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Published: November 20th 2006
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We didn't go to Pattaya afterall. Everyone we ever spoke to hated it, and it's very expensive. So in a last minute decision we decided to go straight to Cambodia
I've heard all kinds of horror stories about the Poipet landborder crossings. Storeis of kids with missing limbs begging and picking your pockets. Horrible roads with potholes that could swallow a car. Bombed out bridges. Fake officials ripping you off, real officials ripping you off. etc etc I'm sure all are true. I truely expected the worst and was pretty nervous.
I showed up not trusting anyone. Trying to give the cold shoulder when everyone tried to give us directions of where to go next. I heard about the scams about them leading you on terrible and overpriced bus rides. I realized later that everything was just fine. People were friendly and telling the truth. The only problem is the border official tried to charge 1000 bhat ($30 USD) instead of $20 USD. I politely shook my head no and gave him $20. To my surprise he accepted it!
The city is literally a garbage dump. Absolutely disgusting. The poverty is extremely sad to say the least. All
Now these are old
We must have went to 20 complexes like this varying in size. These were made about 1100 to 1200 years ago. kinds of people karting goods back and forth from the Thailand border. Towering above them were mega fancy casinos. Beautiful buildings that just didn't fit in with anything else. In thailand gambling is illegal. So along the cambodia border are casinos designed to take their money. Its strange to see all the high roller thais, walk through the trash to the casinos. And its sad with all the millions of dollars the casinos bring in that they don't clean up or help the neighborhood they're in......thats corruption!
I also heard horror stories about the road to Seam Reap. It was not paved, and was full of potholes but not even half as bad as I imagined. I actually been through worst in Costa Rica.
Arriving in Seam Reap I was in for another shock. Such a beautiful city. I would have never dreamed that it was so developed. Because of the Angkor temples it's more of a resort town. The streets are lined with 4 and 5 star hotels. The streets are well lit and paved. And its safe to walk around, even at night. There seems to be more options for $500 per night rooms than there
Cool Pic
This tree is 400 years old, slowly devouring the temples are for $7.00 but we found some quite easily. Tons of money pour in because of Angkor Wat and the other temples.
The currency here is the Riel. But all the prices are listed in American Dollars. Its much more widely accepted. Because of that the smallest bill is $1.00 things can get a bit pricier. Especially from the cute little begger kids who are selling postcards.
The poverty here is much more evident than Laos. I'm wondering if thats because of the fact that Laos is communist? There are begger kids everywhere. They've been taught not to beg but rather to sell books or postcards. Unfortunatly its impossible to buy from them all. But I do try and talk to them all. They're amazing.
Their English perfect. Any excuse not to buy and they come back with a reason to buy. They're really smart. So smart in fact thats it's not unusual for them to name any capital city of the Western world and many know up to an incredible 5 languages! They say they learn from the tourists.
The Cambodian people are just as friendly as they were in Laos. It seems the more
poorer the country the friendlier they are haha.
70% of the country is under the age of 18, 40 are under 15.
Only 20ish years ago there was a genocide that killed 3 million people here. The people are still recovering from it. We went to a concert that all donations went to the hospital. 1000's of kids are dying all the time from easily treatable diseases in the western world. The hospitals are corrupt and families without money can't get any help whatsoever. The guy running the concert opened his own hospitasl providing free access for the children. We donated a bit of money. I think anyone who visits here is obligated to.
It's very eye opening here. Heartbreaking. It's also amazing that since they have such tough lives that they're always smiling, and willing to engage in a conversation.
We found a driver to take us to the massive tmeples of Angkor. It cost us $10.00 a day. Very nice guy, kind of shy. Not the greatest English but we still could understand him. Later speaking to him he told us he used to work in the hotel industry. A nicer hotel in phnom Phenm
Bayon Faces
800 plus years old....craziness (capital city) for $14.00 a month. Wages are low here. Very low. Dosctors make $40 a month, Police officers make even less. One officer actually asked me to help him out with a couple dollars. I felt bad and gave him some. I wanted to take a picture with him but he said no. I think he's not allowed to ask for money and didn't want to get caught with a picture.
I never know what to say about Ancient ruins. They are much more spectacular than Thailands. Many are older to, from the 8th century to the 13th. it took us two days to tour most of the temples. At each entrace we'd get bmbarded from kids selling everything and anything. Never taking no for an answer. The 2nd day I brought bubbles. They don't have bubbles here and they quickly turned from selling machines back into kids. It was cute to see.
Jasmine and I really want to take one home!
It gets really hot during the day. Unbearably so. The 2nd day we decided to see the sunrise above Angkor Wat. What we didn't expect is 1000 other people were there to join us. It
Bayon Faces
There were 263 of these faces looking at us was still beautiful though.
Internet is slow here or else I'd upload more pictures. Its easier to explain the temples with pics. Otherwise when I say they're old and bricky. You should imagine them much more awsome than the words I spit out.
I've only been in Cambodia for 3 days! And so far it's been my favorite country. It's chatotic, has more than it's fair share of problems but it's got a lot of charm. The people here have been through more than you could ever imagine. But you'd never guess it through their smiles!
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Heater
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Holiday in Cambodia!!!
Crazy!!! I'm glad you two are okay. It would scare me to go there personally. Where are you two off to next??? :P