Orphanage

Im going to stay at an orphanage for a month to teach English and coach soccer. The orphanage needs more organization for its classes and help in many other aspects. Im going to try and help as much as possible, but it is going to take a lot of work and thought. The website for the orphanage is http://www.campitchi.webs.com/. If anyone has any advice on how to teach English or ways of improving the orphanage please let me know. I dont know what Im doing so any advice would be helpful.

Next step

This morning I woke up with the intention of going to the Indian embassy and getting a visa in India for the next month. I forgot copies of my passport and pictures. They closed at 11am and I missed that. After I went to an orphanage and decided that was a good place to stay for a while. I changed my ticket to fly out of Hanoi on May 10th so I can stay at the orphanage for a month and check out Viet Nam for a couple weeks.

Angkor Wat and Siem Reip

Angkor Wat had amazing scenery. The little children living there and in Siem Reip are really hard to deny. Its the hardest thing in the world to tell a starving 6 year old girl that you cant help. I cant help everyone and it is really difficult to accept. I cant give every starving child on the street a meal and a safe place to sleep. It sounds cold but its the truth. This is not a place where one backpacker with almost no money can make a difference. Everyday there are starving children asking for a dollar or any amount that will allow them to eat. I want to help everyone of them but I cant. The messed up thing is that these people dont have welfare or any other system to help them. They survive off begging. It is one of the hardest and most tragic things Ive seen.

Cambodia

I didnt stay the night night Bangkok, instead I got on a bus to Cambodia. After 24 hours of traveling I got into Siem Reap, which is near Angkor Wat. Tomorrow I will go see the temples at Angkor Wat then probably catch a bus to Phnom Penh, which is the capital. Cambodia has a lot of brutal history dealing with genocide so I will probably see a lot of pretty disturbing things, like killing fields. I think that since Im here I should try to really see what happened instead of just passing through without taking it in. Its nice to be back in an area where Im seeing different types of things instead of just beaches and the ocean, although they were beautiful and nice. Im not really sure what to expect from this country but Im looking forward to the experience.

Back in Bangkok

Went to Koh Phi Phi off the west coast of southern Thailand. It was nice, but really touristy and the most expensive place Ive been to in Thailand. It took me 16 hours of traveling to get back to Bangkok and 700 Baht. I will probably stay in Bangkok for a night to get some rest before leaving. Cambodia is probably the next place Im going, but I dont have a ticket yet so anything is possible. There are some political issues going on in Bangkok now so I dont want to stay in the city too long.

Koh Phangan

Got to Koh Phangan a few days ago after getting certified for open water diving in Koh Tao. Its less touristy here then I would have expected. The beach where they have the full moon party is touristy, but the rest of the island is nice. Tonight there is a black moon party and we will probably check it out. Its a lot smaller then the full moon party, which is good because I dont know if I could handle a party with 10,000 people. Tomorrow we will probably head to Krabi for a couple days. My friend has to be in Bangkok for a flight on the 20th and I will probably head north then. I am most likely going to head to Cambodia after that and then back to Bangkok for my flight on April 6th. Southern Thailand is really nice and a good place to be, but its more for vacationing then traveling. I want to see more of the culture aspects of south east Asia and go places that are a little obscure. Im not really sure where exactly I will be in a week, but thats one of my favorite parts about traveling. Plans change all the time and I never really know which way Im going untill I get there.

Koh Tao

Im in Koh Tao now. Its an island in southern Thailand. I met up with my friend from CU in Bangkok and we took the bus here. We are geting certified in scuba diving here. It is the cheapest place in the world to get certified. We had our first dive today that was only about 3 meters. We do two dives tomorrow and then two the next day and after a test we will be certified. After that I will be able to rent gear anywhere in the world and dive up to 18 meters. Its pretty nice here and scuba diving is pretty cool so far.

Vien Viang Laos

When I was in South America I heard about this river in Laos. I have a few days in Laos so I checked it out. It is full of travelers and not much local culture at all. I got here last night and saw it a little. Now Im sort of torn between what to do. Its a beautiful place but its not really traveling, its more just partying with other travelers. I think I will get a bike and check out the town for the day then head out tomorrow. I have some friends in Nong Kai,Thailand, and I might meet up with them for one more day. That means I wont get to see any of the real Laos, which sucks. If I dont head to Bangkok I wont be able to see one of my friends from Colorado. Figuring out what to do doesnt seem like it would be a difficult decision, but it sort of is. I also got the free 2 month visa for Thailand but it is a single entry visa, so if I leave I will only be able to return 14 days before my flight.