Advertisement
Published: March 4th 2007
Edit Blog Post
Headless Buddha
The Khmer Rouge banished all religion,killed monks and beheaded statues SO the time had arrived to begin my Cambodia adventure.Ill admit I was a nervous and unsure of what to expect.People Ive spoken too who have been to Cambodia all said theres nothing to worry about if you keep your eyes open.Theres always going to be an element of danger in one of the poorest counries in the world and especially after 2 million people where killed only 30 years ago.Obviously it will take a long time country to heal from that.All economic and even social structures destroyed.A corrupt goverment and Police force.One of the worst places in the world for begging.....yeah I WAS nervous.I just hoped I wouldnt be telling people about my bad fortune after my time there.
I nearly didnt even make it luckily my weak bladder meant I needed the bog at 6 am and decieded to look at my plane ticket and realised I was flying at 10 and not 1 as I thought.I made check in by 10 mins.Two hours later I landed in Siem Reap.I got a motorbike with a guy named Kim who blagged me into letting him take me around the Temples of Angkor for $20 a day,maybe three times as much
as I should pay.Little did I know a few days later I would be alot less arsed about giving him that money.The main reason anyone comes here is to go to amazing Angkor.Siem Reap is a relatively nice place with a lake running through it a kinda of tourist centre but you can tell your out of thailand allright.You suddenly feel alot more alien.Crazy roads and traffic,alot of garbage and ALOT of begging.Its pretty had to digest at first.Kids with no arms attach themselves to you "Mr....One dollar"with these sombre faces,its pretty harsh.And you get people begging to you all day.You see some pretty horific stuff.Theres also a lot of homeless people selling books.The push a cart around with usually the same lonely planets and Pol Pot books etc With a sign attached to them sometimes reading like Ï was born in 1974 just before the Khmer rouge regime therefore I never went to school,I need top sell books to feed my children" Problem is you cant give money to everyone so you have to just be strong and not give into your pity/guilt etc but its very hard not too when theres a fella with no legs pushing himself
round on a skatboard asking for 50p while you took into a big meal.Its definately a shock to the system being here but exactly what I wanted to experience.As usual you get some white people turning their nose up at the beggers,it winds me up SO much,i always try and have some kind of chat with them and if possible give them some money or food.When you see some fat family sat in a resteraunt and there an amputiee looking at them 3 feet away yet they cant even say "Sorry mate I cant" etc they just act like hes invisible it makes me feel sick.Most of all though it makes me feel guilty for EVER thinking I have problems at home.I get the feeling my heartstrings will be played a lot over the coming weeksAlso Ive been trying to read up on the awful Khmer rouge period and try to have some understanding of what this countrys been through so recently and it really is gutting when you look inot it deeper.I know Im in for a crazy ride in Cambodia
At last the time had come to go to the amazing Angkor Wat.I wasnt even aware of the
temples until about 6 months ago since then ive done alot of reading on them and watched numerous documentarys on it.All adding to the excitement of knowing Id eventually be there.Its the largest religious builiding in the world and arguably one of the wonders of the world
My driver picked me up at 8 in the morning from my flooded hotel room and we headed first to Angkor Wat.As we got to the moat that surrounds it I started to get goose pimples.I was actually there.Unfortunately so was half of Japan! Hard to get a picture without some japanese family darting infront of you.The temple is pretty big and I walked around it for a few hopurs.The steps leading up to the top are frighteningly steep.Especially coming back down.Around the temple theres lots of intricate carvings (bas reliefs) telling different stories,it really is fascinating but I prefer the Indiana Jones esque climbing through the temples despite the swealtering heat.The cambodians are proud of Angkor,Its on the flag,The beer etc It shows the spirit of the people almost that they built this city which was the largest in the world at one point.And who wouldnt be proud of it.After my walk
around we went futher afield to Angkor Thom.I walked,climber,crawled through various temples for a few hours my favourite being Bayon which has faces of King Suryavaman looking out every direction to keep an eye on his subjets.So after a hard days walk I sat off at a lake surrounded by temples.2 monks came over to practice their english.Not much help doing it with me like! But thats sometimes when it hits you, your away sat at a lake,reflecting,theres a huge temple behind you ,talking to 2 monks...its a LONG way from home.You look around and sometimes its hard to take all of it in until after the event.But luckily Ive got 3 days to soak it up.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.047s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 10; qc: 26; dbt: 0.0264s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Dad
non-member comment
Gutted
Says it all really Mike. The place look amazing..........but still. Stay alert