Dumb and Dumber

On the way to Angkor Wat, Andy's back tire locked up and nearly threw him into a ditch on the side of the road, which was better than in front of a semi-truck.

His chain wraped around the back end of his bike. The motor was just about to give out and his frame was bent beyond repair. We were in the middle of nowhere, the sun was beating down on us and everywhere we stepped was a fire ant hill.

We decided to ditch his bike and both of us rode on mine till we could get somewhere safe. I took his pack and put Andy on the back of my bike. With all everything on it, we had nearly 600 pounds on my 100cc Honda Winn.

By the time we drove about 50 miles, "Dumb and Dumber"-stlye, my bike seemd to lose its steam. I met a man who said he could fix it and that he could use it in the countryside for hauling fish. I gladley gave up that death trap and took a boat upriver to Siem Reap, right next to Angkor Wat.

Fortunately, we still have our skateboards in case we get into any more transportation troubles.

All of your troubles instantly leave when you watch the sun rise over Angkor Wat. I can't really decribe how beautiful it was. There is so much detail in these giant temples, each block has some sort of art work or image carved into the stone. You could spend your entire life finding new images or tunnels through the temples. At times, I felt like I was walking through an oil painting.

You just need to go there, you will love the people and the temples. 

The Cambodian people are so rediclously friendly, especially our tuk tuk driver. His name was John. He also works with a nonprofit called Full Tummy Farms, which gives orphan kids scholarships to go to higher education and is also a food bank.

Jhon picked us up at 4:30 a.m., to watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat and drove us around the temples until 5 in the afternoon, then later took us out to get a few Cambodia beers (if you like PBR, you like Cambodian beer). When we left the bar, we wanted to pay him 25 USD for driving us all day long. He refused and said "15 my friend." We countered with 23, then Jhon said 18. We eventually settled on 20, he smiled gave us big hugs and said "I'll see you next time friends".

If you find yourself in Angkor Wat and you need a driver or want to donate to an amazing orginization, Facebook or email Jhon at John_Angkor@yahoo.com

John is the first tuk tuk driver that I became Facebook frineds with. Leaving Cambodia was a bit sad. I must say, other than Tacoma, Cambodia is one of my favorite places in the world.

Now we just arrived in Bangkok, Thailand. I'll tell you all about it in the next blog, too much for one blog.