The Adventure Begins

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Arrive Bangkok: Gateway to the East!

After a tearful goodbye to Tess at Heathrow airport I board the plane and sat next to a Mother and daughter on their way to Phuket for a holiday. Two hours from landing I start to panic about how I'm going to get to the hotel from Bangkok airport. I decide to not worry until I land. I pass security (somehow) and head to pick up my bag! Yes, it's arrived - good start! Looking like a pregnant turtle (big rucksack on the back and small one on the front) I bumble out of Bangkok airport in search of the bus. I manage to find it no problem but the bus driver reaches the final destination without telling me when to get off! I then have to walk for 20mins and when I get there (8AM) I am told that I can't check in until 2PM!! I wander Koah San road for a few hours before deciding to plead with the hotel to let me in - they do at 12PM so I go to sleep for the rest of the afternoon!

I meet my roomie Maud from Amsterdam at 5:30PM and she is great! We are the same age and she tells me she is heading to Phuket after and then Malaysia so we decide to travel together after the tour ends - neato!! We go down to meet the rest of the group. Very varied group - 2 couples - Aida and Edward (from Norway) , Sima and Rishi (from London), Gez (from London), Rico (Danish), Sarah (Ozzy), Claire (Ireland), Jasmine (Canada), Michaela (NZ), Dave (London), Gita (Brummy), Jessica (Manc) and our tour leader Wassa (Wasssssup)!

Afetr the induction we are told it's the King of Thailand's birthday! Mass celebrations on the streets (I thought it was a bit busy even for Bangkok). Good day to land - I pretend they are celebrating my arrival! We all go to a bar and get to know eachother a bit more.

The next day, we wake up early for our bus ride to Cambodia. 4 hours of bumpy roads! The border is random. There is a market where we get some lunch before heading to the toilet to see a small girl wee in the sink then sit down at the table to see another girl throw up everywhere while her parents carried on eating (I hope she hasn't got food poisoning fromthe restaurant we are in!). We have to walk across the border and it takes an hour through all the formalities. We are told that the bit in the middle is no mans land and people can murder each other without being prosecuted (which apparently happens a lot in the casino that is situated half way in between)!
Afetr we all pass the Cambodian entrance we get another bus to Siem Reap. This takes 6 hours!! In the evening we go to a traditional Cambodian restaurant (yum, Amok) and see some Cambodian dancing.

The third day (6th Dec), we wake up at 4AM (!!) to see the great temples of Angkor. We see the sunrise over Angkor Wat which is breath-taking! We then head back for breakfast before going back to visit Ta Prohm (where Tome Raider was filmed), Bayon, Angkor Thom and Angkor Wat. Magnificent!! On the way back our tour guide offers us some weed (haha). Of course, we say no! In the evening we head out to a bar apptly named Angkor What? for much merriment and dancing (on tables and chairs)!

The fourth day, we wake up with slightly sore heads and do some sunbathing in next doors pool which is paradise before getting a 6 hour bus with the locals to Phonm Penh! In the evening we go to a restaurant called 'Friend' for dinner. This is a charity that takes kids off the streets and teaches them how to cook so they can set-up restaurants of their own. Food is yummy!! A few of us take a walk on the river before turning in for the night.

9th Dec - a very emotional day! We take a tour to the genocide museum and learn all about the Pol-Pot regime that ended in 1979. Unbelievable and undescribable emotion as we walk around the old prison (which used to be a school). It was used for torture (not going to go into depth as really horrific). Pictures everywhere of the atrocities these people went through. 17,000 people in this prison alone were murdered for no good reason. A picture of a woman holding her baby with a single tear rolling down her face sets me off. She knows her and her baby's fate. Afetr the museum we head to the killing fields. Skulls and bones everywhere and clothing of the victims are still poking out of the ground. We learn that an Australian tourist was also murdered in these fields - he'd seen too much. It feels more real as it wasn't very long ago. Some of the politicians from this regime are still in power today!
Tonight we are going to have dinner in the tour guides village. many children and families are poor and us going to eat and spend time there helps the villagers. In afternoon me, Maud, Sarah and Michela go to the central market to get pens and pencils for the children - this is more helpful than money to them (money goes straight to the parents and not the kids). We also get some things for ourselves

Beach tomorrow which I'm really looking forward to (but not the 4hour bus ride)!!

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