VACommuter's Shenanigans in Japan

Looked like carnival prizes to me. We had the tuk tuk driver for several hours for $20 US take us all over. US dollar is good to go in Cambodia.

Damn right. Had him take us to the mall and wait while we downed a quick set of Blizzards.

Hot scooter pillions abound.


Evidently the monk was not interested in the Come Here Restaurant.

Trees full of rather large bats. Kind of creepy.

Stopped at the Elephant Bar at Raffles Hotel.

Hmmmm. What to drink?

I went with the Phnom Penh sling. When in Rome .... Raffles in Singapore is where the Singapore sling was invented.


Pretty fancy place with a lady boy bar tender. Good think we had tuk tuk man cooling his jets outside to be the designated driver.

Saw this road rage guy get out and start yelling at another car. Unusual even with bedlam traffic.

Scaffolding truck. Amazed that scoot could pull that load.



Next day stopped at a village specializing in silk weaving. View looking down at our river boat.

Local 7-11 equivalent.

High tech gas pumps compared to the lady selling fuel from plastic coke bottles.


Little shop that builds spirit houses.

Who hangs laundry on a barb wire fence. Let’s get that fresh laundry rust stained and full of holes.

Explaining the loom operation.

Traditional Cambodian patterns for scarves and such.

Main Street back to the boat. They said eventually this will be paved. Fuck progress.

The local school.

This cutie was selling. I ended up with a silk scarf. Later on the boat our guide gave a long presentation on all the things you can do with the scarf and special folding tricks.

A shot of the fuck OSHA steps they carved out of the hillside to provide access from the boat. Realize that I was one of the youngest people on the cruise. Lots of decrepit old farts. Fortunately no hips were broken.

Mixing up my breakfast choices. Those hash brown discs were money.

This was a rural “bus”.

Growing mulberry trees. Favored food of silk worms.

Proud bastard stood on the stump showing off the whole time.

Thought the dog was dead. It was in the 90’s with matching humidity.

Typical village house.

Rice straw. Probably to feed the cow.

The village well.

Girl on a scooter.

Make shift gas station.

Cow. Most of the cows in Cambodia were skinny things.

Drying rice in the sun.

More looms.

Next stop a temple with monkeys.

Smaller building but very extensive grounds.

This monkey grabbed someone’s DEET and I hung out trying to get a picture after he got a mouthful of that shit but he was too slow. The group was moving on.

Obviously a male beast of burden.

Grooming time.

Monkey with one hand trying to open a water bottle. Pretty aggressive monkeys snatching anything they could.

Missed the money shot where this monkey tried to start screwing the cat.

In the end, the monkey settled for grooming the cat. Something tells me these two aren’t strangers.

I liked the painted statues.

Lots of big golden Buddhas.



This reminded me of a water slide.

I am not an animal...


Big reclining Buddha.



4 faced Buddha head on the roof.

Longest bamboo bridge in the world.

Gets rebuilt every year after the floods demolish it.

I found my unicorn in Cambodia.

Checked out rubber tree farming. Not in season currently.

Rows and rows of rubber trees.

This region is very famous for the peppercorns as well.

Cool Jeep at the rest stop.

I never get tired of these contraptions. This thing looks beat.

Lots of these around too.

Full load of peeps. Am I the only one amazed? 650 cc’s can barely haul my fat ass around.

Cambodian rials are not very valuable. Or gas is very expensive.

Not all fun and games. Officially off the boat so time to hit the hotel gym.

Traditional dances after dinner. Felt like she was looking at me. Probably trying to figure out what the hell was on my face.

Oh the fresh fruit. I do like the dragon fruit. White with black seeds. Very tasty.

Random scooter girl.

One of the many temples around Siem Reap. Also the sit of the big one, Angkor Wat.

One side of the bridge had demons. The other side gods.



Entrance gate.

French started most of these restorations.

This picture is worthy because as I took it a bunch of large angry red ants took exception to me standing on their nest. I did my best Richard Pryor impersonation while screaming like a school girl. Fortunately only my pride was hurt.

Incredible to see.



Original carvings.

Hot as balls though and lots of tourist around.

Still lots of pieces left over. More restoration in progress.

What a cutie. Too bad another cutie already sold me a scarf.

Another site with more intricate carvings and detail.

Stones blackened from a past forest fire.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Wat

Visited a second temple complex that has the building with trees growing through them. Portion of Tomb Raider was filmed here.

Tree in middle of courtyard.

Damn tourists everywhere.

Stacked stone construction.

Restoration still in process. French replaced missing pieces with concrete. Japan uses replacement stone.

Huge gnarly roots supporting and destroying the buildings.

Pretty impressive but hard to capture on film.

Iconic stuff here.

More Johnny Law. Nice ride.

On to the big boy Angkor Wat. Surrounded by a huge moat.

Towers towards front gate.
The gate itself.
Bullet holes in the column from the war in the 70’s.
Windows with rock spindle bars.
Inner buildings.
Monkeys drinking from a water pipe.
One of the two libraries.


Pretty majestic.

Whole stories carved into the walls.

Captured the three main towers. These Are on the Cambodian flag.



Couple of architectural digest shots.

Well, hello.

As high as they allow tourists in the tower. Floor higher
is off limits. Hot air balloon in the distance.

These girls look ready to party.

Mobile repair guy. Looks like he’s set up to fix flat tires.

Mexican food in Cambodia.

Pretty sure the salad with my enchiladas is what gave me the weight loss boost for the next week.

Helped the wife finish her tacos. All tasted good. Drank soda from the can without ice. I forgot they probably washed the lettuce with tap water. I could have put a satellite in orbit.
Interesting little cruiser.


Didn’t hit me till the next morning so I still felt like another Blizzard.

Flight to Hanoi. Worst leg room ever experienced. Knees against the seat in front of me.

This is the lake McCain landed in when shot down. Commemorative marker for his capture now a memorial. They love him because he worked to normalize relations between the US and Vietnam.

Scooting in Hanoi isn’t dangerous enough. Strap compressed flammable gas to your ride to make it more challenging.

Lots of leg to see in the big city.

I’m on a roll.

Fruit vendors from the country peddling their produce.

Hello.
Culligan man delivering water. Lots of action and chaos on the city streets


I’ve been a bad boy.

Original glass and electrified walls of the Hanoi Hilton. A little underwhelming but worth a look.

Quite a bit has been demolished. Original diorama. McCain’s cell is gone.

Original doors imported from France when they built the prison.

Old prison garb.

Prisoner shitter. Stand on bricks, squat over whole, bombs away.

How the French shackled prisoners.

The ultimate punisher. Original issue and used frequently by the French.

Sitting in a cafe watching the world go by.


Indeed.

Heading to see the mausoleum for Ho Chi Minh. Just not this way.

There lies Uncle Ho. Does that make this a Ho house?


Changing of the guard. Why the goose stepping.

Ho’s Peugeot.

So many rules.

Not as slick changing of the guard out back.

Meanwhile Back at the hotel, fuck OSHA. Cleaning ladies working on the glass roof.

Selling taters on the side of the road.

From the weasels ass to your lips.

Huge score on the trip back to Japan. Aisle seat on both legs.


With no one next to me.


Tori gate presented to me by the wardroom officers.

One last look at my roof top terrace before I turn my keys back to the rental agent.


What a ride it’s been. 4 years, 2 months, and two days. Fly back to the US for Good Friday morning. I finish checking out of my command tomorrow and pack tomorrow night. Looks like snow possible this weekend in Dahlgren. Oy.

BTW … Congrats Mate !!! Well done ...