Onward to Laos!!

Well, hello everyone. Here is a bit of what has been going down here.

We have left Phnom Penh and arrived in Kratie (kra-CHee). Kratie is a small town on the Mekong River. There are dolphins in this river. That would be where the Whiskey and the dolphins get their names. I should read a map more often. Above is a sunset over this Mekong River.





This is the view from the guest house we stayed at. We took the cheap room on the roof. Our bathroom was on the first floor and after 10pm they would lock a gate so we could not get down until morning. They worried that the neighbors would break in if they didn't.





These two lovely people run the guest house. Two canadian women we met there started calling her Mama. Because she was like everybody's Mama. She seemed to worry about our eating habits and pat us on the back or hug us. Rent was only $3 there. They never advertised that it came with a Maternal Guardian!





These kids asked us to take their picture, then they thanked us. This turned out to be the local hair salon crew. Adorable!





These are "Liberation" brand cigarettes. They tend to oppress the lungs however.





Black Panther Stout "The Revolution has been liquified!"





Kratie Town local Coffee Roaster. Yes, he IS roasting coffee in there. Over charcoal.





This is how Kratie Town handles garbage. It is thrown on the banks of the Mekong and later burned. This was on burning day. We watched a lady walk along the river lighting piles of trash on fire all day. Pretty foul smelling!

So in Kratie Town we discovered that to save money we should head to Laos. It is cheaper even still. But we hadn't the visas for it. A young man offered to mail our passports to his uncle in Phnom Penh along with $60 each and then his uncle would send them back with visas, but then he said that he does not recommend this plan. We agreed! So we have been in Phnom Penh (again!) for the past three days. We got visas. Met two Cambodian men who are visiting from the States. Both of them live in Seattle. And we continued to live on the cheap.





This is our TukTuk driver who helped us find the Laos embassy. His name is Saram. He is 17. He has studied English for 6 months and speaks it very well. He also studies to be an accountant. He laughs a lot. Very nice fellow. He has a girlfriend who he claims is beautiful and very clever. I believe him.





A used instrument store.





This would be a "carton" of smokes. By "carton" I mean a bag of 200 cigarettes. It cost $1.25. I will be quiting soon, but there is often so little to do and so much waiting around. (NOTE: These are TERRIBLE! I think they are made from factory floor sweepings. Like Little Debbie's "Star Crunch" only NOT delicious!)





We cooked breakfast on the street today and a Cambodian man said we look poor because we are cooking on the street. A "third-world" country and we look poor! This is perfect!

Oh yeah! On the way back to Phnom Penh I ate a big deep-fried spider. It was delicious. I think it was a proper Tarantula. I have no fear of them anymore. They are now a source of protein.