Headlines of late...

WE'VE BEEN ROBBED!!!!

Yes, the unthinkable! Lucky for us, nothing of significant value was stolen, just those precious mementos. We didn't even realize it had happened until nearly a week or two had passed. We've narrowed the incident down to the location (The Top Inn off Khao San Road in Bangkok) but are a little fuzzy on which night it occured. The thief took our souvenir money from each country on our trip (but only the bills--not the change) as well as J's Swiss Army knife. It's particuarly unfortunate because Jeremy has had that knife since grade school when he was in Scouts. It has been with him for many years and has lots of memories attached to it. He was pretty upset to see it was gone. He noticed it was out of place a few days ago when he couldn't find it but just assumed it was lost in the black-hole backpack. But when we both had to unpack and re-pack all our stuff the other night due to ant problems, we discoved these things missing. Luckily, the entire time we were in Bangkok we kept our day packs on us which carry all of our valuables and electronics. But who knows if the thief would have been smart enough to take them had we left them anyway. They passed on his binoculars and camp stove and other expensive items but went straight for the money (of which most are controlled currencies and can't be exchanged except in a few countries). There were no signs of a break-in though and the hall had a video camera just outside the door. We guessing perhaps house keeping was involved. We intend to make a report of it with the hotel but of course don't expect anything to come of it. But for future reference: don't stay at The Top Inn!!

SLOW Chang

Jeremy and I just left the island of Ko Chang yesterday after 4 days of bliss in the sun (with few bliss-ters). We stayed in a pretty rustic bungalow just off the beach and ate better there than at anytime on our entire trip: salad bar, ginger and sesame eggs for breakfast, corn on the cobb, and the BEST chicken shish kebab barbeque! YUM! We were there for Valentine's day too and spent the evening watching a fire dance show on the beach and chilling out with a live DJ. Jeremy built several sand castles (one of which was destoryed by a little Irish girl who did a belly flop on it--photo to come later) and I burried him in the sand, making him into the shape of a mermaid. :) So funny!!

No-man's Land (between countries)

After leaving Ko Chang, we headed out into the unknown for the Cambodia-Thailand border crossing at Pailin. We had heard this one is less used and that the Cambodian border officers were a lot nicer (read: less corrupt) so we took our chances. We ended up in a mini-buss from Chonaburi filled with Thais who fed us fruit and asked us lots of questions. When asked if we met on this passed Valentine's Day, Jeremy said, "No, I love her long time!" (a common phrase used among Thai prositutes). Everyone laughed. :) At the border, the driver just kind of dumped us all at the immigration post and took off without pay. I thought he was going to pick us up on the other side but he wasn't there and I guess we got a free 300 Baht mini-bus ride. I feel a little bad about it though... They were so nice... More good luck: the border officer tried to tell us the visa was $25 when it's actually $20; we called his bluff and got away with it. The rest was smooth sailing.

When the Dust Settles...

The difference between Thailand and Cambodia is immidiate and schocking. At the Thai immigration office there are concrete buildings with windows and queues. At the Cambodia immigration office there is a shack with wood benches, no windows, a cot, and a map on the wall from before the Khmer Rouge. On the Thai side is pavement and people drive on the left side. On the Cambodian side there is dirt and people drive on the right. But the biggest difference is the dust--orange dust that covers everything. Not even the trees are green. Dogs are orange and white cars are a myth. Even with the windows up, we were still eating dust in our taxi from Pailin to Battambang. And the road was terrible!! Poor Jeremy nearly lost his lunch in the car while bouncing up and down through pot-holes, trenches, over rocks, and through the weeds (yes, this taxi ride included a little off-roading as well). 90 kilometers later we tumbled into Battambang and Jeremy spent the rest of the night puking in the bathroom. Turns out he wasn't just car sick. I felt so bad for him. He was miserable all night and our room was super hot up on the fourth floor of our hotel. But he's feeling better today and hopefully we'll make it out to Siam Reap tomorrow.

A lesson in Smokin' Pot

Today we took a Khmer and Thai cooking course at a restaurant called Smokin' Pot. (What were you thinking? ;) ) Everything was fun from the trip to the market to buy our fresh ingredients to Jeremy's stove catching on fire (the chef helped us put it out). For a paltry $8 each, we got to make 3 Khmer dishes and a take home recipe book. Hopefully there will be a Cambodian dish on the menu at Chez Kortney soon!! Sadly, Jeremy was still feeling a little too sick to enjoy his food but I'll vouch: it's delicious!!

Amritsar

Here are some photos from Amritsar:

The emcee/cheer leader who led the hundreds of Indian spectators in songs, cheers and chants at the border closing ceremony.

Retiring the flag.

An old man at the Golden Temple.

Another old man...

A really cute young Sikh boy dressed as a maharaja and packing a golden sword. Too cute for words.

A father and his two daughters enjoying the sunrise at the Golden Temple.

Two young and beautiful sisters.

The Golden Temple at night. Pretty gold, eh?

Pakistan

And here are some photos from Pakistan:

Yay! I'm in Pakistan! At the border.

Very cool Pakistani semi-trucks. Made me think of Mexico. lol.

My first glance at Pakistan: a really dusty border town called Wagah.

Goofy pigeons living in the wall at Lahore Fort.

A very beautiful yet unsuspecting Pakistani woman at the top of the elephant stairway in Lahore Fort.

The king's mosque at Lahore Fort.

The giant mosque across from the fort.

My "guide" Sawamni.

A super smiley little Pakistani kid. Those aren't tears--it's sweat!

Some beautiful Pakistani women cooling off in the shade outside the mosque.

Some very curious men at the fort who really wanted me to take their photo.