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Cambodian Wedding
As guests of honor, we got to see the beautiful bride before the groom!The 3rd class $1.00, 5 hour, train ride from Bangkok to the Cambodia border town of Poipet was luxury compared to the rest of the ride. The Thailand side of the border is developed and looks just like any other plane Thai town. Crossing into Cambodia is like hopping into a different world. A world of extreme poverty and corruption. Walking through the dirt roads to the Visa purchase area we passed hundred of poverty stricken people including children in the intense heat pulling giant decrepit carts of goods purchased from the border markets.
They pull them right under the noses of huge and beautiful Cambodian casinos that are designed to take Thai peoples money since gambling is illegal over the border. None of the money they make trickles down to the community and its very evident by the fact that the people live in what looks like a garbage dump. Immediately were spotted by a tout who guides us to purchase a entry visa. 1000 baht he says ($33). The corrupt official nods agreeably. Above him is a sign that says ''Pay only $20 USD'' I point to the sign politely and smile saying I only have $20.00. He
The faces of the Bayon
In the Angkor Wat complex, Seam Reap doesn't believe me and says they now only accept baht. Its an old sign. I insisted several times that we only pay $20.00. Finally he said ok $20.00 + 200 baht ($6.25). I stood my position saying that I only had $20.00 for him. The game went back and forth and he kept lowering his price. It was a weird scene negotiating with corrupt officials. Finally they were frustrated and accepted the $20.00. My mistake is I opened my wallet full of baht. He looked inside and started yelling how he doesn't like liars.
It was then that 2 other tourists came to me and asked the real price. I told them $20.00 and how they were corrupt and wanted more. Once again he yelled at me saying to keep out of Cambodia's business. And how they make low wages and this is how they supplement their income. By this time I got my Visa so I just kept walking out of there as quickly as possible. He followed to ensure that he knew what taxi I was in. After about 30 minutes of him ''guiding'' us through impoverished Poipet he asked for a tip haha. In reality he
This is not a construction site
It's the main highway. It's rumoured that an airline company pays officials to keep this road in terrible condition so tourists have no choice but to fly makes very little money and I guess this is his way of making some. Helping corrupt officials get their bribes and guiding tourists to the taxi/bus stand.
We met two girls from Denmark and split the taxi with them. We opted for the taxi because the roads are terrible. According to the Lonley Planet and other sources the road from Poipet to Seam Reap is unpaved and riddled with millions of large potholes because a certain airline company pays the officials to keep it that way, so that tourists will fly to see Angkor Wat rather than a drive from hell from Thailand. Every building and hut is caked in a thick layer of dirt and mud. Its unbelievable to think that people can be as corrupt as to mess with so many peoples quality of life like that.
It usually rains here in late afternoon turning the roads into a disaster. We ran into a traffic jam of unbelievable proportions. Cars had to drive off road near the signs that say ''Danger! Land mines'' to get off road they would drive or rather slip down the mud down a steep slope and then back up another giant
The main highway
It's not listed in the top 5 worst roads in Cambodia. Unfortunatly there's much worst slope. Most cars including ours would get stuck in the deep mud needing a group of locals to push it out for some money. This took us at least 2 hours.
After 12 hours we arrived just outside the city. The taxi would go no further but offered a free tuk tuk ride into town from a ''friend" This friend just wanted commission for bringing us to a hotel as well as offering guiding service for Angkor Wat. We were wise to the tricks so as we got into town we ''forgot'' to know English and walked away as they cursed us.
Seam Reap is a nice place with modern 5 star resorts and bars lining the streets for the tourists that flock here. Unfortunately its not reality for Cambodia. Once again theres so much evidence of the money not trickling down to the neighborhoods. We enjoyed the place while we could though. Overall its a fun place to let loose, party and have fun with other tourists. Being low season things are much cheaper, and we were able to see most of the temples including Angkor Wat with barely anyone joining us. Best of all it rarely
Ta Phrom
I think that's the name.....anyway it is amazing has rained even though its rainy season. This is the 2nd time Ive been to the Angkor Wat complex, which is one of the 7 wonders of the world. Its absolutely incredible and definantly worth a 2nd look. Its surreal environment of 100s of giant 900 year old temples. Such beauty that once again only pictures can describe.
