Now Running On Empty

We arrived in New Delhi late this afternoon, a four and a half hour flight with rather poor service and no perks - when I asked a stewardess to borrow a pen she just said "no." Indian Airlines. I'm much more excited for Emirates Air to Istanbul in a few weeks because it was such a pleasure just to reconfirm the flight.

I say we're running on empty because we've been moving so much I barely have time to digest the different cities, let alone different countries. We figured out that in one 12 day stretch we took one flight, six long distance bus rides including 3 overnight, and stayed in 7 different cities. Our arrival card today asked us how many countries we've been in for the last 6 days. My mind raced: bar hopping and dancing in Saigon with some local waitresses we met and a very cool guy from Vail (great conversation for Scott) until 4:30am; firing heavy machine guns after crawling 120 meters underground through the Cuchi Tunnels with a guide who lost two brothers and his father in the war; bribing the border guard to get into Cambodia because my passport is full (yes, I'm happy to report that corruption is alive and well in Cambodia); My Li, a beautiful local girl I played dominos with all night on the riverfront in Pnom Penh, working towards a law degree in five years time; watching some new crappy movie at the hostel with Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman; waking early to tour the killing fields and S-21 by motorbike (where the Khymer Rouge killed so many innocents); touring the ancient temples at Siem Reap from sunrise to sunset, stopping only to eat and lie around in hammocks in the heat; and finally the 13 hour bus ride back to Bangkok on dirt roads that are so bad you literally bounce up and down the entire ride, your voice vibrating like you're talking into a fan between major bumps that send the minibus seats lurching in different directions in unison.

From Phnom Penh all the way to Bangkok we hung out a lot with a pair of Israeli chicks from Haifa. They found my knowledge of Israel and miserable hebrew skills to be cute I guess. Who would've thought we'd find some nice Jewish girls in Cambodia?! Actually, the Israelis have been everywhere, except Malaysia where they're not allowed. We also had a great conversation with a couple teaching English in Korea - Korea and Taiwan sound like the best money if you go abroad to teach, and they even cover your flights and living expenses. Today we actually met an American couple on our flight living in Tokyo and working at Disneyland there; she is a singer and he is Aladdin!

I have to take back a thought from a previous entry. I said I didn't like Vietnam, but after Hanoi I fell in love with Vietnam. Saigon was certainly my favorite, and I had a very hard time leaving. We met amazing people, especially the locals we actually became real friends with. A local girl named Elsi who's family owns the pizza parlor we ate and drank at each day took us out all night with her friends Lien and Nanh, very cool.

"Same Same But Different." This is a phrase from S.E. Asia that makes no sense at first, but rings more true each day as you move along. It's a sort of deja vue phenomenon. The hawker stalls, the beggar children and street vendors, the dirty guesthouses and untrustworthy travel agents, the minibuses and tuk tuks - everything that wipes you out mentally and screws you over financially. Everywhere you go, same same but different. Cambodia though, was an all new level in terms of exposure to serious poverty. You just don't see the numbers of children living barefoot in the dirt and alleyways that you see there. I've started buying little gifts to give them when they beg at the windows for anything you have. My cousin Billy gives out pencils when he travels, perhaps a good idea for the kids. You can't help but want to make them smile. I must return to Cambodia. Phnom Penh was unexpectedly spectacular with its grand riverfront and wide boulevards, not exactly the wild west experience of lawlessness and danger you dream up. I'm expecting to see more terrible poverty as we move through India.

In Cambodia we ran out of money. Whether you think that's funny or scary we can discuss later, but we left the country with three dollars between us. There are no ATMs. Scott's pants are despicable, dirty and stained (we both wear the same thing evry day and I'm not kidding). We barely paid off our bus ticket out. We actually didn't eat very much at all for the final 24 hours...(obviously in a real emergency we'd work something out at the bank, don't worry mothers)...but Scott chuckled that his father predicted our eventual fall to the gutter. Every country from here on in has ATMs, I think.

But let me get to the real heart-warming part of this entry, because these are the moments that make you appreciate where you come from and literally reflect on what you got in this world...
Before finishing our backbreaking day of temples at Siem Reap, we spent several hours just hanging out in the drizzle on the top level of Angkor Wat, the most famous of the area's temples. The surrounding tree tops and jungle look like a scene from Crouching Tiger. Now there are many beggars and trickster's who attempt to sell you postcards (an adorable 9 year old girl conned me into buying a pack of ten - she knew the capital of Madagascar!) clothing, bracelets, information, etc., including even monks, but we finally met some nice kids that didn't ask for anything but conversation. I ended up chatting for almost 2 hours with a group of 20 year olds who bike almost 2 hours every week to the temples from their small village just to practice their English with foreignors on days off from school. The government subsidizes their english and tourism schooling because their fathers were in the army, but they still have few opportunities and little access to information. I was happy to speak with them, knowing how important a role model I must look like to them, and answered their questions honestly about America and how I felt about Cambodia and my experiences there. It could seriously make you cry when these kids tell you how happy you've made their day just to spend time with them - one kid said he wished he could be my little brother. I took some photos of these guys and got their addresses to send them along later. It'll have to be old-fashioned snail mail, they do not have email yet in their village. They're actually very bright. One guy explained to me how Cambodia, as compared to Thailand, is just now rebuilding and emerging as a developing democracy, attempting to shake off the lingering effects of the Pol Pot era legacies. Recognizing that they will never have the opportunity to obtain serious higher education in fields like law or business, tourism is the most promising avenue for success in their individual futures.

It's not until Saturday, but I just want to wish my older brother Marc and his girlfriend Clara a huge congratulations for their graduation ceremony from business school. I can't wait to visit you soon in London. Now it's time to crash/