Cambodia – Day 2 – Relaxation

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The morning brought about new sense of calm.   Away from the bustle of Phnom Penh where it had seemed as though everyone was in a damned hurry to get somewhere;  here was much different.   A half dozen resort employees work dilegently to clean the beach loungers, rake the sand,  sweep the floors, and prepare the breakfast buffet.  High pitched beeping of horns in the city were replaced by the soft whir of pineapple and watermelon being juiced behind the bar.

Breakfast was typical of what could be found at most beach resorts:  fresh local fruits, bread for toasting, various jams, omelette station.  Fried rice and Asian salad were also an option.

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Easing into the day,  it seemed necessary to slip into the warm waters of the Pacific.  Clear, salty, and soothing,  I felt as though I could spend all day out there.   The floor was soft sand that had a gentle wavy texture.   The gradual slope required you to walk out a couple hundred feet in order to get your hair wet.

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Relaxing on the beach has always been easy for me… ha! maybe for about ten minutes.  Beth, being a little better at it, has always suggested that I read a book.  Uh, no.  I can’t sit still long enough to become engrossed in a book.  I did, however, find that writing was a little more entertaining for me; at least for a while.

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Strolling up and down the beaches were an array of local people selling there wares.  Kids sold bracelets and other trinkets.  Young men sold sunglasses and boat tour packages.  And middle aged women sold a variety of goods and services.  “Massage for you?”  “Maybe pedicure?”  And my particular favorite that 2 different women approached Beth regarding, “Maybe I take care of the hair on your legs?”  Although it wasn’t terribly apparent to my eyes, two days without a razor (missing luggage) and I was married to a Sasquatch!

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Around lunch time:  fresh fruit, prawns, and other more unusual things.

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Since nothing being toted by seemed to suit our fancy, we opted for the restaurant at the Secret Garden Resort… again.  At this point, it is probably our favorite in the Otres 2 area.

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View from our porch.

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It is difficult to express how cool it is to have an outside bathroom.  Although completely private, using the toilet took a little getting used to.  To shower out there was an amazing experience that felt totally natural.  Beth is thinking on how this can be duplicated and yet be more acclimated to Michigan weather.

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A trip into SV in the Ochheuteal Beach region took us to the Monkey Republic.  As many restaurants and bars were quite empty, we chose this place simply by the number of patrons.

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Monkey Republic was a total backpacker hangout.  A crowd that consists of mostly young Australians and some Europeans sitting around drinking Angkor Beer, smoking Marlboro Reds and socializing with others.  It was difficult to not be too envious of their free spirits.

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As I often do, I ordered way too much food.  Brought out to outside table one dish at a time in an “auction style” manner, we had gotten the Chicken Amok, Sweet and Sticky Ribs, and of the fried spring rolls.  Spring rolls can be found at nearly every Cambodian restaurant and are offered 2 ways:  fresh or fried.  We’ve learned that fried is definitely the way to go.

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Cambodia – Day 1

We awoke in the morning to the early light in Phnom Penh (PP) and the sounds of roosters crowing in the streets below our 9th floor hotel room.   By 6 a.m. the streets were already abuzz with activity.  Although the urge to shore up our batteries with a little more sleep, there is a level of excitement that we could hardly contain.  So many things that need to be discovered.

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Downstairs awaited a huge spread of Khmer and Western breakfast options.  We enjoyed some exotic fruits including papaya and dragonfruit.  My favorite was the spicy noodle soup that can be found in many Southeast Asian cultures.

Needing a few supplies, we were advised to walk a few blocks to the Russian Market.  Wow!  What an overwhelming immersion into Cambodian culture.  The market was truly amazing, and at the same time, quite frightening.  Throughout the labyrinth of stalls you could find everything you’d need such as clothing, antiques, motorcycle parts, tools, “groceries”, etc.  I really wished that we had pictures to show, but strangely the forethought and opportunity didn’t arise.

Beth and I came to this exotic land with the intention of doing some adventurous eating.  We always joked about how food wasn’t authentic unless you bought it out of someone’s trunk (Jamaica).  Well, one trip through the meat and fish section of the Russian Market may have changed the entire scope of this vacation.  The sights and sounds were quite horrifying; too much for most western sensibilities.  Meat being carried in large clear bags and being butchered right before you.  Fish, scary fish, being cleaned on the stone floor next to the merchant’s feet and then put up on the table for sale.  Sanitary preparation was certainly not on anyone’s mind.  The smell?  Although tolerable, it unfortunately set the tone on what we imagined every time a new food odor would present itself.  Having had enough of this invasion to the senses we worked to maneuver our way out of this “food” area.  At every turn we found new horrors; a quiet feeling of panic began to creep in until we found our exit.

