The Cambodian Village Girl

While in Siem Reap Tom and I went to a local bar/restaurant near our guest house. The hostess Aleac took a liking to Tom and he invited her for lunch the next day. I wasn't there but during lunch she invited us to visit her village 9 hours from Siem Reap in Prey Veaeng province near the Vietnam border. Later that night Tom asked if she could get the next night off of work since it was our last night in Siem Reap. We had to ask the owner permission and he informed us it was her birthday! If we threw her a birthday party at the bar she could have the night off. Neither of us believed it was really her birthday, I set the odds at 1/365 and told Tom "don't fuck up my village experience". We didn't know who was coming but for $50 Tom was getting  birthday cake, food, and 6 beer towers. Not a bad deal.

Tom was throwing a fraudulent party, I was getting drunk, and we were going to the village!

Siem Reap, Cambodia: Angkor Wat

In Macau I met Tom, a fellow poker player and invited him to join me in Cambodia. We flew to Bangkok for 2 uneventful nights then it was onto Cambodia. I always have my guard up at border towns and Poipet was one of the shadier I have been to mostly because there was no buses running or marked taxis and obviously everybody fighting for your business. I had to tell Tom to quit being so Canadian and stop talking to  everybody, they don't want to be your friend. Eventually after about an hour we took a car to Siem Reap. I didn't like the situtation, but the driver ended up being really nice and just wanted the business  though I never trusted him until we arrived at the guest house

Siem Reap is is home to the temples of Angkor, according to many the top site in SE Asia. To say I have seen too many temples over the past year in Asia is an understatement, but I was obviously looking forward to Angkor Wat. Having already been to the other top contenders (Borobudur in Indonesia and Bagan in Myanmar) I wanted to see how she stacked up!

The night we arrived a Tuk Tuk driver was trying to get our business. I said I was going to sleep, he left his number with reception. I woke up at 11am and Tom told me the driver was waiting downstairs. Asked him what for, we never agreed to anything. Said he had been there since 7am waiting for us. We did need a driver, so we hired him for 3 days. Ended up being very friendly, a trend that has continued with tuk tuk drivers in Cambodia. They are extremely persistent and willing to work for dirt cheap, in the end they've all ended up being really great. Tom the beady eyed flapping headed Canadian says I need to be more trustful of people

Our Tuk Tuk driver Va

Macau

After "Black Friday" eliminated the ability of American players to play online poker I was left with a few options. In the end I decided to fly to Macau, the poker capital of Asia and the gambling capital of the world. When I arrived I got off to a decent start. At one point I was up about $2,500 US after all expenses paid. Then I began playing a little less as my social life grew. I also went on a little downswing taking a couple 3 outers in 2+ buy in pots, having sets cracked and had a couple sessions with nobody but myself to blame where I played absolutely awful. I ended up leaving Macau about even but with a brand new camera. That was far short of my goal, however, far from the worst case scenario which would have placed me on a flight back to Los Angeles. Now I have decided to fly to Bankok and travel back to Macau overland, expecting to take about 12-14 weeks playing some poker in Cambodia. With funds still locked up on Tilt I am still playing on the edge and must do well, but I have the confidence I will eventually make it all the way to Moscow overland stopping everywhere along the way. Those entries will be for another day, time to cover Macau.

Obviously the biggest news is that I upgraded from a point and shoot camera that fits in my pocket to a digital SLR. The pictures in this entry will be mixed between the 2 but the majority of pictures from here on out should be with my new camera so hopefully the image quality will be much improved. I am still an amateur getting use to my new toy but over time my skills should improve

New Camera: Canon EOS 600D / Rebel T3i
New Lens: Canon EF-S 15-85mm IS USM

Macau was a Portuguese colony until it was handed back to China in 1999. As a result it is a mix of Chinese and Portuguese culture

Chiang Rai, Thailand: Road Trip

After Myanmar I made plans to return to Chiang Mai, Thailand and stay with Freddy who I had previously stayed with in Bandung, Indonesia. He is the one who went to Banda Aceh a week after the tsunami, I posted some of his pictures earlier. He is now in Chiang Mai volunteering with a humanitarian organization dealing with the Burmese. I had originally planned to hang out and play poker for a few weeks but after "Black Friday" that was no longer an option

Freddy was hosting a few other Couchsurfers and they invited me to join them on a road trip to the Golden Triangle. They intended to do the Mae Hong Son loop as well but I had already done that so agreed to accompany them for the beginning of their ride.

Myanmar 6/6: Inlay Lake

Covering 45 square miles Inlay Lake is the 2nd largest in Myanmar

Myanmar 5/6: Hill Tribe Trek

From Bagan I took a bus to Kalaw where I did a 3 day/2 night trek to Inlay lake. Was a truly wonderful experience. I had been trying to do hill tribe treks in both Northern Thailand and Laos but for various reasons it never worked out for me. In the end can't imagine either place being a better location than Myanmar

separating tea leaves

Myanmar 4/6: Bagan

After the boat trip I took a bus to Bagan, one of the top sites in SE Asia along with Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Borobudur in Indonesia (posted earlier in blog). Bagan was the top site I wanted to see in Asia when I left home. The ruins cover 16 square miles and possess over 2000 pagodas

Myanmar 3/6: Irrawaddy boat ride from Myitkyina

I only spent 2 days in Mandalay and then took a 21 hour train ordinary class up to Myitkyina for the purpose of taking a boat for 4 days down the Irrawaddy River back to Mandalay.

from the train

Myanmar 2/6: Mandalay

From Yangon I took an overnight bus to Mandalay. I didn't have a guide book but everybody else did. The Lonely Planet listed the ride at 12-15 hours, it only took 9 hours. A theme that would continue throughout the trip. Maybe a sign of improved infrastructure over the past couple years since publication

Myanmar: Mandalay

With a population of 1 million Mandalay is the 2nd largest city in Myanmar sitting on the East bank of the Irrawaddy River. In the middle of the city is Mandalay Palace surrounded by a moat. These are the walls

Myanmar 1/6: Yangon

After over a month off from traveling I was amped to get back on the road. Even more excited due to the destination being Myanmar. She exceeded expectations and was absolutely incredible. Reminded me why I love traveling as the people impressed at every turn. Older traverlers commonly say you should have seen Vietnam 30 years ago, or Laos is how Cambodia was 20 years ago etc. Well I was certainly late to Laos just as I was 20 years late to Eastern Europe. Not Myanmar! I took a ton of pictures and will likely post them in 6 parts as my trip had 6 distinct places, each worthy of their own post. Hopefully everybody enjoys and most will learn some things about a forgotten land.

Guessing many don't know what Myanmar looks like so I will post a map. I didn't know where any of the cities were until I looked at a map for the first time the night before my flight! ha.