Ryan McFarland

We decided to hire a van and driver to take us to Siem Reap from Phnom Penh so we could distance ourselves from the other tourists doing the same loop as we were.  It was more expensive but it probably gave us more time in the capital of Cambodia.  Unfortunately (?) there was a festival going on so the sights we wanted to take in were closed.

We made the best of it though - we watched the canoe races with 60 people paddling for a short while.  We wandered the outside of the Royal Palace and the Silver pagoda enjoying crossing streets without fear of being struck my a motor bike.

We paid for the release of a few swallows - $1 for two.  Cambodia has a currency but US dollars are accepted everywhere and are used for the larger exchanges.  You get your change from a dollar purchase with Cambodian money.  They have no coins.

We met up with our driver and battled the throngs of vehicles and scooters leaving the city because of the festival.  We added an easy hour to our trip as a result of the traffic jam of people.  But we were moving slow enough that we could hail vendors over and buy from the window like this boy selling bags of sugar cane.

The drive was about six hours long and it was remarkable.  The scooters loaded with people, farmers moving their product, kids riding bikes and vehicles loaded with merchandise and people all passing by the sprawling rice farms with their perimeters of homes on stilts and villages.  we made it to Siem Reap after dark and went out for a meal.  Seth was starting to feel better from a few days of intestinal troubles.  Four of us went out for massages - $8 for a 60 minute full body massage with oil.  We kept that up for every night we were in Cambodia.

We hopped back on the bike trailers with all of our bags and got a ride to the riverfront. Cena pointed out that the previous evening it was much more romantic to ride the dim lit streets than during the daytime buzz.

We put our luggage onto our boat and then boarded small hand rowed boats.

Cena and i were lucky enough to have a mother and her child taking us…

We hopped out to see traditional silk weaving and of course, to be sold souvenirs.

We reboarded the motorboat and headed toward the border.  I expected the trip to be more rural - but many areas were heavily built up.  It also seemed that TV was very important - judging by the crop of antennas.

At the border we stopped for lunch and some kids played with our luggage and souvenir hats.

I finished eating and we still had some time so i walked around a bit.  Some bike shops are more spartan than others…

We transferred our luggage to a different boat and then motored a short distance into Cambodia for the customs run-through.

This boat was metal - a long hulking beast.  The windows opened and closed but it was terribly stuffy inside.  Fortunately, they has photocopied notes taped around urging passengers to not step on the window sills - to get on the roof from the back of the boat.  So some of us clamored through the engine room and sprawled onto the roof to get some air, sun, and an unobstructed view.

When we did ride inside we were lucky enough to have a decent stock of beer to buy - $3 for 4 cans.  Angkor Beer seemed fitting with our Angkor Wat destination getting closer.  Note the pull tab top of the can…

the whole ride was scenic - water buffalo grazing, farmers with conical hats tending fields, and homes all built on stilts of various materials.   Everywhere children waved at our passing boat.

We rolled into a small rest area and pulled our bags off.  We then boarded vans for an hour or so ride to our hotel in Phnom Penh.  The traffic can be frightening.  Even if there is a line painted in the middle of the road nobody pays it much attention.  The only rule of the road seems to be the rule of gross tonnage - he who weighs most wins.  Horns are constantly beeped.  Mopeds are laden with 1-4 people regularly.  We saw one in Cambodia with 7 people on board - most of them small children but - seven!

We got up and went to the Singh Cafe for our Mekong delta trip. We first boarded a bus for a few hour ride and then were dropped off and walked a short distance to our boat. It was a blue wood boat with bench seats. The back was open so a few people could stand back there and take pictures. There were not any windows so the breeze blew freely through the sides. We first looped through a floating market of boats with colorfully painted bows and then headed up the Mekong River toward our destination for the evening - the city of Chau Doc. We did re-board the bus and take a ferry on our way there. Here are some pictures from that leg…

As a group we decided to upgrade our hotel rooms for an additional $20 USD. The tour package cost us $24 each from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Phen in Cambodia - hotel, bus, boat - everything. We hopped on trailers pulled by bicycles to grab dinner at a restaurant in town. After eating we hopped back on the bike trailers (our cyclists waited for us) and after a few moments i asked Coconut to ask if i could ride the bike while my “driver” rode in the back. She hadn’t finished the sentence and he was off the bike and ready for me to hop on. The traffic wasn’t as crazy as in the big city but it still was a rush to plod along in a 4 bike/trailer caravan around streets with motorbikes buzzing by. Despite gorging ourselves we went to a rooftop bar on a three story structure and Levy ordered a platter of crab claws and we cooled off with bottles of Tiger beer. Our drivers took us back to the room to rest up for the rest of the trip to Phnom Penh.

