"Bit by a monkey" or "Fun monkey disease"

The 4000 Islands were, to be honest, a bit of a disappointment. They are beautiful, yes, but Laos as a whole is incredibly beautiful. We arrived late, haggled for a room and then wandered about. The following day we rented bikes and explored the two smaller of the inhabited islandes (Don Khon and Don Det). There was this great little Gibbon on a leash in the yard of a guest house. I carefully edged towards him and stuck out my hand (slowly) for him to sniff. He took my hand in his and shook it like a gently hand shake. He then hopped up in my lap. I was not expecting this but he was so gentle and human. He stroked my hand and picked at my shirt. In the blink of an eye he was on my head. I was a little less comfortable with this as I couldn't see him. "Paul, what's he doing, what's he doing." He appeared to be grooming me. He then took off my hat and tried it on. No joke. It fell off his tiny little gibbon head. I was in love. He lulled me into a false sense of security. He then grabbed my hair with his vicious little claws and bit down hard on the back of my head. I shrieked and shook him off. However, monkeys don't get shaked off. They're monkeys after all. He hung onto my tree limb forearm and bit down hard again. Yes, mom, he did break the skin. And no, I have not been to the hospital. There are non in Laos. Well, non that would be healthier than a monkey bite anyways.

So Paul and I are watching out for signs of rabies and aids. That's all.

The morning we checked out we discovered the guest house staff stole our laptop. I've lost 610 photos and no amount of crying and pleading with them would bring it back. It's gone. I'm now searching through the facebook profiles of the people I've met for any photos they may have that I lost. Unfortunately, we lost all of Tad Fan photos and no one was with us on the first day. Those photos are gone forever.

We are now in Cambodia. We had to bribe (a lot) at the border. But at least we were prepared for this, carrying a stash of american $1 bills. 

We stopped in Kratie to see the elusive Irrawaddy Dolphins. Cambodia and Laos have the largest population left in the world and there are only about 200 in the Mekong. It's a staggeringly low number. We wanted to see them to support the efforts of the eco-tourism groups promoting their survival. Plus, Dolphins are cool.

Now in Phnom Penn. The bustling capital. It's a great city so far. Especially considering it was a bombed out and completely emptied (actually, all citizens were forced to leave except for those in torture prisons, check S-21 or Khmer Rouge online) only 30 short years ago. There are now 2million people here. And money is flying. Tourism, international funding, and everyone wanting a piece of the pie has led to loads and loads of construction. There is still abject poverty, but it is getting glossed up and over with glassed front stores and posh boutique hotels. It hasn't lost it's Cambodian flair though, it's not completely westernized. They've developed in their own Cambodian way. It's not all for the benefit of the rich either. There is a growing middle class here too. I don't mean to make it sound like paradise, it's not. But it is developing with the pros and cons that development has.

Yesterday was spent touring S-21 and the killing fields. It was something we felt was necessary and respectful to do. But hard. The killing fields has been privatized though. Which kind of makes you want to puke.

One more day in Phnom Penn and then we're off to the coast. Sweet!