Short stories from Turtle Island

Yes, i'm still here. And yes, my massive post is still simmering. Its near completion so just hang on.

I'm currently in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. A little beach city that developers are trying to turn into the next Thailand. Its quite nice here as the beaches are clean, water is warm and accommodations are free. Yes, thats right, FREE! I'm living in a 20 person dorm but I don't care because its free! And of course i get to meet people now so i'm not a loner like in Phnom Penh.

I'm starting to enjoy my 'vacation' phase of my travels. The atmosphere is very chill and relaxed which is why everyone that i've talked to here always overstays. But its not actually the people that i enjoy the most, its the beach. I've spent more time on the beach here in the last 4 days than i have in probably my entire university career back home. Why? The water is warm and relatively clear, there are bars right on the beach, they play good music (but they really need a DJ), and best of all, they have beach chairs with shade! So while everyone else is busy trying to get skin cancer, i can relax in the shade and stay nice and pasty white. Well, actually not really, i've got a pretty bad t-shirt and Jesus sandal tan going on here but i don't care. As long as i don't fade my tattoo, i don't care. Either way, i love swimming in the ocean now. The water is quite shallow and you can always stand up, or if you want you can go and swim out to the nearby boats that are anchored. I'll have to make some pics but for now you'll just have to read about it (i'm nervous to bring my phone down and leave it when i go swimming).

Anyways, the actual purpose of this post (besides telling you i'm still alive and well) is that i had just remembered some stories from Turtle Island and i realized that i must write them down (for myself to remember). Turtle Island is a little island in the Mekong Delta which we went to as part of our tour (the canal pics from my large post).

Story one:
We stopped by in a little resteraunt to have food and fruits. Food was ok, fruits were ok, nothing special to write home about. However the 'traditional' vietnam song and dance performed for us was quite the spectacle. Firstly, the music was absolutely terrible. The entire family was up there singing and playing instruments. Secondly, their complete lack of enthusiasm only added to the patheticness of the whole show (of course, i cannot be too hard on them for this, they were doing the same thing over and over again, like every 20 min). Finally, at the end of the show the brought out CDs which you could purchase for like 10 USD. It was all that i could do to keep myself from laughing my ass off. Don't get me wrong, i'm all for learning and seeing new cultures, but at the time, it was just hilarious! And i know other people thought the same thing as well.

Story two:
Apparently crocodiles are not that expensive to buy over here. I was quite interested in purchasing my own to make a belt and some shoes (kidding of course) for the future. But of course thats not what i'm writing about. I'm here to vent as usual about the idiocy of people and their love for the cute and cuddlies. What i'm talking about is the condition of the croc farm was absolutely terrible but all anyone seemed to care about was the condition in which 2 bears were being housed. Now, i'm not going to say that the bears were in good condition (actually, they were in some of the most appalling conditions i have ever seen), all i'm gonna say is that the crocodiles are in no better shape but its the furries that get all of peoples attention. C'mon idiots! They are going to skin the crocs to make your bags, shoes and belts! But no, everyone gets into an uproar when you walk around with a fur coat! I think cute and cuddly animal rights lovers should all be skinned and have clothing made out of them. I'll be the first one in line to buy a shirt made from some uneducated idiot that loves deer, raccoons or squirrels. They're just pests!

Story three:
Unfortunately my friends camera got stolen so i don't have a pic but it would have been cool to see. So we stopped in a gas station to use the Happy room (bathroom). Now over here its very common to see some kinda weird insect (scorpion, trantula, centipede, millipede), or lizard (snakes, usually cobras) in these jars preserved with alcohol. People here like to drink them because it gives them 'powers.' But what i saw in this gas station was definitely new. Inside a jar a little bigger than a polaris bottle (the water cooler types) there was a baby bear. Yes, a fully formed (fur, claws, head, teeth) baby bear! Now the question is, how did they get it in there?