Back in the land of the Buddha

---

We are back in Thailand now after a wonderful 2 weeks in Cambodia. It is an amazing country, particularly since the Khmer Rouge atrocities are still so recent and every family has lost a relative. It was a real joy and quite humbling to be with such smiley, optimistic, sunny people.

We arrived in Phnom Penh and spent 3 days in a great hotel beside the river. This was our base for exploring the Killing Fields and S-21, the school turned prison where people who dared defy the regime, often in the smallest way like singing or helping a neighbour, were kept and tortured. It was a grim few days, particularly since we had also finished our travels in Vietnam by going to see the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City and the Cu-Chi tunnels, where the Viet Cong hid and battled the Americans. All appalling, and all in my lifetime.

Cambodia was hot, real hot; 36 degrees on a cool day. We decided to visit a little town called Battambang as we were aware that most of the tourists fly in to Cambodia to see PP and Siem Reap then fly back to Bangkok or home. We visited one of the many orphanages in the country, having stocked up on school supplies, stickers and a football. The ASPECA orphange, one of 2 in the small town, has over 250 kids aged 1-18. It is a tidy operation, presided over by a Director with a huge smile, and the kids seem very happy. We organised an impromtu guitar lesson and a basketball game then participated in the English class in which we tried to learn some Cambodian! The Director really needs volunteers to paint and care for the buildings - anyone interested? Rewards plentiful but not monetary in value...

Next, we took the bumpiest and noisest bus journey in the history of the world (thanks to terrible roads and a driver who seemed to think sounding the horn every 3 seconds might expedite our progress) to Siem Reap, home to the Angkor temple complex. Siem Reap is not representative of the rest of the country, being a comparatively wealthy tourist town while the rest of Cambodia is desperately poor. We spent 4 nights at the Golden Banana, a brilliant guest house fortuitously with a swimming pool for a much needed afternoon dip. We took part in a charity pub quiz (coming 4th out of 12 teams; much better than our performance in the Devonshire Arms, Emma!) and felt more at home. The next 3 days were spent touring the stunning Temples of Angkor. Highlights for me were the 'Tomb Raider' temple, Ta Prohm, where the roots of gum trees hold the decaying temple structures in their grip. I tried to pull off an Angelina Jolie impression but the husband was non-plussed, as were the 350 Japanese tourists who also witnessed the performance. I also remember the Landmine museum, not part of the complex, of course, but another poignant reminder of another trouble this lovely country is still grappling with. We were exhausted when we reached Angkor Wat, but were rewarded with amazing weather in which to view it - a freak rain shower brought dramatic skies - very exciting and good for the photos!

We decided against a river trip (as a lovely Canadian couple we met in Siem Reap advised us that their trip was somewhat hampered when their boat sunk!) and reluctantly boarded the bus to Bangkok, sad to leave a country where we felt so welcome and which dearly needs tourist bucks. We are now in Kanchanaburi, home to the Bridge over the river Kwai, and have had a busy day taking in the Bridge, various museums and sobering cemeteries. We rented a scooter and enjoyed being under our own steam for a change. Looking forward to the cool waters of nearby waterfalls tomorrow and then hope to head south for a quiet time on the beach before flying off and into the bustle of India.

More soon - probably from India, the last stop on our trip!

---

Photos

Heartbreaking
Rags at the Killing Fields

Boresh
One of our guides at the Battambang orphanage

Elephant Terrace
Amazing carvings at Angkor

Ta Prohm
The "Lara Croft' temple at Angkor - Unfortunately for Aidan, Angelina was not available to recreate the movie

Stormy weather
over Amgkor Wat

Bridge Over Troubled Waters
At the River Kwai