so i went on another survey trip to sva reing province, which is about 2 hours east of phnom penh, right next to vietnam. it's one of the poorest provinces in the country...the city seemed sleepier and emptier, and the surrounding farmland was drier (not good for rice). apparently, they get too little rain, and then too much, so it's difficult to develop the area agriculturally. since the border's so close many people travel to vietnam to work as laborers ("slaves," as chantha called it) , which would account for the empty feeling of the city.

this trip was a bit more difficult for me...i dunno if it's hormones or lack of sleep or what. what made it worse is that i didn't have to go on this trip, but i felt a bit pressured to go...it's complicated. anyways, i'm gonna vent, so just bear with me... the first night, we went to this restaurant that had an outdoor terrace built over a pond. sounds really nice, right? it was, until it got dark, they turned on the fluorescents, and we were bombarded with insects. after fishing the eighth bug out of my rice bowl, i looked down, and realized that the bugs really like my clothes, too...that's when i gave up. when we got back to the guesthouse, the water wasn't running, so we had to take our showers using water that's usually used to "flush" the toilet (a squatter, and you flush by pouring water into it from a not-so-clean tub)...nothing i haven't done before, but that just set the tone of the trip...the next day was spent crammed in the passenger seat with chantha, on a very hot day in a car with no ac, driving hours of dusty and bumpy roads...i'm talking bumpy. it was worse 'cuz i hadn't gotten good sleep the night before, and i usually like sleeping in cars, but there was no way i could sleep with the condition of the roads we were travelling. (heat+lack of sleep=cranky evil-lyn. other combinations that lead to cranky evil-lyn: lack of sleep+hunger; the aforementioned hormones + any of the previous variables, or just alone...you are warned) anyways, i think i'm getting tired of bumpy road trips, especially when the drive lasts longer than an hour, but i do have a greater appreciation for four-wheel drive.

okay, i feel better. sorry, the trip wasn't really all that bad, but there were moments where i was having a hard time...for some reason, things that don't usually bother me, bothered me. every so often, i had to do an attitude check...thankfully, the trip wasn't long, and it was so nice to get back to chantha's.

other than that, i have about a week left in phnom penh (actually, i'll be going to another province for a different survey, so i only have about 5 fully days left in the city...yikes!!) then, next friday or saturday, i'll be leaving for ho chi minh city by bus (there's a bus that goes direct, and it's cheap!), spending a few days in the area, flying up to hanoi for a few days, then to bangkok, and then to kuala lumpur, malaysia to see the newly married song e!! from kuala lumpur, i'm gonna make my way back to phnom penh for one night, then back to la september 10th. unfortunately, haven't found any travel buddies, so i think i'll be doing vietnam and thailand alone. got a travel book that helped me figure out a good number of details, so it seems pretty do-able...yaaay!!