A Voyage in the East

is definitely the interesting people that you meet on the road. For example, yesterday evening I met a bunch of travellers at my hotel and we shared dinner and numerous beers. Among our group was Phil, a fascinating and peaceful guy from Switzerland who speaks 6 languages fluently and has just spent the past three and half years studying Sinology at a Chinese University. He was the first western person to complete the program in 25 years. Then there was Darren, who has also spent the past three years teaching in China. He is now moving to Montreal to start a band and get a Masters in Philosophy. Finally, there was John, the American I've been hanging out a bit with the last couple of days. He just finished working for GE Capital, a job that has taken him around the world. He's heading to MIT in the fall. He's a really thoughtful, well-read and urbane guy. The perfect person to have a couple of beers with.

Tomorrow morning I am going to take a very early bus to Battambang. I am going to potter around that colonial town and the Cambodian countryside for a couple of days. From there, I think that I will go to the south coast to the town of Sihanoukville to get my Vietnamese visa, then briefly to Phnom Penh, and over to Vietnam for a week or so.

I'll be glad to leave Siem Reap. After two days I am templed out! I'd definitely recommend a visit though.