Now we leave Siem Reap,Cambodia and take a 5 hour boat ride to Battambang, the less touristy part of the country, which is my favorite city by far (no more temples, jacked up prices and beggars!!!!)

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Just a typical house we saw along the way - they must be fishermen. Lucky them, they don't have to put up with any Minnesota winters!

Now some on the gruesome part of Cambodia. In the 1970s Pol Pot didn't just kill the people in the capital, but all over the country. He used caves for burial plots. Here, his men separated women, men and babies with each having their own cave. They killed babies by setting off a bomb in their cave. Some of the kids would be killed becuase they screamed while seeing their parents killed. This is because Pol Pot assumed that if you loved some one who was against his regime (their parents) you were also against him. One messed up guy, huh?? There were 6,000 people killed here. The locals believe (they are very superstitious) that the victim's bones crushed up would cure HIV, so many bones were missing. If that were true, then Pol Pot would actually have something going for him, a first! This is a photo of the bones of young girls found in the cave. Pol Pot's men would add a bit of their blood for luck to their wine. (virgin blood) Will spare you other details. 

I thought this board was funny. My tour guide said that a local got on this recognition board for donating one bag of cement to pave a road up to the killing caves. You know you're in a poor country when foreigners from Belgium donate 8.05 American dollars and a bag of cement to get on a board of recognition!!! 

I was so tired of being carted around like a tourist and asked my driver to just start driving and see where we end up (translation: I was really tired of looking at stuff meant for tourists). So he took me out to a school funded by some overseas organization (the country would not exist without overseas help) where kids that live in the dump go to. They were on break searching through trash.  In high school the students choose the teacher they want by paying them 200 reil (.05 American cents) a day. Sometimes the teacher wouldn't get paid from the government so they wouldn't show up to teach.

In the school funded by overseas organizations, some street kids who must've needed extra work as they are practicing their skill during their break. The school has three rooms (or classes). One for girls learning to cut hair, boys learning to cut hair, and a room of sewing machines (for girls only). The school had a library which had five books, but tables to use for a classroom. This is the best use of money, because not many of these kids would stay in school, but having a skill gets them off the street and improves their lives massively. The school also offers counseling for the child and parents.

The sewing class room. Yeah.........the bike is in the middle of the room because you wouldn't DARE store your bike outside (especially overnight) because it will likely be stolen - like a 100% chance. Where all of the old antinque Singers went.

Proof for dad that it was not THAT hard to get by without knowing Khmer (Cambodian). In most Asian countries they think the whiter the skin the prettier. Look at the signs in front of what must be a hair salon and then look at how dark the boy is. Great advertising, hey?

Yumm...soda pop.....nope!! Gas (petrol) sold along the road in old glass one liter bottles which work great for measuring. Gas stations are only in the city.

Since motos were my main mode of transport, I've become quite the fan (looking for a road trip!). This is WAY out in the country and was the oldest model I've ever seen. The man behind is trying to catch fish in the irrigation system. Good luck, mate!!

Drove 36 k to a 'large' (8 k in raining season and 5 k in dry season) lake and took a one hour boat ride for 1 American dollar (the  guy doesn't want to raise the price, afraid tourists won't pay $2). Tourism is so primitive that this man just got a Canadian-Cambodian to make a hand-written sign offering his services in English and French otherwise you have to use sign language and ask other tourists where you can get a boat ride. Picked some plants that had beans in them which later will bloom into loctus (Buddha's flower).

Yep, these two photos are for you Grandma. What the closed loctus above look like when in bloom (also called Buddha's flower).

Just a scenery photo......for those of you who are into that type of thing.

A private English school (I didn't want to stress the kids out by taking their photo). The teacher asked if I would speak to the students and did so the students could have a day off from studying grammar (I remember the days in high school Spanish). They were a heap of fun and learned a lot about Cambodia from them. This school costs 1 American dollar for about  three months of classes which are an hour once a week. REALLY expensive for the students' parents.

What would you guess are in these pyramid looking things? Outside of most temples 'stuppas' house the ashes of the dead. Only the rich (Chinese or Japanese) can afford something like this. The Japanese have invested so much money in the country - that's why the tourist roads are the only ones paved in the country They also own all the hotels - so they should just rename it!

Saw some REALLY ugly statues and this chinese one beat them all. And to think people worship this!!!!

See these kids' smiles?? These little buggers are quite smart, I'll tell ya. Near that temple above, these kids are selling these birds (birds that only western cultures release symbolizing peace). Anyway, one of my friends thought they where homing pigeons, meaning that they they will return after being released. Now you know why they are smiling. Some people will pay $400 (you know who you are) to get motivated here in the States but the $400 is the motivation for these boys.

Dried food. Don't ask me what this stuff is, as I didn't try anything (not like I'd have a clue if I did).

Yummmmmmmm!!! Saw this in a market. The women here are eating cockroaches and spiders.  They had a good sense of humor and offered me some just to see if I would dare. Do you think I did?

Duh!! The butcher...where you get your meat.

My meal. I thought I had just ordered chicken and rice but instead got the whole chicken (this isn't a touristy restaurant as had to have a friend translate for me). The people just charged me $5 for this meal which lasted me all day. Food was good, but unlike touristy restaurants the people here weren't used to seeing white people so they stared at me while I ate and liked touching light brown curly hair. REALLY don't' like being stared at from the front -the back is fine when eating. Tip to all college students - toilet paper can be used as napkins.

YUM! market food.

 Got a chance to hang out with some uni (college) students who spoke really good English grammar-wise. I was told the government will give scholarships to the top students in high school to the royal Uni (college) in Penom Phen. Graduates from here likely become government officials (money for doing nothing). Without a scholarship it is too expensive to get in.  One guy I met paid 18 U.S. dollars a term (semester) INCLUDING 5 Microsoft programs (he thought this was a deal) and average is about $200 U.S. for a diploma - "all you need is the signature", makes me wonder if you can buy it, probably.

Visas are not given out anymore because people never come back. Ladies are not accepted yet to smoke in public (very traditional) and do most of the manual labor while the husband "supervises." (Hang on Bryce, a visa takes three days to get). People will over charge you even if you tell them how much cheaper you can get it else where (tourists are just rich and dumb - if you tell them otherwise they will laugh at you, trust me). The men aren't as serious as the Vietnamese men were, but some still would not leave me alone. So some male traveling friends offered to be my 'husband' when the need arised (thanks John) and I the 'wife' as the women sometimes were worst then then the men. (Law of the land: foreigner = money). But hey, that's what makes Cambodia, Cambodia and I love it!!!

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