So once again the new year has come. this time we welcome in the year of the dog with much hope for good fortune and all. so to celebrate the eve and to escape the outrageous firecrackers of beijing i with a couple friends went south. with three weeks to burn we decided to explore the historic kingdom of cambodia. i with my good friend katia arrived in phnom penh in the late evening with nowhere  to go and high expectations. fortunately we made friends on the plane with a chinese textile man working in cambodia. maybe it was the excitement of being there or the confidence of being the two of us but with little thought to the risks we jumped into the kind mans chauffeured car and took off into a strange city. turned out he was a gentle man with a good heart and he brought us right to one of the more known guesthouse and even stayed to make sure they had room. the next day we took off to explore this bustling little city. i can't say much of phnom penh, although a capitol i don't ever need to spend much more time there. it has some interesting markets and a nice area by the river although beware of the killer mosquitoes!!! that night we jumped on the rear of a moto and headed back out to the airport where we met our friend clark who was also joining us from beijing for a week. after many months of strenuous work... and cold days we all were in need of some sunny days and cool waters. so we caught the bus; destination Sihanoukville. props to clark for surviving this ride after a horrid night before of nausea and no sleep.

well the beach it was for us, and good it was. sihanoukville is really the only beach town in cambodia and the flex of tourist and travelers is becoming more and more obvious but has not yet taken away from the area. the actual town is a little dirty and not so cute but it's the beaches (6 in the area) and the people that make the place. We spent some good times there on the beach or on the rented motos touring the other beaches. also we got in a couple night of boozing and some midnight skinny dipping with the phosphoresce which were so beautiful in the darkness of the new moon over the chinese new year. after a week there clark left back to china and then there were two. we had some good days of soaking up the sun, tanning topless while being ogled by the local children. after a couple more days in paradise we took the 12 hour trip north to the town of siam reap. this place is almost a whole other world compared to the rest of cambodia. the continuous stream of tourist that pass through this city and the development by the japanese companies has created this little haven with cute guesthouses and good restaurants. but with the tour groups come the beggars. and the evidence of this poor countries war torn past is still very adament. its hard to turn away from the adorable faces of the many children wandering the streets and the efforts that are being made to promote aid for the victims of landmines is inspiring. some times it was hard to imagine what hell and torture these people went through just a decade and a half ago. so when in siam reap do as tourist do...it was off to angkor wat for us. we opted for the 3 days pass into the park although only staying for two. this is one of those places it is easy to see too much and get burnt out but at the same you never see enough. we did the major temples and structures the first day hitting up a whopping 10 places in one day. and all of these places are amazing, breathtaking, 'ah' inspiring. of course a few which stood out above the rest. angkor wat is mesmerizing in it's authority and bayon in it's mystique, but it is ta prohm that really demonstrates the powers of creating and destroying. this is the temple where they have left the jungle to continue growing, where the trees have burrowed their roots deep into the construction of these centuries old structures. all in all it was our next day that i could really appreciate the serenity of the area. we only visited 5 temples and ll of which were in the more outer proximities therefore not horded by the tour buses. My favorite for that day was a larger one to the north of the ancient city of angkor thom called preah khan. it was slightly less restored then many of the other places and it was almost empty. no tour groups and the folk that were there were quiet and kept to themselves which is a blessing when you are trying to take in the nature of what is around you. to finish that day off we headed back into town for a stop over in the market to get in some shopping. you always need to bring something back for someone...that night we relaxed to a game of crib and some 'happy' pizza. the next morning bright and early we were on the bus again heading back to the capitol phnom penh. katia was there for the night before she had to catch the early flight home in the morning but i didn't stay on. i caught the connecting bus back on down to the coast. a few more days of beach lounging, evening drinks at sunset and beyond and some good people. i returned to beijing just in time to show off the new tan at my darling edwards 26th underwear birthday bash.  so that's my story and maybe you'll enjoy the pics. but i hope you all get to experience the wonders of cambodia as well at some point in your life. ciao