I spent less time filming the temples and more time filming the genius children. If I were to ever teach a sales course it would be by bringing a group of business people here to learn from the impoverished uneducated children. ''Would you like to buy a bracelet?'' a cute 6 year old girl would say. ''No thank you'' I would reply over and over. "You can buy for your girlfriend'' she''d respond. ''I don''t have a girlfriend I''d say fumbling for excuses. "You can buy for your Mother or Sister, or for your future girlfriend". She would follow not taking no for an answer. Then she would start negotiating, bringing down the price then 2 for the price of one. Every excuse I had she would come back with a response. Exactly what they teach in sales courses I have
taken. I would pretend to not know English but she knew English, French, Korean, Chinese, German and of course Cambodian. They all are like this, and its so heartbreaking that they're so smart yet so poor with no opportunities.
We only spent one day exploring the temples, heading the next day to Cambodia's cultural capital; the French colonial city of Battambang. On the way the bus had to follow that same road to the border. We got stuck in the same place spending hours in the 38+ C (100+ F) heat while people dug their cars out of the mud. Its shocking that the people here must constantly put up with this. No help ever comes from the government. No bulldozers or tractors, no officials or police. No one cares about the danger of the situation and people just have to put up with it. The only water was near a hut which was fine but I didn't eat because of the cleanliness standards. After seeing big signs stating a severe dengue fever outbreak and the like I am being careful to stay as sanitary as possible and of course avoiding mosquito's. I also tend to pee on the
side of the road rather than in the bushes, you can never be too careful in the most heavily land mined country on earth.
We payed $3.00 each for our hotel and headed out the next day on a motorbike tour of the countryside, the surrounding villages and the depressing Killing Caves. The caves are where people were slaughtered under the former Khmer Rouge regime. We hung out there a bit and got to know a Buddhist monk and his family at the temple which was perched on top of the mountain. The countryside is evident of the poverty and conditions most Cambodian people live in. It's a very rural way of living but they seem content and happy, at least on the outside. Most survive on just $1.00 or $2.00 per day.
On a long dusty dirt road we heard loud festive live music. Being the curious person that I am I decided to take a look. It was a wedding celebration and Sully and I were quickly invited in to join them. We were literally in the middle of nowhere, and although tourists pass by from time to time on their way to the sites it's
Khmer Band
@ the village wedding highly unlikely that any ever stop. The surprise, delight and confusion as to who we were or why we were there was priceless. They offered us cans of really hot and strong beer along with some mangos with chili peppers. We got to see the bride dressed up before the groom was allowed to and basically felt like guests of honour. Asian culture is amazing, I could never imagine showing up at a wedding in Canada and being so welcomed.
Our next stop the bustling city of Phnom Penh. It's quite nice in some areas of town and falling apart in other areas. We managed to get a cheap guesthouse on the polluted sewage lake in the backpacker area. Here we don't go 1 minute down the street without hearing "tuk tuk? smoke? opium? shooting?" Here with barely any laws, anything goes in this wild town and it's possible to arrange getting myself a machine gun and shooting a bunch of chickens, or a grenade and blowing up a cow. As long as I show the money......we decline the offers!
Today Cambodia is in the midst of rebuilding itself socially, economically and psychologically. The scar of the past,
Children
Pictures of children just before they died in the genocide. The museum is filled with 1000's of similar pictures. Sad and overwhelming to see however will take decades to heal. The people in Cambodia are among the poorest in the world trying to rebuild a country where most of the governmental and social structures were destroyed. I believe a trip to the Killing Fields and SL21 torture museum is a must. I've been to these places before but it's no less intense the 2nd time I went. On a mass grave of 1000's of people I was still able to find clothing, teeth and bone in the dirt from Pol Pots genocide about 30 years ago. The monument full of 1000's of skulls is eerie and just thinking that each one was a person at one point, tortured and killed in the very spot I was standing.
