2007.03.10- Gong Xi Ni! Gong Xi y’all (Gong Hay Fat Choy to my family), It is now the year of the pig so happy new year to everyone. This Chinese New Year is late but we appreciated the longer gap between Christmas and the new year unlike last year. Instead of having another week of holidays after Christmas, we could enjoy it after two months of teaching. As many of you know, this Chinese New Year we decided to travel to Cambodia. We spent 6 days in this country starting in the northern city called Siem Reap, home of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Angkor Wat. In fact, this city is the base camp for dozens of ancient ruins which surround it. Needless to say, Mike spent a lot of time with the camera shooting details everywhere we went. At the end of the trip, the photos totalled 400; of both of us in the pictures: 7. Let’s just say we will be selective about posting pictures on the website. We started our holiday by biking in scorching tropical heat. Most travellers who bike out to the temples leave at six in the morning to avoid the heat that eight o’clock brings. Since we had to wake at four the previous morning to catch our flight, leaving by six was not high on our list. We left our guest house at ten. Mike was praying the whole time that Kathy would change her mind about this crazy idea of biking to EVERY temple. First thing out of Kathy’s mouth was, “We are getting a tuk tuk.” Halleluiah. To quote a brother-in-law, “It’s hotter than two rats in a wool sock under a heat lamp.” Lots of water and walking. And after you see one temple, the rest look pretty much the same. Not to devalue the experience but the shear exasperating heat was enough to suck any joy present. After the temples, we took a little visit to the Land Mine Museum. When the communist Khmer Rouge finally withdrew and vacated Cambodia, they graciously left an inheritance of not only poverty and economic bankruptcy but also thousands upon thousands of land mines throughout the country; a majority of which have not been located and dismantled. It takes US$2 to lay a mine. Conversely, it takes government organizations US$500 to remove only one. Very nice! The Land Mine Museum we visited was run by a former child soldier of the Khmer Rouge who laid most of these mines. Now a middle aged man, most of his time is spent removing landmines at US$5/3 mines so Cambodians can do simple tasks like farm and walk to school without the fear of being exploded. The highlights of our last days in Cambodia include: eating a silk worm at the silk farm (they taste like fishy soy beans); staying at the amazing FCC guest house; kids do not wear clothes until they are at least two years of age; visiting the genocide museum. Click here if you are interested in checking out the pictures. Pictures will also be updated on our website soon. Until next time,