Report From the Field 10

Current Location: Bangkok, Thailand

It's 11 pm right now and I'm dead tired. I'm suppose to be on my way back to the hotel right now, after a night of celebrating Michelle's birthday on Khao San road. We haven't done really that much, we're all pretty much flat broke, and I'm so exhausted from the past few days that I'm really quite amazed with myself at randomly stopping at this slightly dodgy internet cafe to update my blog. Dedication, I tell you.

For some reason, coming back to Thailand after a month of traveling Indo China felt like coming back home, even though I'm far from home and still have to go back to Malaysia. Since my last update, I've been roaming the temples of the Angkor Wat vicinity, frequenting Angkor What, enjoying my time with the pretty girls and fellow travelers, and being enchanted by Cambodia. Along with Laos, Cambodia has been my favorite country out of the 5 that I've been to within the past 1.5 months. Despite the brutal heat (Sykai told me that recently, Siem Reap has cooled down - only 37 degrees Celcius now!), Cambodia has been lovely. The country possess a tragic beauty, a land where despite the beautiful landscape, architecture, and people, one can feel the pain of its history in the present day country. Like I wrote in my last update, it's not uncommon to see victims of landmines, child beggers, and those who truely possess nothing, save the clothe on their back. But in the face of such heartbreak and anguish, I've been inspired at the way that a smile is still so easily given and how easy it is to see the simple beauty of humanity, selflessness, and kindness.

Siem Reap itself has been amazing, and definately been one of my favorite places in Indo China. The ruins of the ancient Khmer was like nothing else I've ever seen before - in fact, the whole land has maintained a sense of timelessness. Walking through the sandstone temples with Indo-Asian motifs can really transport you back to the height of the Khmer dynasty. Even with the large number of tourists, you can still find a sense of peace and awe within its giant smiling faces and steep towers (and who are we kidding, even the number of tourists at Angkor Wat can't be compared to a busy day at any major tourist attractions in China). We even had the opportunity of watching a beautiful sunset while drinking a beer from the top of one of the lesser known temples, an amazingly clear sunset despite the fact that we are in the Monsoon season. Siem Reap itself is also a lovely little town, with an adorable Old Market, and a great bar street (Angkor What is fabulous. The buckets killed us though - I still wonder if we ever got through bucket number 3. A great quotable quote was the next day, when fellow travler Kelly asked me: "Hey Sheila, how did we get home last night?").

So now, I'm back in Bangkok, with less than 24 hours to go before I leave for Malaysia. It's still quite mind boggling to digest all that's happened in the past month - i'll save that for another day. For now, it's time to head back and get some sleep!