End of Thailand on Siem Reap

I think I left off from Koh Pahngam. It was really tough leaving the island because it was honestly like a tropical paradise. On Monday, Elena and I (the British girl I travelled with) took a ferry and bus to Phuket, the second biggest city in Thailand. Things were much much different in Phuket as it catered to more tourists. We immediatly met up with two guys with Bracelona and travelled to our guesthouse in Patong beach. Patong is the most populated beach in the area, loaded with tourists from everywhere. Ironically enough, our hostel is located in the Israeli sector, so it was pretty cool seeing Hebrew everywhere (which I fortunatly still understand).

Patong is loaded with busy streets, crazy bars, and discoteques. We had dinner at one of the many street side cafes where I got a full meal for about $2. We later ventuered around and ended up chilling at a few local bars off of the beaten path. Little did we know that were only about 2 blocks away from all of the action. When I first got to Southeast Asia, I thought that Cambodia had a real serious prositution issue. Then I came to Thailand. In Cambodia, prostitutes are inconspicuously shaded behind dilapidated massage parlors. In Thailand, and especially Puket, they are in your face everywhere. After hanging out at the beach all day Tuesday, we went to the infamous Soi Chang for some late night fun. This street is closed off at night because of the volumes of people walking through. There are clubs and bars filling every possible space on the street, loaded with tourists, hookers, more ladyboys (joy), and unfortunately sex tourists. Sex tourism is huge in Thailand, and it really is disturbing to see older Western men hanging aorund younger Thai women. Regardless, myself, Chavy, and Andres (Elena stayed in) partook in the late night festivities bar hopping and fighting off touchy ladyboys. Interstingly, hookers are amazing at connect four (yes, the game). They are specially trained to embaress cocky Westerners, so much so that they would even give Rainman a run for his money. Between the three of us, we probably lost 20 games in a row.

Elena and I caught an early flight (so early that I didn't even sleep that night) to Bangkok, and we parted ways. She is heading towards Malaysia then India, and I continued back to Cambodia. After a one night stay in Phnom Penh, I took an early 6-hour bus ride to Siem Reap to visit the Angkor temples. Susan unfortunatly was not able to make the trip because of work. I just got in and will tour everything tomorrow. For now I plan on resting because all of this travelling is exhausting.

Anyway, thats all for now. I will be coming home in about 10 days which I have mixed feelings about. I don't want to leave here, but at the same time I can't wait to see family and friends. Sprots wise Atlanta teams are playing well. I can't believe how red hot the Braves are and the Falcons look great.