Cambodia, Thailand, Ivy, and Jason/Angie

Sorry folks, but this will probably be a long one. It encompasses a little over two weeks of stuff and Ivy.
Originally, I planned on going through Laos to Thailand and meeting Ivy in mid-June. However, her work and idiotic bosses had other plans. They nearly made it so that she would never be able to visit. Why? Because two weeks off is too much. It is a sad, sad state of affairs in the US. First, we only get about 3 weeks off a year - maybe 4 if you're lucky or upper management or spend 20 years at the same place. Then, most people can't take more than a week off at a time. Most of the time it's just stigma. I mean, if we get our work done, or if it's shared work when we are out (as in Ivy's case - coworkers are required to cover for people on vacation), then shouldn't we be able to do whatever we want with our vacation time. When talking with European or Australian people, or even some of the third world, they are baffled about how we view work. Even British get twice as much time off as us, and they are workaholics too.
Our work paradigm is better spent for another post, so getting back on track, Ivy's work had another person out for a couple days of the original time, so they wouldn't let go on our original plans, then they were reluctant to let her go for two weeks. I'm not sure I would have allowed her to come if she could only get one week, it's simply a waste of money and we'd likely have not been able to Bangkok. We'd have had to take tours out of Bangkok for a couple days, but going to the islands in the South would have been out because we wouldn't be able to afford the time to not fly and we'd not have been able to fly there cause we are on a budget. Thankfully, her bosses came around, though I (and my parents) was about to have words with them had they not.
So, I flew from Hanoi to Bangkok for under $100 and was scheduled to arrive thirty minutes before her. I figured I'd go to her gate and meet her, you know, all romantic like.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - This Last Week or So

This is going to be another long one. A lot of things have happened in the past week or so. I'd like to end on a positive note, so I'll start with the ugly.

Prostitutes, Trannies, and Bears Oh My

OK, no bears. Just lots of the other stuff. And they harass you a lot. I have been taking it pretty easy around here, just going on walks around the town. Oh, and seeing movies just to get out of the heat - it is hot and humid here. My clothes are constantly covered in sweat, but then so are all the other travelers. Other than that, one thing I have been needing is a massage. In fact, I probably need a few of them and an alignment (not doing that here) because I have knots in my back literally the size of fifty cent pieces and am super tight in the neck. So, I was looking around for a massage place and found one of those "seedy" ones and had the strangest massage ever.

6 Month Check In AND Please Don't Hate Me

It's been 6 months! Hard to believe. Same thing as last time - update on where I am and what has been going on followed by the quarterly check-in. And I'll throw in a video that is seriously going to make you all hate me. Sorry, them's the breaks.

Final Peru Post - Cusco and Arequipa

Hello from what was sunny Iquique, Chile.

Today was my first day in Chile. Since my last post, I have been in Cusco, Colca Canyon, and Arequipa.
While Cusco is quite a nice city with stone churches and colonial building all over the city, there isn´t much to report. I spent 3 days there, which consisted mostly of a couple parties and walking around, enjoying the city. I did make a few friends there, two of which I will probably stay with a night or two in Santiago. The only real touristy thing I did was make an attempt on the only sunny day to go to Saquishuan (sp?). However, the price was 40 Soles for students and 70 Soles for tourists. However, I had forgoten my ISIC card. I tried to walk down a road that paralleled the ruins to see if it was worth paying the full price, but the guards wouldn´t allow me. I decided I didn´t want to pay the extra $10. That´s about the jist of Cusco, fun town and late nights.

Machu Picchu for $210

That number isn´t bragging. In fact, I got ripped off.

I arrived in Cusco at 5AM and because I was at my weakest moment (running on 5 hours of sleep), I did something I try never to do. That is, I was approached by a tour opperator and booked a tour on the spot after only 5 min of negotiation. There are many, many ways to do Machu Picchu. You can take the Inca trail hike, which is supposed to be the thing to do, but you can´t do it in Feb. cause the trail is closed. It also requires about 6 months advance notice (not exactly true, it is possible, though slim chance, to do it on the spot in Cusco, but it's a big risk if you don't have a lot of time in your corner) and costs a shit load; I heard $500ish. You can also do alternative multi-day hikes, which are becoming more popular. Don't know the prices; they're less $, but still high. You can take a train,