We planned on meeting Levy, Stacey, and Karine at the Eva counter in Seattle at 11PM on Sunday.  We arrived an hour early and there was a substantial line so we figured we’d hop in and try and get 5 seats together.  Our agent couldn’t find anyone’s reservations but ours though.  When Stacey and Levy arrived we went through the line again with them and we wended up next to that agent.  I think she was embarrassed that she couldn’t find them in the system so she had Cena and I upgraded for “coming early” and “being nice” (we didn’t get worked up when she said they were not on the flight).  Then Levy and Stacey were upgraded and just as they were finishing up checking in, Karine arrived and skipped to the head of the line.  We were not in first class - nor even business class but it wasn’t economy.

We had a few hour stop in Taipei, Taiwan where we did a little duty free shopping and enjoyed the free massage chairs.

We flew in economy from Taipei to Ho Chi Minh City but the plane was newer so the seats were decent at the in-flight entertainment system was state of the art.  Our food on both flights was excellent.  We arrived and went through immigration and customs without a hitch.  Seth met us at the airport with “Coconut” - her real name is pronounced “Kahn” like the nemesis from the Star Trek movie.

I’m running out of time before we have to meet everyone in the lobby for our bus ride to the Mekong Delta where we’ll take a two day boat ride into Cambodia.  No idea if we’ll end up with internet access for a while but we plan on checking back into this hotel on the 26th which should be the 25th to everyone in the US.  Here are some more pictures… the most memorable thing so far?  The liquor at Coconut’s aunt’s that was a mixture of five different alcohols that were home-made.  Ginseng, a medicinal blend, banana, seahorse, and snake.  Yes.  Snake.  We found out after having the blend and it was sweet and very good.

We made it up to Bellingham and went to Costco. I used a rewards certificate to get a 4 gig compact flash memory card for my digital camera. We watched a few tv shows and now the Wii is out. Kaleb and Bailee are bowling. We’re all off to dinner at Anthony’s shortly.

We labored long into last night installing a security camera system at Lux and putting window displays together for Christmas. Colin and Josh helped with the windows. We went to dinner at Northern Lights and by 11:30 were back home working on finishing off our lists of things to do before leaving. We got up early and finished laundry and washing the sheets for our house sitter (Hailey). We flew into Juneau and walked to McDonald’s for lunch. Then we flew to Seattle and have met up with Bailee. We’re sleeping at her apartment tonight. We might meet up with Karna, Levy, Karine, and Stacy tonight. The plan for tomorrow is to load up and drive to Bellingham and see Kaleb. I have a few things to work on so will be clicking away in the back seat on my laptop for much of the trip i think. We have to be to the airport by midnight to catch our long flight to Taipei and then on to Saigon.

IFA to Wrangell

Originally uploaded by zieak

Cena and I are headed to Wrangell with Mitch, Josh, Jen and Angela to watch volleyball (uh huh) and go to their costume parties.

My flight missed Juneau this morning - it was too foggy. So I ended up in Anchorage.

I’m on my way to Sitka for SEAtrails meetings.  I left Petersburg on the “morning” flight arriving in Juneau at about 1.  I board the flight to Sitka at 10 PM tonight.  I’ve spent a good four hours in the airport terminal just passing the time.  I’ve paid for hotels in Seattle for shorter layovers than this one.

I have meetings all day tomorrow and then Monday morning.  We will conclude before noon so some people can make a flight out of there.  It isn’t early enough for me to catch a flight to Petersburg though so I have to wait until Tuesday morning at 6 to make it to Juneau.  Then I catch the afternoon jet into Petersburg after a 6 or 7 hour layover in Juneau.

You’re aware of my fall out with Expedia. You know of my luck with Priceline. But there’s a new service that has caught my eye. Hotel reservations made at hotelsescape.com seem to be quite competitive.  I booked my Las Vegas hotel on Priceline for $62.44 at the Golden Nugget hotel for the next day.  Hotelsescape has one available for tomorrow at the same hotel for $329.  *GULP* But to their credit they do have a room listed at the Tropicana for $87.  Looking further into the future they have rooms available for as little as $50 a night (plus taxes I’m sure - so somewhere around the $62.44 i paid a few weeks ago) at hotels like the Stratosphere, the Imperial Palace, and the Hooters Casino Hotel.

Let’s do one a little more difficult… Saturday night i stayed at the Diamond Center Hotel in Anchorage, AK.  My rate was $124 a night.   Looking to book a room for tomorrow night gives me the same price - $129 a night - on both hotelsescape.com as well as on the hotel’s website.

Overall, this site will work well if you want a specific hotel and want to shop around for rates.  They seem to be very competitive and the site is pretty hassle free.  If you just want the least expensive bed available you still should use a service that let’s you name your own price.