Singing in the Rain, Siem Reap

Thunder is roaring as I type this, buckets of rain soaking the street food vendors to the skin. Girls on motorbikes squeal as they ride by, lashed by the water. Tuk tuk drivers seek shelter under the carriages attached to their bikes, calling out to the people dashing for shelter, "you want tuk tuk, or you want get wet?"

I wanted neither actually, as this day is a break in the middle of three days cycling around the temples of Angkor with my sweet D, which means a days respite from the sing-song pleas of tuk tuk drivers, kids selling bracelets, handsome young students selling books, and women trying to get me to buy cold drinks even while a very large quantity of "cold drink" is pouring from the sky. At this point in our temple self-tour yesterday, Dana and I were drenched, taking shelter under an awning across from an ancient temple, staring at it's grandeur while waiting for the deluge to stop. "You should say 'hot drinks' instead" advised Dana. The woman laughed, and stopped hassling us.

But when it began to rain today, I was much better situated, reading by Siem Reap River, and was able to run to the nearest awning which, la dee da, just happened to be an internet cafe. Yes, fate has brought me to you, people.

We arrived in Cambodia from Laos a few days ago, on an all day bus ride and interminable wait at the border crossing, where I drank a Cambodian coffee that made me feel all loopy. Jeff, our cross-the-aisle bus friend, let me in on the tip that there is often lithium in the Cambodian water. Hmm...

Laos was truly beautiful, and went by much to fast. From the slow, sweet neighborhood feel of Luang Prabang, where it seemed that we ran into every traveller we'd met on the road (incredible how unlonely the world is for those of us using the same Lonely Planet guidebook - or as we say, the Bible), we went to Vientienne, where there was nothing much to do. So we hopped the next flight down to Paxse, from which we squeezed into a tuk-tuk with a load of locals, three other tourists, two bags of live fish and three crates of ducklings for a three hour ride to a little village on the Mekong. We bought tickets to cross on a slender, tippy wooden boat, and landed on Don Det, an island at the south of a chain of 4,000 tiny islands.

Don Det and it's neighbor Don Khon were beautiful and peaceful, idyllic, and we slowed down our pace to cycle around the islands, stopping at waterfalls, swimming at beaches we had all to ourselves, watching the local kids play a weird sandal-throwing game we never figured out, eating incredible Indian meals served by mincing ladyboys, and talking about our plans. After months of trying to be in the present, and mostly succeding largely because we're seeing so many new and wild things, we're both having to make plans for the future.

Yup, Sweet D & I are coming home. We have only a few more days here in Siem Reap and then Bangkok, and, by the magic of time zones, we leave here, and arrive in LA, the night of the 30th.

So we'll see you all soon! Thanks for reading and being a part of our trip. We love you all.