Today we're walking around the markets in Siem Reap, Cambodia. We told our guide David (who has been absolutely wonderful) that we wanted to spend a few hours just walking around town rather than seeing the temples today.

I'll tell you a little more about what we've been doing the last few days ... this is the first I'm having time to go into any detail. When I called you Tuesday, I was at a phone in the post office with many people standing around and the static and time-delay made it hard to speak (as you noticed, I'm sure!). Then Wednesday we were in a hurry to catch the sunset so I didn't have much time. Now today we're on our own and I have some time.

I'm typing this on a Win95 PC at the business of a guy named Dominique, who had the first (and maybe still only, I don't know) internet connection in Siem Reap. He has a few PC's connected to a UPS and an e-mail server, and he uploads e-mail to Phnom Penh six times per day. While Doug typed this e-mail, Mom showed off pictures of her grandchildren to a group of Cambodian women, including Dominique's wife.

We've seen most of the major temples, and it's all awesome. Angkor Wat was huge and impressive, of course, but the ones that have most surprised me were Banteay Srei (about 40KM to the north) and Banteay Samre (just east of the eastern Baray). They're very ornately carved, and Banteay Samre was the least crowded of any temple we've visited (perhaps because it was at noon in the mid-day sun).

Yesterday we took a boat tour of the Vietnamese fishing village on Tonle Sap ("great lake") a few miles south of here. We saw so many cool things there ... a guy herding hundreds of tame ducks (we asked why they don't fly away, but the answer wasn't very clear -- clipped wings?) ... a fish farm with a feeding frenzy of big fish ... two monkeys at a little tourist shop out on the lake, one of whom was drinking a Coke and the other was eating a cigarette ... two big Burmese pythons and the little girl who would take them out and show them to us (I told her about the big Burmese pythons I used to have) ... kids rowing around in strange little boats, sun setting over the bamboo fish traps, etc, etc, etc.

We took a very tiny boat, just us and our guide (David) and the driver. The boat was a little shaky (I almost turned it over getting in, but later got my sea legs back), but we blew right past the larger safer tourist boats that were stuck in the mud trying to get out of the little canal where they pick up the tourists -- our driver simply waded in front, pulling the boat past all the shallow stuff, and we were out on the lake before any of the other tourists and we started back in when they all caught up with us out on the lake.

Our driver (right) was the first of many guys in Southeast Asia that Doug didn't quite hit it off with ... when we got out of the car and walked toward the boats, this tough-looking young guy walked up and said "you go for boat ride with me." Doug -- not knowing that this was a friend of our guide and he had been waiting for us -- deliberately turned his back to the guy and wouldn't look at him. By the time we realized what was going on, the driver was offended; he never smiled the whole two hours we were on the lake. In the confusion of the moment Doug forgot to ask what it would cost, so when we got off the boat later Doug asked David (our guide) what to pay including a good tip, and David discreetly wrote a "15" on his palm with a ballpoint pen. The driver, who may have noticed this, quickly said "20 dollar" and Doug gave him a $20 bill and said "thanks, it was great." David later apologized for his friend's high price, but Doug saw it as a mere $5 penalty for being a rude tourist, which is cheap by Chicago standards.


Kids near the fishing village on Tonle Sap.

Tuesday I misunderstood a lunch bill and -- thinking it was $17 instead of $7 -- I gave the kid a $20 and said "keep the change." He literally skipped away, he was so happy, and word must have got around ... now I have guys bringing me Cokes and waiting for big tips, and we've decided we can't go back to that area any more. Other than that, things are going good. Mom has a slight cold and I pulled a muscle in my leg when I temporarily forgot that I'm in lousy shape and tried something I shouldn't have, but life is good.



We'll next be in touch from Kathmandu ... we go there tomorrow (Friday), then Saturday morning to the animal sacrifices at Dakshinkali, so I'll probably try to call you Saturday evening (Saturday morning your time).

Love, Doug & Mom

Angkor Wat reflected in the surrounding moat.
The spiritual centerpiece of Angkor, its five main towers (in the distant right)
appear on the Cambodian flag (below).
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