A bump in the road

Well, it had to happen eventually: the scourge of all travelers has taken hold and here I now sit, thankfully mere feet from a bathroom, in the lobby of the guesthouse/hotel I've checked myself into in order to weather the storm. Thankfully things aren't too bad and the medication I've got is working. Wasn't really a bad bought anyway, but not particularly convenient, so I found a nice air-conn place with ensuite and TV for only 15$ a night just down the road from the other hostel I was staying at. Frankly it's a nice break too from sharing a double with a fairly creepy dude in order to save a few bucks and having to rely on a crappy fan to keep you cool when the nights don't drop below 25-28. I don't have much to update, so I picked out some random thoughts from my journal to share since I'm very bored.

First off is a story I forgot about until today. Was sitting on my bed reading one night in Ayutthaya when out of nowhere an enormous cockroach just scurried across the foot of the bed and down the side. And I mean a HUGE roach, like the length of a finger. No idea where it came from, didn't see another one the entire time I was there. I was so surprised that I jumped back a bit on the bed and kind of half tossed my book (which was so old that part of it came apart from the spine, meaning I couldn't later exchange it for another - grrrr). When I edged toward the side of the bed to see where it had gone, it flew in that lazy / uncoordinated way that they do and landed with a thud on the wall. I smacked the hell out of it with a bottle and assumed it was dead. I was incorrect. 20 minutes later I heard a buzzing noise from inside the trash can, and sure enough, the bastard was trying to move about. I trapped it in an empty pudding cup thing that I had from an earlier snack and tossed it outside, then cuddled up into a ball to sit through the night with the smashing bottle and sob gently while guarding my territory from further attack. Ok so maybe that's exaggerating, but I didn't exactly sleep well that night.

Now a few random things about Cambodia. First off, I've noticed that this country is ridiculously well staffed. You go into a grocery store and there are 3 people at the tills, one bagging, one scanning and one running the cash. There are people everywhere sweeping public spaces (though nobody picking up garbage - go figure), massive construction crews using the most basic labour techniques (like using slings to haul large rocks in pairs because they don't have the vehicles for that), etc. A quick google search shows that the minimum wage here is very low, and you have to wonder if there isn't a better balance to be struck between providing an abundance of low paying jobs and a lesser number of better paying jobs. I'm not pretending to advocate one or the other because I'm obviously no expert, but given the level of poverty here something just feels out of whack.

On the other hand, there's a strange phenomenon with the housing situation I've seen in a lot of the rural areas while traveling by bus: beautiful, glimmering new houses that look entirely out of place on the properties that surround them. The houses themselves look very well built using materials (if not a style) that you'd see in the first world. But they're surrounded, in almost every single case, by trash on properties with little to no grass, engine parts and other debris scattered about, and a clear lack of interest in maintaining any kind of order or neatness within. It's a really weird sight, like a mansion rising out of a dump, and I wish I had taken a few pictures. I don't know if the houses are paid for by some kind of subsidizing or government program, or if the owners can afford the houses but just don't give a damn about the property or what the deal is, but I'd like to find out.

One thing I love about Cambodia is the traffic. Not having to deal with it, mind you, but I love watching it. It's just crazy, with no rules whatsoever. It's funny how we tend to think of traffic rules as being what keeps our roads safe but that's not strictly true at all: they're just a set of arbitrary (though admittedly well designed) rules that we all collectively abide, and it's that collective observance that makes it work. If one person steps outside those rules, that's when things get dicey. But when there are no strict traffic rules, then only one collective observance keeps the peace: nobody wants to hit anybody else. And when you think about it, that's all that's really needed on the roads: the knowledge that one's vehicle is a large enough cost and one's safety a large enough concern that mutual self-interest dictates that no matter how chaotic things get, that self-interest guarantees your safety. Being in the middle of traffic here is a bit like being in a cave full of bats flying around you: they're not going to hit you even as they seem to engulf you. I might film some video to show how fun it is to watch. On a side note, I saw a white girl on a rented bike trying to ease through traffic while getting vigorously honked at, and then I noticed she had headphones on. That's a death wish right there. Saw another guy who was stopped at the corner of a busy street and the look on his face was priceless: he did NOT want to attempt to cross that street on his rented bike. He ended up turning around and going back; this place isn't for everyone.

And lastly, to end on a creepy note, it's hard not to think the worst when you see old men in southeast Asia. I've already seen one very blatant case of an old guy who was shacking up with a much, much younger Asian man in the hostel I stayed at in Kuala Lumpur (they wandered in and out of their room in towels all day long, usually to the bathroom and back - you do the math). Maybe it's just the cynical internet-child syndrome, but every old man I see here without a wife I automatically judge to be a sex-tourist of some kind. Sometimes I love you internet, but sometimes I hate what you've done to me.

Sorry to end it like that, but I'm out of stuff to say. Hopefully I'm doing better tomorrow and can report on some REALLY depressing stuff: visits to some of the Khmer-Rouge related sites nearby.