Thailand vs. Cambodia (or: same same but different, vol. ii)

A few thoughts:

Traffic in Thailand and Cambodia (from what I've seen of each, at least) is crazy. There appear to be no rules of the road - lane lines are meaningless; people drive on the wrong side of the street if it appeals to them; people park wherever they like - in the second lane on the street, half street/half crosswalk, whatever; when crossing intersections without traffic signals you just go and hope everyone else will weave around you; crossing the street as a pedestrian is taking your life into your hands. One major difference - horns are rarely used in Thailand, but used constantly in Cambodia. Haven't figured that one out yet.

In both countries, tuk tuk drivers are relentless. I will be walking down a street, and there will be 5 tuk tuks in a row. The first four will all approach me with "tuk tuk, madam?", and I either say no, or just ignore them. Yet the fifth, seeing me reject/ignore all previous 4 will still stand in my path and say, "tuk tuk, madam?" As if I somehow, in the span of about 4 paces, changed my mind and decided, "Yes! I DO need a tuk tuk after all!" It's annoying, but mostly tolerable. Except for my last night in Siem Reap, where I guess I hit my limit and almost decked a driver who stood right in my way with that damn "tuk tuk, madam?" line. I'm better now.

There IS a difference between Thai and Cambodian food! I think I like Cambodian better. They use this fun spice - amok (as in running amok). Also, most dishes really aren't spicy - spice is used for flavor, not for heat. I like that. And dishes are sweeter. Coconut and/or coconut milk is in a lot of stuff. yum! Thai beer, on the other hand, beats Cambodian beer hands down. Maybe I need to sample some more before making a final conclusion on that...

Cambodian monks are apparently not as restricted as Thai monks. The guide book had all sorts of do's and don'ts for monks in Thailand. Don't take pictures of them or with them. Women can't talk to monks. Women can't touch monks. Women can't hand something or take something directly from a monk. But, in Cambodia, things seem a bit different. At Angkor Wat I had a young monk (we're talking maybe 18) follow me around like a lost puppy, chatting me up the whole time. As I noted in my last post, at the sunset temple I got a hoot out of watching a group of around 10 monks be your average joe-tourist. Taking pictures, posing on the edge of the temple, using digital cameras and camcorders. (Another traveler told me he was on the same bus as them, and they were drinking and smoking up a storm.) At one point I realized I was about to walk in the path of a monk getting his picture taken - I stepped back but he motioned me into the picture, put his arm around me, then asked another blonde girl to get on his other side and did the same. I bet he shows this to all his Thai monk friends and they get jealous.

Thai vs. Cambodian massage/spa treatments... I feel I should be qualified to judge this, as I had 3 massages, 2 manicures and 1 pedicure in Thailand, and 2 massages and 1 facial in Cambodia. But, so sorry to say, I'm afraid more research is needed before coming to a definite conclusion. I promise you all, I will endure all sorts of sacrifice to come to a determination on this very important subject. I suppose I should go work on that now...