First stop - Phnom Penh, Cambodia

I’m writing this while riding on the craziest bus ride ever in Vietnam. I may end up with a broken laptop during one of these near accidents. So bear with me.

First stop on my SE Asian adventure was Phnom Pehn, Cambodia – home to the one and only Mike Rios. With the help of his trusty instruction sheet and a personally made map, we landed, dropped off our passports to get Vietnam visas and met Mikey at a café near his amazing apartment.

This kid is living it up in PP. I’m telling you, it’s tempting.

I spent a few days in the spoils of Western delights – bread, wine, cocktails and other tasties. Great little cafes and bars with cushioned benches and English speaking staff. I was impressed by this little-big city.

There is so much good food here. My personal theory is that the French occupation blessed this country with great baguette on every corner. I think it’s a good guess.

Even though its been nearly 5 years since we last embraced, it took no time for Mike and me to get back where we left off.

I wanted to stroke his extreme Cambodia sideburns. He wanted to stick his fingers up my nose.

I’ve included photos of the resulting compromise.

The next day Adam and I set off to see the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, an old school that was set up as a torture camp during the Khmer Rouge. I’m ashamed to say that my historic knowledge of this period is limited, but the museum certainly helped to clarify.

Grotesque doesn’t cut it. I was so moved that I got a little dizzy and lost a bit of feeling in my hands.

The classrooms had mostly been turned into torture rooms. Most were empty except for one bed and a graphic black and white photo of a victim in that room, either tied to the bed or otherwise chained. Photos were post-torture. Graphic.

There was also a photo exhibition with interview excerpts with survivors of the massacres. It was hard to think that nearly every tuk-tuk driver in the city, anyone above the age of 40 had lived through the Khmer Rouge and had almost certainly suffered and lost a loved one.

Tough stuff, but certainly worth an afternoon.

That night I hit up the town with Mike and his amazing roomie. We had a lot of drinks, shared poop stories and went dancing on a pontoon boat turned bar/dance club. Excellent times all around.

A little hung over, I headed out the next day. We’d be back to say goodbyes and pick up the visas.