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Back on the street we found the traffic in PP to be completely dangerous and out of control.  Cars, Trucks, tuk tuks, and a million scooters all whirled around in a way that seemed insanely choatic and yet had a synergy that seemed to work.  Regardless, crossing the street was usually a harrowing experience.  (video insert)

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We did see some pretty nice things on our little walk about.

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By 10:30 a.m. Beth and I were ready to take the “3 hour” taxi ride to Sihanoukville (SV).  Perhaps the slower pace of the touristy beach/backpacker town might help us ease into this massive culture shock.  The cab ride started out relatively uneventful.  My seatbelt was probably a little below normal safety standards, but I was certain that it wouldn’t be needed… yeah, right.  The taxi driver, who spoke NO English, was quite nice and hospitable.  He presented us with something to eat during the drive.  It took a couple of hours to muster the courage to try what I would compare to a rice based tamale.  We tasted it, but that was enough.  :\

The drive itself was long, but fascinating.  There were a lot of interesting sights to see along the way.  Leaving the bustle of PP, the city began to give way to a more rural atmosphere with smatterings of light industrial centers.  Tall, straight palm trees; flat rice patties; dirty white cows in the fields and on the roadside.  Because of the intermittent torrents of rain, we didn’t really stop for photo opportunities.

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The “Family Truckster”, Cambodia style!

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A few hours into the journey, the driver required a stop to use the bangkon.  I know we call them restrooms in the U.S., but there was no resting in there!

As we continued west, the driver’s style went from casually aggressive to significant urgency.  We passed EVERYTHING!!!  Cars, trucks, and semi-tractor trailers carrying petroleum… we passed them all.  We passed them EVERYWHERE!!!  Up hills, hidden driveways, blind curves and oncoming traffic were no match for us.  As the weather worsened, you would have thought our force-field got stronger.  This quiet little gentleman was driving as though he could feel a serious case of the scoots coming on.  I do recall, out of instinct, asking Beth how far apart her contractions were. (insert video)  Thank goodness for proper working seat belts… umm, wait.

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The weather cleared as we got closer to the coast.  The terrain began to extend upward as “smoke” covered mountains began to close in on the highway.  The traffic lessened and the scenery got more beautiful.

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Our hotel, the Ren Resort, was located in the more secluded Otres 2 Beach resort area.  Secluded is an understatement.  To reach the many beautiful hotels at Otres 2 it was necessary to drive down the roughest, dirtiest road imaginable.  Weaving around the small ponds and craters in our path, we had finally reached our destination.  The Ren Resort well exceeded our expectations.  The beauty, the cleanliness, the hospitality; this place truly served as our oasis.

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The small private beaches located on the seaside of each hotel were dotted with palm trees and beach lounge chairs.  The ocean?  Calm, clean, warm… inviting.

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On the close of our first day, we reflect that this day may have been a lot about learning.  Who we are doesn’t always coincide with who we think we are or who we want to be.  Perhaps there are limits to what we consider as adventure?  Perhaps we bit off more than we WANT to chew?  I can’t honestly answer those questions at this point in the journey, but we certainly can enjoy pondering such things with cocktail in hand as the sun sets in the western sky over the Gulf of Thailand.

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Cambodia – Day 0.

Our long anticipated day had finally arrived.   What had seemed so far in the future was now upon us.

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Let the adventure begin!

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Having been to Europe a few times in our life,  we knew what a long flight was all about… or so we thought.  Spread out over three legs the total time in the air was to round out to about 23 hours.   The longest stretch being 15 hours!

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Having read dozens of advice columns on how to survive a long flight, we were prepared.  Compression socks, face masks,  noise canceling headphones?  Check,  check and check.   Fasting to help prevent jet lag, avoiding airline food, and changing eating and sleeping habits to match destination time zone?  Well, we weren’t as diligent with that.  Airline food IS a guilty pleasure of mine.  All said, it does seem as though we were relatively successful in minimizing the negative effects of such a long day of travel.

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Over the past year of planning, I had looked upon the flights in two different ways:  panic and dread,  and adventurous challenge.   In the end, it was simply about grinding out the hours watching television programs,  eating,  and cat napping.

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The route from Dallas to Seoul, Korea took us north over British Columbia and Alaska.  Beth caught a few pics of Alaska on the way by.

We’d arrived 30 minutes late in Korea, which cut our layover down to less than an hour; not enough time to tour the airport.  From what I’ve heard, Incheon International Airport is one of the nicest airports in the world.

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Five and half hours later, we’d finally reached our destination of Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  Near exhaustion, but we had survived with all of the enthusiasm for the the continuing adventure.  Tomorrow is going to be a good day!

