i'm in cambodia!
cliff is pretty upset with me these days. so far, he's broken 14 spokes, and gotten two flat tires. i did teach myself how to true a tire on the side of the road today. that was fun.
we've spent a good deal of time in the past few towns with bike/moto mechanics. i think, though, i've started to enjoy sitting on the side of the road at random bike shops as much or more than visiting sites. it's a great way to melt into the surroundings and just watch the world go by. today, after replacing three broken spokes, we completely took apart the free wheel (layer cake of gears on the back tire) and repacked the ball bearings inside (all things i didn't know were possible until about two hours ago). the mechanic/father was careful to show his son all the steps involved as he repaired it.
southern laos was wonderful - it was hard to leave. heading south out of pakse, i met a bicycle gang of thai grandpas who i joined for most of the ride to cambodia. they were a lot of fun (not much english - lots of arm waving and broken thaiglish), and one of them even started calling himself my papa. i spent four days in the four thousand islands, exploring the thin dirt paths that crisscrossed the islands, and living my life long dream (i have other more admirable aspirations) of sitting in a hammock with a stack of books on one side and a beer on the other. i met up with a few scripps grads (jill helped connect me with mollie royer) which was lovely.
anyway, i'm still moving (as quickly as cliff allows) towards phnom penh. i'm hoping to be there in time for halloween. then it's southwest to the coast before turning east towards vietnam. i'll put up some photos when i have a faster internet connection in phnom penh.
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