some serious stuff

I spent a day going to S-21, the high school-turned-prison/torture chambers during the Khmer Rouge, and the Killing Fields. I felt sick to my stomach all day and became teary-eyed more than a few times. Over 2 million people were killed during this regime from 1975-1979. The atrocities that some humans are willing and able to commit are incomprehensible. And it still exists today (most notably in Sudan - if you want to get involved with a reputable group that is working there savedarfur.org is a good one). I just don't understand how the world community continues to let genocide occur again and again... I'll get off my soap box before I really get on it, but see below.
some photos of the victims held at S-21 before they were executed
barbed wire covering the outdoor hallways at S-21
one of the small holding cells
skulls found in the Killing Fields (i spared you the close up shot I took where you can see the bullet holes and marks from the bludgeons; many people didn't get the mercy of a precious bullet -too expensive)
self explanatory
a mass grave
all these depressions are mass graves

ancient angkor

despite the amount of photos i posted, i wanted to post many, many more, but thought people might get a little tired of seeing so many photos of ancient temples. i spent 3 days wandering around the complexes and wasn't bored at all. to learn more about these ruins, check out this wikipedia page)

inside Angkor Wat
a view of the temple from the outside (largest religious building in the world)
2 faces in the temple Bayon (there are between 150-216 faces such as these in this temple, depending on the reporter - again, not the best photo, sorry!)
always a tree hugger, even in Cambodia!
the tree i'm hugging in the photos above - it's a beast!
a doorway in the most intricate temple, albeit one of the smallest
one of the carvings

more thailand

beautiful sunset from Railey Beach, Krabi (west coast) (it got even better, but I don't want people stealing my photos, sorry!)
blue water and green trees, taken from the back of a truck, Ko Tao (east coast island) what more could you want?
jeff on rope swing at waterfalls featured in "The Beach", although it looks quite different in the film
jeff (US) and me at another set of waterfalls in Khao Yai National Park (60 meters high - apparently 8 elephants fell to their death over these falls several years back)
our cute Thai guide at the same waterfalls

a new country!

I finally made it out of India and am now in Thailand. It's VERY different from India (but then again, every other place is) and is set up to make tourists' travel very easy. The beginning of the photos (my camera ran out of battery before I could finish this posting - dang).

reclinging Buddha - 45 meters long and what large feet!
outside the grand palace in Bangkok
Railey Beach - one of the most beautiful beaches i've ever seen

hopefully i'll be able to finish this post very soon and continue with other updates. off to cambodia tomorrow...

remaining bits of nepal and india...

here are a few last photos from nepal and india. enjoy!
mama rhino and baby! i spent the night in a tower in the jungle and woke up to see a mama rhino and her baby. shortly after this, about a million elephants with 4 people riding each one (so 4 million people!), descended on this poor pair
so cute!
the "toy train" in darjeeling, india. yay pollution!
these 2 young tibetan girls chatted with us for quite a while. their english was excellent!

scenes from the trail

Below are just a few scenes from the hike that I liked and thought I'd share.
part of the Khumbu Glacier
more of the Khumbu Glacier
just cool mountains with a relatively small glacier on top
the trail, mountains, and yaks
remember those Scholastic posters? this one was in a lodge around 14,000 feet

Everest Base Camp!

Base camp is quite a surreal place. It is mostly a tent city with no rhyme or reason to the scattering of tents. I'm not sure how many expeditions are there at the moment, but I know that the Chinese are keeping a close watch on everyone staying there because of the torch. There was even a bakery at base camp - probably the highest in the world, and a photos exhibit of glacial melt from the past several decades. I didn't stay very long, but it was interesting to see the spectacle. (Note: you can't see the summit of Everest from base camp.)


reminder: the peak behind me is not the summit to Everest (don't ask about the outfit)

this one is really dark, but you can see the famous/infamous Khumbu Icefall on the right side