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Published: November 27th 2007
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5 On a bike
I was looking for 6 people but couldn't find an example Yep we made it to Cambodia. The procedures to get into the country were the worst we ever had to endure. We had to bring a passport pic with us, fill in a customs sheet, fill in an arrival and departure form, fill in a Visa request form. Then they had to process the Visa and take 40 USD from us. 1.5 hours later we then had to go through passport control.
We met our guide around 2:30 and he first took us to the wrong hotel to check in. Once we cleared that up we asked him what was on schedule that day and he said that we had the rest of the day free. We asked what we could do and he mentioned a floating market boat ride. We decided that that would be fine.
On our way we watched the side of the road stalls to see what they had for sale. They were selling gasoline in Johnny Walker liquor bottles! We were told that some tourists mistake these for lemonade. We happened to arrive on a national holiday and the streets were crowded. We saw Lorries carrying 30-40 people at a time. We were told
Gasoline for sale
Johnny walker bottles by the litre that these were the village buses. I finally saw 5 people on a motorcycle.
Also in Siem Reap we saw illegal housing on stilts everywhere. These can be put up in 2 days. Squatters actually. Very poor families. We are told the unemployment rate is 70%. As for cars, well, I think that they have only Toyota Camrys. Almost every car is a Camry. Old and New. No dealerships. Where did they get them? Hmmmmmm. Maybe off the boat from Montreal.. Lol
Once on the water we made it through the floating village. On both sides of the river we saw old boats that families were living in. These boats looked like they couldn't float. Wood rot everywhere. We saw the kids defecating in the water over the side, as well as garbage being thrown in. We were approached numerous times to buy little stuff but we refused as usual. A little girl had a snake wrapped around her neck and was wanting us to take her picture for money. We always decline these things because we do not want the kids to be encouraged to keep doing it. The parents I guess have no choice. We visited
This is an insect.
We saw this crawling around the rock. I have no idea a crocodile farm on the water and also a fish farm.. I could go on for hours describing stuff.
The next day we went to Angor Wat. It was not as impressive as it looked in pictures, it is actual smaller then it looks when you get there. BUT the 2 other temples we saw were amazing. They were in the same area. One of the temples is where the movie Laura Croft Tomb Raider was filmed. I have to say that it was an experience. Two days in Cambodia was all we had reserved so we missed a temple that was supposedly carved in pink stone.
Tourism will be big here in the future. I am glad I came to Cambodia.
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