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Another Ordinary Weekend in Detroit – Right?

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One of our favorite things to do on the weekends is to venture downtown (Detroit) for some urban foraging and exploration.   Over the past few years, the downtown areas have benefited greatly from the influx of new money and investors.  Simply on the basis of esthetics, I have never seen the city look so good.

This weekend presented a particularly good opportunity to head down.   We had received a “comped” room from a friend at the Motor City Casino Hotel.  Although gambling isn’t really our thing,  we do enjoy the accommodations at the hotel.

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Now I can honestly say that we knew what we were in for, as this particular weekend coincided with the annual Youmacon convention.  What is Youmacon?  I can best describe it as Comicon, but for the anime crowd.  Here is a link, if you really wanted to know more about it.    http://www.youmacon.com/

Thousands of kids between the ages 12 and 50 descend upon the city; many engage in cosplay  (costume play) with some incredibly well made costumes.

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The three day convention holds different events at the Renaissance Center and Cobb Hall which pretty much creates a steady flow of “characters” walking between the two venues.

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The People Mover also gets overrun.

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We met up with my sister in Greektown for some sushi.  (yeah, I know… sushi isn’t Greek, but they’ve got some pretty decent rolls at Fishbone’s)

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Free hugs?

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Ending a pretty cool weekend in the D with a couple of my favorites, huevos rancheros and chiliquillas for breakfast!  Evie’s Tamales in Mexican Town have some of the best you’ll find.

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Autumn Color Flight — Northern Michigan

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One of the many great things about living in Michigan is getting to watch the trees change into their fall colors.  Last Saturday, we found perfect weather and the opportunity to observe the annual transformation from the sky.  It was a gorgeously sunny October afternoon with a slight chill in the air.  It was a bit windy which made the ride a little more turbulent than I would prefer, but not too bad.

As we lifted off from Runway 22 in Marine City it quickly became evident that we were a few weeks early for the peak color change in lower Michigan.  The landscape was mostly green, but we were able to find a few bright patches of trees that were beginning to change.  We needed to fly north, the colors would be more abundant  there.

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Trying to get more comfortable flying in such a small plane, I took the controls from Chris as we flew toward Saginaw Bay.  Flying straight and level is a little more challenging than you would think.

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The colors were starting to pop as we worked our way to Houghton Lake airport.

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We walked about  half a mile down the road to the Spikehorn Restaurant for a quick lunch.

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As we took off from Houghton Lake , the colors were so much more beautiful and abundant.

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The Ausable River was our guide to lead us across the terrain through the Huron National Forest toward Lake Huron.

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A total of six dams are located along the river generating hydroelectric power and creating large “ponds” which are used for fishing and other outdoor sporting activities.  This dam is called Five Channels Dam.

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Just for fun, Chris did a touch-and-go at the Wiertsmith Airforce Base,  an old military base that had significant importance to the region during the Cold War era.  Currently it is used to salvage large commercial planes and also houses a museum.

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As the hours grew long and the sun started to set we headed south toward home over Tawas Bay.  Although a week or two early for peak color change season, we still enjoyed a very wonderful fall day in Michigan.

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Put-in-Bay Day Trip

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Since earning my private pilot license,  I have longed for unusual (and convenient) destinations to fly into.  Sure the act of piloting a small plane and looking out the window is enjoyable, but what really gets me excited is the mission to make a destination and the journey that it entails.  Put-in-Bay is the perfect destination for short day trip  in search of food and fun.  Although a bit more pricey than the term “hundred dollar hamburger”, the Lake Erie island  is a relatively affordable  destination.  In less than an hour after takeoff, you land on a small piece off paradise that completely takes you out of the ordinary.

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Yesterday, was nearly a perfect day for an early fall flight with my good friend, Heather.  Although bit breezy, the sun provided enough warmth to make the illusion  that summertime was still here.

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A short golf cart ride to The Keys, Put-in-Bay for some tropical fare that transports you to almost any island destination that you want to imagine.

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Grouper Rueben, Chicken Oscar, piña colada, and ginger beer were the choices of the day.

Having gotten the priorities out of the way, it was time to do a little exploring on the way back to the airport.  I heard that Heather was a fan of geodes…

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A visit to the Crystal Cave at Heienman’s Winery was our next stop.  Here you can go down INTO and explore what they call “the world’s largest” geode.

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Following a quick pre-flight inspection of the plane, we were off and heading north over Lake Erie.  Sunsets at 6,500 feet are almost always more spectacular than what can be caught in a photograph.

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Because of the rapidly fading daylight, we extended our return leg past Marine City to capture some of the beauty from the lights of Port Huron and the St. Clair River.

 

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