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2005-2008

When I returned to Thailand from my last big journey, Nee was at the airport waiting for me.  We returned Udon Thani and I took up my teaching job at Rajabhat University in Udon Thani.  My friend Clem had accepted a job at Thammasat University in Bangkok so I took over his apartment and we set up housekeeping.  Nee opened a beauty shop and her son Top lived with us. 

In November of 2005 we were married in a village ceremony in Ban Yang Um (Nee's village).  And I happily settled into domesticity.  After a while, we decided to buy property in Udon and build a house.  Click here for details

In March of 2007 we went to America.  Nee was very excited.  We arrived in LA and spent a few days with my friend Avram.  We went to Disneyland and the beach in Santa Monica.  We visited the La Brea Tar Pits and went to a game show taping.  We visited my Aunt and Uncle.

Then we hit the road in a rental car.  We headed for Las Vegas and there we were married for official purposes.  This avoided the hassle of registering our marriage in Thailand which can be bureaucratically difficult.   After Vegas we saw Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon and lots of nothing.  Nee was amazed at the open spaces with so few people.

In Dallas we visited my dad and Joy.  My cousins Ruth and Aynn and my Aunt Jean flew in to visit.  I showed Nee around Dallas and we visited my oldest friends David and Carol.  Then we stopped off for a night with my cousin John in Little Rock and spent another night with my niece Alli and her husband Dave.

After a few days of luxury accommodations with my sister and John we turned west.  Driving through a spring blizzard we stopped in Limon, Colorado for the night.  The next day we visited Buffalo Bill's grave and then stayed the night in Glenwood Springs.  We enjoyed our swim in the large thermal pool and had a great dinner.

West by way of Idaho we headed for Corvallis.  I visited friends and family.  I spent one day with my son Brentley and a day with my daughter Heather.  My ex-wife Diana had graciously agreed to store my stuff and since we were building a home in Udon, I decided to ship the goods to Udon.  We stayed at Diana's house while I sorted and packed my stuff.  This would prove to be a big mistake.  Nee became very upset during our visit.  Apparently, in Thailand, it is very unusual for divorced people to be on good terms. 

After leaving Oregon we travelled south along the Pacific Coast Highway.  We took the usual souvenir photos at the Golden Gate.  And, after a few days with Avram we returned to Udon.

About two months after we returned, Nee left me.  She said she was jealous of my first wife.  I kept hoping she would return but after several months I gave up and made plans to hit the road again.  At the end of the school term in March, I sold most of my stuff, put a dab in storage, dusted off my back pack and bought my airline tickets.

Who knows what adventures await me.

Cambodia

14-22JUL02 

The next morning I caught the 6am bus for Siem Reap (town near Angkor Wat).  The trip was a typical air conditioned express bus until we got to the border.  We stopped for an hour to arrange Cambodian visas and to eat lunch, then we unloaded our gear and made our way through customs.  I paid my $6 fine for overstaying my Thailand visa for one day and walked into Poipet, Cambodia.  Lonely Planet describes the town as a "hole".  In this case I thought they were being overly complimentary.  The poverty was overwhelming.  A dusty, potholed road with plastic trash blowing in the breeze was teeming with begging children.

We loaded onto a pickup truck.  I was lucky and sat inside and began our 7 hour journey to Siem Reap.  The road surface was very rough.  Some parts were covered by a layer of large stones laboriously placed by hand.  Some parts were mud and clay and some parts were deteriorated asphalt.  Many bridges had holes and required guides to get across.  They received a tip of about 6 cents.  Finally we reached a bridge that was completely out and had to detour through a series of villages down a narrow road.  About every 500m there was a toll gate and our driver shelled out another 20 baht.  

At one point the sky opened and out of sympathy to the riders in the back of the pickup we stopped for lunch.  I ordered American fried rice.  As nearly as I can tell, the main distinguishing factor is the french fries added on top. 

Ron was our translator and he promoted the Sok San Gueshouse.  I checked it out and it seemed okay.  Osmo and Lassi (Finland) and Peter (NZ) decided to stay there, too.  I spent an "adjustment" day relaxing at the guesthouse while the young adventurers started their visit to Angkor Wat.  Great French baguettes.  

That evening we sampled some street food.  Fried snake and fried cricket.  They both tasted much the same to me, probably because they had been fried in the same oil.

The next day I bought my 3 day ($40US) pass to Angkor Wat and I joined Osmo and Lassi to visit Banteay Srei and another temple in the morning.  We travelled on the back of motorbikes and the 80km trip was half the fun.  

That afternoon we visited Ta Phrom.  This temple had been left unrestored and was appropriately mysterious and scenic.  Large trees grewn from tumbled walls.  Shrines with smoking incense were tucked into dark corners.  I was told this temple was one of the locations for "Tomb Raiders".  It was my favorite.

That evening we went to the Bayon Restaurant and watched classical and ethnic dancers and had a few Angkor beers.

The next day I hired a bicycle and headed to Angkor Wat by myself.  Along the way Cambodian people talked to me from their bicycles.  I helped a few lift up their heavily laden bicycles that had fallen over while we attempted to communicate.   I meandered around found a cool place and read a novel for a while.  Then I was joined by Srei Dy, a Buddhist monk who wanted to practice his English.  While we talked an afternoon rain storm enveloped the temple giving it an especially exotic look.   After the rain the bicycle trip back the the guesthouse was cool.

That night we dined at Happy Herb Pizza.  You can order pizza "happy", "medium happy" or "extra happy".  I ordered a medium sized medium happy.  Peter ordered a large extra happy.  By the end of the meal, I was happy and Peter was so extra happy that he decided to return to the guesthouse.  

The last day I visited Bayon temple.  This temple was the burial place of Jayavarman VII.  More than 200 smiling faces (said to be a composite of JVII and Budda) smiled down on me.  On the way back I visited the landmine museum for a grisly reminder of the war and chaos that has plagued Cambodia for the last 50 years.  

Early the next day, I caught the fast boat for Phnom Pehn.  We traveled by pickup down a long road to the landing.  Then the ferry inched its way along a canal through a floating city.  There were food boats, soft drink boats, floating repair shops, boats with livestock.  A whole city on water.  The trip across Tonle Sap lake took a few hours and part of the time we were almost out of sight of land.  

We we arrived at Phnom Pehn, I spotted the sign of the Okay guesthouse, recommended by the guest house in Siem Reap. I hopped on the back of the motorbike and headed there.  

I decided not to visit either the Killing Fields or the Tuol Sieng Museum, both sites of Pol Pot atrocities.  That pretty much left only the National Museum and walking and motorbiking around the streets of Phnom Pehn.  While I was there I saw "The Killing Fields" for the second time while I was in Cambodia.  It's a powerful film and more powerful when I viewed it where it had happened.  

The Cambodian people are friendly and industrious.  But, after 50 years of war the country is in awful shape.  Not many people older than 40 are seen and most of the population is very young.  The infrastructure is being rebuilt but has a long way to go.  There is no hatred of America for the bombing of the 70's.  On the contrary, many view it as the promised land.  Most young people just want to practice their English.

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