Cambodia Pt. 2

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Phnom Penh was our next destination, following the most uncomfortable journey so far. Each bump we hit, the bus bounced up and down uncontrollably. This coupled with the dodgy Khmer comedy on full volume on the TV and the horn tourettes the driver was obviously suffering made for quite an unpleasant experience.

While in Phnom Penh we hired a tuk-tuk to take us around some of the sights. Our tuk-tuk driver was pretty cool (Mr Thai) and had horns on his tuk-tuk which made him the obvious choice. We visited the Killing Fields and the school (S-21) which was used as prison for torture during the horrific Khmer Rouge era. It was a sobering experience; row upon row of photos of victims with fear evident in their innocent eyes, prison cells and torture rooms painted only a small picture of the tragedies that occured during this devasting time for Cambodia. Froim this experience we really felt we had gained a better understanding of the Khmer people and where they had come from.

Next, Siem Reap and the temples of Angkor which felt like the hottest place we had visited so far (40oC+). We therefore spent a lot of the time drinking and at 50 cents for a draught beer this made perfect financial sense. A meander down to the river revealled an interesting fishing technique; attach a live bird to the end of a fishing line and dunk up and down, when the bird gets too wet change bird. We were not entirely sure how it would work, but it did and we saw a reasonable sized fish caught. As for the poor little birds we don't know if any were harmed - but the RSPCB would have a field day.

We spent a day on a tuk-tuk touring the temples of Angkor which were truely spectactular - a real feat of engineering. By the end of the day we felt we has seen enough temples to last a lifetime!

The border crossing back into Thailand was surprisingly smooth.

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Photos

View over the river at Phnom Penh
lets all do the conga!

The Cambodian Family Car
Notice 5 on one of the scooters. The most we spotted was six!

Fishing Cambodia Style
yes that is a live bird on the end of the fishing line! quite effective though as we saw him catch one

Mr Thai Tuk-Tuk Driver
This guy has the only Thai style Tuk-Tuk in Phnom Penh (including go-faster cow horns - textbook)

Market Stall
There were deep fried tarantulas at this one

50 cent draft beer
No happy hours in Cambodia, just happy days. beer 50 Cents all day every day, awesome

Angkor Wat @ Sunrise
We got up at 4:30am for this...

Ta Phrom
This temple had trees growing all over it and through it. It was used for filming Tomb Raider - an awesome site

Angkor Wat
This was taken at the end of our day looking at the temples. I have to say at this point we were completley templed-out! It was pretty hot too I think the locals were saying it was over 40oC, what we would give for some British weather... Seriously though the temples were awe inspiring.