Kimchi and Ice Cream

Bridget (another student at the School of Marine Affairs) and I made it to Manila safely last night and found our guesthouse pretty easily. The plane rides were long and the food was.. interesting. For our snack, they served kimchi and ice cream, which I've never had served together. I'm trying to remain optimistic about the food in the Philippines but I am a little nervous. Oh well, we'll see. There's not much to say about Manila so far. It has a distinctly latin flavor to it, and reminds me more of Panama City than it reminds me of Bangkok. I've been told that the farther north you get in the country, the more you notice the Spanish influence. So, I'm curious to see how Cebu compares (farther south). We fly there tonight and from there will meet up with the CCE: the Coastal Conservation and Education Foundation, the organization that will be helping us with the logistics of our thesis research.

At the request of my mom, I will describe the work that I will be doing this summer. I am still in the planning stages, and will meet with my thesis adviser in a few days and iron out a few of the details. In the Philippines, ecotourism programs are a part of natural resource management, as many of the fish populations are overfished and ecotourism provides non-consumptive alternative sources of income to local fishermen. Or that's the idea. In some places, this works better than others. So I will be conducting interviews of communities where different ecotourism programs are located to find out why some work and why some don't. The goal is to ultimately discover factors that influence the long-term success of these programs.

Paradise

After falling in love with Cambodia, Mikaela and I decided to alter our travel plans and head to Sihanoukville instead of Koh Chang in Thailand. What awaited was a perfect white sand beach, crystal clear turquise waters that seemed like the world's most perfect and salty swimming pool, amazing new friends, and life-changing memories. We met most of our new friends on the bus from Siem Reap: two funny english guys from Darby and a german couple from Stuttegard. Nothing like a 10 hour bus ride to ensure group bonding. We got to Sihanvoukville and found a guest house and immediately wandered down the beach for some food. We had seafood barbeque almost every night we were there, and I already miss it. The idea of going to Sihanoukville was to celebrate my birthday on the beach, which we did with style. I couldn't imagine a better birthday. Our german friends introduced us to the custom of starting the party at midnight of your birthday, and continuing it for 24+ hours. One of our darling english friends requested a birthday song to be played at midnight, and the DJ obliged. With 25 cent drafts, it was a very happy birthday for everyone. The actual day of my birthday, we went to Otres beach. Don't tell anyone. I feel like I have stumbled upon a magical travel secret. Otres is a long streach of perfect white powder sand and amazing, amazing water. It's so clear you can see the beige crabs scuttling on the bottom several yards out. It's also almost deserted, there are a few beach bars with lounge chairs happy to cater to your every whim. We made a habit of frequenting the "I don't know" bar, where the staff spoiled us silly. After we discovered Otres, we went there every day. We fell into a comfortable routine of waking up and heading to the beach, comming back and grabbing seafood barbeque, then heading out for happy hour drafts. Sleep and repeat. It was so hard to pack, knowing that not only did I have to leave paradise, but that I was headed to Bangkok where I would fly back to Seattle. It was even harder to get on the bus that took me away from Sihanoukville and across the boarder. Now I sit in Bangkok, and every part of me wants to grab a bus back to Sihanoukville. I can't believe I fly home in 2 days. This will be my last post until I am home, then I will sum up Bangkok and post all the picture albulms.

Amazing Angkor

Well, this post is a bit over-due. Cambodia is captivating, it's hard to force yourself in to an internet cafe. Our next stop after Phnom Pehn was Siem Reap, famous for its proximity to the temples of Angkor. And they are every bit as impressive as we were told they would be. Our first day (we got a three day pass) we attempted the grand circuit by bicycle, and did over 30km on old creaky bikes over bumpy roads. We ran into trouble at sunset, as the lights didn't work! So, we took a tuk-tuk for the remaining two days. Biking was fun, but we were so sore after the first day I couldn't fathom getting on one again. We went to several temples, but two stood out as my favorite. Running around Ta Prahm and Bayon was probably one of the coolest things I've ever done. Ta Prahm is where the movie Tomb Raider was filmed, it is a massive temple over run with trees growing everywhere. Just incredible. As soon as I get home, I will post the pictures. Bayon is famous for its big stone faces. And famous for good reason. The only reason we didn't visit for a second time is that it is immensly popular, and we were shoulder to shoulder for much of our time there. I took so many pictures of temples! Feel lucky that I will only post the best ones to the website, and not make you sit through them all....

