Almost through my solo Journey

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  Siem Reap, Cambodia
Saturday, July 14, 2007

Can you believe this is my second to last evening alone. Tomorrow night I will spend on a plane headed to Athens where I will meet Celia On Tuesday morning! Ok, so I guess I have three more nights. Anyway, its come down to my last few days alone and I wanted to say a few things to highlight my experience thus far. First of all, as you can tell, it has been truly amazing. there is honestly no words that can justly describe everything I've seen, the wonderful people I met, and of course, the foods I've tried.

I have gone to many World heritage sites such as Tikal, Angkor Wat, Quito, the blue mountains, and I could go on. The things I've done have been equally remarkable like rafting down the river pacquare, climbing the Harbour bridge and swimming with penguins and sharks!! 

What I really havent focused on is the kind and interesting people I've met. In the galapagos I mentioned the truly amazing group of Americans I met on the yacht, who were not only welcoming, but very well traveled and educated that made for many intesreting conversations and days. On the yacht I also met two young gals from Israel who had just finished their service in the israeli army and were traveling in S. America for 6 months. Apparently it is very common for israelis to travel once finishing their service and almost all visit South America because there is a well established network of hostels and tour operators that cater to isrealis. As you may know, in Israel women are required to do two yrs of service, while men must do 3 for a monthly pay of $100 a month!

I also told you about the crew and how Arturo the bartender picked me up from a bar as he was driving by and we drank so many 40's of pilsener with his wife and bartender that we fill an entire crate! 

In Panama I had my guide from Nicaragua that cussed more than a sailor and kept telling me about how he wanted to save enough money to buy his own taxi van. In bocas I met lots of people with the smithsonian and partied with a british gal and french guy completing their masters program from the Univeristy of Glasgow.

In every country I met so many locals, like in costa rica when I went to an older lady's birthday party at a hall and went to the local bars with Jose, his brother and I cant even remember how many friends in a van that seemed to be driving them around.

I also got to spend time with my family, meeting my cousins baby boy and of course spending quality time with my abuelita. And then Nikki, who we had a great time in Belize and even took the wrong damn plane home.

In Australia I met those two lovely british girls who kept saying "lovely" and "mad". In veitnam my guide Chung, who could barely speak English but took me around for three daysa nd kept Whispering that a certain person and/or place of business was VC or viet cong. And then there was two Vienamese girls Mai and Mi (pronounced MEEEE, while dropping your jaw) who on my last night took me to a locals seafood restaurant and brought me around on their scooter. 
By the way, a little side note about vietnam,  in case you forgot they are still acommmunist country and my hotel was a government hotel and subject to monitoring of emails and internet as well as phone calls!

Lastly, in cambodia I met Tory who is a PHD candidate at john hopkins studying dementia in HIV patients. 

There were so many more people that I spent time with, shared meals and many many more who i drank with. All have been wonderful, making this trip even more memorable than just the sites themselves.

All countries have also had one thing in common! Everyone complains about illegal immigration, in Ecuador, panama they complain about the Columbians,  Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador complain about Nicaraguenses, Belize complain about Salvadoreans and Guatemalans, Australia has clamped down on immigration but as you may have noticed while i was there there was the issue with the indian doctor and his role in the london bombing, and of course the topic was immigration. Here in Siem reap the population has exploded bringing in many thai and vietnamese because people want to come work.

The main thing is, all of these countries are very poor (except australia) but they are all rich in natural resources! Its unfortunate that people remain so poor as a result of such corrucption in their respective governments. As my gudie in Panama would say, for a country of only 3 million people, with the money the canal and banks bring in, they should all be driving mercedes and he should have his damn taxi van.

The other thing, in countries like El salvador, guatemala, veitnam and cambodia there is such a history of violence and war but people remain optimistic. Everywhere Ive been people seem to experience positive progress in their countries and for the most part the service industry as a result of tourism has grown and making thier lives better. As you may have noticed, people hustle any chance they can, and work extremely long days and many days at a time. Living and sanitary conditions are nothing compared to what we are use to, and I have shared more meals with flies, ants and even seen more bugs in these past 7 weeks than I am use to. 

The main thing is you see people living a life of survival. People are very aware of local politics and even foreign politics, as political decisions affect their lives so much more than we will ever imagine.

Again, there is so much to tell, so much ive seen and heard. But I still think everyone needs to see it and experience it for themselves. I didnt want to just see sites, but interact with people and learn about the reality of their lives. I know there is so much more to see and learn, and am looking forward to 5 more weeks! I am also looking forward to sharing it with my lovely!   

I almost forgot, if you are still with me you may like this. I apparently am sort of a celebrity in veitnam and cambodia. Everyday, at least three times a day if not more I am asked or told that I look like Roberto Carlos. In Vietnam everyone I met said I was very handsome, and all told me I looked vietnamase. In cambodia, people think i am cambodian, or malaysian or vietnamese, of course after the know I am not from Brasil! 

I am also told I look like I am from every asian country and in Ecuador people asked if I was ecuadorean, in Peru if I were peruvian!  Anyway, next time I come to Vietnam and Cambodia I will bring my Brasil Jersey with Roberto Carlos written on the back.   

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