"When will you make an end?... When I am finished!!"-- The Agony and the Ecstacy

That is right ladies and gentlement boys and girls... the blog is complete... I know you are all impressed, and i've broken it down here for you:

I've added things to these posts:

5/26
6/5

These posts are new:
7/14
7/15
7/16
7/16
7/29
7/30
8/3
8/6
8/9
8/14
8/17
8/18
8/18

So I hope you have all enjoyed following my misadventures in SE Asia! Feel free to shoot me any questions you have, or if you'd like a copy of a calander i'm putting together.

Cheers,
-robs

"Cambodia is like you're always tripping."-- Off the Rails in Phnom Penh

While things have definately gotten better(?) since this quote was published in one of the most infamous underground books ever written, and read by every traveler to Phnom Penh in the last 10 years... there is still an air of truth to it... its a city like no where else... and if i had had more battery in my camera, you would have seen a lot more of it... but alas... these pics will have to do....





And here now we get at quick glimpse of the city where I lived... the most fabulous Phnom Penh...

This here is independence monument... a major landmark to know if you want to get around the city.








This is a really awesome Fench style abandoned place... i think it was the embassy back in the day... but really don't know for sure.





This here is the national museum... which i unfortunately never actually got to go in... guess i was jut saving it for next time



And here we have the infamous row of "happy" pizza shops along the waterfront... if you don't get what they are, i'm not really sure if i should tell you.







This first video is of the resturants that I ate lunch at every day... how awesome are they! Shame we have nothing like that here.








And this is the main strip down at the waterfront... lots of resturants, bars, cafes, shops, hotels, etc. and the video ends at the FCC... the basic hub of expat life... with a very traditional french expat feel to it.

"This house is circus, berserk as fuck, we tend to see that as a perk though."-- "This house is a Circus", Arctic Monkeys

So here it is... my grand palace... I've written about it before... so no real need to get into details... its awesome....



First we have my Squat Pot, in my second bathroom... never used... by me at least



This here is the my balcony/patio thing... and the view from it... plus my next door neighbor's house.


Here is the view from my door.


And this is the cat that was living in my 2nd bedroom and caused me to shut all my windows b/c he ran out of it one day and through my living room and had peed all over the bed... he ran when i tried to give him cheese this day... poor kitty cat...


And below are actual video's of the apartment... now, my batteries were dying, so i couldn't do it all at once... so you'll just have to bare with me... some of them are only a couple of seconds long....

My Kitchen, 2nd bathroom, and living room.

My bedroom

My bathroom

2nd bedroom

My patio and the view from it.

"All work and no play..." Ha!

So I've mentioned bits and pieces about where I work and what I've been doing here... so now I'll just give you the run down w/ some pics...

This here is my desk

This is the no bribary sign... which i actually had some lawyers complain to me about, though i won't name anyone

Here are some political signs... also about bribing judges

And this is a fabulously translated sign that actually required the use of white out and they still got it wrong

This here is the most incredible view from a work location... What you're looking at is Wat Lanka...

And this... This is an epson printer sitting the bathtub... along with tons of files and things.... there were even filing cabinets in the bathroom....

Insert witty title her cause i'm just about spent

Sigh... the last week. This week me and my boss, Jeff, headed all the way up Tongle Sap to Battambang.



First we stopped off at the Battambang office...



We went to a temple, Phnom Banan, and i was attacked by little children who made me a flower child and held my hand... especially the little girl, who was the only girl and group of boys... i can only imagine how this will impact her life later...



And then in black and white...



Then on the way back from the temple the car was stopped... b/c they had cut down a coconut tree the kids all ran up and grabbed coconuts, and then they had to chop it all up to let us through.... awesome...



Just a side note here... this particular trip was pretty awesome... and i got to hear a lot of stories especially from our lawyer in battambang who talked about his life during the Khmer Rouge... it was... well... unexpected...



Then there are the scenes from the from the rooftop of our hotel and around the city...




And this here is a picture of a lot of my most popular beers and most often drank...

"They call him Flipper, Flipper, Flipper..."

Welcome to Kratie (pronounced Krachae), one of the number one places on my things to do while in Cambodia. I had one goal and one goal only.... see the Irawaddy dolphins, and not even my translator could stop me. Of course i also did some work... interviews and what not. then the first time we tried to go we had all three of us (see first pic below) on a moto for about 45 minutes-hour... it rained... actually poored... and then we got there, and they were like, its too late... and the other two didn't know it involved getting on a boat... all completely rediculous ness so we were there for a couple of minutes... then left, and then i made them go back the next morning... well not really made them, i told them i would go on my own, but they wouldn't let me... In fact spock couldn't handle the idea of me doing things on my own... you can only imagine how this made me feel.




Here we have spock and the Kratie CDP lawyer... sheltered from the rain.

Here's a great view from our shelter...

Next day was dolphin time:

The dolphins... these are irawaddy dolphins... the only freshwater dolphins in the world. And there are only about 14 of them left. Now these bad boys are pretty ugly... no nose. And the spit... In otherwords... awesome. The videos aren't too bad... but are pretty good if you pay attention... Just remember i was out there for a couple hours... and went for like 20 minutes at a time without seeing a thing. So just imagine how many videos i deleted.

From there we stopped off at a womans temple. Sad to say women can never become monks. But when the are old they come here to retire... shave their heads, dress in white... no physical beauty allowed. And they help out the monks by cooking and things.

After seeing the dolphins, I wandered around the town hoping to see another red sunset and grab pictures of it... unfortunately, no such luck... but I got other great pictures as a storm was rolling in...