The feeling walking across the Thai border into Cambodia was intense. People were different; darker, poorer, dirty, desperate. They seem to have wider feet. There were children begging, they looked hungry; I didn't look at them. There was a swarm of taxi/motorbike drivers following me, and I felt uncomfortable about the whole scene. I bought my visa after arguing over the price (my guide book said it was less), then haggled the price for my taxi. I had 2 drivers, and I started to worry they were going to take me out and rob me. We drove some backs streets of the border-town Ko Kong to the hotel they recommended. Once there, I wasn't leaving the hotel. I let the hotel owner know that there were a lot of mosquitoes in my room. He went and sprayed something, and suddenly there were no mosquitoes. Kind of gave the room a toxic feel.

After drinking some beers with the other backpackers at the hotel, I laid in bed wondering who the guest was that burned a hole in the sheet with his cigarette. I remembered a Dateline story on Cambodia and the child sex industry. The Dateline reporter had met an American doctor who hired 3, 14 year old girls for the night. I tossed and turned. Next my thoughts went to the Khmere Rouge, and all the genocide the country suffered under the ruthless dictator Pol Pot in the late 1970's. Intellectuals were singled out and tortured to death. People were starving. Between 1975 and 1979, the government killed 200,000, and almost 2 million Cambodians died as a result of the evil government. I couldn't sleep.

The next morning I took a boat to a beach town, Sihanoukville. I envisioned a relaxing boat ride with fresh air and nice scenery. Not so. This boat was enclosed like an airplane, unbelievably dirty and dilapidated, and I feared contracting a major 3rd world disease. I had to put my legs in the isle. It did have a TV, which was the worst part since the sound was absolutely blaring, and the Cambodian slap-stick comedy was the weirdest show I could imagine. The characters all carried microphones and canned laughter blared every 10 seconds. About half way through I actually started to enjoy the ride for the adventure it was.

Once we arrived in Sihanoukville, I checked into a nice room on the beach for $7. The beaches were nice, people were laid back, water was warm... I went for a swim in the wave-less sea, and when I got out I met 2 Russian girls who now live in Sydney. We all hung out for the rest of the day and night, drinking and eating on the beach. The people were friendly, the food was good. It was a welcomed contrast to my prior night.

The next day I took the bus to Phnom Penh. The countryside was fascinating. The Khmere Rouge had succeeded in setting the clock back to "Year Zero" and creating a peasant dominated, agrarian society. Cart, plow, cows or water buffalo are their tractors, trucks, whatever.

I met some cool backpackers and we went to a nice guesthouse that had $4 rooms. I tried to buy a flight to Saigon for the next day, but was told the flights were all full. I really need to catch a flight the next day to make my connecting flight. Up until now, I had taken the approach that "everything will work out," and it had, but maybe my luck had run out. I decided to just wait until the morning, and hope that a solution would come around. When morning came, a seat on the evening flight I wanted was now available! I really have to stop worrying.

I hired a motorbike driver, Alex, to do some sightseeing for the day. We visiting the Killing Fields, where the Khmere Rouge had taken innocent prisoners to die, mostly by blunt force trauma to the head. Some of the mass graves have been unearthed, and 8,500 skulls are on display.

Next, Alex suggested we visit an orphanage. It was an orphanage, he said, "where the government doesn't help. We can bring some rice for the children. A 50 kilo bag is 20-$30." I was fearing the worst; sickly, sad kids with flies buzzing around their faces. I decided I would get 2, 50-kilo bags of #1 rice (#2 and #3 rice have more stones and things in them), and tipped a motorbike driver $1 for driving them across town for me. We also stopped to buy cookies, which seemed overpriced, but Alex needs to make a living I suppose...

When we arrived at the orphanage, kids ran up to me and took my hands. They were speaking English. I felt a little odd, like I was trying to be some great guy by bringing rice and cookies. The kids led me to a large congregation where kids were performing a traditional dance, and sat me down with 2 English girls. We watched a series of performances that were really cute, and quite well synchronized. Some kids made the music, while kids from 3 to 13 years old performed and watched. There was a crowd of about 50 altogether, and there are 100 kids living at this hodge-podge shantytown-orphanage of bamboo and siding. A toothless young boy sat on my lap. A 12 year old girl named Sophea came and took me up to perform. She held my hands and showed me the steps.

Afterward, she showed me where they sleep. Up a ladder to 5 rooms of wooden floors, 5-10 girls per room. Boys were on the other side. I didn't see any actual beds, I guess they just sleep on the floor. Next, we went to a classroom where an older English woman was teaching English to about 12 kids. I was the guest speaker for the next 20 minutes or so. The kids seemed really happy. They were dirt poor, had no parents, etc...but they seemed to have a good community, lots of friends, and OK health. Sophea was incredibly cute, and I consider moving to Cambodia just so I could adopt her. I think bringing her back to the US would just result screw her up like the rest of us.

I flew back to Saigon for a night of drinking and prostitute watching, then for a day of serious shopping before flying to Singapore, where I am now. Singapore is like a futuristic American city from what I can tell. Yesterday I went to a yoga club that felt like a fine restaurant/martini bar in the various lounges outside the studios. Afterward, a Yogi took me and my newest friend Thana (an Indian-Singaporian girl who works at the yoga club) out for lunch and lessons on breathing and eating (chew each bite slowly, don't talk while eating - you can only do 1 thing at a time, well).

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