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Published: October 7th 2005
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On the Mekong River
They are using poles to bring the boat to shore so we could jump in. After a great stay on the Island, we took a boat and mini bus down to the cambodian border. Our Visa's were never completed because the camodian embassy in vientien was closed for 5 days. A local tour guide told us that we may have to bribe the cambodian officials at the border, and they may grant us a visa. This seemed like quite a sketchy idea, but we had no choice.
Jay went to cambodia about a month ago to do a "visa run", where you leave Thailand, and then come back minutes later to receive another 30 day visa. Jay thought it was going to be a quick couple minutes in Cambodia, not realizing how corrupt the place is. As he entered, some random guy tried to lead him away to see his passport (probaly wanting to rob him), but then the cops stopped him and brought Jay into an office. He was placed with a few cops armed with large rifles as they reviewed his passport. Jay sat there for 10 minutues with these 2 cops staring right at him refusing to make any small talk. Eventually he was allowed to leave, but then a cop blocked
the door with his gun and demanded a "tip". Jay wasnt going to mess around, so he handed over a few bucks and tried to leave. After being forced to increase his tip a few times, they finally let Jay go.
So, naturally, we were a little scared to enter Cambodia, especially because we may have to bribe our way in. We approached the border, and all there was was a small barricade, a little wooden shack, and some fat guy with his shirt off pissing in the ditch. It turned out to be a smooth border crossing (thank god), and we made our way down the cambodian highway (a bumpy dirt road with pot holes the size of golf bunkers).
We definatley didnt take the scenic route. The area was carpet bombed back in the vietnam war, so there wasnt much to it. It was flat, random trees here and there, and the odd family living in wooden huts along the way. Some of the "houses" were just made of sticks and tarps. It was so shocking to be in one of the poorest countries in the world.
We arrived in a town called Stung Treng,
Border Crossing
Welcome to Cambodia which was even more of a shocker. Pigs were digging through piles of garbage on the streets. We decided to retreat to our room and get out asap in the morning.
The bus in the morning was pretty bad. The road was even worse. I was jammed into a tiny bus next to a monk and my bag between my legs. The road was something like a run down logging road, but much worse. We would drive over huge bumps at high speeds. Every once in a while I would start to drift off to sleep, and then all of a sudden I was knocked airborn! Carl flew up into the air and banged his shoulder on the roof, I flew into my neighbour a few times and banged up my toe. We were so happy when this 7 hour nightmare was over!
We arrived in a town in the middle of Cambodia, and started looking for a private taxi as there was still a 4 hour ride to our destination. Everyone in the town stared at us. I looked around at the bus station, and there wasn't one person who didn't have their eyes on us. After
Cambodia
This is an area that was carpet bombed. There isnt much to it. about 5 minutes on the street, we had a group of 10 local guys following us on their motorcycles. They were all trying to "help" us (really just looking for commission for whatever we end up doing). After 30 mintues of bargaining we brought a cab driver down from $100 to $60- we had a deal. 5 of us jammed into a little car with our backpacks, and we were off to Siam Reap.
The ride was quite nice, with many rice fields and palm trees. There would often be water buffallo wandering down the street, or people with pony driven carridges. The driver would dodge through them at incredible speeds while laying down on the horn. It was pretty exciting until we hit a dog. The driver didnt seem to care at all, and just kept on driving.
After 14 hours of travelling, we made it to Siam Reap, which is just a stone throw away from the Famous Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is the biggiest religious building/architecture in the world. It is over a thousand years old, and took over 500 hundred years to build. We plan on spending all of tommorow travelling through it.
Small town in Cambodia
Notice how decrepit the buildings are. It is quite sad staying here in Siam Reap. Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in the world, and has suffered from mass genocide, dictatorships, and wars for the past 30 years. It is finally picking itself up, but remenants of the past still stick around. The street is full of children begging for money, many are missing limbs from land mines. The kids often cling on to you and wont let go. There are still about 4-6 million active land mines in cambodia. We have to be very careful about where we walk outside of the city.
Today we went to the cambodian war museum. Our guide had fought in the way and suffered in a big way. He had scraps of metal and nails that we could feel in his skin, he was missing a leg from a land mine, had been blind for 2 years, he was shot 3 times by an AK-47, his whole family was killed by the Khmer Rouge (dictatorship government that was responsible for the mass genocide of 2 millions cambodians in the 1980's), and he lost his wife 2 years ago when she stepped on a land mine. He was
Holiday Inn Cambodia
Nah...its actually just a house for 4. still in very positive spirts, and told us many stories as he showed us tanks, artillery, helicopters, etc.
In the next few days we should see Angkor Wat, shoot some heavy duty machine guns/rocket launchers, and hopefully see a cock fight!! I'll post stories/pictures soon! make sure to check out the route map of our trip so far. http://www.travelblog.org/gmaps/map_g9.html
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Zeev and Lena
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Nice.....
Hi Tim, Love Your blog, nice picturs ! I see u r having fun, keep on doing it. We are in Kophiphi, leaving tomarrow 2 krabi. Kophiphi is beautifull, very relaxing. must visit ! phuket - don't go ! a waste of time. Bye