Blogs from Cambodia, Asia - page 771

Asia » Cambodia » South » Phnom Penh August 28th 2006

Hi Folks, Greetings from the capital. Myself and Amy have survived today and what a day. Sometimes the trip to your destination is the more memorable part and today was no exception. I thought that we were used to rain but no. Phnom Penh really pees down to be polite in the monsoon season. Earlier we hired a tuk tuk (Cambodian mode of transport) to the Wildlife Park. The park is a foundation set up to look after injured animals and the animals can be viewed easily by wandering around the park. We saw bears, reindeer ( who had funny looking antlers on top of their head ), deer, elephants, monkeys, and crocadiles which Amy took a liking to; so brave, almost close enough to pat them on their head. Initially it was great and then ... read more

CAMBODIA

Asia » Cambodia » South » Phnom Penh August 28th 2006

Kris Grier

So it has been a couple of days since I last wrote and I thought Id let you all in on what Ive been up to. So, finishing Bangkok was very good. That city is sooooo friggin huge(13 million ppl) and full of annoying people! Anywho, I took that safari that I told you all about and it was definatley worth the 5 bucks it cost. First we went and got our tickets, which got us into everywhere (like seaworld) then we went on the safari. There was about 20 of us on the bus and the animals just went on with life. I saw everything from Zebras to Tigers! It was quite an amazing trip! After the safari the group went to all these shows. The first was a dolphin show where they had the ... read more

Wat on Earth!!!

Asia » Cambodia » North » Angkor August 26th 2006

Sunrise

pipesy pauly

Hello everyone!!!! Well as we ended the previous travelblog we had just arrived in Phnom Penh (difficult to say...easy to write though!) Our first night involved some re-introduction to the drink and alot of squelching around through the mud (it had been raining incessantly throughout our journey!) Pauly and I found this quite satisfying but we seemed to be on a bus with the most dull travellers known to man, and even woman!!!! So, very muddy, we began our evening of cards and drink! We met a little gay man called Biggie who we taught 'Snap' to. The following morning as we were changing hotels we met two matorbike taxi drivers who succesfully did the 'hard-sell' on us to take us out for the day. First stop was the 'Killing Fields'-if anyone has seen the John ... read more

Phnom Penh - the Killing Fields

Asia » Cambodia » South » Phnom Penh August 26th 2006

The Killing Fields 3

Timbuk2

26th Aug 2006 Phnom Penh (Cambodia) Hi everyone. I am now in Phnom Phen the capital of Cambodia. This city is known for its extremes you can see riches and poverty all in the same pitcher. Thier palaces and museums are some of the most beautiful in the world. Yet the history of the last 35 years are still present in everybody's minds. I find the people very happy and pleasant. The city is trying to except what has happened in the past and look towards the future. The city is very chaotic but I seem to have found a little piece of heaven. I have found a guesthouse on lake in the center of town. When I say on a lake, it is on the lake. They have used up all the land on the ... read more

The final countdown: Cambodia and back to Bangkok

Asia » Cambodia » North » Angkor August 25th 2006

We can't believe our trip is almost over - it just doesn't seem possible!?! This final leg has brought us to Siem Reap, Cambodia - all for the purpose of seeing the incredible beauty of Ankor Wat and the surrounding temples. We were advised by several travellers along the way that Phnom Penh is worth a miss - that the begging and harassment is unreal and therefore not the end of the world to avoid. Due to our time constraints, that's what we decided to do. We flew from HCMC on a Saturday night and arrived in Siem Reap thinking we'd hit the town to explore the nightlife. That didn't happen! Once we finally found accomodation (after the first 5 places we tried were full) we were ready to go to sleep. We got up in ... read more

Phnom Penh

Asia » Cambodia » South » Phnom Penh August 25th 2006

Skull Map

kablaa

25 August, Friday... I counted up and realised this is day 45. That's about as far as my diary entry went anyway so let's see how much I can remember. We decided to only spend one day here and leave tomorrow morning so the best way to get around the main sites of interest was by tuk-tuk (actually it was by motorbike but we didn't realise that until too late). Up first, the shooting range. Probably not the best place to try firing a gun but seems to be one of the standard tourist offerings. Fired off 15 rounds on an AK-47 which was extremely loud and 5 shots on a handgun. Was left feeling mighty dissapointed and ripped off after that, I don't think I'll be going to the shooting range again. Second, the Killing ... read more

Siem Reap and the Temples of Angkor

Asia » Cambodia » North » Angkor August 24th 2006

Angkor Wat Sunset

Noelly

We caught an early bus from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap for our last few days in Asia and to see the temples Angkor before heading back into Bangkok and then to Oz! Man it’s flown by! The bus was pretty uneventful, just miles of flat, green land and forests - I know I should be appreciating the scenery more but after three months you start to take things for granted. As we drove into the bus station at Siem Reap you could see the absolute commotion as tuk tuk drivers and touts jostled and elbowed each other for room around the bus! It was complete madness and with no armed guard around the bus it began to descend into anarchy with locals arguing with each other for who got to carry your bag. Luckily enough ... read more

The Splendour of Angkor and the Naja Naja

Asia » Cambodia » North » Angkor August 24th 2006

Detailed carvings

Last Train to Transcentral

Our three day trip to the Temples of Angkor have been a definite highlight of this whole adventure. Situated in the north west of Cambodia the temples were built by the devaraja "God Kings" of the Angkor Civilisation between the 9th and 13th centuries. The nearest town to the temples is the rather touristy Siem Reap and we based ourselves here for our three day exploration of the temples. Just trying to get your head round how the Angkorians conceived these structures is mind bending enough, let alone how they actually constructed them. Even today as they lie crumbling next to the jungles you can't help but feel completely dwarfed and overwhelmed by them. We overdosed on the history and did our best to see as many of these temples as possible. The French had gradually ... read more

Trees claim their stake on the temples roots

Ruined Buildings, Ruined Plans

Asia » Cambodia » North » Siem Reap August 24th 2006

Stig

Now reporting from Siem Reap, the closest town to some old temples you might know about. If you don't know about them, read on. From Phnom Penh I tried to go into the south of Cambodia to Kampot, which I'd been told was a nice town and a good place for exploring the abandoned and supposedly atmospheric French hill station at Bokor. Unfortunately, this is the rainy season and as the long, wet (I had to get out of the bus and walk across a bridge to the other bus in the rain and mud. Strangely, it started raining just as everyone got off and stopped as soon as we got on again. Odd, but that's life out here.) and bumpy ride through flooded fields and villages hinted, not much was going to be happening in ... read more

Rough Crossing

Asia » Cambodia » South » Sihanoukville August 23rd 2006

Noodles anyone?

Edam

So we left you last,relaxed and ready for road in Trat. On Koh Chang all conversation about Cambodia had lead to bad news...corruption, swept away roads, rough sea crossings, pirates, ambushes. We were beginning to wonder if maybe it would be easier to book ourselves a hammock in Phuket and wait for our November 24th flight to Manila...but no we braved the frontier. We awoke early in Trat and ventured out to grab a songthaew to drop us to the bus station where we would catch a minibus to the Thai-Cambodian border (Hat Lek-Koh Kong). We were joined by two ropey looking Italians and an East Berliner, who I was convinced was going to plant drugs on me and let me rot in a Cambodian jail until I was executed. Our first battle was with the ... read more

Brief history of Cambodia

Most Cambodians consider themselves to be Khmers, whose Angkor Empire extended over much of Southeast Asia and reached its zenith between the 10th and 13th centuries. Subsequently, attacks by the Thai and Cham (from present-day Vietnam) weakened the ...more history

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