Pub Street

In Siem Reap at night everyone heads for Pub Street. It's where all the action is. Cozy little bars and eateries. One night Yun took me to a restaurant because she said Mick Jaggar ate there when he was in Cambodia. All our meals were excellent and cheap. I noticed something about the Cambodians. In most third world poor countries everyone smokes. The cigarette companies practically give them away for free to get the locals hooked. I never really saw anyone with a cigarette. It was somewhat impressive. One day Yun and I went on a boat tour of a floating village. It was on Tonle Lake. Truly an amazing sight but also very sad to see how poor the people are and how hard they struggle. All the homes and stores are on stilts. There is even a church and a school. Then you see some tourist restaurants and souvenir stores. It's a bit nutty. Yun and I had our own boat with a guide and driver. At one point a villager raced up along side us in his little boat. His daughter leaped on to our speeding boat while we were moving. Just like something right out of a Jason Bourne movie. She moved along the outside of the boat until she got to me. There was a plastic bucket in her hand with cold Angkor beers. Even though it was nine thirty in the morning I had to buy one from her. One dollar, of course. Dads drive around in boats with their little kids begging for money. Each kid would have a huge jungle snake around their neck so tourists could take pictures of them. There were little boys floating around in tin wash tubs. It was all very surreal and eye opening. It's too bad they closed off adoption from that country. Yun and I may have taken home a little girl from there to go with the girl we are going to adopt from Ethiopia.