Rachel's Still Alive... How cool is that?

wow, i havent updated since hanoi? thats pretty bad. since that time ive been to ha long bay, vietnam. saigon, vietnam. phnom phen, cambodia. siem reap, cambodia. and ive spent almost a whole month in bangkok. im pretty bad at this updating thing. but im my defense, time has been scarce, class load has been heavy, and my parents have been here, so why would i waste time at the computer when i could be chilling with them? anway, moving on...

ha long bay
view from the top of a mountain

one of the most beautiful places ive ever been. we were only there for 2 nights, which was a shame. it would have been wonderful to have stayed longer. but it was a welcome break from classes and a nice little vacation from our vacation. we rented a boat for the group and spent our only full day out in the ocean swimming, exploring caves, getting lots of sun, visiting a floating village where many ASAPers bought some live crabs and shrimp which the cooks on our boat prepared for them. It was an amazing day. Beyond that we spent our time in ha long on the beach.

Saigon
a vietnamese tank from the war

saigon was an emotional city for me. the first night there i found out that umkulu (my mom's father) passed away. i felt a little anti social for a few days after that. its not fun being on the other side of the globe when something like that happens, but luckily i have some good friends here i could talk to. a lot of people started to get sick in saigon as well. most of saigon for me was going to markets and going to war museums. markets stress me out, and war museums make you ashamed to be human, so it was a bit of a downer. Im pretty sure i od'd on the vietnam war there. but i feel it wasimportant stuff to see, and extremely interesting to see things from the perspective of the other side. the one good think about saigon, i got a $200 box set of dvds for $25. and i bought 17 other movies for less than a dollar a piece. it doesnt get any better than that. looking back on saigon, i remember more bad than good, but it was an important place to see, and a place i would love to visit again someday.

Phnom Phen
mass graves at the killing fields

I can now totally understand why Kevin (my cousin) wants to move here. Cambodia is such a great place. The people are so friendly and warm. The history is incredibly moving and makes you want to do nothing but help them. The food was great. I feel like i got a lot out of going there. By far the most emotional part of phnom phen was going to the killing fields. this is where the khemer rouge brought thousands of cambodians, killed them, and burried them in mass graves because they were educated. Literally the entire educated population of that country was wiped out. It is no wonder they are so far behind today. It is amazing to think where they would be if this had not happened. At one time Phnom Phen was the intellectual center of south east asia. Today it is be far the most impoverished country i have seen yet. Although i fear Burma will be even worse. Learning about the attrocities that occured there was very hard, but very valuable. And besides all the depressing aspects, it was a fun city to explore. and as i said before, the people are amazing; some of the nicest people i have ever met in my life.

siem reap and bangkok will be for another entry. siem reap was incredible; a nice change from the depressionville of the last few locations. and bangkok was and still is amazing. the queens park hotel is starting to feel like home. more later...