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	As I drive out to hike Mt Si today, I choose the west side of the valley as there are usually less cars on that route and I can choose to drive under 45.  The lone car I see today overtakes me so I pull to the side of the road and let him pass.  There is a worker adjusting his shoes, and I my instincts start to raise my hand to say hello and wave, but then stop.  I shoot a smile instead.  The worker doesn’t respond and continues about his tasks without the reciprocal response.  I am back in the US.
	We left Vietnam after our work was done and flew to Cambodia, leaving Deanna at the Ho Chi Mihn airport to fly home.
	We stayed at the best bed and breakfast you would ever wish for.  Although it was very nice in the rooms, and they had showers you would kill for, it was the gardens outside of your room and the sounds of the insects and frogs that made it paradise.  Our American host, who may be 32 years old, was a wealth of information about the culture, history, restaurants, and sites around Seam Reap.
	Linda talked us effortlessly every morning to go see the sunrise at Angkor Wat.  Upon entering the outer complex, we would stroll past a crowd of hundreds of people waiting for the sunrise to reflect on the pool in front of the inner complex, ready to take that perfect snapshot.  We chose to enter the sanctuary and navigate the many passage ways to the core and climb the steep temple stairs and select a perch, a window, or platform to watch from.  Here there were relatively few people, none at times, and we would watch life start again in Cambodia from this high altitude.  Here we could overlook the relatively few jungles left in Cambodia.  We could see the blue parrots, the many birds, the insects, and the occasional arguments between the monkeys.  If I travel back there may years from now, I’m not sure if I will be able to go to this corner knowing the quite time Linda, Terry, Robyn and I had there these few mornings.  I will want so very bad to turn back time and spend it with them again.  This corner of Angkor Wat will always be a special place for me, with them.
	Throughout the day, we would travel to several other temples.  One that stands out is many miles from our bed and breakfast.  As we walk up to it, Linda mentions what it would be like to come across a yet undiscovered temple.  As we walk into it, I feel that this is exactly what we have done.  The banyan trees have taken over the complex.  Many of the walls and roofs have collapsed.  The smells abound.  The humidity is thick.  You get lost climbing the rubble within the many hallways.  Sometimes the rubble teeters as you walk over them.  We swing from vines.  All of the walls are ancient and dark from many years in the jungle.  It is something from Raiders of the Lost Tomb.  We expect darts to be fired at us from the walls as we enter a protected place of treasure…spikes to come from the floor…a big round stone ball to come crashing down on us!
	Our trip is coming to a close now.  So many people have selflessly helped make this time here in Vietnam a possibility for the 5 of us and the people we touched.  We have put together three computer centers with over 32 machines and the supplies and desks to go along with them.  In the end, I was able to teach 4 students that didn’t know any English how to use a computer aided drafting program…they were able to teach me my Vietnamese numbers and letters.  The girls painted the family homes and had a blast bonding with the children.  We all had fun teaching the kids English at night time.  We all laughed, cried, learned, tasted, smelled, and experienced life here…and each of us became a part of Vietnam, some of us for the second time together.
	All of us were so very lucky to have had these two and a half weeks.  Previously the best time I’ve had was the race in Vietnam in 2002 and our seven week trip across the US with Carolyn and the kids.  This trip tops them in a different way.  I’m not sure why.  I sat for 6 hours on China Beach one night trying to figure out what it was, but something happened on this trip.  Walking from Angwar Wat temple along the moated entrance, I tried to talk to Linda about it, but the emotions wouldn’t allow the words to come out and had to turn away.  Was it the time spent with Linda? With Terry? With Deanna? With Robyn? Working with all the students learning CAD? Painting the fence in 100+ degree temperature? Working with the kids in the orphanage, with Doe and Mihn and Cham? The humidity? The rain? Negotiate prices? All the green walls in all the rooms in Vietnam? Maybe Linda is right, maybe I wasn’t meant to know why.
	Mt Si is going to be a bitch of a climb today…
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