News from the underground...Cheetas never prosper.

So, i've been slacking on my blogging duties a wee bit..but here's the latest:

Last time i updated, í was in hoi an, vietnam, and fabulous shopping was all around.

From Hoi an, we travelled by train to Nha Trang. Apparently it was supposed to be a beach paradise (which i was totally looking foward to!) We arrived in the evening, around 6pm, and within a couple of hours i was throwing up. Not feeling great at all-- we figure it was something i ate. It wasnt long before the diarrhea kicked in, and i was out of comission for about 24 hours. NOT FUN. Everyone went snorkeling, and on a beautiful boat (where they got manicures and massages to boot.. :(

The next day, i was feeling mostly better, it came and went gladly, and i was able to make it to the hot springs and mud bath. Great relaxing day-- very little energy exerted (just what the doctor ordered- Dr. Michelle that is..)

Day after, we were back on the bus heading for saigon (aka ho chi minh city). Big, beautiful and bustling. Tons of people and tons of traffic. We did the typical tour by cyclo (local driven bicycle with a seat in front for the tourists..lol), it actually is a quite efficient mode of transport! From saigon we made a day trip to the war remnants museum, and to the ku chi tunnels. Very sad day. The devestation from the war was unthinkable, and the fact that the local people had to dig our an intricate tunnel system just to stay alive says it all. (their tunnels were 3 levels and even had a hospital underground). Such an experience walking through the dark, hot tunnels, i cant imagine living there.

It was in saigon that we said goodbye to our group (who i'd really grown to love), and said hello to our new group. All girls (7 of us all together). The guide is from USA. We were only in saigon for one more day before crossing the border into Cambodia.

Cambodia is BEAUTIFUL. the most beautiful countryside we've seen so far. The people are the nicest that we've come accross and the weather is hot hot hot all the time. I actually think i'm getting quite used to the temperatures (i dont know how i'm going to handle the snow when i get home!) We started in Phnom penh- gorgeous 'small town' feel for actually a quite populated city. Again, did the cyclo tour to get an idea of our surroundings. Our first day we did the s-21 prison and learned about the Kmer Rouge and Pol Pot regime. Pol Pot is short for political potential, and it was the name given to the ruler of the regime. He, during his reign, killed so many of his own people. His goal was to get rid of all of the educated people so no one could outsmart and over-rule him. Hundreds of people went through this prison (educated people) and were tortured until they exposed other educated people that they knew. They were told that they would be released when they shared the information--but were taken to be killed instead. The typical length of stay in the prison was 1-4 months (before being killed). From the prison we went to the killing fields were we saw so many mass graves where the bodies were burried. Graves filled with kids, or women, or mixed graves. The stories were so sad. Our local guide for this trip was a young boy during the pol pot regime, and was taken from his parents and forced to work in the fields (at 6 years old). His older brother and sister were starved to death because they refused to become soldiers for the kmer rouge). Needless to say, another depressing day. But, i definitely learned a lot.

We went from phnom penh to siem reip--where i am now. So beautiful (maybe even more so than phnom penh--if thats possible). Here, there are so many temples and so much history. We went to the famous jungle temple (better known from tomb raider the movie--angelina jolie..). This morning we got up for sunrise over Angkor Wat. Breathtaking (the photos are beautiful). It was definitely worth the 430 wake up. I can absolutely see why it is one of the manmade 7 wonders of the world.

Now we are headed for a boat trip through a floating village, and the mangroves, and then headed to a local orphanage. Tomorrow we head to battambang and we get to do a motorcycle tour! (so excited!!! we did one in Hue, Vietnam and it was so much fun--maybe this time he'll let me drive--i asked last time, but he said no :(

The day after tomorrow we head to Bangkok- i cant believe that Cambodia is almost over, but thailand here i come!

Miss you guys loads and loads and i really hope you're all doing spankingly well.

M.