We're having trouble moving pics from camera to blog (no sd slots) but here are a few from the phone.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Back on the road.
Finally there is something to say about the trip. We didn't want to have a "look we are flying" post because our taking a flight is not worth reading about. Jen got us a great hotel by angor wat in cambodia and we are rolling at the le meridan here in world class style. So far the time in Cambodia has been good. We have been running into Dennis (Jen's old boss) about once a week. The first time ended in the worlds worst cab ride éver. (Got stuck, had to push, got lost too, and then had to jump out and find the hotel ourselves) The last time we saw Dennis we had a great dinner at a restaurant that no one could find and then ended up shooting pool on a giant snooker table in a pool joint that folks could ride their motorcycles into. It was a load of fun. The pool hall was not really one of those boozey riff-raff filled pool joints and the motorcycles were not souped up outlaw Harley Davidsons, but this was Cambodia's answer to a few places that I have seen out in Long Beach. (We had some bottled waters and the cycles were scooters not larger than 125ccs. No leather jackets or MC club colors at all).
Angor Wat is a carved sandstone complex that takes a long time to see. Every inch is carved with some kind of decoration. The invention of walpaper would have saved several lifetimes (no kidding) of work. Repeating patterns of design covered every doorway and bordered some of the larger sculptures. They make a big deal about tomb raider being filmed here. I have not seen the movie, but the place is crawling with tourists and you are never 15 feet from a drink or scarf seller. It is not an adventure destination and I think the movie would have been a full 25 minutes longer if they had not cleared out the crowds of people and touts that made visitring so much slower than it had to be. Regardless, the place is really a sight to see. I can not imagine the amount of work it took to carve (then paint) all of the figures that cover every inch of places that have several miles of exposed sandstone. At one place the 3 story wall of a temple curves out to form a giant stone face. Still standing after all these years too.
Between landing here and Ankor Wat, we went up to a town called Karatie to see the last of the endangered river dolphins. It seems that we were just in time too. Things look bleak for them. No new babies in the past three years spells trouble in my book. People are building big dolphin themed hotels in the area, but you would not catch me investing in that enterprise. We got there early and the whole experience was like breakfast with Shamu at Sea World only Jen and I ate bread in a canoe while the dolphins swam around about 150 yards away looking for fish. We really did not see more than humps and spouts. I would want my money back if that was as close as I got to Shamu, but I understand that there are way more Shamus than there are those freshwater dolphins. Shamu knows more tricks too, but I bet he is not half as good at catching fish and avoiding nets or river traffic. Seeing the dolphins was a great experience, man I hope they make it.
We are heading to some crazy eco-tourist thing next. Nothing says marginal service quite like eco-tourism" so we will see how comfortable that is.
After that we will be in Bangkok for a short time and will probably be able to post again from there. Internet service is again not what they make it to be here and I am afraid that posting will, again, be a challenge. Still when we have something to say that is worth the time to read about, we will put it up here. Posting pictures from the camera remains an unsolved mystery so we may be a little light on the blog photos for a bit.
Oh, I almost forgot. On the way here we pulled an all-nighter in Macau. It is supposed to be China's answer to Las Vegas. My impression is that like a bunch of knock-off, Made in China, American impersonator products, Macau rings true to form in not being quite as good or long lasting as the genuine article. Around 2am, things went dead. Imagine Las Vegas without the drinks, noise or fun. I really got the impression that if you made going to a casino mandatory for people, the atmosphere you got would be like that in Macau. Scary quiet in the places we went. The Wynn and the MGM have big casinos there but all that is happening is Maijong and Baccarat. No eating drinking or hats on the Casino floor. The grand finale of the free show in the lobby of the Wynn ends with a golden oak tree rising from the floor. Really, a damn tree (not more than 20 feet tall either).
Yeah, what do you want for nothing, right?
Well how about, dancing water, tightrope walkers and trapeeze artists, guys in cages with lions, white tigers, gondola boats, giant fish tanks, moving marble figures, an active volcano, and a few car museums?
Macau is China's answer to Laughlin. There is still no place on Earth I have seen that comes close to the Nevada original. I will spot them a few years so they can catch up to at least Reno.
Paul
Angor Wat is a carved sandstone complex that takes a long time to see. Every inch is carved with some kind of decoration. The invention of walpaper would have saved several lifetimes (no kidding) of work. Repeating patterns of design covered every doorway and bordered some of the larger sculptures. They make a big deal about tomb raider being filmed here. I have not seen the movie, but the place is crawling with tourists and you are never 15 feet from a drink or scarf seller. It is not an adventure destination and I think the movie would have been a full 25 minutes longer if they had not cleared out the crowds of people and touts that made visitring so much slower than it had to be. Regardless, the place is really a sight to see. I can not imagine the amount of work it took to carve (then paint) all of the figures that cover every inch of places that have several miles of exposed sandstone. At one place the 3 story wall of a temple curves out to form a giant stone face. Still standing after all these years too.
Between landing here and Ankor Wat, we went up to a town called Karatie to see the last of the endangered river dolphins. It seems that we were just in time too. Things look bleak for them. No new babies in the past three years spells trouble in my book. People are building big dolphin themed hotels in the area, but you would not catch me investing in that enterprise. We got there early and the whole experience was like breakfast with Shamu at Sea World only Jen and I ate bread in a canoe while the dolphins swam around about 150 yards away looking for fish. We really did not see more than humps and spouts. I would want my money back if that was as close as I got to Shamu, but I understand that there are way more Shamus than there are those freshwater dolphins. Shamu knows more tricks too, but I bet he is not half as good at catching fish and avoiding nets or river traffic. Seeing the dolphins was a great experience, man I hope they make it.
We are heading to some crazy eco-tourist thing next. Nothing says marginal service quite like eco-tourism" so we will see how comfortable that is.
After that we will be in Bangkok for a short time and will probably be able to post again from there. Internet service is again not what they make it to be here and I am afraid that posting will, again, be a challenge. Still when we have something to say that is worth the time to read about, we will put it up here. Posting pictures from the camera remains an unsolved mystery so we may be a little light on the blog photos for a bit.
Oh, I almost forgot. On the way here we pulled an all-nighter in Macau. It is supposed to be China's answer to Las Vegas. My impression is that like a bunch of knock-off, Made in China, American impersonator products, Macau rings true to form in not being quite as good or long lasting as the genuine article. Around 2am, things went dead. Imagine Las Vegas without the drinks, noise or fun. I really got the impression that if you made going to a casino mandatory for people, the atmosphere you got would be like that in Macau. Scary quiet in the places we went. The Wynn and the MGM have big casinos there but all that is happening is Maijong and Baccarat. No eating drinking or hats on the Casino floor. The grand finale of the free show in the lobby of the Wynn ends with a golden oak tree rising from the floor. Really, a damn tree (not more than 20 feet tall either).
Yeah, what do you want for nothing, right?
Well how about, dancing water, tightrope walkers and trapeeze artists, guys in cages with lions, white tigers, gondola boats, giant fish tanks, moving marble figures, an active volcano, and a few car museums?
Macau is China's answer to Laughlin. There is still no place on Earth I have seen that comes close to the Nevada original. I will spot them a few years so they can catch up to at least Reno.
Paul
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