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Published: October 24th 2007
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(Some of these new blogs are a bit backdated)
Well, I'm chillin' like a villin' in some dusty thai town now, a place that looks like the space station after coming out of backwater Laos. I've been here for maybe 20 hours now but I already have a new drinking game - drink everytime you see a picture of the Thai king. This guy, complete with pimpin' aviators, adorns every public building, random intersections and a good percentage of everyone's homes and shops. I read that he did a good job getting the country out of a rough spot so it is somewhat deserved, but still, this guy would put a communist dictator to shame. I got into my guesthouse tonight and flipped on the TV and what's this - a 10 minute montage of the King to random Thai music. Needless to say I'm wasted.
Anyway, I asked the lady in the tourist office, (who, unlike Laos had ....like.....maps.... and, uh .....information!) what was the best way to get to Prasat Preah Vihear, a remote temple near the border. I think she saw my eyes light up when she said, "well, do you know how to drive a
motorbike?".
So there I was, a lone rider on the open roads in Thailand - just a piece of fresh asphalt, the wind in my hair and the occasional big truck reminding me that, oh yeah, they drive on the left here. The bastards at the Thai national park charged me TWENTY TIMES the local price because I was a foreigner, even though I was only driving THROUGH THE DAMN PARK to the temple in Cambodia. Well I guess all that road money has to come from somewhere.
Anyway, hoping that the two-day excursion and modest pile of cash I had spent was worth it, I stumbled to the temple site, and, as it turns out, the most line mined part of the most land mined province of one of the most landmined countries in the world - fun times! The temple site was purdy, right on the top of a modest mountain that overlooked the Cambodian plains below. However, when I was tempted to take look outside the straight-through-the-middle path, a guide (random local) started shouting and shaking his head vigorously. A few minutes with the phrasebook later I was able to ascertain the words "dangerous" and
Crumbling temple gate
I could totally hold that rock if it fell "land mine". I looked surprised, I think. Honestly, we were on the top of a mountain along famous temple ruins - who would land mine temple ruins? Seeing this, my 'guide' took me over to the other side of the temple where, sure enough, some old artillery of the Khmer Rouge was rusting. Famous for being murderous assholes, those Khmer Rouge had been using the temple as an outpost.
The landmine watch continued in my latter foray into the decidedly more touristy Siem Reap, site of the famous Angkor Temples. Although the popular areas were quite safe, sometimes on the way to or back from a destination I would notice large swaths of empty land. Too dangerous to farm or cross, this land was left doing nothing at all. On a trip to the landmine museum I was proud to see that a Canadian NGO is a big part of the effort to clear landminds here and, upon further research, across the world. In Cambodia I was extra happy to tell people where I am from.
Siem Reap itself is pretty freaking swank as the tourist dollars have rolled in. After years of a brutal regime preventing much
Beautiful overlook from the Temple
I wonder how many landmines are hidden below ... (!) desire of travel, the now only-just-corrupt regime has allowed for rapid expansion of this town. They have bars, restaurants, and a even few posh hotels. However if you drive just 40 minutes in any direction you will see a rather rapid erosion into poverty. Just a short motorbike away I saw people cooking in clay 'stoves' - a hollow clay mound with a hole on the top for a wok and a gap in the bottom to stuff in burning foliage. Sobering.
The Angkor Temples:
Well I'm not really one for Temples myself, but I must admit some of them were impressive. Angkor, in particular; Bayon, where there were faces looking in every direction; and Ta Prohm, where nature was slowly taking the place over. I don't know if its is apparent, but the temperature here was a good 35 degrees, and the rock itself more like 75. If I ever build a Kingdom in Cambodia remind me to build it in the shade.
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