Heart-Wrenching History Lessons

Well, Mikaela and I took a bus, a train, a plane, then a tuk-tuk, but we finally made it to Phnom Penh, the capitol city of Cambodia. What a place! It's loud and hectic, with painfully obvious poverty, yet I can't help but love this country. Cambodian history is not pretty. They have been under colonial rule, subjected to American bombs and landmines(along with the rest of the countries we have visited), and then when the rest of SE Asia was finally able to start putting the pieces back together after the end of the war in Vietnam, Cambodia was experiencing its greatest tragedy: a civil war in which the country was overtaken by a crazy, blood-thirsty regime called the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge sought to rid the country of anyone even mildly associated with the previous regime (and their families), intellectuals and an upper class, and systematically exterminated everyone they thought fell into those categories. The whole of the nation suffered, as this meant no doctors, or medicine. Between intentional killings, food shortages and a lack of medical care, almost 1/4 of the country's population died. This is one of the many reasons it blows my mind that everyone we meet is wonderfully friendly, in spite of everything they have most likely had to endure. The tourist industry provides for many who would otherwise have no way to support their families. This makes for a lot of people in your face pushing tuk-tuk rides or tourist trinkets, and while overwhelming, I am made constantly aware that these are people working very hard just to get by. And the lack of bitterness at the hand they have been dealt, there are just no words. Obviously, I have seen poverty and witnessed people who are struggling over and over again on my journey through Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. But here, they fight tooth and nail for a job taking you across town for a couple of dollars. And they do it with a smile on their face. And if you reply, "No Thank-you" to their well-intentioned pleas, they respond by welcoming you to their country anyway. And all the while that you are experiencing this over and over again, you are in a beautiful country with extraordinary architecture and cuisine, both the native Khmer cuisine (somewhat similar to Thai) and western cuisine that has been heavily influenced by the French colonial rule. Combine this with the ever-present gentle breeze of warm, sultry night air, and how could anyone not love this country? Of course, our time in Phnom Penh was not just about good food and good times. While we did have our fun, we also could not avoid a visit to Tuol Sleng, or S-21, the Genocide Museum. What is now a museum began its history as a public high-school, before the Khmer Rouge turned it into a prison for the torture and execution of anyone they deemed worthy. What can I write about standing in a place where 20,000 people were subjected to tortures I cannot even begin to fathom, then sent to dig their own grave before death by blunt-force trauma in order to save bullets? What words are there to describe viewing the entry photographs of the children that died here, innocent smiles on their faces because they had no idea what lay in store for them? Needless to say, Mikaela and I left Phnom Penh for Siam Reap with heavy hearts.

Finding Nemo

I was apprehensive about leaving Ton Sai, we had had such a good time there that it seemed logical to stick around for as long as we could. But we headed over to Koh Lanta anyway, lured by the promise of amazing diving and the beaches of Koh Phi Phi. Koh Lanta delivered in spades. We stayed right on the beach in an amazing bungalow. The next day I went diving at Koh Haa, on possibly the most amazing dive I have ever been on. To be fair, my dive in Austrailia was almost 10 years ago(!) and it's possible I don't remember it as thoroughly, but I was absolutely ENCHANTED by Koh Haa. Perfect crystal waters, warm but not too hot, and an AMAZING diversity of marine life. It was like diving in the Pacific Coral Reef exhibit of the Seattle Aquarium. Large, colorful schools of fish, shoals of barracuda, sea cucumbers and starfish and corals carpeting the sea floor. So many different kinds of pufferfish, including the large porcupine pufferfish that curiously follow you around like a yellow spikey puppy. What I was really hoping to see was a whale shark, but I was almost to distracted by all the vibrant colors teeming around the reef to bother to gaze out into the distant murky blue for what might be swimming in its depths. Turns out, I did see a whale shark. While I was on the boat, eating lunch. Oh well. Someday, I will see one while diving, but at least I saw one with my own two eyes, even if I wasn't in the water while it showed up. The next day, Mikaela and I went on a snorkeling/beach tour around Koh Phi Phi. The beaches were absolutely as phenominal as the hype makes them out to be. The snorkelling paled a bit in comparision to Koh Haa, but was still decent. We went snorkelling in Monkey Bay, and stopped at the beach where we were immediately surrounded by a troop of monkeys! They came right up to us, in all honesty, I was more timid about the whole thing than they were! So our time in Koh Lanta paid off, and a bit sadly, we left for Cambodia. But we weren't to sad about it, Cambodia is an exciting prospect in itself!

Soaking Wet

After two night trains and part of a day in Bangkok, we arrived in Ko Phangan in the POURING rain, which continued for the entirety of our time there. Not too much fun. But we met some cool people and drank beer and had some late night pool parties in our beach front infinity pool, as the rain seemed to only subside well after dark. Eventually, the monsoon-like atmosphere proved to be too much, and we jumped ship for the Adaman Coast before our originally intended departure date. We missed the famous full moon party, but still had a great time under the moon nonetheless. November's full moon is when Thailand celebrates New Year, so we lit a candle on a boat made from leaves and flowers and sent it off into the ocean with our bad luck, along with everyone else at midnight. It is such a beautiful holiday. Ao Ton Sai is an amazing place. Everyone is laidback, both the travelers and the locals. The beach next door is one of the prettiest in Thailand, plus there is amazing kayaking and rock climbing, so we were well taken care of. We made some new friends on our first night, and hung out with them all week. We left today for Koh Lanta, where we are essentially staying right on the beach, another gorgeous one. Tommorrow I will go diving at Koh Haa and the day after, Mikaela and I will day trip to Koh Phi Phi for some snorkeling.

Yes We Can

The conclusion of my time in Chang Mai will live in my heart forever. I took an amazing cooking class and ate the best thai food, and I made it myself. I went trekking in the mountains surrounding Chang Mai and swam in waterfalls and rode an elephant. I met people resisting the urge to join modern society and instead holding on to unique and beautiful cultural traditions and ways of life. I met amazing people both from Thailand, living abroad in Thailand and just visiting Thailand like me. In every country we visit, Mikaela and I have paused to marvel over the very fact that what we are expiriencing here in Southeast Asia will live deep within us for the rest of our lives. I just never thought I would be so truly moved by America while so far away from it. In a bar in Chang Mai, we watched the election with what felt like every American in the city. In that morning, we met far more Americans than we had in total since starting our trip. At 9 am, we all showed up to watch the election on CNN and were immediately greeted with good news. Obama was way up, and we were waiting to see how Ohio and Florida would unfold. As everyone is well aware, we won them. The whole bar errupted in cheers again and again all morning. We were shouting and laughing and drinking and crying and celebrating. As Obama addressed the crowd in his speech, I was embarssed to realize I was crying, until I noticed that there were very few dry faces making up the room. "We are Americans!" we kept telling each other. And I knew without question that I would remember clearly that final morning in Chang Mai.