Updates!

We've been invaded. Until now our time here in Siem Reap has been surprisingly mosquito free. I've found one mosquito/unidentified bug bite since landing here. But today: they're catching up. I discovered that our window was open last night for God knows how long and I think this was mosquito version of a neon sign advertising an all-you-can-eat buffet. This morning I counted 6 more bites on my legs. I fear I'll look like a contestant on Survivor by the time we move on- all bug bites and sun burnt patches. (The part where you lose 30 pounds in a few weeks would be a bonus, though.)

Our first morning here I made a little friend in the shower. As I was rinsing the shampoo out of my hair, I spied a gecko stuck to the wall. Just hanging out. Watching. Silently threatening to fall on me. I've seen a look like that in beady little eyes before... If you want to see a gecko here all you have to do is look up. They are stuck to every ceiling and wall, patiently waiting for the mosquitoes to finish feasting on puffy foreigners and come out to play.
What else? I got a pedicure yesterday but it is so warm out that the polish melted and all but slid of my toenails. With no nail polish remover available to fix them I look like I have some bizarre, pearly red fungal infection.

Lordy. We've just spent 4 hours trying to find a way to shave off at least 4 hours from our travels. We're still contemplating our next destination and the best way to get there. We're kind of land locked being in Siem Reap. The roads are a bit sketchy and you can either go way north or way south to get back to Phnom Penh, where we both fly out from. We had planned on Bangkok, then a beach somewhere, but most of the places we were interested in involved hopping around, wasting valuable vacation time. Getting to Bangkok from here requires either an inflated air ticket ($130 or so one way) or a $60 cab to the border, then a $10 or $20 bus ride (split between the two of us). Oh, and it's the difference of 1 hour or 7.

I am grateful to have a travel companion for this part of my seven-month journey, though. If I was on my own I'd have given up and re-booked my perfectly lovely room for the next week instead of making decisions. We keep each other on task. (Unless the task is any of the things we've been meaning to do for the last three days but instead spend our days lounging in our room or in the bar or sitting in the sun or walking from our room to the bar in the sun.)

I think we've settled on a beach town, at least. We like Hua Hin- about 2 hours from Bangkok. Leave it to me to wait until I'm super sluggish and lazy from the heat with brain fog still hovering from my cold, period-crampy and indecisive as the perfect time to plan the most complicated leg of our trip. I wish there was an iTouch application for "Think For Me". Or "Whine." Or "Help, Mommy."

More to come!