ok lady, you buy??

sunburned, exhausted, and bruised like an overripe summer peach, i finally finished my tour de lao. 500 km in 6 days through the southern and least populated part of the country. after the first day and a half or so, that bike definitely became my shangri la-it was tough parting with my mobile paradise. having hours on end to sit with myself (albeit, huffing and puffing and spinning my legs over and over) was quite satisfying. riding through the forest, past waterfalls and rice paddies was the visual burst i needed after the dull massachusetts winter i survived and the sights of california ive been familiar with for 19 years. one strange afternoon, i focused my vision down the line i planned to ride and alighted on what looked like a butterfly graveyard. butterflies colored in every pattern imaginable were dead and flopping back and forth from the wind along a perfectly straight line. no one else on my trip seemed to notice this, even though it was quite apparent and overwhelming, at least to myself. i'm not sure what it means for me. despite the fact i tend to be in my own head most of the time anyway, there were no distractions along this ride and i had the opportunity to let my brain see what it wanted and for my thoughts to go every direction possible. for some reason (okay maybe it's the fact that i have an undying fascination with dictators and that ive been in potentially, formerly, and still sort of communist countries) i keep hallucinating little khmer rouge hats and scarves or castro berets on all the hardworking, benefitting trails of ants i come across. one such group had larger ants literally standing along the trail observing the workers, who will never gather to start a revoultion to the dismay of my fantasies, as they carried at least 10 times their weight back to the masses. my interest in revolutions and dictators and the sort definitely results from preschool habits. i attempted a coup or two in those days over the administration and was at least successful in running the playground. my authority was actually quite organized, unlike the damn khmer rouge that just went around all over the place causing destruction. if i wanted the tire swing, i got it and all the kids went by my rules on that playground with the big yellow slide.

the rest of my time in cambodia was well spent. it consisted of 2 days at the angkor complex looking at temples and creaming my pants in excitement from being surrounded by such art and architechture. the first day, i arrived at angkor wat in time to see the sunrise still quite drunk from having previously been at angkor what? bar in siem reap. even though i felt like shit, i was more than happy to be there to see the sunrise above the temple with the reflection of both rippling from a slight breeze in the pool of water situated perfectly before it. angkor wat may be the largest and most famous temple in the area, but my favorite was 30km away. carved from red sandstone and dedicated to the most advanced species on the planet, women, banteay srei is the pinnacle of khmer art and architecture to me. each carving is abundant in detail and the depictions of the kala, siva, and the sort seriously made me go crazy with excitement. i know, i know, i get too nerdy about this stuff sometimes. but seriously, who needs sex when you have se asian art almost in its entirety, right where its supposed to be all around you?!?! riiiight, most of you, huh?

well, i need to gather my things and head to the other airport here in bangkok to make my flight to vietnam. ahh, i can't wait to feel the spirit of ho chi minh all around me!!

postscript: the beaver is really having a fabulous time and looks forward to sharing pictures. more importantly, he might actually be getting a name! since he's not entirely mine (my other beaver is and always will be only mine to make the distinction clear) i have to check with the other owner. hmm, i think i have to let it slip. he might as well be named mr. beaverbrook. i mean, not a bad historical figure to be named after. plus, he was canadian, i'm canadian by association, beavers are pretty damn rampant in canada. he's also mentioned in the main song that got me through the tough parts of the bike ride. mr. churchill says made me figure that if those men could fight the battle to the bloody end, i could get my numb ass up a hill at the end of the day.