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Goodbye Asia Greetings Friends and Family, This will be the only short mass email you'll receive from me on this trip as I only have a week to write about. So you can now say you've actually read one of these in its entirety. I will be leaving for Prague in a couple hours (woohoo!), so please forgive any grammatical errors in my haste. I arrived in Cambodia without incident, and declared myself internationalized (or just jetlagged) as I had to make a conscious effort to notice which side of the road motorcycles and tuk-tuks (and the occasional 4-wheeled oddity) drove on. This is in contrast to previous country switches, where driving side always looked "right" or "wrong". This brings me to my next point. After 3 months combined in Southeast Asia, nothing shocks (and rarely surprises) me anymore. Even the amazing feats performed in Patpong seem rather mundane after all of my Asian adventures. The real highlight of the last week (and the main attraction of Cambodia) was Angkor Wat. With about 10 gazillion temples in a 40 kilometer temple city, I focused on the most famous ones and explored by bike to avoid tuk-tuks and motorbike drivers. The temples were amazing in their overall massive architecture, but even more impressive was the attention to detail. Everything else was put into perspective, however, by the sheer awesomeness of Ta Prohm, an ancient temple overgrown by trees pushing their way through the stones and around walls and doorways. See the pictures, when I get a chance to upload them. The prevalence of disabled Cambodians with missing limbs was rather disturbing, but it was surprisingly difficult to feel sorry for most of them due to their hyperaggressive begging techniques. In my final 24 hours in Asia, I've escaped unscathed from the madness of Chatuchak market with only a few hundred baht less in my wallet and seen "The Day After Tomorrow" from a VIP theatre with LaZBoy recliners and complimentary drinks for only $12. The luxuries and price scale will be missed. Appropriately, it was raining as I left the theatre, and I daydreamed about Bangkok being washed away. I was brought back to reality by a tuk-tuk driver asking "Hello, you want massage?" and was extremely relieved to be leaving. Asia has been culturally amazing yet constantly challenging. I am very glad to have spent 3 months here, and am equally glad to get out of the heat, away from tuk-tuk drivers, and return to Western civilization. I am also very glad to have had the opportunity to return after my mother's death, and to leave of my own accord. My rapidly growing impatience with the difficulties of Asian travel has certainly been in part due to emotional stress, but coming here has at least brought me closure on one of the many ramifications of her death. In 24 hours, I will arrive in Prague, and explore Eastern Europe for the next 3 weeks. Possibilities include Hungary, Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Estonia. I will arrive in London around June 22, and fly to Washington, DC on June 25. Back in Santa Barbara on June 28. I know there are a lot of you in Europe now, and would love to meet up with you if you're around. I hope to see you all soon.
Regards, |