新年快樂！Happy New Years!

Well I got back from my trip yesterday (Sunday). It was an interesting trip that defies explanation in some ways. Thailand and Cambodia were both hot and sunny the whole time, a good break from the dreary rain and cold of Taiwan. I landed in Bangkok and spent a few days there, moving from hostel to guesthouse night to night. It was bothersome since I was unaware of the city and moving all my stuff everyday in search of a better and cheaper hostel was uncomfortable in the heat. Bangkok is a fairly good size city with a well deserved reputation as a tourist haven in SE Asia. Everywhere you go there are street stalls and vendors selling everything from pirated DVD's and CD's , to shirts, paintings, wild animals and "massage times" with Thai women. What struck me most was the overwhelming presence of fat, wealthy European men with their little Thai girls tucked under their arms. Entire sections of the city are devoted to go go bars and strip clubs; it's really quite sad and pathetic to be honest. A few temples (more of the same at this point for me) were noteworthy, and Khaoshan Road (backpackers' mecca) were highlights. I decided to head into Cambodia after a few days in Bangkok.
The trip from Bangkok to the border was about 3 hours, and upon arrival at the border with Cambodia you have to find alternate means to Siem Reap, the town in Cambodia with the famous Angkor Wat temples. At the border you are "assisted" by shady characters with your Visa, in hopes of screwing you out of money. Sure enough, myself and other foreigners were charged $30, instead of $20 as it should have been. There are no police, and the customs "officials" are cohorts with all the shady, menacing figures. Thus, if you want entrance into the country you must pay what they demand. After paying and getting through you're met with a dilapidated, dirt road that has been in disrepair since the French pulled out decades ago. This is the main (and only) road from the border to Siem Reap and Angkor Wat. I can't overstate the condition of this road, though I think these numbers will help clarify. I shared a cab with an Aussie, an American, and a Frenchman; the journey we undertook in a Camry took 5 hours to cover 120 km. That's about 15mph. Angkor Wat was impressive by all means, but not one of the greatest structures I've seen, Rome was better, and my French travel companion for the day told me the Pyramids in Egypt were also grander. Everything in Cambodia is bought and sold using the USD or the Rieal, which is basically not worth the paper it's printed on. As you would expect everything is as cheap as I've encountered. Beer, food, rooms, and transportation were all next to nothing. The country is a step up from the thatched huts and impoverished villages of rural Africa, the Phillipines is clearly a level higher. Many of the people have been handicapped from landmines and no one goes off the beaten path even today, despite the situation being much better than even five years ago. It's a country of relatively happy, relaxed people. Despite all the children hawkers in Angkor Wat, it wasn't bothersome as most just wanted to talk and explore us as we were doing their scared temples. It's a country I genuinely feel bad for, they were ravaged by war and then a tyrant in Pol Pot, and are only now getting used to any sense of freedom. Even in small dusty villages, newspapers and magazines abound, and all children are taught remedial English in school. The Thai on the other hand are a nice, warm people, but they are lazy and have become completely dependent on tourism for their economy. Luckily, or maybe in spite of it, their country is a bastion for vacation seekers; and they are able to reap the benefits. It is said the Thai are the most illiterate, literate people on earth. I talked to a few English teachers who work in Thailand and they all echoed that the level of education and knowledge in the country is deplorable. One told me that the idea of reading for pleasure is an absurd notion in the culture, and most of her students hadn't read an entire book ever. Anyway, I ran out of time and money so rather than heading south to Phuket I went to the sin bin of Pattaya. Pattaya apparently has the dubious clam of offering more hookers, massage parlors, and go go bars per capita than anywhere on earth. I don't know how true that is, but I don't doubt it. Regardless, the coast and beaches are still very nice, and their is an island off the coast that is relatively deserted, which is nice.
A good trip, though very trying and exhausting at times. Unfortunately in Cambodia I accidently reformated my camera's SD card and erased all my pictures from Bangkok, and after arriving in Pattaya my batteries died and the voltage is different in Thailand, so I wasn't able to re-charge them. Therefore I have pictures from only two days in Cambodia, very disappointing. I've got some pictures.