 300 pictures we took. But you’ll enjoy the faux-hawk monkeys. And the video of us calling Angkor crazy town, and a couple local wanting to know why we think they’re crazy.
Whenever our drivers dropped us off to check out another site, we were immediately accosted by young Cambodian girls hawking their wares. Bracelets 10 for $1, postcards, everything. It was like a 99 cent store in the middle of nowhere.

And these girls were good. So adorable you know why Angelina Jolie had to bring one home. And they were persistent. They wouldn’t let you go without promising to buy something on your way out. And they remember you. They remember your name.

One encounter went a little something like this:
Them: “Scarf for $1″
Us: “No, thank you”
“Why?”
“I don’t need a scarf”
“For your girlfriend back home?”
“I don’t have a girlfriend”
“You know why you don’t have girlfriend?”
“Why?”
“Because you don’t buy my scarf. You give scarf to friend, you make her girlfriend”

That’s how good they are. At least I now know why I don’t have a girlfriend.

After getting all “watted” out we headed back to the hotel for a shower and naps. Our same drivers picked us up and took us to an awesome local restaurant. We were the only farang (foreigners) there. But they treated us well, the food was awesome, and we had a great time hanging out with our drivers. They reminded us a little bit of us, except Cambodian. If any of you ever come to Angkor, let us know and we’ll give you the names of two great guides.

And now I’ll tell you now why I don’t have a girlfriend in Thailand. Thai girls are incredibly difficult to talk to. Not because they are coy or they lack English skills, but because you just don’t know if they’re “working girls.” And then you don’t even know if they’re actually girls. I saw my first topless girl of the trip on the beach, only on closer inspection, was not a natural woman. They’re everywhere, and at the end of the night as all the bars close, they swarm the farangs like Cambodian girls. Ever had your nuts grabbed from behind by a possible boy, but definite prostitute, on the streets of Thailand? I don’t recommend it, but it’s something you sometimes just can’t avoid. Like tuk tuk drivers, tailors, and ping pong shows.