But that wasn't the eeriest. The torture museum is incredibly graphic. The place was left just as they found it, showing rooms and instruments of torture. 1000's of pictures of men, women and children lined the wall. The pictures of the tortured people and the people being tortured, made me sick to my stomach. You don't need much imagination as some of the pictures show things that any normal person wouldn't imagine normally. Such as throwing
a baby in the air and stabbing it to death, then repeating over and over again as they fell in a pit and their families watching helplessly.
Leaving the place you can't help but to notice that there is a huge lack of old people here. 90% of the people are under 21 years of age. They're also some of the nicest in the SE Asia region. They're warm, friendly and always smiling and joking around. Such great people, I only hope the best for them.
Phnom Penh's little rundown dirty backpacker area is a fun place full of all kinds of restaurants and bars. At night it's fun to go barhopping drinking the night away with cheap drinks.
The next day we headed for the beautiful beach town of Sihanaukville. My memories from coming back to this place last year are some of my best. The people are warm, the seafood BBQ is great, and everything is so cheap. Best of all it's undeveloped and instead of resorts lining the beach it's bamboo beach huts.
We're in the midst of the rainy season now and for the most part it hasn't really affected us in
Skulls
So many thousands of skulls other cities over the last month. It will usually come in a sudden torrential and awe inspiring downpour around 4pm each day for about an hour then the sun will be back. It's actually really refreshing. Unfortunately here in "Snookyville" the rain seems to be constant and it's full of looming dark clouds. Unlike last time there's almost no tourists here. Most of the beach huts are closed down. The colour of the water is not nearly as nice and there are big waves. I guess that's expected in low season! On the plus side there are plenty of locals enjoying the beach, swimming fully clothed in their jeans and having their own little dance parties. I'd take seeing and experiencing that over a bunch of European's anyday. Afterall I came to Asia to experience Asia's culture, not Europes! Also our beautiful hotel is only $10 ($5.00 each) rather than $35 in high season.
This used to be what was known as The Killing Beach. Everywhere in Cambodia has the same sad reminders of the past. Here as you sit on the mat enjoying a drink you'll have all kinds of beggars with missing limbs from landmines, mothers with
Bone and clothing
Just walking over the fields you can still see bone and clothing sticking from the ground. It's an eerie feeling to see children etc etc all asking for a bit of cash. I try to give a bit to as many people as I can. Although it may encourage begging there is no healthcare or welfare here and these people need to fend for themselves. I think it's very selfish to come to a country like this and not give at least a little bit. I feel like I haven't given enough.
I decided to head straight to Vietnam from Sihahuanikville for the 10 hour ride, while Sully has decided to break up the trip a bit by staying in Cambodia 1 day longer. This gives me an extra bit of time before I meet him again to experience the city and culture for myself. We have different views of traveling and while he enjoys relaxing and doing nothing, getting lots of rest and sleep. I find I'm very active and want to go for long walks, try all the food, follow local people to unusual places and pretty much experience everything the city has to offer. Asian culture doesn't seem to interest my friend, so instead of pushing him into it we decided to just do our own thing once
Teeth, bones and clothing
Scattered throughout the mass graves in a while.
Overall coming to Cambodia is an intense but extremely rewarding and safe place to visit. I recommend it highly to anyone who wants to visit. The people are so friendly and always smiling. And the sights such as Angkor Wat are second to none.
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Missing you
I truly wish one day i could pay a visit there. I know it hurts when u see people sad and struggling with their lives. However, you can see the different world and we should feel lucky to have what we do now. Miss you....