Whoa so its been like half a year, or maybe even more, since I last posted on my blog. Huge apologies. Writing is a good exercise to keep my creative English up to par. And since I have not been exercising this part of my brain for 243 days. Okay, I lied. Its been over a year. We are looking at 8 months, plus some. So what have I been doing in these past eight months... hmm.

Well winter came and so did the snow. I bought sweet skis and had some fun in white fluff. Then Christmas came and instead of going home. I went to visit my friend, Kait, in Thailand. She is currently teaching English in Bangkok and I couldn't pass up the opportunity. We did a short 5 day trip to Cambodia, where we checked out Phenom Phen and Siem Riep. Our highlights and low lights were Chiso mountain (just outside of Phenom Phen,) the Killing Fields, and Anchor Wat.

The Killing Fields were a must see, but an extremely depressing must see. I'm pretty sure, at some point everyone has been educated on the massive genocide in Cambodia during the 1970s. I am guilty of not remembering anything I was taught, so here is a wikipedia link if you want to refresh yourself. Pol Pot, the leader of the communist Khmer Rouge Party, ordered decimation of anyone who had connections with the former government (a very vague category). People were starved and tortured. Something like 200,000 people were executed. So upon visiting the memorial/graves of these victims, I only knew a very brief account of what happened (thanks to Sala, our hired driver for the day, and a lonely planet guide). I didn't understand how the pieces of clothing sticking out of the graves would have an affect on me. I instantaneously feel in love with every Cambodian. And it wasn't a sympathy ploy that made me fall in love. It was the fact that, from what I could tell, were all genuinely happy people. If I remember correctly, Sala said that 1 our of every 4 people in Phenom Phen at that time were executed. Sala was young and his entire family was killed. He has moved on, like the rest of the country, and has now found happiness with his wife and children. Maybe there was so much pain and grief shared by all Cambodians that they were able to move past what happened and look into the future. Sala was testiment to this.

Anchor Wat was as expected, breath taking. Watching the sunset and sunrise from this ancient Hindu/Buddhist temple was something I will never forget. It was so big that regardless of the huge crowded, I was still able to find a secluded area and relax by myself for a bit. Amazing.

Watching the sunset at Anchor Wat

Chiso Mountain is not an "X" on the map. It is something you will not find in a travel guide. Sala showed us about an hour outside of the city, into rural Cambodia. Along the way we stopped of at a cluster of houses known by locals for their handy crafts. This was really something special. We had a chance to walk around and interact with some old ladies dying silk and their children weaving the died silk and their grandchildren who where all over us asking to get their pictures taken.

Chiso Mountain

Mai pen rai! No worries! In Thailand, Nobu, Kait, Mike and I enjoyed the beach, Ko Samet, for Christmas Holidays. For some unknown reason, I kept waking up at the first sign of light.

It was really nice getting my spot on the beach before anyone else arrived and enjoying a little bit of peace and quite before the vendors started stalking. I ate my fair share of fruit to last me a couple of months, or at least until I ventured to Malaysia.

In Bangkok, I enjoyed some shopping and delicious food. Really don't think I ate enough Thai curry while I was there. I was a bit frighten by its notoriety for being super spicy. We adventured out into the night, ran into some elephants and Bangkok's famous red light district and thai boxing. For New Years, we went to a bar and met up with a bunch of Kait's friends. The bar had a Moroccan feel. Pillows and Huka everywhere. Enjoyed the fire works while sipping on champagne on a roof top in Bangkok. Later the next day, we learned that a different bar had burnt down trapping many people. It was surreal, because we were debating between the Moroccan bar we went to and that one. Counting my blessings.

So that was back in December/January.